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

[Zelandeth]

Well done Jim! Always a good place to start, especially given it had been in storage for a while. Dodgy cap or something more exotic that was amiss? I know it doesn't often take much to upset the logic side of things on things from that era.

Also glad to report that in spite of them usually being the first thing to fail on a car more than a year old, that the CD Changer in the Activa works perfectly too. Did on the couple of CDs I grabbed today. While it was quiet I needed to get out for a bit for a drive just for the sake of my sanity (especially with everywhere having been so crowded around here the last few weeks), so figured it was a good opportunity to listen to the music which arrived at Christmas.

First task for next week will be a thorough de-salting wash. Swore I was going to keep winter use to a minimum, which lasted precisely as long as the 107's battery turning out to be flat the first time! Which reminds me, we need to switch batteries at some point, 107 still has the one belonging to the Skoda in it (three years newer), which will allow the clamp to fit properly. Well, it's not in it just now, it's on the floor over there waiting for me to reinstall before I next drive it.

Managed to not drop the retaining clamp bolt into the abyss in between the bumper and radiator when I took it out this time...

[CitroJim]

It was a short-circuit electrolytic Zel...

The CD player in the Activa is excellent and even plays CD-Rs with no problem at all...

If it does pack up I know the usual stock fault but I'd struggle to fix it as the IC that fails is an SMD one... It runs a bit warm and if memory serves it's the servo controller... Mike (Xantia_V6) will know as he's fixed them in the past...

I know what you mean about needed to get out... I needed the same as the bad weather this morning meant I could not run or cycle in the early morning so I've just been out for a 5 mile run... That's done the job a treat

Noted on the Skoda/107 battery... No worries at all... I'm running the Skoda often enough to keep the battery good and if for any reason i don't I'll pop it out and put it on regular charge...

[Zelandeth]

Yeah, it'll quite happily start after being left for six months!

I switched them around after I had a couple of issues of flat batteries in the 107 to see if the issue was with the battery (it wasn't), and just never got around to swapping them back.

The one I currently have here is the correct size and is a better spec (plus is three years newer) so I'd rather have it make its way to you at some point.

Seriously starting to think about selling it on, poor thing just isn't getting used...and is probably worth, what? A grand probably? Would stick a year's ticket on it, sort the dent in the driver's wing and stick a new exhaust on first.

Would be through here obviously!

Just with it not really filling any particular niche in the fleet and being used rarely enough that I'm starting to have issues with flat batteries and stupid stuff like that - but I'm still paying to insure it... that's money that could be earning interest in the bank or better used elsewhere.

Yes...also pondering Invacar.

Did a bit more reading today and found a couple of videos...the Model 70 is in fact unreasonably quick off the mark, and tops out at a terrifying 82mph... I'd have thought 30 or so from the description! ...so could actually be useful in a pinch! Not to mention damn good fun.

[Zelandeth]

Finally had an opportunity yesterday afternoon to give my husband a shot of the Activa. He's a fan I think, though I'd already got him thoroughly sold on the virtues of the Xantia before I'd even bought Gabriel.

Allowed me to appreciate what a ridiculously comfortable car it is as a passenger, and watched his expression as we rounded the first corner with interest. We're in agreement that the roll control system is downright uncanny - as a passenger it almost just feels like the corner is less sharp so - it's only when you're driving that the full effect is really noticeable.

I've also - almost inevitably - started actually looking around and asking a few questions regarding tracking down an Invacar. Realistically I need to wait until the sick Saab has been moved on, and ideally the 107 too. We reckon there are probably well less than a hundred left though and unsurprisingly they don't turn up for sale massively often, so expecting this bit to take a while. Figure if one does turn up sooner I'll figure something out...not like they take up much space.

So if you reckon you know someone, or know someone who might know someone who knows of one for sale (or slowly decaying, unloved in a barn or field somewhere), please do feel free to point them my way or me in theirs.

A runner would be preferable obviously, but I'm not too fussy. There's not a massive amount to go wrong with them, so long as all the major bits are there and neither the engine or drive system are seized.

There's apparently a classic car gathering in Stoney Stratford on the 1st, so I'm going to give the Activa a clean up and take it over. It's a bit new I know, but still hopeful that they'll take an interest given the rarity and unique values of it these days.

[CitroJim]

There's apparently a classic car gathering in Stoney Stratford on the 1st, so I'm going to give the Activa a clean up and take it over.

There is and I intend to visit very briefly after my double New Years Day parkruns... Most likely I'll be on my bike and will need to be home by lunchtime...

[Zelandeth]

Had hoped to get some cleaning/polishing done today, but by the time I'd sorted the day's allotted tasks and had walked the dog it left me with all of about 30 minutes of daylight.

So instead allowed my OCD to get the better of me after doing the weekly fluid checks. Tidied up the headlight wiring by the battery to be neat and wiped down the top of the LHM reservoir. Need to have a rummage around in the garage and see if I can find a positive battery terminal cover. Sure I've got a couple floating around somewhere...

I noted a while ago that the indicators were showing more white than orange, so stuck a fresh set of lamps in. Interesting to see that the diffractor is quite different in them. Assuming one has been changed at some point and possibly is an S2 example. Glad to report that a suitable level of orangeness has now been restored.

Before:

After:

[Zelandeth]

Heater blower motor has since I got the car progressed to "slightly erratic" to "works when thumped" and this evening has progressed to "dead."

So definitely need to go cave diving in the garage tomorrow to find my spare blower assembly. There's definitely one in there somewhere!

[daviemck2006]

Gabbys did that a few weeks ago, I took it out could see nothing wrong and put it back in and it’s been perfect since Zel. I can only assume that the main big brown plug wasn’t connecting properly.

[Zelandeth]

I think Xantia heater blowers are just something of a law unto themselves.

This one's been making generally unhappy scrapy/whiny dead-bearing like noises for a while now though, so I suspect it's actually just worn out. Controller still seems fine though, so I'll hold onto that. The control side of my spare is untested, so I might end up making one good one out of the two.

[daviemck2006]

That’s what I ended up doing on the activa. The bearings in mine was gone, I got another that the electric bit was dodgy so ended up bodging one out of two. That worked fine! It does seem to be a xantia weak point, just because it’s french lol

[Zelandeth]

Well it's got to have a weak spot!

I'll take one which takes five minutes to swap out like this, thanks!

Same job in the Lada (also a weak spot because the bearings are made of chewing gum, cigarette ends and whatever else they swept off the factory floor) involves about an hour of standing on your head and wrestling with the most excessively strong spring clips ever designed by humans.

[CitroJim]

If you can't find a blower in your stash Zel, I'm sure I have one here...

[Zelandeth]

If you can't find a blower in your stash Zel, I'm sure I have one here...

That's a sure-fire way to make the spare that I know is in there materialise if ever there was one.

Going to have a dig around in there this afternoon, if it doesn't appear then I might take you up on that offer.

[CitroJim]

Going to have a dig around in there this afternoon, if it doesn't appear then I might take you up on that offer.

I'll be home this afternoon.. You may find me out playing with a Ka

[Zelandeth]

Okay, I officially have no idea where my spare fan motor is. In the garage somewhere I'm pretty certain is the answer, but after an hour of hunting today including barricading myself into a corner at one point it's not turned up. May have to drop by yours at some point and see if your stash contains one, Jim. I'll pull mine out tomorrow time permitting anyway and take a look at it, pretty sure the motor itself is dead though given the behaviour.

On the Invacar side of things, I reckon there are definitely a few out there. I've already managed to come across one for sale, albeit in need of quite a bit of remedial work body-wise and generally recommissioning, but is essentially complete. The issue is that it's been used as a general off-road mule since it came off the road and as such the bodywork has been hacked about. Mechanically that doesn't bother me given how over-engineered everything else really is. At £1500 though I reckon it's rather significantly overpriced.

I've no reservations about essentially buying what's a body, a chassis and several boxes of bits to turn them back into a car again, but something that needs a lot of work on the body puts me off somewhat, especially as I've zero prior experience working with GRP.

On the plus side, all be bits are apparently there, and it's been in use off the road relatively recently. The seller has apparently had it running and driving very recently and it all seems to work aside from a total lack of brakes - that I see as a non-issue as I'd consider braking components that don't need replacing to be the exception rather than the rule and they're all cheaply available.

While I think it's quite overpriced given the bodywork needed I'm not just going to say "sorry, thanks no..." I'm going to try to get a proper first hand look at it first (it's relatively local I believe) and ascertain what parts are indeed there or not before I fully decide what it's worth. Realistically though I'd be expecting something that's complete and just needs the life breathing back into it and re-registration at the full asking price...

At the very least though it's a starting point from which to draw a baseline.