Zel's Fleet Blog...Rover, Renault, Peugeot, Trabant, Invacar & Sinclair C5

Post pictures and stories about your cars both present and past. Also post up "blogs" on your restoration projects - the more pictures the better! Note: blog-type threads often get few replies, but are often read by many members, and provide interest and motivation to other enthusiasts so don't be disappointed if you don't get many replies.
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Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#941 Post by Zelandeth » Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:21 am

Dick wrote:
Thu Jul 08, 2021 6:09 am
Oooh new toys!! Tell me more :drool: :drool: :drool:
All in good time, seeing what people think I'm about to get myself into is half the fun!

-- -- --

TPA was out and about again today.

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Uneventful trip, though between running later than I'd planned and trying to outrun some very ominous looking weather I decided it was about time we tested something out - how would she handle the motorway?

Answer? Absolutely fine. Thrums along quite happily at 60, and the smoother road surface makes it seem positively relaxed compared to the A45 on the way out.

Didn't find I got blown around too much, only vehicle which required any actual correction for was a coach which did shove me a bit to one side...but not badly so. Only directional annoyance was there being a seam for several miles right in the lane where I really wanted my front wheel to be! Eventually realised that there's actually a lot of lane to play with when you're in such a small car...so just moved a foot or so to the left.

Being absolutely honest she holds speed at 60 better than the van. Doesn't feel intimidating at all which is nice. While I'd done these speeds before this was by far the longest I'd ever held her at 60 so I was keeping a careful eye on the temperature - didn't budge from 155-165C, so absolutely no worries there - nice to see given that cruising at speed wasn't ever really on the requirements list when she was designed.

I'd always been quite hesitant to take her on the motorway and had taken twice as long to get a few places because of that, but honestly I've zero worry about using it again...only proviso is I wouldn't want to try it on a windy day...that would probably be terrifying.

She will definitely do 70, but it does feel you're making her work though. 60 though feels well within her comfort range - well 62 is what I'll probably actually use when not in a 60mph average speed trap - so I'll basically wait till I spot a coach going my way and just slot in behind them. It's not a major issue though to buzz up to 70 to overtake a lorry...or dawdling Prius though which is nice to know.

If I do ever embark on my round country trip knowing that motorways aren't terrifying will definitely be a bonus as trying to avoid them entirely during that would be a real pain.

This little car keeps surprising me. I expected the motorway test not to be a huge deal but I was really surprised at the ease she dispatched the test!


Regarding the new purchase I've come up with a plan of attack. The one known mechanical issue it has currently is a brake caliper which - occasionally - sticks. Probably be fine...but having quite a long drive home I'd rather keep Murphy's Law at bay. I've decided that I'm going to order a new caliper (well probably two actually as if one is playing up the other will probably cause issues in the future), and depending on the type of fitting, possibly the flexible lines as well. With that, a decent selection of fittings and some brake line so if we need to we can just change it. Our first stopover point will be roughly an hour from the collection point so hopefully that will give us a decent bead on how the car is behaving. I'd rather not change a caliper in a car park, but if we need to we will be equipped to do so!

PS. I've been wearing this thing two days now.

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I am utterly fed up with it already!
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

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Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#942 Post by Zelandeth » Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:33 pm

Over the weekend we were helping a friend move out of their house (not moving, but they're having a wholesale renovation done) so didn't have much opportunity to do anything - and am now quite broken from the physical work involved... especially as I went into it already with a duff wrist and cracked ribs!

I was very, very glad to hand this modern mess back on Monday morning.

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Horrible, horrible thing to drive. Though it has reminded me that I keep meaning to get a set of wide angle blind spot mirrors for my van as they are really nice to have.

Never driven a modern Transit I didn't hate. Really would like to try an 80s one to see how it compares to my Merc one day. Far prefer a proper old Merc T1 a modern Sprinter, but I'd take a Sprinter over this thing any day of the week.

Main things that drove me round the bend:

[] Horrible heavy, clunky gearchange (keeping in mind I've a knackered left wrist just now).

[] Dash is way too high which makes the front end blind spots twice the size they should be. I've never felt like I actually needed front end parking sensors on a van before!

[] Brakes are simultaneously spongey as all hell *and* basically have zero progression... they're on or off. This is made twenty million times worse because the pedal is so far up off the floor that you can't rest your heel on the floor and operate it...so you have to hover your foot on it like the clutch.

It is basically impossible it move smoothly at low speeds...which you do a lot of in a van. That brake pedal is one of the daftest bits of design I have ever come across.

[] Touch screen. Yes, everyone wants inbuilt sat nav these days...fair enough. However this one really ticks me off because it has essentially no off button. There is a button which will (after three presses) blank it...but it immediately springs back to life every time you restart it, change the blower speed, switch anything on/off, open a door or someone walks close enough to the front of the van at a crossing to trigger the parking sensors. It then doesn't go back to sleep...you have to manually turn it off again. Oh...and it's black text on a white background - even at night. Thanks Ford...great design.

[] Why are there no grab handles to help you climb into the cab? My spine would really have appreciated that...

[] The 3000rpm rev limit in first gear is sheer insanity. I just stopped using first gear because it made getting out into a busy junction or roundabout safely near impossible.

Rental van specs still make me scratch my head. Remote central locking, full Bluetooth connectivity etc, sat nav, heated front windscreen, auto folding electric mirrors, cruise control, but no air conditioning! C'mon guys it's 2021... wouldn't surprise me if they'd specifically deleted that...

Oh, and the synco on 3rd gear was crunchy...with 4700 miles on the clock! That doesn't instill much confidence.

Anyhow, I'm pretty much knackered and reckon it will be a good few days before I'm back to my usual levels of productivity. I did manage half an hour in the garage yesterday...well about 15 minutes actually before my body made it abundantly clear that it wasn't amused at the idea!

I've started on the 2000 mile checkup on TPA. We're within 150 miles now and it's no biggie if there's a few miles between things.

First check was on the spark plugs. These have been in there since I first started reviving the engine in KPL.

Nearside:

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Offside:

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Nothing concerning there I feel. Gap was still perfect so they were put straight back in - will have another look in another thousand miles.

It looks like the collection mission for the new arrival will be happening this weekend, most likely driving up on Friday afternoon and coming back on the Saturday as that's just when my lift is available.
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

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Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#943 Post by Zelandeth » Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:16 pm

Why yes, I did just do a Costco run by Invacar.

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Only a small one admittedly and 95% of it for other people, but nevertheless I'm sure a lot of people would have thought I was crazy.

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Granted, I think a lot of people think I'm crazy for driving it at all!
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

Dick
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#944 Post by Dick » Thu Jul 15, 2021 12:42 pm

Looks enormous from the inside, is it the tardis?

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Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#945 Post by Zelandeth » Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:16 am

Dick wrote:
Thu Jul 15, 2021 12:42 pm
Looks enormous from the inside, is it the tardis?
It's surprisingly roomly to be honest - largely as a function of its design. The ability to have a folding wheelchair sitting next to the driver (on either side) was a requirement. That combined with the fully flat floor (and absence of any pedals) means you actually have quite a bit of space to play with. So long as you can physically fit in and get to the gear selector to put it in drive you can stack stuff around you as much as you like really.

As demonstrated quite early on during testing when I found someone doing a garage clearance.

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Also shows well how different the cabin looks now. Astonishing the difference a little bit of trim can make.
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

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Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#946 Post by Zelandeth » Sat Jul 17, 2021 10:33 am

Few tools packed in case of issues....

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We're well on our way now, reckon there's another three or four hours driving left.

First time I've been a passenger for any real time in as long as I can remember!
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

User avatar
Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#947 Post by Zelandeth » Sat Jul 17, 2021 9:13 pm

Had a relatively uneventful trip up north today despite some really odd spots of heavy traffic. Managed to arrive within 30 minutes of our target time though.

To collect this.

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This is the latest addition to my little fleet. She's a 1986 230TE.

A W123 has been on my wish list for as long as I can remember however I'd tended to think that they had spiralled utterly beyond my price range - especially for the estates, which really are the only ones I could ever make make sense in our family - a saloon just doesn't offer me the necessary flexibility.

This example is quite careworn around the edges in a few places and definitely needs a bit of TLC, but seems generally fundamentally solid underneath it all.

Safely made it to our overnight stopover point.

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First thing I did was to straighten the emblem as it was sitting crooked and being able to see that from the driver's seat was making my teeth itch.

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Figured doing a fluids check tonight made sense so we can just go in the morning (assuming we don't come back to a huge lake under the car anyway). Initially this was foiled by the bit of wire which serves as the secondary bonnet release lever came off in my hand.

I did briefly consider taking the approach of "Let's just do the right thing and pretend we didn't see that... it'll be fine..." Before telling myself to stop being daft. First up, 300+ mile drive tomorrow. Secondly, you've played this game before with a friend's W123 so you know full well that it takes 30 seconds to resolve. Thirdly you've already been made aware that this car has a couple of oil leaks. Sure enough a minute of peering through the radiator grill to remind myself how the latch worked and we were in.

Yep... checking that was worthwhile.

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Much better.

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Coolant was also a touch low. Not drastically, but with 28C forecast tomorrow I figure the more help I can give it the better.

We'll just be taking it easy wherever possible on the way home.
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

Dick
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Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:31 pm

Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#948 Post by Dick » Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:43 am

Good choice :thumbs:
Have a great trip home :D

Dick
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#949 Post by Dick » Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:58 pm

Are you home yet?

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Zelandeth
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Re: Zel's Fleet Blog...Jag, Citroens, Mercedes, Sinclair & AC Model 70

#950 Post by Zelandeth » Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:46 pm

Dick wrote:
Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:58 pm
Are you home yet?
386 miles later she is safely home.

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So, so nearly made it without incident. We made really good time, after two checks en route to make sure we weren't losing any fluids we were quite happily bowling through the last stint, when on mile 372 of 389, four miles before our exit from the M1 we hit stationary traffic, out of the blue.

At which point we were parked almost motionless for 40 minutes, save for a couple of six foot creeps. On a 29C day, in direct sunlight, being blasted by the output from the radiator of the bus in front of us.

Approximately 39 minutes and 30 seconds into the wait, the engine stopped...and refused to restart...right as the traffic started moving off. In lane 2, on a bit of motorway with no hard shoulder...nor even any provision for pedestrian egress unless I fancied trying to clamber over s six foot tall concrete barrier wall.

Mercifully after about five minutes (however long it took me to get through to the police to report the issue I was causing), she restarted as though nothing had happened.

It felt like classic fuel vapour lock...which I've never personally come across on an injected engine before, but it would be theoretically possible I'd think with a continuous injection system like this as the injectors are essentially poppet valves. There is one thing I will definitely do though related to this incident will be to find the ignition amplifier, clean it up and apply fresh heatsink compound between it and whatever it's bolted to as if that overheated it could have caused our spark to drop out.

Never lost a drop of coolant nor overheated...got warmer than I'd generally like because I'm always wary of overheating, but nowhere near "in the red."


Just really lucky the traffic never got above walking pace until after I got the car going again.

Given the absolutely absurd number of dead cars littering the motorway today though I absolutely don't begrudge her having a momentary temper tantrum. It was pretty much exactly the sort of scenario you'd use for stress testing.

Other than that five minutes of mild panic though she ran absolutely perfectly the whole way.

I fuelled up just before calling it a day so I could calculate my economy, coming out at 30.2MPG. Not exactly going to win any prizes but perfectly acceptable.

Observations:

For all she looks a little care worn cosmetically in a few areas she actually drives incredibly well. The waft is strong with this one. She does have a decent turn of pace though when asked.

It took me until departing the toll booth on the M6 Toll to discover the front seat arm rest...and about another ten minutes to figure out how to deploy it.

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That huge, carpet lined cubby where most cars would have the handbrake is absolutely brilliant. I am going to miss that in everything going forward!

Why don't more cars have sunroofs this big?

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Cabin is generally a nice place to be...resecuring a couple of bits of trim, sorting the front and rear trim panel headlining and a really good clean will transform it.

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Really good rear legroom.

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Boot space is absolutely massive...this must be twice the size of the boot in the Lada which is the only other estate I've owned to date.

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It's the best part of 15 years since I last drove a W123...and I've definitely been reminded why they have such a strong following...they are cracking cars to drive. Not massively engaging, but a lovely way to waft around.

Really does feel in a lot of ways like a German Saab...and I mean that as a huge compliment.

Definitely glad to have bought it.

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The single combined indicator/wiper stalk is something I'm absolutely used to (and like) from the van... though it's on the opposite side of the column. I'd just about stopped flailing around into my keyring when cancelling indicators about the time we got home.

Had forgotten how nice and purposeful a growl these engines make higher in the rev range... it's that perfect blend of refined yet purposeful.

Issues we need to look into:

[] Aforementioned engine cutout incident...clean up, re-thermal goop the ignition amplifier module. In honesty an electric booster fan to help keep under bonnet temps down in traffic wouldn't be a bad thing these days.

[] Oil leaks. Rocker cover is definitely leaking...will sort that, clean up then see what else we find.

[] Valve clearances need setting I think as the top end is a bit tappy. I need to take the rocker cover off anyway so a good time to sort them. Sounds more like valve train than timing chain. It's a bit strange a setup on these engines as they have a central can which is completely hidden under the rockers, but I've done it before so no worries there.

[] Driver's seat base needs some help, feels like the springing has partly collapsed.

[] Secondary bonnet catch release handle is broken.

[] Electric adjustment for nearside mirror doesn't work.

[] Missing pin in NSF interior door release handle.

[] All four door locks loose in doors... already sorted. They all close with the proper solid thud now...love the noise they make, very reminiscent of Volvos.

[] In gear idle is a tad low.

[] Minor exhaust blow from somewhere.

[] Propshaft UJ wants either greasing or replacing as it clonks a bit when switching between drive/reverse.

The brightwork will be getting s polish shortly too...that alone will probably make quite the difference.

Something I always enjoy is nightime dash lighting photos so of course had to grab one. Once I replaced the one blown bulb in the heater blower knob anyway.

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Will need to revisit this as the illumination in the button panel above the heater doesn't seem to work currently.

Looking forward to getting stuck into that to do list!

Expect a couple of dozen photos tomorrow.
My website - aka. My *other* waste of time
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 88 Renault 25 Monaco. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.

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