With old cars, it always seems to feel like you're taking it for a WOF. Six monthly WOFs for old cars is a bit mean, but I wouldn't trust it any other way, with the state of the rubbish on our roads.
So its been almost six months since
my first WOF inspection after getting the car on the road, and according to the previous WOF sheet, I've done a grand total of 186 Miles in that time. That's almost embarrassing, but in my defence, we did have COVID lockdown, and carpet replacement in that time.
With the car sitting for as long as it had, with minimal driving, I noticed last time I drove it that the tyres had gone a little out of round and the car shook quite badly at speed. This was to be expected, apparently on lower pressure big sidewall tyres like these they can get a flat spot from sitting on concrete, in about a month.
To fix this, and check the car was ready for its date with my WOF guy on Saturday, we took the car out for a decent run around the back roads. Mid-winter with the top down, a clear sky, and rugged up from the cold, its always an experience. An assault on the senses. My Wife is incredibly understanding sometimes.
Sure enough, the shakes quickly went away and the car ran and drove better than ever. Pulling well in all gears, and just a pleasure to drive. The improved shifter feel is great; very direct.
After that shakedown I was pretty happy, and ready for the WOF the next day.
Of course, if everything went to plan, it wouldn't be my car.
Driving along the motorway, just cruising along, not a care in the world as I head in for my WOF. I get to a set of traffic lights, and as they go green and I pull away with some gusto, BAM, the engine starts to splutter and cut out. As I back off it comes right again.
That was weird, so I give it another squirt, and sure enough, it's spluttering and cutting out. Oh no, I look around and assess my options just in case I need to pull over if it dies. I don't want to be that guy, stuck at the side of the motorway.
But then I had a thought, I remembered something.... I have just under a quarter of a tank left.
The wise words of my Wife pop into my head; "Does it have petrol in it?"
Yes, but once again, no. Its the
same issue I encountered early on, cutting out under acceleration as the fuel sloshes away from the pickups. Stupid design.
I carefully nurse the car along, and it has no more issues along the way. I fill both the tanks, Fitting a total of 37L in before it starts ejecting from the opposite side filler. With a 60L capacity, It leaves me with about 10 litres or so in each tank. It's not a problem if the tanks are half full, but its maybe an issue I will need to look into later, by adding a swirl tank or the likes (as TVR did in later production).
Anyway, the car gets inspected for its WOF, and comes away with a new sticker and a clean sheet. My WOF guy is very impressed with the car, and the work I've done since the last WOF.
Because my WOF guy is awesome I was allowed to pop under the car and take some photos of its general condition and get some reference photos for where the exhaust could be run. Its a bit dirty, and oily, but otherwise very good. Certainly none of the rust issues these cars are known for in the UK.
The rear diff and brakes are looking good still. Nice even wear on the rotors, and the diff has nowhere near as much oil on it as it used to. There appears to still be a small leak, as there was some moisture near the drain plug, but very minor. Nothing from the output shafts anymore.
These are the main pipes, hanging down under the chassis. I'm quickly wearing down the front of these due to a lack of ground clearance
Its a bit oily under the engine and box, but I've had worse. A good degrease would probably help, but I'm running it in an honest, "Its British" condition instead of pretending it doesn't leak.
Up front looks pretty good too, although I really should clean up the mess from previous radiator overflows/burps
And finally, a shot of the exhaust, back to front, including ugly clamp fitted when I cut the exhaust to refit the diff.
I need to talk to a real good exhaust maker, and see if there is any way they could redo the exhaust so it would fit into the chassis backbone, instead of hanging down. There isn't much space, but I think I might know how it can be done, and not above the gearbox either.
In the meantime, the car is still road legal, so I best make the most of it, and try and put more than 186 Miles on it in the next 6 months.
into gear and do more than the 186 miles I've done in the last 6 month period!
