The Last, Last Run

Final day of the year and after yesterday's sun it was expected to be murky - which it was. Although dry and almost warm at 10 degrees. No salt either. So ... out came the Alpine - with no pre-heat she started fine.

It was only fitting that the Alpine got he last run out of the year after everything - a bit cold but we headed to the village bottle bank and then just a few miles before heading home a bit cold.

So that was that I thought - and took all the miles for one final time this year.

But no. One more utility trip to Harkstead to rescue a parcel left outside again.

So the 2024 results ?

Well would you believe it the 'new to the team' Talbot pipped the E-type to the top slot with 1167 miles vs 1016 for the Jag. This was in just eight month of the year.

The Aston was behind that and then the 308 - which given it spent most of the year with electrical and then fuel problems was good - the Imp came in with a respectable 428. Next was the Caterham that departed as the Talbot arrived and finally the Alpine that only came back for the final four months of the year.

So the hit has been the 1933 car. In all almost 1600 miles in the pre-war team vs a bit under 2k in the classics (e.g. not including the MK2 nor the Aston). Quite a good spread.

100 Not Out and None Too Soon !

I was off to John's 30/98 100th today.

So what to take ? I thought I'd take the Talbot last night but ... anyway I decided to give myself the option. So I warmed the Talbot up for three hours on the fan heater. The sun was even out so I decided to brave it.

Having primed the carbs, I gave it one long spin to build up oil pressure, then set a few revs on the hand throttle followed by three pumps on the pedal and - it started nicely. No Roar either !

So off we went.

On arrival at Wickham Market I parked in the centre carpark opposite John's - only to have a car nip behind me when I was trying to reverse into a space and a second one, a bloody 4x4, almost reverse into me me - I tooted that one a lot. Fuckwits. Then the machine did not work !

Anyway as I wondered what to do John came out and told me there was space in his yard - so I went in there after all.

She looked good too - if I say so myself. But it was in good company with a Sunbeam 20/60 that I found out later to be ex-Rowland too, a Riley and then a 1947 Humber Snipe that Alex uses as his daily driver.

As to the main event - after chatting in the garage John got the Vauxhall out. Looking splendid.

Then after all the excitement I pottered home in the sunshine - stopping for a 'Bridge Shot' as the sun went down.

Just in time - as Ipswich became Chaos about that time due to a unexploded bomb they found on the Wherstead Road. Probably the last run of the year now as the weather is turning bad.

Bus Boy

SAAB out early lunch to get out of the way. A slightly dull and cold 6 degrees but at least the mist has gone. Headed for a dull and disappointing Stonham Barns. Odd but everything looked gloomy as the light rain returned.

Lunch was at Earl Soham - in the bus stop. They must wondered what I was doing as it was Sunday and no busses were coming. Also the seat was wet so I had to stand.

Thanks to William Todd's legacy at least I was out of the rain.

Then Yoxford looking through more of societies detritus - I mean Antiques (cast off Tat).

Then headed a dirty SAAB home (via Westleton to see Nana's old house) and finally up to Harkstead and then home.

So dreary - So no Snap

SAAB to Felixstow to the ear clinic late morning in the mist and cold. Managed to find somewhere to park but too dreary to snap a pic.

Then pottering and found the Alpine on the wiki-commons website - this was shot at Gaydon in 2019 on the club stand - 21 July 2019. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1960_Sunbeam_Alpine_Series_I_1.5_Front.jpg

In the evening off to Stutton in the SAAB - dark and cold.

ION: I finished the Rolt Autobiography. One final observation he made was interesting. 'Where the VSCC is concerned it is somewhat ironical that it began as a very small club for poor men and is now a very large club for very rich men, at least so far as its most active members are concerned."

Waving the Future Goodbye

Everyone left in the large Laptop early in the morning.

So that's Xmas over then.

Then MK7 run in the mist to drop James off -  there was a '!' on the dash directly in front of the driver.

Lots of confusing explanations on the internet - but it's a generic symbol to say something else is wrong - in the VW it is telling you to read what comes up on the display when you start the car. Which in this car is the 'change battery' message.

Then PM took it again and no warning light - odd.

Circuit of Ipswich ?

Started the day spotting my picture in the VSCC mag advert for Polson. I initially thought where did they get that ?

Thinking back I probably sent it to them - I'll check.

Then we popped out in the large German to get 'fuel'. Not that interesting but as it was my first experience of Electric Cars I thought I'd go along to learn all about it. We arrived at the fast charge in Naction and in went the plug.

 

Clean, easy, quick and no waiting for the space. However after 10 minutes and several 'fuel' cards we gave up (after working how to get the plug out) and called up the map on the app to look for another one.

That done we set off back over the bridge heading for the brand new GG site at Wherstead. Four units and one person already there so this is better I thought.

But it wasn't. It was more frustrating as neither us nor the other chap (a seasoned electric car owner) could get the (Tesla supplied) units to work. So after breaking up the 'you've got a nice electric car - oh no yours is nice too' bromance developing between the stranded owners, we set off again.

Back to Tesco's in fact - well a grubby corner of the deserted 'Park and Ride' that Jeremy had used before. Here it all worked.

It was a fast charge and it even had a nice app thrown up by the QR code we could monitor while we went shopping. Here is the final reading. 

So that means we started with 49% capacity and ended with 85%. That cost £24.06 for 30.45 kWh. A new jargon indeed but what does it all mean ?

Well it's totally obfuscated trying to calculate KM/Miles/kWh etc. ppm/kWh/KM etc. The best I can do is that to fill the car was £66 on this commercial charger and the equivalent 70l tank on a diesel would cost £95 but would give you better range making the p/km calculation EV 13ppkm vs the Diesel only 8 p/km. That obviously changes dramatically in favour of the EV when on the low cost home chargers.

So there we are - it was still a beast as I returned from another Harkstead run in the tiny SAAB and parked beside it. 

But it is The (well A) future.

Swede Not German

Spotted the enormous BMW on the drive first thing. My how they have grown.

The SAAB to Harkstead to collect the passenger - and later in the dark - dropped back again.

Count as two trips ?

Tetris and Tech

Early morning run in an Electric BMW to Harkstead and the Food Hall. Inside was like a computer game.

Yes that's Tetris on the nav screen. Well it is actually the parking assist.

Also swapped over the Talbot trickle charging.

Then SAAB run late back up the Harkstead for birthday cake.

Full of cake and laptops.

20 feet - and Two on the Trot

First job was to move the SAAB into the car port - no frost is due so it would be alright where it was - but it clears the drive for visitors.

Then I spotted my picture on the Dinard Concours Xmas greeting (like last year) which was nice.

I then put one of the Talbot batteries on charge - can I do both ?

Reading up it probably needs two chargers.

Busy Driveway

Visit from engineer who fixed - sorry failed to fix - the dishwasher.

Not sure why he parked there ?

Anyway I was off to Harkstead for a quick job. 

Took the very dusty MK2 - I was thinking of the Alpine but it was bitterly cold if nice and sunny.

However the Aston got a run out too in the late afternoon sun to save the planet. Cold but snug in there.

Finally a Stutton jaunt as passenger in the MK7.

Almost Nil

Late SAAB run to Harkstead saved the day from a nil return.

Spotted a nice pre-war car cocooned up there too.

Mind you it was cold wet and dark today to I'd not have got it out.

OK (again) but Not Right

So AM watched the SAAB drive away full of Shit again for the allotment, while I cleaned the trailer - now I can use the slab again for work.

Then late PM as it was almost dark I put the VIN plate on. My only dilemma was the orientation. My holes said portrait but all the pictures I could fine were landscape.

I'll follow the holes. It's not really flat either but there it is. What to put on the other holes ?

I also thought I'd have another look at the bonnet catch. It did look like there were fittings inside after all so I decided to see what fitted. In the end a UNF on the left and a UNC on the right did the job. Well another bodge - but I can only assume someone had buggered them up a long time ago.

I'll move on and see what happens. Later I thought why not just re-thread them to a bigger size ? So if this does not hold at least I have an alternative path.

I also looked at buying new windscreen wiper arms that fitted better. Researching what other cars had I found this...

I've put them back on the wrong way round. Dho ! Not that they ever fitted particularly well.

It's Behind You

Gosh - the sun was out - so SAAB to the boat for some work. Marina car park was very empty an don such a sunny morning it must be the parking restrictions biting.

However as one of the privileged few we were fine. Nice to see the boat again too.

The sun was still out as we drove back via Harkstead for a quick drop off. So I decided to get the fan heater on the Talbot over lunchtime. There was a bit of oil from the rear axel in the drip tray so before a long run I'll have to see if I can top it up. The sun was only just peaking out by then but I got the Talbot out and after warming on the drive off we went.

Again - like the Lord of the Manor - a car stopped in the road to let me out. SAAB 95 estate I think. I was snug and warm in it and it drove well, although sounded a but different - mind you the windows were closed and I have a blocked ear !

I need to change the old headlight to the new one and I also need to fill up as we're nearing 200 miles since the last fill and I've really only done short runs.

Just when the air was getting colder and the day was waning away I got a call and an excuse to go for another drive. So with out warming it up first the Alpine came out. Started fine - again that non return valve works well.

Here we are looking splendid with the SAAB behind being used as a muck wagon.

Back again quickly as it was getting a bit cold and I thought I'd do the new vin plate. The stamping was fine.

But I found that I had run out of pop rivets - so they are on order.

I also looked at the holes in the bonnet I need to do something about to fit the catch. Umm.

Any suggestion on a postcard please.

This might be the last drive out for a while though as the gritters are back. So I might just do the headlight earlier rather than later.

ION: A study claims that Car production in the UK is declining and has now fallen for eight months in a row. No one wants electric cars and the manufacturers are forced to build EV's as a higher % of the total - so everything is scaling back.

What Winter ?

Early (well for me it was) start - off to check a water leak at Harkstead.

Yes that's the MK7 and it's 13 degrees at 9 am on December 18th.

Later it was a SAAB run up to Glevering.

Seemed odd as I've not been up there for quite a while. Home via B&Q though and the busy Ipswich traffic. Bizarrely it was 16 degrees on the way back and I even spotted a vintage car on the road enjoying itself. 

So - what Global Warming ?

ION: Talks of a ceasefire in both Ukraine and Palestine now - it seems everyone is worried what 'The Donald' will do in a few days time.

Stipple Stipple Stipple

Well, cleaning the glass for the Talbot was easy with my 'clingfilm shield' in fact I was ready to fit it in an hour.

What do you think ? Yes me too - it still looks darker so I checked the oil (fine), started the car and backed it out for a better look. 95% there.

Sadly it's defiantly more opaque - not the green hue as before but I suspect a more/deeper 'stippling'. In the end I decided to leave it for another day (probably the Spring) and swap over the original then and no one will ever know ... I think. I must do it before I am in company of those that might know to get a reaction.

Well, in the end I do have two plastic lenses in the spotlights so we're not that original are we.

Four screws Good - Eight screws Better

The first task was to stick the new headlight in the surround. So as planned I covered the stippled side with cling film to try to stop it getting so contaminated. 

Hard to tell really. Then I put mastic all around the edges and added the glass on top. Turns out doing it that way it hardly gets surplus mastic on it. Anyway I then weighted it down and we'll let it dry over night.

Tidying up I also measured the original glass - 2mm - so nearer to the 3mm I used. We'll see when I can get the car in the light again.

PM I gave the Alpine a run out in some cloudy sun. Here we are at the co-op looking shiny.

Then after running around the block it was the turn of the SAAB to visit B&Q for wood - 12 degrees it said - gallantly running with the 'check engine' light still there.

Finally the '10-32 UNF 1/2 inch Imperial Slotted Pan Head Screws' turned up. It only took me 5 mins to fit them too.

However it's a little victory and a little more progress.

Mixed Tasks

AM I decided to re-start on the Talbot light so warmed the garage up while I worked outside.

It came off quite easily - or I was more confident in how it came off - and I cleaned off the old mastic so we were ready for another shot.

But we did need more mastic so after lunch off I went out in the company van to a very busy B&Q - via a very busy John Lewis to drop off the bottles. The only problem was that the garage fob would not work.

On return I changed the battery but it still refused to open. I also inadvertently put the unit in 'holiday' mode so nothing worked until I sorted that out. Odd.

By then though Harkstead beckoned with a quick job. So the MK2 was out and about as the gloom came back. 

Home again and it was too dreary to do any more work so that was that.

Garage Tidy - and Odd Load

AM I just popped out to the garage to tidy away the Alpine parts, gauges, bolts and tools I'd left out from yesterday. Not a lot else.

PM a Harkstead run for Xmas jobs. Checked the Imp - yes still there.

I'm suffering the problem of it not being here in this warm weather when I might have used it or done some little jobs. Same as the Ferrari which I might have got out.

Anyway - Harkstead jobs done it was home time in the gloom.

Yes that odd load again.

Not the Sharpest tool in the box

Another dreary cold and damp day. MK2 into town first thing though.

I did not leave the lights on either.

Mind you when I got back the windows were completely misted up.

PM I did manage an hour or so in the garage to see if any of the bolts/machine screws I had bought fitted. 

Mixed results. Out of the four items I bought one was too short, one was UNC not UNF and the bonnet bolts were just way too small - although I suspect the captive nuts are missing.

My one success was the machine screws for the door caps.

Although one captive nut was missing on the drivers side. 

So I've ordered up some more and we'll see hw close I am this time.