Dismantled

Dropped the SAAB off at Abbotts for a service and MOT.

Then had a good look at the E-type in a state of disrepair.

Cylinder Head off and most of the rest f the engine in bits. Always looks shocking but I know it will go back together - it's just a big jigsaw.

Head was in good condition although a bit sooty on some plugs and a bit lean on others - burning oil though. Strange deposits on three exhaust ports too. Overall I'd be happy to get t back smoking as much as it did.

It was odd to see the bonnet in the office though.

Shopping Dash

Just SAAB out for a drill bit.

Drivers window is out of it's track a bit.

Good think it's getting a service tomorrow.

Looking down 2

So down from Olney - M1, A1 and across London.

Popped into a shop to add to the load - an ironing board.

Unloaded everything into the flat.

Then the drive back home - a long round trip.

Looking down

Packed the SAAB with James' stuff - just the essentials - so he could move in. Just squeezed in as it filled the SAAB.

Then drove to Olney for the evening.

It was going to be the Aston's turn but not with the load we had - not the prospect of crossing London.

Killjoy

Bit the bullet and bought a new distributor for the Alpine. It won't arrive until mid December though.

Then took the 308 out for a spin in the early afternoon sunshine - alarm imobiliser worked fine.

Car feels in a need of a good long run - but then we did not get it as the bridge was blocked (again) by a broken down car and trailer.

Came back through town - slowly. Ho Hum.

James completed on his flat today - so not sure of the fate of the Golf Mk2 now.

... and back to the office

Just sitting at the PC, no driving. Did not even pop out to the garages.

Did look at the Alpine distributor which seems almost unique in the world - that can't be right.

Sunny Blatt

Caterham out at last in the sunshine. Caught on film ?

Marking time

Two Mk7 trips as passenger in dull weather.

Popping out to Save the Plannet

Aston the the shops and bottle bank.

New pollution charge starts in London though - Aston and Aero OK so is the E-Type and any car covered by the tax exemption. The Ferrari and Golf are not as they fall into the zone between 'old' and 'new' cars. Not that I'm planning to drive them in the zone.

From the BBC News: Somewhat driven by the scare story that Air pollution cuts short 40,000 lives a year in the UK. It's a statistical construct not a count of actual deaths. There is no question that air pollution, caused by many factors, is a serious health problem but it's difficult to assess its precise impact.

It is not possible to count the number of people who have died early as a result of pollution because nobody has air pollution written as the cause of death on their death certificates.

This means that comparisons between numbers of people killed by air pollution and, for example, tuberculosis or malaria are generally bogus.

Is it the Dizzy ?

Aero to the Alpine meeting today and the consensus was that the distributor has aged so the timing is not being kept.

I'll have to look for another. Again.

Mags Mags Mags Mags

Post consisted of one letter and four car mags for me. Closest I got.

Alpine back to only quite bad

Successfully 'tuned' the Alpine so that it's only just a bit worse than it was originally - which I feel is a success. Carbs now almost balanced but adjusting the mixture screw did not seem to make any difference at all.

Timing mark moves around a bit which shows the distributor is a bit knackered - which is where we came in.

Re-did the valve clearances too, when hot, which quietened down the tappets.

On and what is wrong with this picture ?

That's right - the fitting fell apart and rest of the feeler gauges fell down the side of the engine and some have been lost - especially the other one I use.

Evening run in the Aero to finish off.

Garden not Garage

Decided to keep working outside and postpone the Alpine try 17.

Late night Golf

Lift in the Mk7 into town for Blade Runner 2049.

Nice Peugeot product placement as the flying car.

More Training

Lift in Mk7 as going into London on the train and - let's see - delayed on the way back for an hour.

Arrived as the sky was dark and the sun had a red glow for the second day in a row. It was almost dark at lunchtime in London. Smoke and sand in the atmosphere due to the storm and Forrest fires.

Could be a plot from SciFi but it's just nature...

Red Devil

Ferrari in the car park lit by the red sky - storm whipping up the sand from the Sahara apparently.

Again the immobilizer did not work immediately in the car park.

Earlier Aero back from London through morning traffic.

Getting carried away again

Sunday: Car, Car, Train, Train, Train, Tube, Tube, Walk.

This time came back via Oxford. Easier but just as much a pain.

We should have driven.

Trans-Plant. Then Travel

Transit of the plants to London by SAAB was the easy part.

Then to Bath or not as it turned out. No trains running though so ended up as Walk, Tube, Tube, Train 1, Bus, Coach and Train 2 before a lift to the destination. 2 hours longer than planned.

Not been to Swindon before - not likely to go back soon either.

Night Moves - Day Packing

End of the day took the Ferrari to pick up James from the train station. Flash or what ?

Still got a bit of a charging problem when fully loaded on the electrics and the immobiliser cut off seems to be a bit suspect. Other than that a great drive.

Earlier had packed the SAAB with plants for the weekend run.

Dark Lord ?

SAAB out early (but not that early) for jobs.

I missed the sunshine as I was working, so treated myself to the Aston for an evening run.

Great sunset but a blocked bridge (again) due to accident made me come home via town. Not too bad on the clutch.

Early dash and Alpine

SAAB to airport and back. Off at 3:52 and then back by 7:57.

Just shy of 4 hours there and back including pick-up and drop off. I guess its good to travel early.

Then several hours on the Alpine again.

Used the clamp to refit the distributor, which worked well. Then I found that there was a huge imbalance between the carbs. I need more time to tinker after more reading.

Checking parts

Checked that the clamp bolt for the distributor fitted (it did) and thought about doing something on the Alpine.

Decided to do it tomorrow.

Tale of two Golfs

Dropped the Mk7 off for the annual service and noticed the electric version on the forecourt. Car looked smart - not sure of the fuel.

Then took the Mk2 into the garage to get it fixed - let's see what they find/do. Both with SAAB on the other leg.

Alpine parts on order and the new distributor was set back.

So three Golfs featured in fact.

Even the Sweeden

Well the SAAB got a quick clean - after the Ferrari had a slow clean and buff.

Then Caterham down to Shotley for a quiet meeting up. Little and large ?

Ginetta, Capri and Westfield chums there this time though.

More buggering about

Spent the afternoon on the Apline again.

Re-did the rocker valve settings.

Once I realised that 'fully open' is the spring compressed not uncompressed it went better.

That and tightening the fan belt so I could turn the engine over (spark plugs out) and see what was happening.

Did the timing again and it seemed to make some difference on a short test drive. I made the pinch bolt a better fit although I think the ring is from a different car as it does not have two holes to match the ones on the mount.

I'll see what I can find to replace it.

Also ordered a Weber balance gauge and made contact with distributor people.

So some, if limited, progress.

Forward and Backward

Cleaned the Caterham and ran it round the block.

Then the Mk2 Golf - ready for the garage.

Decided to attack the Alpine again. Did the brakes so they work again - ok. Then the timing and it's as bad as anything.

Valve timing next.

Alpine Climb

Did the timing on the Alpine - not sure I got it right nor that it made any difference either.

Need to do it again and do the tappets properly - as I may have made them worse last time I played around.

London Bound

Train not car today.

Pottered around on the DLR too.

First world problem

Collected the Ferrari and they had forgotten to clean it - horror.

I was more interested in the De Tomaso Pantera - looking great in light blue.

Nice drive home though - must get it out more.

Hit 67,000 miles just before home.

As sadly expected

Got up the courage to replace the distributor on the Apline. The old one looked OK to me.

So, instructions read - unit removed and then .... Before I could even fail to get it in place I spotted the error. No off-take for the rev-counter drive on the new unit.

Oh well.

Habit Forming

The closest I got to the cars today was clipping the cover down on the Caterham as the wind is getting up.

Oh and taking pictures of the Sharknose Ferrari model.