:: Diary - September 2017 ::

:: Sunday, September 3, 2017 ::

Another Sporting Bears event today. This time, it's the Bo'ness Hillclimb Revival, and I think this is our fourth year there.

I spent a bit of time yesterday cleaning the Chevy - half the time getting the white walls white, with soapy water and a nylon dishwashing scourer. They come up right nice though.

The other half of the time was spent washing the rest of the car, checking the oil level, tyre pressures etc.

Then I had to go along to the farm and collect all the kit - the gazebo, banners, bears etc that we need to put a display stand together.

So today, all I have to do is stroll out the door, turn the key, turn it again and again until it starts… then we're off! It's only about 15 miles or so, so it doesn't take long. We wait for enough people to arrive, and start putting everything together.

We have lots of teddy bears all having their picnic…

We also have a wee car-racing bear getting his car repaired.

There don't appear to be many American cars here today - I saw a 1960s green Mustang fastback like the one in Bullitt, and a more modern Mustang that was originally yellow but has been wrapped in blue. I end up speaking to a few American car owners, although their cars aren't here.

On the way home, I open the taps a bit on the straight bits, just for shits and giggles - more of the former than the latter, admittedly, the handling isn't exactly sporty.

:: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 ::

A wee Range Rover story.

It has been smoking like a lab beagle on piecework recently, when you accelerate. Now we're not talking about a wee puff of smoke, we've got a huge black smokescreen like a squid on full camouflaged retreat.

I though it was intake hoses - they are renowned for those cracking - so I replaced them but no difference.

Last Thursday I had it in for a service at a wee independent (who owns and is rebuilding a Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera, and likes to be reminded how the things go together, so I’m his pal). Anyway, I asked them to look at this smoking thing, thinking it might be injectors or turbo (although I doubt it, it seems to go ok, just in front of the smoke cloud).

Good news is, they found the fault, it's a crack in the inlet manifold, so it's losing air (and boost pressure) and overfuelling, and all that extra fuel comes out of the exhaust as soot. The bad news is that the inlet manifold is also the rocker cover, and it's all moulded together in plastic, and costs £400 plus the dreaded VAT. Fitting is booked at 7 hours, so costs even more. We are looking at an all-in price of around £1,000 to £1,200...

Which is a bugger.

The mechanic shows me a video he made on his phone, during the smoke test, and you can see the crack under a layer of oily muck. Since he took the pictures while the engine was still in one piece, the crack must be pretty accessible, no?

When I get home, I take off the plastic engine cover and spray some soapy water on the manifold where I think the crack was in the video. With the engine running, the boost pressure escaping through the crack is blowing bubbles all over the place.

We can repair this at minimal cost, I'm sure. And if it doesn't work, how much worse off will I be, than I am now?

So today, I remove the plastic cover, and then the fresh air heater duct that covers the back part of the engine. With the aid of a small stepladder, I can climb up on top of the engine, disconnect a couple of electrical wires, and clean the top of the manifold with carb cleaner and an old cloth. Now I can see the crack more clearly.

Now here's the clever bit. I use an old soldering iron (ok let's admit it, the only soldering iron I own but it must be at least 40 years old) to "plastic weld" the crack. I use an offcut of black cable tie as a "filler rod".

With that done, I repeat the soapy water test with the engine running - it's a lot better, but there is a pinhole right at the end of the crack. A wee dab and rub with the soldering iron, and that's sorted.

So that's it sealed. I strengthen the repair with one of those two-pack epoxies that you squeeze out of 2 tubes, then smear it in as it dries.

Then I put the electrical connectors back in place, and the two engine covers.

Then I do a Mary Berry and leave it to bake in the engine heat for an hour, before a wee test drive. No black smoke! There is a sort of "haze" but I figure the exhaust must be full of soot, so it will need to burn that off.

That took me an hour and a half, and it cost me nothing (except possibly a new soldering iron if I can't get the plastic off this one).

Let's see if it lasts! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.

:: Sunday, September 17, 2017 ::

It's a nice day, and I'm not that busy, so I decide to have a play with a few foutery wee things on the Chevy.

I bought some spark plugs with a slightly hotter rating, in the hope that they might help to burn off the "oiling-up" I'm getting on a couple of cylinders. I make sure they're all gapped properly, and replace them all in about half an hour. Small Block Chevys are easy to work on (apart from one plug that's a bastard because the steering box is in the way).

Then I refit the drivers door weatherstrip, which is coming out of its clips.

:: Sunday, September 24, 2017 ::

I've booked the car in to the "Wings and Wheels" show at the Scottish National Air Museum today, as an individual entrant. So it's up early for the drive through. I pass a few classics on the way, most of them newer than the Chevy. And slower. Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I get parked up, right on the corner of the display area, and opposite the bacon roll van and the donut van, which is always a bonus.

First stop, the bacon roll shop. Unfortunately, it turns out to be not very good. Oh well.

This is where I come over all arty.

Classic 50's American!

Mk 1 Cortina pre-crossflow engine - I don't know how many times I have lifted one of these from one car to another in my youth.

and including fixing that fuel pump with a crisp bag in an emergency!

I also find this very nice Dodge Charger, and have a chat with the owner.

There's also a very entertaining stunt motorcycle show in the arena just across from me, and also a bird of prey display, which is pretty impressive.

I finally give in to the smell of donuts, and buy a packet to eat in the car - except to save the seats from a sugar overdose, I eat them sitting in the boot, watching the arena. Very comfy!

Soon, it's time to leave, so we all head out. On the fastest bit of the A1, on the dual carriageway, the front nearside wheel cover flies of and scythes its way up the grass embankment into the landscaping. I finally get stopped about 1/2 a mile up the road, and walk back. Can't see the cover though, until I spot a mowed strip disappearing into the bushes - and at the end of it, is a wheel cover! I can't get it to go back on the wheel though, so I chuck it in the back and drive home.

:: Tuesday, September 26, 2017 ::

First job is to refit this wheel cover. I discover, now that I have time to look at it properly without lorries whistling past my arse (which is always a teeny bit distracting, don't you find?) that the edges of the cover are bent over, so it won't clip back into the wheel properly. This probably explains why it flew off in the first place.

I carefully set up a straightening jig, which involves putting the edge of the cover on a block of wood, and hitting it with another block of wood, gradually all round until it's all straight again. Refit it to the wheel, and it grips tighter than a golddigger to her sugar daddy's wallet.

First, I notice that the LH rear tyre is going soft again. A wee squirt with soapy water shows that air is coming out between the valve and the rim - it's a metal valve so maybe I just need to tighten it up (on the inside).

So I jack up the car and take off the wheel, and load the wheel and a selection of tools into the Range Rover and go along to the farm to use their tyre machine. I get the tyre off the wheel bead, and right enough, the valve bolt isn't that tight. With that tightened up, I re-inflate the tyre - it's still leaking - not as much, but still. I take the tyre off again and remove the valve - the rubber seal at the rim is distorted, so I need to replace it - except I don't have replacement seals with me. So I put it back together for now anyway.