Zel's Eclectic Fleet Blog (Volvo, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & Occasional Distractions)

[JPB]

EVs, yes please but I'll wait for Hydrogen outlets to be available on more than the eleven sites currently supplying owners of Toyota, BMW and others who have, but seem not to publicise widely, that they can supply onboard Hydrogen fuelled, rather than mains charged EVs.

I just looked up the split and as is usually the case, five of that eleven are within the M25 , only two are so far supplying the whole of Scotland - both dedicated Hydrogen outlets - with a further two based in existing fuel forecourts. The government has plans to roll out more but that existing two, where would they be d'you suppose? surely over on the west coast within a few miles of Glasgow? No, they're on NISA forecourts! Whoopee, atomic energy and the full range of CoOp foodstuffs in one easy, quick stop, what could possibly go wrong?

OK. Apart from that, what could go wrong?

[Zelandeth]

I was (very, very) peripherally involved in the introduction of the hydrogen filling station in Aberdeen for the bus and refuse vehicle fleet...and being totally honest unless the industry as a whole has come a LONG way in the last seven years, it's not going to be a viable solution for the masses for a long while yet. That whole thing was a complete shambles from pretty much ten steps before square one.

That's not even going into the hydrogen for it being delivered from a tanking facility in England, by diesel powered tanker travelling halfway up the country...I think they might have at least resolved that by now but it was definitely the proposal when I was last involved, and was one of many details which made me want to bash my head against the nearest wall. Especially as one of the whole ideas behind the area being chosen for the project was that electricity to make the hydrogen was going to come from offshore wind power as we had a stinking great offshore wind farm on our doorstep.

From what I've heard (I left just before the scheme went live sadly so the majority of my information is third hand) they've have never ending problems with basically every single aspect of the program, from fuel pumps that don't work in the rain to buses that can't do hill starts and pretty much everything in between.

This was in a commercial setting to which the public didn't have access, serving a pretty small fleet of specialised...how that equipment would respond to the pressures of being used by the general public is hard to figure out...wait...no, no it really isn't.

[Zelandeth]

Not been much to report on the fleet really. My Covid jab left me feeling pretty well wiped out for a few days - nothing really to write home about, just absolutely dead tired. Having hurt my hand also largely put me off doing much in the way of practical work.

Feeling more myself today though and my hand is pretty much sorted (though it still looks an interesting colour of purple), so took TPA out for a run today to get some errands run.





Seemed to dodge the worst of the weather too, given that it rained quite heavily just before I went out and just after I got home. Was a little breezy for her on the A5, but nothing too drastic. Just meant made a point of keeping the speed down a bit and being ready to counter the inevitable wobble at a couple of points.

[Zelandeth]

Really would be nice to get out somewhere to grab some more interesting photos one day...



Though she did tick over 13K miles today.



Quite astonishing how much more quickly that has rolled round than 12K took! 350 plus change miles to go and that will be two thousand miles she's covered under my ownership.

Once we get there it will be time for a proper service again. Oil, filter, check plugs, check points, clean fuel filter & carb inlet screen, check and adjust valve clearances, change gearbox and final drive oils, grease driveshaft slip joints, inspect CVT belt, check front wheel bearing, grease all the grease points, adjust brake shoe free play...and probably half a dozen other things I've forgotten. Aside from the obvious "have a good crawl around in, around and under the car and address anything which seems amiss."

To be fair the thing on there which probably takes the longest is actually removing the service hatch in the back of the cabin to get to the gearbox/CVT/final drive assembly as it's a bit fiddly. Well, aside from the valve clearances anyway. Though at least I have new rocker cover gaskets this time so not trying to save those will save me a few minutes.

[Zelandeth]

Managed to actually catch the alternator on the Jag in its non charging state today which is brilliant as it let me check a couple of things.

Most notably that I have confirmed that when it's acting up I have no ignition light. So either the brushes are worn or sticking - or both. Whacking it with the handle from my trolly jack made it work again.

I *think* I can change the brush pack without having to remove the whole alternator from the car. Reckon with the offside air filter and backing plate off I should be just about able to get to it. This is great news as it suggests the alternator itself is sound.

With it having been an intermittent fault before it had always rectified itself before I got to a point I could stop so I wasn't sure what was going on, but the alternator has always been a bit weak - hopefully a new set of brushes will sort it.

[Zelandeth]

Having managed to fall off my bike in a moment of stupidity a couple of days ago, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that I've cracked rather than bruised at least one of my ribs. I am *really* sore.

Had quite a few errands to run today, injured or not.

Did a bit of experimentation and wound up figuring out pretty quickly which car was the least uncomfortable to drive (not going to say it was painless, but it was by far the least painful!).



TPA to the rescue. About 50 miles of driving today, bit around town, bit out in the dual carriageway, all taken in her stride.

The whole "it gets better with every mile" thing is a terrible cliche...but I'd be lying it that didn't seem to be the case with this little car. Not sure if some of that is just me getting more used to and comfortable with the car or if it's actually true.

Never fails to make me smile every time I drive her that's for sure.

She needs a wash now though, she's collecting quite the coating of bugs on the nose now.

[Zelandeth]

New oil pressure switch has been fitted to TPA.



Sadly this hasn't fixed the oil leak (well, it's helped) as precisely as I expected it seems to be coming from the crankshaft oil seal. It's not a major leak though so honestly I'm not worrying too much about it.

I had to run over to Northampton today to drop a couple of things off. That's about 25 miles each way from here...obvious choice of transportation.



This little car never fails to make me smile. Really does far better on the open road than she has any right to.

We did have the first failure of the year though - albeit a minor one. This happened when I pulled the door closed.



I think the solution to this is basically going to be to pull it out and smear a shedload of Sikaflex into the join between the inner and outer door skins where they overlap. This issue dates back to the stinking great hole in the inner door skin above the latch.

That panel takes quite a beating as it's the only thing the door pull is attached to and this door takes quite a slam to close.

Not going to complain really, as failures go this is a minor inconvenience. Held me up all of 30 seconds while I coerced the two bits of door back into their respective places.


There is definitely news on the fleet as a whole though... namely that someone has spoken up who wants the Jag. My former flatmate back up north who has long had a Jag obsession. Keeping the car "in the family" so to speak would make me exceedingly happy. This won't be happening immediately as they need to move a car on first, but it's the start of a plan.

If I can make this work...we might have some changes soon.

[Dick]

If you sell your jag i will really miss it! Its as close as i will ever get to owning one...

[Zelandeth]

If you sell your jag i will really miss it! Its as close as i will ever get to owning one...

So will I!

If I had a garage to keep it in (heck, or even a carport to keep the worst of the weather off) I'd almost definitely keep it. I can see the body deteriorating with it living outside year round though and I'm just never going to keep up with it. The fact it leaks like a sieve means the interior is sopping wet for half the year too.

I never thought I'd get a chance at driving, much less owning one and am hugely glad to have at least ticked the box.

The car which hopefully will be inbound soon fits into a similar category where I thought I'd never ever have a chance to own one as the prices have gone mental in recent years. Not quite as flashy about it as the Jag, but similarly classy and the sort of thing which might well have shared a garage or driveway with the Jag when new as the practical car for the family.

A bit care worn around the edges in a few areas, but for the price I'm being offered it for I can deal with that!

[Dick]

Oooh new toys!! Tell me more