Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[Gibbo2286]

The same result can be had with a short soak in basic cellulose thinners.

[Zelandeth]

Figured it was probably about time I stopped pretending the Lada didn't exist...time to drag it back out from under the tree. Said tree had been doing a predictably good job of attempting to bury it.









So you can guess what the next couple of hours involved!









The scuttle drains were unsurprisingly also full of tree so under the bonnet got the same treatment. No, she doesn't care in the slightest about the engine bay being jet washed by the way...I know the thought of taking a pressure washer near the engine bay strikes terror into some people...



The paint is still as flat as a pancake, but a couple of hours with the polisher should fix that. Will look to get the things I know she needs for the MOT ordered this week and see about getting that sorted out. She's essentially off the road for the winter now, but I'd like to get the MOT sorted anyhow as it means any prospective buyers can take a test drive legally then. I'd have been looking to sell the car with a full test anyway...so it needs doing one way or another.

On the plus side, I've had the exhaust all off recently as I had to separate the middle section off when I bodged it for the last MOT, so it should come apart pretty easily. I'll miss the very 1960s Fiat like raspy, crackly exhaust note from the tailpipe...the endless puffing and farting from half a dozen holes in the rest of the system...less so. Just annoying that the specific system for the estate is hard to find now. While the saloon and estate systems will technically fit, the bumper is lower on the Estate, so the saloon tailpipe sits *really* close to the offside bumper mount and towing eye - so close it tends to knock against it when starting or stopping the engine. The tailpipe for the estate should have an S shaped bend in it (like the ones on the old Volvo 240 etc) so it sits well clear. Sadly the Russian market don't seem to care about such details so only the straight saloon ones are commonly available.

Even more annoying is that a load of sellers will list the estate one and show the right picture, but if you order it what turns up is the saloon one. That's why at one point there were four of them in my garage...at least the brake calipers aren't awkward to get.

Still half sad to be trying to move it on as I do enjoy driving it - and it's still astonishingly comfy - but the hassle I've had with a couple of prospective buyers (who responded to the sign in the window, not from anywhere online) has really soured me on the car a bit. Plus there are other things I want too these days. I know they're everywhere at shows and such, but I really am fancying an MGB again these days. I'd forgotten how much fun they were to drive until I had a shot of one a couple of weeks back. Back when I last drove one though my budget for buying cars was like £200 if I really scrimped and saved...so they were well, well out my league! Whereas that's not necessarily true these days... especially as I don't want a show queen. Something with a few battle scars I'd not be afraid to leave in Tesco car park is far more my speed.

[Zelandeth]

This afternoon I decided to continue with the tidying the Lada and attacked it with the machine polisher.

I knew from prior experience that the paint on these cars despite being cheap, actually comes up pretty well.





Yep...takes a nice shine.









Still needs the fiddly bits I can't get into with the power polisher around the mirrors etc doing by hand and then to be drowned in as much wax as I can make stick to it. That might be tomorrow's task if time and the weather co-operate.

Last task for the evening was a bit of IT wrangling. Our household makes quite a bit of use of a digital "vault" on which pretty much every movie, piece of music etc has been backed up on. This then can be accessed over our local network by anything anywhere in the house. However the drive involved has been getting close to full lately...and there was no easy way to add another one as the drive was simply hooked up to the USB port on our wireless access point. This also make file management rather clunky.

Recently two old HP servers were added to my network, and it made sense to me to utilise one of these, as they're up and running 24/7 anyhow running distributed computing research clients.

These are really tidy little machines...hard to believe these are from 2007. Especially being so clean.



The lower hard drive is the one I've just added which has our media archive on...need to track down a right angled and shorter SATA cable (I've got one somewhere) as aside from being miles too long it means I can't refit the side panel at the moment.

Glad to report that despite all my previous attempts ending in abject failure, setting up the DLNA server this time worked first try.

[Zelandeth]

Really, DVLA?

No V11 received either...and the reference number isn't on there so I'll need to dig the V5 out.

The really annoying part though is that it's paid by direct debit...and they've taken both this and last month's payments, so I've no idea why the car would show as untaxed.

I'm going to have to phone them...this will be fun.

[daviemck2006]

Its showing taxed when I looked it up Zel

[Zelandeth]

It should do now, the DVLA have flat refused to admit that it's been a fault on their end, and refuse to admit that they've had the last two DD payments...a letter has been sent, we'll see if I get a response.

Nevertheless I need the car, so it's now been taxed - fighting with the DVLA has to take second place to actually needing to use it!

[Zelandeth]

Interestingly the Xantia which is currently pulling to the right under acceleration, stops doing that when accelerating at full throttle...issues with play in suspension bushes are weird sometimes...

Had cause to use full beans today for the first time in a while which was when I discovered this. Had honestly forgotten how unexpectedly quickly that thing can get off the mark...that really must have been properly rapid in the mid 90s. Definitely feels quicker than the Saab 900 T16S a friend used to have...even if the Saab won out in the audio stakes with that lovely idle burble.

In other news, the van has battle scars I need to sort now. Mercifully minor.

While stationary at a set of traffic lights an idiot in an Audi Q3 drove straight into the back of me...then immediately fled the scene via hopping over the central reservation, which leads me to believe that they either didn't have insurance, a licence, were pissed or stoned...or all of the above. On the plus side, they ripped their rear bumper off doing that so...karma I guess. Got air too, so their wheel alignment is stuffed. I did report it to the police, but as the car isn't reported as stolen and I don't have video they're not interested.

Thankfully, when the previous owner rebuilt the area under the bumper, they built it mostly out of chequer plate and a frame made from the hardest, densest wood known to man...so it can withstand nuclear attack. As such aside from an additional scuff on the bumper that already needs painting the only casualty was one of my number plate lights.



I think this may well have had a crack in it beforehand to be honest. New one is only £12 so no massive loss...just irritating.



Though that's actually £24 as if I only change the one it will stick out like a sore thumb that they don't match...so I'll be grabbing a second one from Motorserv once it's back in stock (they only had the one on the shelf).

Will get that fitted shortly.

Also on the subject of the van I think I've tracked down where some of the water is getting in to the gas locker, and it's not all from the one seam. Some is getting into the wall somewhere in the vicinity of the kitchen window...so step one will be to remove and renew the sealant around that. Quick and easy job to do anyhow so worth doing to tick it off the list anyhow...and I'll probably work on the assumption that if one's leaking they probably all are. I've several tubes of Sikaflex in stock so may as well get them all resealed.

Next step after that is the main weatherstrip that covers the join between the side/rear of the van as that's where most is getting in I think. Nothing seems to be getting in anywhere else that I've been able to detect though, it's a lot more weatherproof than I'd expect a 30 year old van that's not been fully stripped down and restored to be.

[Zelandeth]

Just a little house stuff today.

Finally lost patience with the stupid electronic touch dimmers in our dining room & lounge which simply do not play nicely with anything other than incandescent lamps.

So they got pulled out today and replaced with conventional switches.



The thermostat for the heat pump fans was also hanging off the wall, so I took the opportunity to properly secure it.



One round the corner needs further attention...for one the back box isn't fitted properly so the whole mess sits squint...also the three gang switch which handles the lights around the stairwell being of a different style is bugging my OCD, so have ordered a replacement in the same style.

Five minute job took five times longer on account of two things...Firstly isolating the supply took fifteen minutes of randomly flicking unlabelled breakers (we eventually discovered that the lights in the kitchen are on the ring main...yay...)...and secondly that whoever fitted the previous switches left about 3/4" of cable in the back box and have plastered the rest into the wall.

Should have expected as much given I know they were fitted under the orders of the interior designer who had the place before us. She has a long history of having very shiny ideas executed by the lowest bidder.

We've been in this house since 2014 and I'm still fixing things messed up while they were here...still finding them too for that matter.

In terms of car things, I've got the carb from a friend's Invacar in my care at present. It will be subject to a more or less complete teardown and thorough clean tomorrow, this should hopefully put an end to the problems she's had with the car refusing to idle.

Know quite a few folks seem to be unnerved by the idea of stripping a carb for cleaning, so I'll do my best to document things step by step here to show that it's nowhere near as scary as it might seem.

Have also picked up a second new number plate light so I've got a matched pair to go on the van rather than just one new one, as it will otherwise stick out like a sore thumb.

[Hell Razor5543]

Next time Aldi/Lidl have dash cams I will PM you, so you can get a couple for the Merc (front and rear). They are not normally that expensive, but have a decent spec.

[Zelandeth]

May have my eyes on a new toy for the garage...

I mean...just LOOK at it...

I've had major want for this particular model for years... functionality aside I'm a total sucker for that flat smoked glass front with chrome edging aesthetic. Also sported by the coolest looking TV in my vintage technology collection...

Kolster Brandes (ITT) KV-024, Circa 1968

...Which must have looked beyond futuristic in 1968 I think.

Functionality wise the Sun 1215 is far more capable than the old Crypton machine I already have. A CO and HC exhaust gas analyser being a large key feature I've been lacking till now. Importantly it uses an IR based detector too rather than a chemical based sensor, so that part should still work just fine after a through clean and service. A chemical based one would be a doorstop by now.

Having a microprocessor and memory onboard means it can do a lot more "sample and hold" type stuff allowing you to scrutinise things during cranking of the engine, compare ignition system waveforms for each cylinder etc...

If I win the auction and IF I get it fully functional...though being late 70s technology and built like a tank, odds are pretty good I reckon so long as Billy the Bodger hasn't been too busy.

[Gibbo2286]

Our boss in Brum in the late 1950s was a forward looking man, he went for all the latest kit, we had a Crypton machine about the size of a suitcase first then a Crypton Dynascope which we used on every service so all the mechanics had an intimate knowledge of its workings.

[Zelandeth]

This already lives in my garage and has proven useful on quite a few occasions.

The one I'm looking at now however has masses more functionality despite being notionally the same sort of thing. Wasn't hard to find a taker for the older unit at least.

That was saved from my local garage where it had been dumped half in an outbuilding for a few years. They hadn't had the heart to actually bin it after many years of faithful service so we're quite happy when I offered it the opportunity to resume earning it's keep.

[Zelandeth]

Made an interesting discovery today.

Apparently the van really rather likes the new biodiesel blend that Shell are now selling.

Previously she was happiest at roughly 65mph indicated, though 70mph was usable for short bursts for overtaking. Today we did a couple of hundred miles on the motorway and she was happily bounding along at 70mph the whole way pretty much. Nothing else has changed...so don't see what else can be behind it.

Came back home with a box full of diesel fired heater to replace the (currently broken) gas one...just makes far more sense when I've got a 70 litre tank of diesel there to tap into that rather than faffing about with gas.

Also came home with this.

Wayfarer 3

Not actually sure what to do with it...but I wasn't about to say no. If I can get it to wake up sufficiently to display the time, there we go...epic geeky clock for my workstation. Not sure if I'll be able to get that far without a driver's "card" though. Been forever since I last messed with one of these.

Also lack the base plate...so I'll need to figure out how to get power into it via the 25-way D connector on the back.

I honestly don't need any more distractions!

[Zelandeth]

Couple of days updates rolled into one here as I ran out of time to write them up on the days.

The new heater for the van started out as all the best projects do as a box of bits.



The teeny tiny silencer for the exhaust pleases me far more than it probably should for some reason...though I do have some doubts as to its efficacy...



While I forgot to get any photos, first thing I did of course given that this was a China special was to take it apart to make sure there wasn't any corrective work needed. Sure enough there was. The fan was fouling on its housing to the extent that it was totally jammed. I'm not entirely sure whether this was due to the fan getting shoved further onto the shaft if the thing has taken a knock in shipping...or if the nearby bracket had never been pushed fully home. Either way...two minutes, a large screwdriver to act as a lever and some brute force resolved that.

The heater in the living area of the van lives in the locker under the sofa. The old one is gas fired, but doesn't work. The fan runs, but it never fires. It's a Truma unit which seems reasonably well respected. Probably just needs a good clean and service...but to be honest an oil fired one probably makes more sense given that I've got a 70 litre tank of diesel on board. Makes it a lot easier to just turn the heat on without first having to make sure I've got gas on board, run outside to turn the reg on etc...Here's what we started with.



Plus the little control box... seemingly positioned to take up the absolute maximum amount of space.



The control unit was removed first. Thankfully everything just plugs into it so I didn't have to worry about anything being hard wired together.



The only things other than the gas supply line holding the actual heater in place are four self tapping screws into the floor. Two minutes later it was out.



This just left the little combined breather/flue assembly screwed into the floor.



...Which was then also removed.



Just leaving the thermostat, which is just screwed to the wall by a couple of tiny self tappers hidden behind the dial.



With all that lot out of the way it was time to start getting ready to install the new hardware...The first real step there being to make the hole in the floor a bit bigger as the new heater has a separate intake and exhaust rather than the combined assembly on the old one.

Before getting the jigsaw out though I had a peek underneath to make sure I wasn't going to go and do something daft...you know like cut straight into the top of the fuel tank, through brake lines or anything like that.



Nope...Plenty of room to play with. Especially as I only needed a couple of extra inches inboard. Like so.





Scruffy job to be fair, but I'm under no illusions that I won't be revisiting this job at a later date as I want to totally rearrange things in this locker as it wastes a lot of space. Plus the wiring is just plain UGLY. I'll probably flip the heater around 180 degrees and move it towards the wall back nearer to where the mains cabling comes through the wall.

Anyhow...for now let's get the thing in and working.

I figured that it would be way easier to get the baseplate fitted and to attached the air intake and exhaust lines before taking things outside rather than in the sea of debris strewn all over the floor in the van.



Then dropped the heater in place...glad to see my measurements were correct, leaving about 3/4" clearance around both the intake and exhaust.



Getting the fuel line back up through the hole would have been far easier if I'd just done it from underneath the van...but it was tipping it down, so instead had a right faff of a time trying to get the blasted thing to co-operate.

Fuel pump added (it will probably wind up in a padded box in due course to the clicking doesn't drive everyone mad)...



Intake and exhaust lines are just dangling under the van, but this won't get in the way of a test run.



Oh...and electricity would be useful for a test too. To be honest you can't really go wrong in that regards with this system. You've got a red wire and a black wire...everything else just plugs in and the connectors are all different so you can't connect things wrong.



I had kind of hoped to fit the new thermostat/controller in the place of the original...however that was not to be. The connector on the wiring won't fit past a batten just behind the panel it needs to run behind. So just went for a spot on the face of the locker for now.



Went for this location so it should still be possible to reach the controls while in bed.

While it's not currently producing heat due to a lack of a fuel supply (that's one of the jobs for tomorrow), it has now been test run up to the point it complained about a lack of fuel.



Couple of observations at this point:

1. It is waaaaaay quieter than the old unit. Mostly just the noise of the air actually being moved rather than obvious fan noise.

2. Power draw. The documentation states that the maximum running power draw is 40W. Yeeeeeaaahh...About that. This may be the case once the unit is up and running, but it pulls a hell of a lot more than 40W when the glow plug is energised during starting. Digging further through the manual reveals one tiny paragraph which mentions that the starting current may be up to 12A. This will be getting its own dedicated feed to the leisure battery as the existing wiring gets worryingly warm during startup and shutdown!

The clamp meter was brought in, showing 13A...so yeah, I think it's going to be wise to route a dedicated feed to the leisure battery. Which also gives the opportunity to add a switch...which I need as something the controller on this thing lacks is an "off" mode. The controller is by far the biggest limiting factor on these heaters...to the extent that there's an open source project created by a gentleman over in Australia called the Afterburner. This both addresses some of the drawbacks with the original controller and introduces quite a lot of additional functionality. Not least being able to properly switch the thing off! One really fun feature of that actually is the ability to control it remotely...so it's quite possible to turn the heater on from the warmth of the house and have a nice toasty van waiting for you on a horrible rainy winter morning.


This is where part 1 of this project came to a close as I ran out of time...so jumping forward now to day 2...

Things started efficiently enough, getting the new power feed directly to the leisure battery fitted. That was easy enough, though I need to empty the locker so I can neatly clip it in down one side.

The next step however involved not a small amount of faffing about and getting not one but two mouthfuls of diesel. The issue was that I couldn't get the fuel pump for the heater to prime for love nor money.

Eventually I tried with a cup of fuel propped as high up in the van as I could get it...at which point the issue became blindingly obvious.



With a gravity feed involved, fuel was pouring out of the seam between the two halves of the casing...no wonder I couldn't get the thing to prime!

With the dodgy fuel filter taken out of the equation the fuel pump primed without further drama. Wish I'd spotted that earlier as I wouldn't still be tasting diesel at this point if I'd figured it out earlier...

With that messing around out of the way we were ready to try actually firing it up properly. Oh...after a quick check underneath to make absolutely sure that the fuel line wasn't touching the exhaust as that had been positioned blind from inside the van.



I'll be going back in there with some reflective foil tape to line the floor around the hole to protect it as far as possible from the heat, and the hole around the fuel line will be sealed with Sikaflex (not doing the baseplate itself yet as I do want to move it at a later date). Not too worried about the lack of a grommit given it won't be able to move once it's sealed...and it's marine hose which is nigh on indestructible anyway. Plus I don't have any grommits the right size.

Can't actually tell much from inside aside from when heat starts being thrown out of it and the fan starts to ramp up...but it's quite obvious from the exhaust side when the burner fires.

[YouTube]8-QMKuno0ec[/YouTube]

Apologies for the loud buzzing towards the start... annoyingly this phone doesn't silence the notification vibration when recording video...so when people start sending me email, you get interrupted. Sorry.

The smoke initially (unburned diesel actually) I think is mostly because it will have dumped quite a bit of fuel into the combustion chamber while I was trying to get the pump to prime properly. I don't think it will generally smoke quite so much on future starts.

Yes, it does sound like you're standing next to a teeny tiny jet engine...it's quite loud actually (outside, is really quiet inside the van), and I wasn't expecting much from the supplied silencer really... it's just a tiny little expansion box.

[YouTube]IXcmak6M4-U[/YouTube]

Impressive...I wasn't expecting it to do *anything* much less totally cut down the obtrusive noise. Muted it down to more or less totally inconspicuous white noise.

This is where I left things yesterday...

Today (finally bringing us up to date), we had a bit of tidying up to do really...

It was still distinctly wet outside...so I decided to postpone plumbing in the heater to the vehicle fuel tank until A: It's less wet...and B: There's less fuel in it...I don't want to go and accidentally start syphoning 70 litres of diesel all over the drive.

So we've gone with a temporary fuel tank for now.



The tube is a really snug fit in the hole I've drilled in the cap so it's not going to spill anywhere, and the can has been firmly wedged in place... it's not going anywhere.

The bracket was attached to the silencer and it was attached to the van...I need to attach a little elbow to the end so I can point it a little downwards rather than just outward as it is at the moment. There's not a particularly strong stream of gases from it at least...there will definitely be a "Warning - Hot Exhaust" label going down there though.



I'm an idiot though and put the bolt through the bracket the wrong way...so I'll need to flip that around because it looks messy.

While I was down there I also added some heat shielding around the exhaust pipe to protect the floor around it.



The intake hose has also been fastened in place and has had the muffler attached. I've tucked it in behind the fuel tank so it should be pretty well shielded from the elements.

Then I was able to give the heater a proper test this evening...we were showing 9C on the thermostat when I got through the door after dinner...fifteen minutes later the van was comfortably warm. I'll take that result.

Then I just needed to tidy up the mess I'd made...looked like a camper again pretty quickly.



Irked I didn't get the thermostat straight...though it will be going back on the wall when I pick up the Afterburner kit anyhow...



As currently there's a hole where the old stat was.



So this does leave me with something I need to find a new home for, the old heater.





That is a funky looking heat exchanger...

Looks like something out of a nuclear reactor...





So that's where we are so far... probably will be leaving it here for the time being as I need to actually use the van over this next week or so, so need to leave of pulling it to bits any further!

[Zelandeth]

There's going to be a bit of an equipment upgrade going on in my garage shortly.

A couple of years back I rescued this old Crypton Motorscope 335 from my local garage. They had it buried on its back half under an awning. They hadn't had the heart to bin it after many years of faithful service. Who says mechanics aren't sentimental?



Despite currently being buried in my garage, it's actually proven really handy on a few occasions...though practicality aside, I knew I had to rescue it the moment I spotted the huge rank of flipdot buttons. The Panaplax digital readout above the analogue meter was an unexpected bonus. I'm a bit of a display tech nerd and it was the first time I'd seen that technology in person.

Essentially it's a very specialised multimeter with a scope and timing strobe attached to help diagnose ignition and charging system issues. A CO% meter was an optional accessory...sadly not fitted to my unit.

She needs a little love as the button contacts are scratchy as hell and a little percussive maintenance is sometimes needed to wake it up...I suspect it needs a decent dose of contact cleaner and the various card edge connectors similarly cleaned. Given I spent about half an hour reviving it and it had been half exposed to the weather for God only knows how long it's doing very well.

However, I stumbled across something which has been on my wishlist ever since I saw one a long, long time ago...



Functionality aside...LOOK AT IT!

I'm a complete sucker for that flat smoked panel with chrome trim aesthetic...best exemplified by the Kolster Brandes KV-024 television (circa 1968) which was my gateway into proper vintage technology restoration - and the first valve based device I ever played around with.



Sadly that's currently in hibernation in the back of the loft as it needs a new CRT...and they're not something you exactly trip over these days.

I was expecting this to go for ridiculous money to someone with far deeper pockets than me, only to be gutted and have the faceplate wind up on the wall of some trendy office.

So what was the end result?



Well that was a surprise! Just the starting bid.

So a van has been booked for Monday to go and collect it. Roughly 80 miles each way, so not even far away.

Given the fact that these things weigh about as much as a small country I decided it was worth spending the extra £15 to go for a van with a tail lift...my spine will thank me for that.

Basically this has the same scope functionality on the left hand side as on the old Crypton unit - though what's different here is that instead of a glorified multimeter on the right, there's a CRT hooked up to a rather primitive microcomputer. This allows you to do quite a bit more detailed analysis of the data gathered. Including stuff like recording the current drawn by the starter motor during cranking to give a rough estimation of the relative compression ratio of each cylinder. In addition there's a CO% and HC exhaust gas analyser built into it. This is an optical type as well, so there's a good chance that with a proper service that it will work just fine.

Here's an example showing the display in action (from the user manual). This is the earlier version - identical as far as I can tell aside from the cosmetic differences.



Rather looking forward to getting that in the garage...been a while since I've had a decent tech project.

Folks want me to video the initial inspection when I get the heavy sucker of a thing home?


Done a little more work on the heater install in the van. One thing which was bothering me was that the exhaust was pointing out to the side...the gases expelled from it are HOT and I was worried that it was a hazard that someone was going to burn themselves on. It also had a serious habit of pointing exhaust directly at my mains hook up cable. The pipework didn't want to let me point it downwards...so I had to improvise.

Discovering that 22mm pipe was a perfect snug fit in the silencer outlet made things easier.



Though the question springing to mind was whether the solder will melt...no idea how hot the thing runs. Only one way to find out is to hook it back up and fire it up.



Yes... it's melted the solder. I'll just replace the elbow with a compression fitting tomorrow. Not too worried about the pipe into the silencer as that's a very snug fit, and a quick tap with a hammer and punch should make sure it's never going anywhere.

Still really impressed with how quickly it warms the van up...and glad to report that the comedy smoke cloud on startup has stopped being produced now the fuel pump has been properly primed.