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

[xantia_v6]

The purple wire is the supply for flashing high beam when you pull the stalk. You will need that for overtaking slow traffic.

[ekjdm14]

....You will need that for overtaking slow traffic.

sorry Zel

[Zelandeth]

If the response to opening the throttle with it in gear I've done once so far is anything to go by, it may well wind up not being anywhere near as slow as people would generally expect.

Will be a laugh the first time I do get stuck behind someone. It's funny enough in the Lada!

Today I very briefly ventured out in the garage to look for some parts, and abruptly beat a hasty retreat as it was *freezing* in there. I did however come across the rear view mirror in one of the boxes, so reattached that to the car.

It needs cleaning yet, and will need to come off anyhow when I want to get the trim panel above the windscreen out to be re-covered...but I figure it's safer in situ than in the bottom of a box full of heavy metal things.

It sounds like we *might* be moving towards a deal on another one of these (missing most of its drivetrain and interior) which if it works out would tick a lot of boxes that currently have "missing" or "unserviceable" next to them. The tricky bit will be deciding which one to actually dedicate the work to. The floor and chassis on the "donor" vehicle sound like they're in better order than on mine...and it's got a mostly complete albeit scruffy in places body.

My gut feeling - especially as I'll probably want to remove the donor body to improve access to do some of the repairs - is to keep working on this car. Reasoning mainly being that this chassis number already has a V5C associated with it, and there's a working engine and drive system already in it. Swapping the bodywork I reckon will be a lot less work than disturbing an engine which generally seems to be happy enough with life as it stands. Plus the brakes here are only a few pipes (and possibly a couple of cylinders) away from working, whereas on the donor they're seized on. The electrics on there are apparently in poor state as well...Mine are a mess, but actually generally working reliably.

It's still very much a deal in development though, so might not even work out yet...but if it did, it would potentially save me quite a lot of work.

I'd definitely offer that rolling chassis and the body I've got here should anyone want it - I reckon for someone who's not got any real interest in restoring one of these to their original condition could create something that's a lot of fun with it - a 50s hot-rod inspired beastie with the huge rear arches and a suitably mad bike engine could be a lot of fun. The chassis construction is simple and over-engineered enough that it's a huge blank canvas to someone with some engineering know how.

[Zelandeth]

Had one of those days today where I seem to have spent the entire day firefighting small jobs all of which took 20 times longer than they should have done, do didn't have much time to dedicate to interesting things.

I did however get a photo worth sharing. Our dog, Tesla was at one point sitting outside in the snow, successfully looking quite regal as he surveyed his snowy kingdom.

However, when I went to get the photo, what I got instead was this.

Not what I was aiming for - but far more amusing.

While watching everyone around me working themselves into a complete and utter panic because we'd had 1/32" of snow here, I decided that the cool weather was an ideal opportunity to take the dog out for a decent run. It's been a while since he was out (because it took me several weeks to actually get around to sorting the puncture in the C5's offside rear tyre), and he seemed to enjoy it.

Was out for a good hour and a half, and I think I maybe saw two people the entire time.

I did get a couple of things done on the AC - I've extended the loom from the indicator/headlight stalk so it's not stressed by the movement of the handlebars - I've routed the wiring in such a way that it shouldn't wind up rubbing against anything over time too hopefully.

No photo of that because A: It's not really that interesting, and B: Because I'd left my phone in the house so I don't have one!

[van ordinaire]

Purple rather than brown means it's a fused supply.

All the wiring behind an NSU dash is yellow, light grey & white - so helpful in poor light (& don't get me started on Borgward Isabella wiring)!

[CitroJim]

Great to see the C5 out again Zel

Dog must have felt right at home in the prevailing weather and even moreso today

[lexi]

There is ten inches of snow lying here in Paisley. That is nominal and much more in any drifting. More to come on top of it and it will lie with freezing temps for a few days. Interesting for March.

[Zelandeth]

Yeah, we've not got much here, but it's that light powdery nonsense so if it does dump any real amount it will start drifting. Ground is well cold enough that it's going nowhere either.

Had the C5 out with the dog again today, he's definitely enjoying the weather - and I figure I've far less chance of falling on my backside on three wheels than two feet!

The Scwalbe City Jet tyres seem surprisingly capable in the snow, didn't wind up sliding around anywhere near as much as I'd expected.

[Zelandeth]

These aren't exactly what you'd expect to be decent tyres on a bike (or trike in this case) in the snow, but they surprised me earlier. I imagine virtually all of the weight being on the rear wheels helps with traction too.

Gets any deeper though it'll be back to walking on two feet as the C5 doesn't have much in the way of ground clearance.

At least out post arrived as normal today, which brought the new ignition warning light for the AC. Annoyingly the bezel design was very slightly different to what was in there - so short of replacing all the warning lights (as having one obviously different would bug me), I'd have to figure something out.

I successfully was able to salvage enough of the original housing after I'd extracted the rotten lampholder using excessive amounts of brute force to get the lampholder from the new indicator to sit properly in place.

The big question though was whether it would work...

Result!

For the first time since I got it, the AC now has a full compliment of four working warning lights on the dash. Having one new, shiny not somewhat faded light there would have looked odd.

Looks like the voltage regulator might need a slight tweak though as the light stays on at idle. Does cut out properly once the revs pick up though. I do have a couple of spares though, at least one of which is far less rusty than the one that's on the car - so I may just try swapping them over at some point to see if one behaves better.

[CitroJim]

More good progress Zel

Back in the days of dynamos it was quite common for the ignition light to be on when idling so it may not be a problem. A voltmeter will soon tell...

Main thing is that you see good charging just above idle and that the cutout operates as it should to prevent back discharge...

[Zelandeth]

It certainly appears to be behaving. I need to consult the manual to double-check what the cut in/out points should be relative to engine RPM/system voltage. I don't reckon it's far out to be honest.

Cutout appears to be behaving as well, though the battery is getting disconnected whenever I'm not there as I trust the electrical system about as far as I can throw it, and would rather not burn the house down. An actual isolator will be getting installed in due course once the battery tray is back in situ.

[Zelandeth]

Well that's just great.

Got a parking ticket from the retail park next to where our local McDonald's is. Popped in a week or so back because folks asked me to - and their car park was (as usual) full, so I pulled round the corner into - what I assumed was still part of the same retail park - and stopped in the usually nigh on empty car park there. Apparently it's *not* part of the same site, and they have CCTV of me leaving the site - therefore feel entitled to slap a £100 fine on me.

Fact that it's all done by a computer and a CCTV camera just makes it worse.

It never even crossed my mind that they weren't part of the same blasted site, and the trail cut through the hedge there tells me that dozens of people must do the same thing every day.

I don't break rules - I'm autistic, and knowingly doing things I shouldn't, no matter how silly makes me freak out...so suffice to say, this has left me quite messed up.

Seriously about ready to hang up my driving gloves down here.

[MikeT]

Maybe this will help? I successfully avoided paying a charge issued by the car park operator of an ALDI store.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/recla ... ng-tickets
"If you get an unfair ticket in a private car park, don't automatically pay it. These supposed 'fines' handed out are merely invoices, often unenforceable, and it's a Wild West out there – many private parking firms are frankly cowboys."

[CitroJim]

Got a parking ticket from the retail park next to where our local McDonald's is.

Sian got caught out in a similar way Zel. She was fuming and refused to pay...

After a number of threatening letters her mum finally settled it for she was worried about the escalating threat nature of these letters...

It's evil in my opinion... A corrupt and unjust system to make a few fat-cats rich and give employment to some very nasty and maladjusted characters

And MK wonder why the visitors stay away in droves

I hardly ever go anywhere near CMK now and on the rare occasions I must I cycle. They've not yet caught on to charging bikes for parking...

Yet

[Gibbo2286]

Have a read of my posts here, I found that a polite request to reconsider with a few mitigating circumstances got my penalty dropped.

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