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 24th January 2009.....I managed to get half a day and some of the evening on the half a car. (I don't like that, it'll have to have a name!). I cleaned another load of underseal off of her and I cut the outer rear valance off to get to the inner. This was the bit I was worried about because I need a reasonably good one. Well surprise, surprise, as Cilla would say, it was pretty good. Okay the bottom edge is a bit ropey but the rest is   defiantly useable. The very end of the chassis rails are now also visible and are okay. On SHW the chassis rail ends are nonexistent and there is no inner valance, (or outer come to that). Saying that the outer on "shorty", (there...that's it's new name), was just bits of bent wire covered in filler. I started on the shock turrets as well and I will save these even if they are only good for a pattern at a later date. I also intend to save the wheel arches. Now these are made in two half's and my intension is to get at least one of these sets off again to use as a pattern, but we will see. The little bit of underseal I've managed to get off the arch at the moment gives the impression that it's in reasonable shape. The bolt hole is the exception as always. I'll keep you updated.
21st January 2009.....Okay I've started to clean up the underside of the half a car. I've taken the underseal off a fair bit now and it looks reasonably good. The edges are the only bits showing slight rust spots. (I won't be using them anyway). I've managed to get the tank out and I will need this  f
or SHW, as if you remember, the petrol tank just collapsed in on itself when I first put her in the garage in 2007. The petrol tank looks okay at first glance but I haven't attempted to clean it up yet. I know the pictures aren't great but it gives you an idea. I believe SHW will take me about two years to do, even with a little help from my friends and the fact that it will not be anywhere near DHR's standard. But if I can save this shell I'll be a very happy bunny. I lost my Viva keys on Monday at the school. I've searched everywhere. I've re-traced my steps looked in bins etc. but no joy. Jo had to bring the spare set over. Because of this I put my immobilizer on yesterday, can you guess what's coming next? It took me five minutes and 300 swear words before I remembered!
19th January 2009.....Garage is clean again and I'll be attacking the underside of the half a Viva tonight for the first time. This is to see what can be used to bring SHW back to life. We were having one of our usual nonsensical man discussions today at work and it turns out I know immediately the age and birthday of DHR but wasn't quite sure of my wife's age and birthday. What does this say about me I wonder?
18th January 2009.....I did manage to get some car time this weekend, although half a day was used to clean DHR properly because she was in a terrible state. I used the jet wash on her to help get the salt off. She looked great when I'd finished. The trouble is Monday is going to be wet so I'll be back to square one. I need to sort a daily drive out! I spent most of Saturday in the garden as it was a nice day. On Sunday I managed to clean about three quarters of the garage and I've only really got the top end of the bench to go, plus the rubbish around the door. I'll be doing that Monday night. What I did manage to do was bring the half a Viva to the front of the garage so I can start cleaning it up to find out how good or bad it is. Then I can formulate a plan for SHW. I'll try and get a picture in for tomorrow.
15th January 2009.....I've been using DHR for work at the moment. The bloody Astra has now become so unreliable that I'm scared to even stop for petrol in case it doesn't start again. Now the problem is the cars worth nothing and I'm reluctant to spend money on it. Changing the sensors, (which is what we think the problem is), could cost a fair bit and the cars just not worth it. I then leave the car for a day or two and when you next try it, it starts first time! I have one of those plug in diagnostic tools and when she won't start I plug it in. Guess what it says? There's nothing wrong with the car! Now I'm sitting there in a car that won't start, but the electronics' are telling me all's well. It's enough to make you hit the steering wheel very hard and hurt your hand. Not that I did that of course. Okay I did and it hurt. I just can't work on today's cars. The wife can't understand this! She says, "You built the Viva engine and got it going, why can't you fix this". So I have a cunning plan, a plan that is so simple you could call it stupid and it wouldn't understand. I'm scraping the Astra and buying another Viva for my daily drive. There are plenty of positives to this plan, (bear with me here please, I need to convince myself and my wife so this has to be good). 1.) If it goes wrong I'll have a fighting chance to fix it. 2.) Its a Viva. 3.) The insurance will be cheap. 4.)Its a Viva. 5.) Its tax free. 6.) Its a Viva. 7.) It will be a daily runner so I won't worry about some dylan sliding into it in the rain/ice. 8.) Its a Viva. So in fact there are no negatives at all. Brilliant! Well apart from having to live in the garage until Jo's calmed down. I'll let you know more when I know more.
12th January 2009.....Well it seems a long time since I updated the site. Sorry to all my readers. December was very hectic, then I've been ill with the dreaded man flu. This vicious virus cut through my immune system and put me in bed for a week, even though I fought it with all my might. As you might guess I've had no sympathy from either my wife, or my so called Viva friends. I got my really bad case of flu because over the Christmas holiday's I spent my time moving the fish to their new home
. Yes that's right, in the coldest weather Britain has seen since the ice age I was up to my arms in freezing cold water. The day I moved the fish, (the day after Boxing day), I had to break the ice on the pond to put them in. When I rinsed the pond plants off under the
outside tap it actually felt warm on my hands. I will admit here to wearing bright yellow rubber kitchen gloves to do this, but my god was it cold? All through the cold snap my new waterfall still kept going but the rocks certainly froze around it. If you look at the picture you will see the new
frame I've made to cover the pond to stop the bloody heron's eating my fish. We see the big buggers on the rooftops opposite looking and waiting to see what they can get. Well try getting mine now! Work on the Viva's has been nonexistent apart from one evening when I cleaned up the spare big valve head. It's still sitting in the parts washer, but it does look clean! This coming
weekend I'm out on Sunday but I hope to spend so
me time cleaning the garage up after
all the garden work. I've tended to just dump stuff where I
could find a space and it's a real mess, as the following two pictures show. After
that I will spread my
time between the garden and SHW. I can't wait to make a start on her. I
also have another cunning
plan
which I'm hatching as I write, but can only reveal it in a week or so's time. So you'll just have to wait.
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