Quiet week

Not much to report this week.  I’ve ordered some clear indicator lenses for the front so will be fitting them when they arrive. I also need to get off the pot and make an air filter decision. I took the car to work on Wednesday – a 32 mile round trip and it was great fun. I think I’m going to invest in a 20L Jerry can to keep some fuel at home. The car has what I think is a 25L tank which doesn’t last long and living where we do its a pain to have to visit a petrol station. Having almost a tank full of fuel in the garage could come in handy. 

My WSCC membership arrived this week so this evening I gave the car a wash and aplied an upgrade that will deliver what I estimate to be at least another 5bhp…

  

Wonky Steering

Since I had the car the steering has been slightly off to one side, so when the wheel is straight the car turns left. This kind of thing bothers me so this afternoon I decided to sort it out. This is what I was starting with:

I had already seen that the steering column is in two parts, with a splined join just where the column enters the engine bay. Should I want to change the steering boss and wheel at a later date I would also want to be able to remove the wheel & column via this joint so today’s adjustment would also serve to prove it could be done at a later date. I had a quick look at the build manual before I started:

So bonnet off, here is what it looks like in reality…

One side is an allen key job and the other is a 13mm nut. I was surprised that it was relatively easy to loosen off, the main issue being access with the socket. I was trying to avoid rotating the column as this would mess up my view of when the wheels were straight ahead. Once the bolt was out I applied some penetrating oil (WD40) to help separate the two parts. It was then easy to slide the steering wheel part of the column up, separate the joint, rotate the wheel to straight ahead then rejoin the two parts of the column. A quick road test revealed that I was still off, having lost my bearings on when the wheels were straight with the initial pulling of the separation. However it was easy enough to separate the column again and correct the aliment by the right amount. 28Nm of torque was applied then I celebrated my success with a quick blast up the road, also testing out driving with the Shoei helmet Mark has loaned me:

Sunny day at Loton

Had a great day at Loton Park hill climb today in perfect sunshine. Flask of tea, sarnies and an ice cream 🙂

Some great cars on display including some intriguing Morgan three wheelers. A selection of photos is in the Gallery.

The car picked up its first sticker too:

  

MOT Passed

Picked the car up this evening -MOT successfully passed 🙂 They gave the car the once over and other than topping up the gearbox oil and greasing the prop shaft all is well. This is a huge relief to me as buying a used car is pretty scary. They also tuned up the carbs a little too so it’s running a lot better and changed the brake fluid. Just 1 advisory regarding the front wheel bearing starting to show some signs of wear – a job for the winter I think. 

There’s a shower cap being delivered tomorrow which is ‘made from an outdoor clothing goretex type material’ which will pack away nicely into the boot for covering the cockpit if the rain looks likely. I’ll post some pictures of it wearing that this weekend as I plan to head over to loton park hill climb to do a bit of spectating and it might come in handy!

Tool shopping, garage booked and first tank of fuel gone!

The first Internet tool order has arrived – a torque wrench. Probably the start of many new tools I’m going to need. It’s 28 to 210 Nm which I hope will be enough range. Not that expensive either – I saw some scary prices when looking but this came in at a reasonable £18 from Amazon with good reviews including a very thorough test of its accuracy. 

The car is now booked in for a once over/tune up, brake fluid change and MOT next week. I think I’ll ask them to check and top up the gearbox and differential while it’s on the ramps. I’ll do the oil, filter and coolant myself when it’s back. 

I took it to work today which was fun. A bit cold this morning but lovely on the way home. the fuel gauge was showing the last 8th of a tank so I filled it up on the way home. Calculations show 26mpg for the first tank 🙂

As I’m away this weekend it is now tucked into the garage under a cover until it’s garage trip next week. 

  

Cleaning and tinkering

Another lovely sunny day in Shropshire. I brought the car out (with an audience of next doors kids) and gave it a thorough wash. The doors and toneu cover were cleaned and left in the sun to dry. Then the car was snow foamed, washed, rinsed, dried and polished. 

   

  

Once that was done I took the bonnet off to spend some time understanding what it all did. Here’s a look:

  

First up – an easy job; check the oil and a little top up. I plan to do a full oil change soon but it was a little low so a top up was enough to keep me going for now. Next I adjusted the alternator belt as it was a little slack. There’s a whining/bearing noise from the pulleys at the front of the engine and I was hopeful this would resolve it as the belt was a little on the slack side however it’s still there.  I’m going to speak to the garage about it and may change the belt completely. 

Next I took the air filters off the Webers. They see to be ok but I might replace them. I used some carb cleaner to give it a tidyup but on the whole they were already pretty clean. One of the airfilters gas been bodged. The nut that should be adhered to the bolt hole was list and another glued in its place. As soon as I opened it the nut fell off again. Looks like another reason to replace them. I managed to re-assemble it by reversing the nut & bolt but it’s a temporary (and tedious) fix. 

A shopping list of spares has been started 🙂

   

 

Quick evening blast!

The sun has been laughing at me all day while I was busy cutting grass and having a family Easter dinner. However I’ve just been for an hours blast into town and back – the first run without the doors. It. Was. Awesome!  

I’m realy starting to get the hang of the pedals and the gears now. Sun was out and all I needed was my sunglasses. It was nice without the doors too, not too blowy under 60 and a lot of fun. 

I hope the sun is out tomorrow too 🙂

P.s.  Here’s a couple of pics of me and Mrs from our first outing yesterday…

   

 

Home safe & sound

Opened the curtains this morning and was greeted by unforecast light drizzle 😦 however I was determined it would brighten up so we set off to collect the car anyway!

By the time I reached Stafford the drizzle had stopped but the roads were still quite damp. I’ve always had 4×4 or FWD cars previously so am a little intimidated by my first rear wheel drive. 

After a period of paperwork and money transferring I popped along the road to the post office to tax it and then was on my way home. Things went well till the roundabout when I stalled part way round but after that it was fine. I was pre armed with sunglasses and a hat so wasn’t cold. 

It was quite dirty by the time I got home but after a quick garage fit test we went out again to the in laws. 

I must have done almost 100 miles now in a day 🙂 

There’s a few things that have appeared that need looking at. The car seems to struggle a little for low end power. Could be the ignition is a little too advanced. There’s also a ‘whirring’ noise from the front which could just be the radiator fan spinning. It’s due a MOT next month so I think I’ll get the garage to give it the once over an a tune up.  

Some pics below. Needs a good wash tomorrow or Monday. 

     

Final garage tidy up

Forecast is good for tomorrow morning so I’ve had a final clear out in the garage. Looks to enought room.  Tape measure and bean cane are length & width of a wide body car. 

 

Wesfield Insurance

I always dread the annual renewal arriving for my road cars. Checking round for the best quote always feels like such a chore. In honesty Ive reached the point of just auto renewing as my premiums are now a lot more reasonable. One of the benefits of getting older I guess.

I was slightly concerned that getting insurance for a Westfield would be a real PITA but again it was the WSCC to the rescue with some recommendations as ‘normal’ insurers often wont insure a kit car or a Q registration. I completed an online form with A-Plan and they duly called me back. It was such a refreshing change to speak to a friendly UK based person who clearly understood the car and the typical requirements. All the options around transferring no claims discounts, excess, limited mileage options and legal cover were all explained clearly. After a brief period on hold I was offered two quote options based on 3 or 5 thousand miles a year. Being ambitious I went for the 5k option, added legal cover and a years breakdown all with change from £200.

Plan is still to collect the car on Saturday, provided its not pouring down! I’ll post some pictures then too.