|| Back to Old Latest News ||

31st August 2009.....I cleaned up all the valves from the head I got from Stevie Warner and cleaned all the springs etc. I then tried the valves in the original head. To say there was some 'free play' in the valve stems would be an understatement. This head is technically buggered. I also found out that the inlet valve in number 3 cylinder was also slightly bent. After checking DHR's bent ones I do have two that are okay but the edge of the valve at the base is much lower than the other ones. I think I'm going to need a new one from somewhere. I'm going to the Compasses on Wednesday night so will ask the question there. In the afternoon I sat and cleaned up one of the new Rostyle wheels I bought and it wasn't that bad. I will get these all in the blast cabinet soon to finish them off. I then tried to attach my newly made shock turret to SHW. What a balls up I made of that. I started by taking a template from DHR so I knew exactly where to fit the turret, then marked it up on SHW. Then I drilled some holes in the turret ready to plug weld in place and after that I would seam weld down either side. The turret would only touch the wheel arch on one side and however hard I tried I couldn't get it so that all the plugs could be welded. It had to come off. It came off alright! With a big hammer and a chisel. It's now sitting under SHW all buckled up. I cleaned myself up and went indoors feeling down. I'll try again sometime but will make a new one. All my energies for the next few weeks will be getting the engine out of DHR and fixing the two oil leaks. I better check if I've got some rope seals first I suppose!

30th August 2009.....I spent most of the day today cleaning the spare inlet manifold in the sand blaster. I enjoyed this. It gives great satifaction when you can see the dirt and paint coming off. The only down side is the noise from the compressor. I then gave it a going over with a wire brush on the drill and it looks very good. All the screwed in bits could be unscrewed and the parts that mate to the head look nice and straight. (The one on DHR has a small leak where it mates to the head). I used the edge of a metal ruler to check this. So that's the first bit ready for when DHR's engine comes out. Next I moved on to the original head. All I had chance to do today was clean it up a bit and I have left the valve springs and collets in the parts washer over night.

26th August 2009.....All is well again with DHR. (See Tatton link). I replaced the whole plate in the distributor last night as the screws that hold the points in place had stripped threads and you couldn't do them up tight. (Probably me as I do tend to do things up tight). I didn't even know I had a brand new plate, I think it came from Stevie Warner some time ago. I changed the plate, put the distributor back in, set the timing and away she went. The plate already had a set of points and a condenser on it so, without putting the old back on, I'll never know what it was for sure. It could just have been that the points had closed up because the screw wouldn't hold it. Still all's well now. That's my season over for DHR now as the engine will be coming back out now to cure the two oil leaks I have. One from the crank seal and the other from the very back of the rocker cover. I'm also going to get a good friend to come and cut a recess in the piston tops for me. He doesn't know this yet but he will when he reads this.

24th August 2009.....We went to Tatton Park over the weekend and had a very eventful weekend. It's well worth a read. You will see what an idiot I am and just how very, very lucky I am too. click here to read the Tatton write up.

20th August 2009.....I've made a patch! And it looks okay! It even fits! I've made a shock turret for the offside of SHW. It needs a little bit of work but not much. I even got an okay from Spot and if you know Spot that is very high praise. I'm getting ready for Tatton Park over the next few nights so won't be welding it in place until next week, but I couldn't wait to share my joy.

17th August 2009.....Well, well, well, what a great weekend that was! Arsenal win 1-6 away at Everton, I get brownie points from Joanne for work in the garden, I fix DHR's brakes/fuel line/radio and weld a difficult patch on SHW. Apart from having a romp with Liz Hurley, things don't get much better than that. I'll start with DHR. I connected the new copper/nickel brake lines up on Friday night but couldn't bleed them because my trainee mechanic, Joanne, was watching some soaps, or something, on telly!! Come Saturday morning and I get her up the garage straight away to help me bleed the brakes. I don't have to explain the procedure any more as she's done it loads of times now. Solid pedal achieved and a check underneath and no leaks...great start. I thank Joanne, pushing my luck by asking for a cuppa at the same time. On to the fuel line. After having the last part of the exhaust made in stainless, the join on the fuel line ran directly above the exhaust. I had no pipe of the correct size but managed to maneuver it so the join isn't directly above anymore, it's now about two inches to the left. I will try and get a whole new line at some stage, I'll put it on the list. I then took her out for a drive and re-checked the brakes for leaks when I got back. I hadn't driven her for five weeks so it felt great. The power cable to the radio had come loose ages ago so I re moved the centre co n sole and fixed that. I taped it up as well this time so hopefully it'll stop that happening again. I was going to clean her, but as I'm goi ng to Tatton next week end and would be using her in the week, I'll leave it till nearer the time. Instead I turned my attention to SH W. Armed with my new found belief in my welding skills(?!), I set about making a curved section to fit in the wheel arch. This is the bit that has the shock turret support welded to it. As a master panel beater I knew this wouldn't be easy. It curves around the arch and also slightly at the top. But usi ng the arch as a "dollie", (it's a technical term us master panel beaters use), I shape the metal. Then I cut it to size. This wasn't as good as I hoped as it could have been a tig hter fit. Still my welding skills would overcome that. And they did. I blew a few holes but managed to re-weld them. Click on the pictures to get a bigger size. You w ill be amazed! (I was). When I finished I looked like I'd been riding on the footplate of an old steam locomotive, but I did feel good. I celebrated with a bottle of red and a roast.

12th August 2009.....Have made the ends up for the replacement copper pipe for DHR. All seems to be well and I'll be fitting it on Saturday. I'll then get Joanne to help me bleed the brakes and take her for a nice long drive as a treat. Not Viva related but I'm feeling really knackered at the moment and I seem to be eating like a horse. I'll have to pull myself together soon or I'll have a job to fit in DHR's bucket seats.

10th August 2009.....Didn't get much done on the cars this weekend as it was Joanne's birthday and we went out for a meal on Sunday and had the relatives round after that. Joanne didn't know what she wanted for her birthday and my suggestion of some welding wire and gas was dismissed out of hand. After the swelling went down, what I did manage to get done was; to clean and re-set the plugs and points on the estate and a general check of fluids etc. (The plugs were all in good shape, no blackness and all looking the same. I then spent ages re-wiring the radio. Now this has a memory on it, but it was very similar to it's owner and wouldn't remember anything. As soon as it was switched off it lost all the settings. It took me about three hours but in the end I figured it out and now it remembers the stations, what the volume/bass was and even what track I was last listening to. It now has a superior memory to me! I did go and buy all the brake parts for DHR so will start that in the evenings next week.

5th August 2009.....Well folks I'm back! Did you miss me? No, didn't think so. Well I've just spent 14 glorious days sunning myself by a pool in the back of beyond in Portugal. Out in the sticks where the only sounds you could hear were the sounds of distance dog barks across the valley and Joanne moaning because she's to hot! We all need to wind down and that's just what I did. Ate, drank, swam and read. I got through 6 books. Proper novels, not Janet and John's. The most energetic thing I did was playing around in the pool with Alex. We even did synchronized swimming. I nearly drowned! But back to Viva's. Before I went away DHR had lost all her brake fluid from the last braided hose I'd put on her. I'm taking no more chances with these and have her up on ramps and have removed the last offending hose. Now because I'd modified the brake lines I will need to join the existing copper pipe from the front and connect it to the rear axle rubber hose which I'll put back on. I have a new axle hose so just need to make some new copper pipe up. Trouble is I've broken the last two brake flaring kits I bought. It wasn't my fault, they were defective. While I'm under this section of the car I'm also going to put a longer piece of copper fuel pipe on because the join to the braided fuel line from the tank is exactly above the new exhaust set-up. Even I know that's not a great idea! One small leak and all my hard work on DHR would be for nothing. So there we have it. I'm back with a bang...well I hope not!

Back to top