Barred

Has it really been two weeks since I last posted? Unbelievable, but then I guess that's a knock-on effect of the ankle which is, at this rate, going to take months to put right. The problem is two fold. One, I can't actually walk that easily on it yet and two, I don't have any foot wear that fits over the swelling. But no matter.
Last weekend Widget came over to laugh at me limping round the house, to share some cake, and to help fit the new roll bar to the Caterham.
Just as suspected this wasn't a straight forward swap, but needed various other bits removing first, then refitting once the roll bar was on, then removing again along with the roll bar when we noticed that because of the forward slope of the new roll bar the headrests can only be fitted prior to the roll bar being in place. But then Caterham ownership is one long learning curve.
We also learnt it's best not to drop seat-harness top hat bushes down the back of the seats but luckily, Widget has very narrow arms.

(Cake of choice for today was My Kipling's French Fancies. Or just Fancies as the French call them)

Back door action.

Alas any car related activity has been all but suspended due to me sustaining to a broken ankle.
Bother.
But, the good news is the new rear door for the Defender, sourced on that Aladdin's cave of car parts; eBay, has arrived. And what a beauty it is. It'll need stripping and repainting to match the Defender's Blenheim Silver, but it's completely solid and is the later version of the Defender rear door - a one piece pressing with a more robust wheel carrier. Winner.
No idea when I'll get to fit this though. Can't even standup at the moment.

Waiting Game

The weather this past week has been great for being out in the Caterham. Even took the doors off last weekend for that completely open cockpit experience (although Aeroscreen users might disagree) and went for a blast down to the Seven Stars pub near Petersfield. This is rapidly approaching "favourite" status. Perhaps this is down to my route there predominantly being along the much talked about A272, well known for it's mixture of sweeping curves, tight bends and bikers wedged in trees.
Last week alone I went twice, both times in the Caterham, although on one occasion the Rev Limiter was fitted.

Both the cars should be treated to some new parts in the next couple of weeks.

The Seven is scheduled to get a new, thicker roll bar (left)and the Defender is due a new rear door. Both items are in the pipeline, one more firmly than the other. The roll bar is coming all the way from Darlington courtesy of the For Sale section of BlatChat, and I have a TD5 rear door bookmarked on eBay. The latter usually fetch a very good premium, although in my case I can afford to go a little higher on bids since the purchase is being assisted by a colleague of mine for whom I replaced a head gasket on a 300TDi Discovery a couple of weeks ago.

But it doesn't end there. At the Phoenix Night meeting of ReHaB on Wednesday, a bloke called Phil came along with some very nice seats fitted to his car. They're copies of Tillet racing seats, and very good copies at that. So good in fact, that some of the guys commented that they were even better than the must-have Tillet. And significantly cheaper. Maybe this is what makes them better? And there was me assuming it was purely a visual reference.

Whilst I'm looking forward to these two upgrades, I just know fitting either item won't be the "one size fits all" solution that both Land Rover and Caterham frequently promise yet fail spectacularly to deliver. I think it's down to the cars being hand built, and the fact that no two pairs of hands are the same.

For more on the Seven Stars go here (They serve Badger beer.....and badger's are cool):
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/13/13026/Seven_Stars/Stroud

Good as gold.

So, having received the reminder about the Caterham's insurance being due soon, that prompted me to check when that other twelve-monthly administrivia, the MOT test, is due. Or rather was due.
In the case of the Seven it turns out it expired over a month ago, something I totally overlooked.
Thing is, there are a couple of things I wanted to sort out prior to the MOT test. One sidelight has ceased to illuminate, the speedo still needs attention and the handbrake is less than enthusiastic in the execution of it's duty.
Sidelight turned out to be a straight forward bulb replacement, the speedo isn't tested on an MOT and I successfully tightened the handbrake.
And it gets better....
On my way back from purchasing a new sidelight bulb (or two since Halfords seem to think they only ever blow in pairs, obviously), I called in at a local MOT test centre to book an appointment. In keeping with the good weather, another ray of sunshine came my way when they were able to fit in the Caterham for it's test just four hours later!

And it passed.
It more than passed. The MOT tester described it as "Good as gold".
There was a trio of advisory points but in the life of a Caterham these are almost standard:
Slight play in the steering felt at the wheel;
A leak where the exhaust down pipes join the back box;
And the near side front tyre is approaching the legal minimum.
Pah!
At least the car's legal again.

Ok, Half a Big Weekend

Feel a bit of a fraud really.
After a long day at Gaydon among Land Rovers I couldn't face the frankly horrendous prospect of an 07:30 rendezvous for the Blat to Stoneleigh.
Note to self: Must try harder.
Actually, before I go much further in the Seven, I must get the speedo sorted. Last December the car had a five speed box fitted by the chaps at Redline, and the speedo hasn't been quite right since then. Being involved professionally in mostly aluminium cars and everything they represent, the fine fellows at Redline weren't exactly surprised when I told them and have tentatively agreed to fix the speedo but need to see the car first to assess the full extent of the problem. On paper it's "just" the speedo drive cable come adrift from the gearbox.

One Big Weekend

Just as BBC youth-radio station Radio 1 have their "One Big Weekend" then so too do owners of aluminium cars.

Today Widget and I visited the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon for the much anticipated 60th anniversary of Land Rover.

In keeping with the style of vehicle, the event was loosely assembled to say the least and appeared to follow an evolutionary process, rather than an actual plan or blueprint. Despite this we did get to see tidy examples of numerous rare variants of Solihull's finest.

That said, every time I see a fully restored and completely authentic Series II SAS "Pinkie", I can't help but feel a smidge of sympathy for the owners of such vehicles who, having spent years restoring the vehicle and gathering suitable period accessories, have to display it alongside a battered V8 One Ten bought at auction, roller-painted in beige then drenched in a healthy dose of tat harvested from the "militaria" section of e-Bay (usually by someone who swears blind they could've been a Royal Marine but failed the spelling test on a time penalty because their pencil broke)

The Bob & Widget Award for the Best Club Display goes to the Series II & III Club who had at least made an effort and a very credible one at that, with a small static convoy of long and short wheelbase Series vehicles, some absolutely immaculate, others well used but no less appealing because of it. By clever use of chopped down rims and tyres a couple of the cars appeared to be sinking/stuck and were being recovered by the others. Top stuff and entertaining in a typically cheeky Series way.

We also gained entry to the Gaydon museum itself, which houses those pipe dreams, day dreams and wet dreams from the last days of the Rover Empire. It is truly a museum of the bizarre, with freaks such as a Rover SD1 Estate and a four-seat TR7 fast-back. What British Leyland were smoking back then is anyone's guess but they were clearly big fans of Logan's Run, Captain Scarlet and Quatermass as all the cars on display have subtle undertones of "This is what we in 1976 think the year 1998 should look like".

The aluminium car big weekend continues tomorrow in the Caterham with a run to the Kit Car show at Stoneleigh. Not entirely sure at this stage what this particular show is all about but I think there's a clue in the title, and whatever happens it should be a good blat there and back in the company of several fellow Seven owners.

Damage Control

So, it's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged, a situation brought about in no small way by the failure of my personal laptop.
Unlike my cars it is neither aluminium nor British-made and hence completely unrepairable.
By contrast, both cars have suffered minor failure or faults in the last two weeks yet neither of them have become unusable as a result. This is reassuring to say the least.
The Land Rover suffered a near-catastrophic failure of a universal joint on the front prop shaft during the return journey from our weekend in Derbyshire. This manifested itself as a squealing graunching noise every time the vehicle pulled away, something Widget and I confidently convinced ourselves was categorically not a failing universal joint. We dismissed this so readily based around very extensive previous experience of failed universal joints all over the country. By chance, like most scientific discoveries, we came to the conclusion that if a laning trip is planned to anywhere with "District" in it's name, then a universal joint will fail, most probably on the return journey. But all was not lost. The front prop shaft was removed and the vehicle made roadworthy again, in two wheel drive only, in under twenty minutes, something of a personal best.
All this was overseen by tea and cake, obviously.














The following weekend the other aluminium car took it's turn as flagship of the fleet with a trip to the Isle of Wight for "WightBlat'08". We were treated to the sort of weather you'd expect for the South Coast in early spring, namely driving rain, localised flooding, hail and occasional flurries of snow.
This highlighted the second failing to blight aluminium car ownership this month, a leaky windscreen. A little moisture inside either the Caterham or Land Rover is not unheard of, due to the unique way they are made, but what was most interesting is that the Caterham seemed to remain dry where you'd most expect it to allow water in, and yet flooded with ease where you'd least want it to. In this instance water flowed freely through the join between the windscreen frame and the glass itself, almost precisely in the driver's field of view only. This was easily cured temporarily with judicious application of black insulating tape.














WightBlat itself was a roaring success. Being based in a holiday camp left over from the 1960s, this evoked something of a Blitz spirit among the assembled Caterham owners who were determined to enjoy themselves despite the venue smelling like a church hall, the breakfasts being rationed and the swimming pool having more than a little in common with neat Domestos. It occured to me during the weekend that the tolerance required to own and drive a Caterham is not dissimilar and this is probably why we had such a great time.

Both cars are now fixed. A new universal joint for the Land Rover and some silicone sealant for the Caterham.
And tea for me.