Wheels of Steel

Well wood. - but we'll come to that (no pun intended).

So off we go again. It's in the 80's again and we're SAAB'ing it to Harkstead for another van run.

Both Silver I noticed.

That done it was a bit of Talbot time - well charge the back battery.

I then strolled up the road and yes - it is firmly closed.

On the way back I popped in to see the chap that has the Dart to arrange taking his mags back. He had a vintage steering wheel he was trying to identify. 

It had a sturdy steel boss and arms but was only held on with large grub screws.

After that as it was still in the 80's I took the E-type for a half block run.

It is hiding the dusty bonnet in shame. 

Not that Rattle I'm afraid

I moved the cars out of the car port - yet again - to do some more drastic clearing. As I moved the Alpine the rattle was there but more from the front. Having lifted the bonnet I found ...

One of the bonnet catch bolts was out and rattling around. I put it back but the rattle was still there in the evening. 

Back to the job in hand and ...

Almost there a little more flattening under the rear right tyre and I'll call it a day.

Next was washing the MK2 Golf - at last. All the paint is so dull you would have thought I'd sandpapered it. Anyway off we went to Harkstead for a van run.

Looking fine. Then of course a van run to Shotley. When I got back I thought I'd try to reverse it into the garage.

Not a bad job. It was 75 degrees at 6:30 so I gave it a rest on the other cars.

Yes Constable

MK7 ride to Ipswich AM to visit the Constable exhibition.

We found a place to park not far away I'm glad to report. It does need a clean though. After a quick A3 ride we headed home - and found the road OPEN !

PM what now ? Well the Ferrari needed a run out and as the road was open - why not.

We'll we're certainly putting on the miles again. I did think it sound different to the E-type. More of a low 'growl' and at the same time more high pitched. A combination of the Webers and the small V8 pistons I guess.

Under Pressure ?

So it's only hot and very sunny and 80 degrees - why not take the E-type out again. This time to Flatford Mill.

Indeed I did and it coped fine - yes the fan was on - oh and yes it's getting dusty again - but fine.

PM I checked the Talbot and yes it was down on water - I put in a pint and a quarter then I could see the level so stopped there. 

Not sure when I last topped it up, but we'll have to be more carful. We'll take it for a test run if the weather ever cools down. Looking at my nots it's not been topped up for a while.

I also checked the new battery charger on the Aston. That's better.

We're in the Green at last.

Then what ? Still 80 degrees - so the Imp. Again the car went well although I could smell oil a bit. I also started wo worry that the oil pressure was too high at an almost constant 40 psi.

I looked it up when I got back and that's about right for a Riley 9. Good in fact. So what was I worried about. Actually the oil has not been changed for a couple of years so I should do that.

ION: Wildfires are sweeping across Wester France and Central Spain. Now advancing on towns and even cities.

More Digging

Lots of roots extracted (poor tree) from the base today - even harder work as it was about 80 degrees - but we're getting flatter.

The Alpine looked inviting when I went to pack them away, so we had a little run around the closed block.

Still a bit jumpy and wanders slightly, mind you the roads are very bad. Also the rattles from under underneath seem to be getting worse (as rattles do) so I'll have to look at those soon.

I also got the Fezza out for the now typical 'half block twice' run. 

Went nicely - very well in fact. Now I really should organise a long run ...

Merc Mechanic

As planned I helped Nigel with his Mercedes Bonnet lining first thing. 

It seemed to go on relatively easily and as the bonnet had a great device to allow it to go vertical, it gave us lots of space to work. After that just a short walk to look for a bit of exhaust that had fallen off the DKW - but we could not find it.

PM I pottered but did spend time filling up the low E-type brake fluid reservoir. 

Next I thought I'd look for the 'get you home' tool kit at Halfords.

I found a basic cheap one that even came in a nice soft bag. So I'll add tools to that.

Finally late run in the Talbot - just getting it ready for next week.

I noticed the temperature was a little high - and crept up when I put it away.

I suspect it needed water after the long run last weekend. So I'll check it later.

ION: The BBC said that "Two new versions of ChatGPT (AI Tool) , designed to be master hackers, broke out of a supposedly secure test environment and gained access to the internet. They then attacked Hugging Face (another AI tool)  to get access to the information to help them ace their exam." Sounds like the plot of a Terminator film to me.

Less of a Lean ?

AM was digging out the side of the car port. Heavy going but I think there is less of a lean on the Golf.

It will take one or two more goes to level though as it is full of dead roots.

PM van back to Harkstead and a few jobs.

Then MK7 ride down to the boat to pick up what we forgot Sunday night.

Finally I swapped the Talbot battery over to charge the front.

Then Finally Finally (really Finally) I though t the E-type deserved another run.

The E-type brakes were slightly stuck on again when we set off. I decided to turn around in the farm layby as the road is blocked and full of loose gravel and thought I'd look at the knocking from the rear - the car ran on a little when I turned off the ignition. Odd.

I rearranged to hammer in the wheel well which was sticking out and the knocking seemed to go away on the drive back Perhaps I should add some padding or move the hammer ?

I also checked the brake fluid and one reserve was a little down so I'll have to top that up.

There are still more things to sort so perhaps an E-Day soon ?

Another Road Closed

Most of the day was doing the final beam for the carport. So I had to move the cars around.

It even tried to rain so on went the Alpine cover(s). About 6 hours later I was finished and tried the cars.

It seems to work well - but I now need to dig out the side by the tree.

SAAB run after all the work to Harkstead for jobs.

Finally I took the Alpine up the road (after re-screwing the horn boss back in) to look at the closure close up. 

They are going to be a while and I'm not sure how far down the village they are going - but it is a mess.

Another Burnham ?

It was a van day really. Admin AM and then Van Man PM.

So Harkstead/Shotley/Harkstead. On the way back I spotted a chap working on an old car in Lower Holbrook - it turned out to be a black TC he was trying to re-wire.

In the evening I got the Ferrari out - another car in need of a clean/dust.

As you see I forgot something as I drove out.

I also found that they have re-gritted the back road. Odd - and annoying. The car just passed 72,900 with no re-occurrence of the bad running so I will deciare it officially past its probation.

ION: Oh that Burnham - having spent the weekend sailing to Burnham and back it appears he is our new Prime Minister - Socialist Utopia In-coming !

Atlantis ?

We we were greeted by Sun - well at 5:30 we were.

Another exhilarating sail though - 7.7 knots and that was on the main and Jib - mind you it was blowing high teens. 

We also saw a 'Ghost City' on the horizon.

I'm sure that's the Essex Atlantis. Home in the MK7 again later and that was that.

Where did the Sun Go ?

G2R. Light load too for a sail to Burnham on Crouch.

Then I remembered we'd dropped stuff off last night. Anyway off we sailed into the gloom. Good turn of speed though as we used the cruising chute.

Mind you it was the only bit of blue we saw all day

Open Wide

I spent most of the day on the car port. Making the opening the full width.

I had to add a second cross beam to make it more stable so that's most of the wood used up. It does look a little bent but we'll fix that.

Late afternoon it was a MK7 ride to the boat to rig the Cruising Shute in the sunshine.

Finally a run in the (dusty) E-type.

As this week's road blockage is finished I was able to go around the block again - even it it still said closed and I had to go past the barrier. Next week it is our road that's closed though so we'll see what that means.

On the run I could hear the squeaking from the front, the banging from the rear and we still have no indicator repeaters after all these years. I felt sorry for the car - it's not had the attention it deserves and I really should spend time on it in the next few weeks.

Heat Haze

SAAB out AM to look for a long beam for the car port. The consensus is they don't really do 7m lengths of wood. So instead today I have been mostly driving the Van backwards and forwards.

To Harkstead, the Dentist and back in fact. Hot and busy in and around town.

To reward myself I had a spin in the Imp though early evening.

As it was only 25 degrees - and a T-shirt was all I needed. I came home hot and the car hotter, although the gauge stayed fine. I put the car away and noticed a slight heat gaze/smoke from the oil catch tin. Umm. However I checked and I don't think there is anymore water in it. I'll have to monitor.

Essex Calling

A ride in the MK 7 Golf first thing to get the Aston - via the Petrol station of course.

The Aston felt good when I picked it up. Better than before - or just nice to be back in it ? Anyway we parked at Hyde Hall near our usual spot.

It looked very good there - IIDSSM. After a very warm walk it was back up the dreaded A12 and home. Lots of traffic but we pottered up there fine.

Norfolk Bound

So I got the car out of the garage first thing and I spotted that the roll top lining is coming adrift under the windscreen. Odd - probably the heat.

After that it was off to fill up with petrol. Coming back from the kiosk I looked under the car. Ah that will be a pool of water under the car then. A bit worrying, but I spotted it was coming down from the top - radiator cap or overflow pipe probably looking at the staining.

I checked at the Sorrel Horse when I picked up Chris and there was no sign of a leak.

The run up was hard work - two and a half hours all in - but we arrived in good time and watched as more Sunbeams slowly arrived. I checked the engine and again no sign of drips. Nine cars arrived in all - mostly Alpines - but a Rapier snuck in too.

We left about 2:00 and were back at the Sorrel by 4:00. After a cool drink it was home again only to find the village almost cut off at our end with a broken down coach.

So 144 miles today in 25+ degrees and the only real issues being the window rubbers coming unstuck in the heat and the steering wheel horn starting to fall out. Oh and some 'fluffing' when really hot and running slowly. 

Tighten up and a Re-Run

I started on the Alpine after some 'domestic duties' and the first job was sticking the 'M' back on.

There was only a very small damp patch under the car today and it looked like oil but I decided to tighten everything up anyway. The pipes first then the bolts on the pump. Well most of them. The bolts on the engine cover were also almost finger tight too so I did them up. It might help with the oil weeping from the top of the cover. 

The Oil and Water were fine. So next I checked the plugs.

A bit shitty/sooty as expected, which might explain the slightly rough running towards the end of the German trip. I also found a loose wire on the coil so nipped that up too.

I then checked the tyres and two were down a bit - but not the one with a leak. I pumped them up all to 34 to see how it feels. Next was trying to secure the door rubbers again. I moved the screw and stuck more back down.

Again we'll see how we get on. Finally a wet dust and packed away in the Aston Cave.

While all that was going on Grange called to say the Aston was done so that's on the collection list. I also picked up a big bag of Drugs and delivered them to Harkstead in the SAAB - which flashed it's CEL at me - it's not been doing that much recently.

Late PM I re-ran the errand from yesterday in the Ferrari - the roads having calmed down a bit.

Here we are saving the planet at the clothes' bank. Mind you I heard today that there are so many fabrics being re-cycled that the industry can't cope. The 'smell' was still there - well an undertone.

And lastly I spotted the Imp (and me) in the Music Video.