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

[Zelandeth]

Well it made sense to me to get it done while I was already working on the brakes. Biggest reason I'd not already done it was my thinking that I needed a highly specialised master cylinder originally.

Still waiting on the FTTP. Install date is 2nd March. Though we've had three crews here now - none who have given us any notice. Thus far all that's been done is the liner for the fibre has been routed to our property... apparently a different crew needs to actually run the fibre itself and do the installation. They've so far sent two crews to do part 1 of that process...

[CitroJim]

That's crazy Zel

Fingers crossed it all happens smoothly on the 2nd

[Zelandeth]

Very little time for cars today annoyingly as literally as I was opening the garage door I got a panicked phone call from a friend informing me that they had lost electrical power to their garage (which contains their washing machine and tumble drier) and they can't get an electrician in before the middle of next week. To be honest the electrics in that house are an absolute nightmare and they know that. They are currently planning later on this year to move out for a few weeks, have the entire place emptied and have crews come in and basically gut and renovate the whole house. Including a *complete* rewire and re-plumb.

Didn't take long to figure out the problem...Tracing the wire heading out of the consumer unit from the garage breaker it immediately disappeared into a junction box and then to a fused switch (which has no maker's name or anything on it anywhere). Which I wasn't able to get the fuse out of to check. Immediate conclusion: It's over a period of years running both a washing machine and a (condensing) drier, has stressed either the fuse and/or holder and has overheated. Quick check showed we had power into the switch but nothing on the way out. What did I find when I pulled it off and took it to bits?



Yep, we have a winner! Exactly what I was expecting to find.

A better quality replacement switch was installed and they've been told to try to stagger use of the appliances in the meantime, if it causes any further issues in the next couple of months we'll arrange a beefier feed to the sockets in the garage. The duct that runs into there being a foot away from the consumer unit makes life a bit easier there. Beyond that the whole place will be getting re-wired anyway.

Having resolved that crisis I was left with half an hour or so to get car things done before dinner. Target was to get the front mud guard off the Invacar so I can straighten it out and paint behind it.

There are two bolts at the front and one at the rear of it - all of which were lumps of rust that were never going to move.



The angle grinder is too much of a blunt instrument for jobs like this, I'd most likely end up damaging the surrounding bodywork. Step forward the reciprocating multi-tool...it's much more of a scalpel than a sledgehammer and is one of those tools I curse myself for not buying about fifteen years earlier. It made light work of the front two bolts in a matter of seconds.



The rear one was a bit more of a hassle as I couldn't get quite far enough in to get to the bolt properly from any angle so I wound up cutting around it a bit. Will mean I need to put a small repair plate on there before it goes in but it won't be a difficult repair. The mudguard as a whole though needs "a little help" I think it's fair to say.



That *should* be pretty much a straight U shaped channel save for the bit that's folded up to form the keeper for the bonnet latch at the right hand end.

I reckon that with a bit of careful application of the hammer pictured there and a large chunk of wood to act as a former we'll be able to get it back to something far closer to the correct shape. It doesn't need to be absolutely perfect after all. I'd have done this a lot sooner but only relatively recently discovered that it could actually be removed.

The only other thing of note which has happened today is feeling that I've achieved something by actually using the 3D printer for something honestly useful.



This is the piece of test equipment that I lose in my room by far the most frequently, not least because it's an awkward shape...so I made a little bracket for it to live in. Hopefully it will stop vanishing quite so regularly now. Already planning similar solutions for some of the more awkwardly shaped tools in the garage which frequently vanish because there's nowhere truly out of the way for them to live, especially with my garage having a critical lack of flat surfaces on which things can sit.

[mickthemaverick]

Great stuff Zel, when I first scrolled down to the 3D printer output I thought you'd printed yourself a multi-meter Nice job though, I see a whole list of orders pouring in!!

[myglaren]

The 3D printer looks like a winner - I've seen a lot of moans and groans from people with similar ones (not the same make) that seem really good at churning out useless crap and needing huge chunks of software bolting on to make it work anywhere near usefully.

[Zelandeth]

The 3D printer looks like a winner - I've seen a lot of moans and groans from people with similar ones (not the same make) that seem really good at churning out useless crap and needing huge chunks of software bolting on to make it work anywhere near usefully.

It's pretty impressive. One of the things I really had to salute Flsun for getting absolutely on the nose was the "out of box experience." Had it set up and printing the test files on the supplied SD card within an hour. Successfully at that.

It is still an entry level printer so it does have its limits, though as with any 3D printer a lot of the detail is in experimenting with the settings in the slicer software. I reckon so far I've had about a 7 out of 10 success rate with my prints - and the vast majority of issues usually happen within the first minute as initial adhesion to the build plate is the most finicky thing I've found so far.

For about £180 though I would absolutely recommend this one to anyone looking to try out 3D printing.

[CitroJim]

That's a great way of storing a multi-meter Zel

Please add me to the list for one Been after something like that for years

[Zelandeth]

That's a great way of storing a multi-meter Zel

Please add me to the list for one Been after something like that for years

Let me know the dimensions of your meter and I can certainly get one made for you.

[CitroJim]

Let me know the dimensions of your meter and I can certainly get one made for you.

Magic Thank you Zel, will do... That's hugely appreciated

Currently repairing my AVO8... the glass has come loose from the case...

[Zelandeth]

Let me know the dimensions of your meter and I can certainly get one made for you.

Magic Thank you Zel, will do... That's hugely appreciated

Currently repairing my AVO8... the glass has come loose from the case...

Reminds me I need to sort mine. It's got the classic cutout that refuses to reset problem.

[Hell Razor5543]

I may well, in the future, ask you to make a replacement moulding for the park assist ECU for my C5, as the tabs where it is secured to the bodyshell have broken. I don't have any dimensions at this time.

[Zelandeth]

Jim, my having just bought this is entirely your fault!

Decided one of that family of calculators was an essential addition to the collection since you showed your one. I'm a sucker for reverse printed clear controls like that so knew I needed one the moment I saw that keypad.

Absolutely nothing else to report from today other than getting halfway through shifting a bunch of really heavy paving slabs to make a hard standing on the front garden to use as a parking space. I've been using the corner where the tree used to be but as it's been so wet lately it's been making a mess. No way I can easily put anything down there as it's so far from flat...however I've got about 75 slabs available so am dropping some on the flatter area next to the driveway. Not perfect but better than the current arrangement.

[CitroJim]

Currently repairing my AVO8... the glass has come loose from the case...

Reminds me I need to sort mine. It's got the classic cutout that refuses to reset problem.

Can assist you with that Zel, an annoyingly common issue

Jim, my having just bought this is entirely your fault!

Screenshot_20210201_202846.jpg

Decided one of that family of calculators was an essential addition to the collection since you showed your one. I'm a sucker for reverse printed clear controls like that so knew I needed one the moment I saw that keypad.

Wow! That's magic The posh version of mine and way out of my reach at the time... I can remember looking longingly at it and its square root function

[Zelandeth]

Finally got hold of the last couple of bits I'd been waiting on to allow me to proceed with the brake system upgrade on the Invacar.



Metric unions are needed because the master cylinder is metric, and the T is a replacement so I can replace the 4-way one the brake light switch is currently fitted to - which of course needed to be Imperial because the brake light switch is!

The switch was removed from the car and stored safely in the bag with the union it will be living in from now on while I removed the old T piece.



That's now been loosely refitted to the stud the T-piece lives on.

This has then allowed me to have a think about how I'll be routing the lines, shouldn't require too much plumbing. The line to the rear will be getting extended the couple of inches needed to reach the cylinder. I did think about remaking the whole line to avoid the need for a join...but the run is a single piece all the way to the T at the rear axle and routing it would require me to remove the fuel tank. It's getting extended!

Shouldn't take long to get things in here hooked up.



Just ran out of time today.

The mud guard will need a bit of careful attention, but even a couple of minutes has got it looking far closer to the correct shape again.





That was mostly achieved simply by standing on it! Shouldn't be too hard to save it.

I do alternatively have a couple of sheets of metal here I could probably fabricate a replacement out of if it came to that.

[Zelandeth]

Now we're getting somewhere.



Front circuit is bled through, rear will have to wait till tomorrow. Everything seems fluid tight though, though everything will be given a bit of a tighten once it's sat overnight anyway.

Brake light switch is back in place. I'd have rather had it flipped through 90 degrees to make clearing the master cylinder bracket and speedometer cable less of a hassle. However the switch is just too bulky for that and would foul on the bulkhead.



Have encountered one slight snag though. I may need to source a longer pushrod for the master cylinder.

I didn't notice when I swapped it over that the new cylinder has the resting position further forward than the original one. Oops.



This results in the handlebars sitting depressed a couple of inches even when the brakes are fully released.



There is some adjustment available in the pushrod, but probably not enough. One possibility is that I *may* be able to drill an additional hole in the yoke. There are already three or four for different braking systems so one more won't be a problem. Will probably mean taking the whole handlebar assembly apart to gain access though. Won't that be fun...

Hoping this won't be too much of a headache to resolve. Ah, the joys of trying new things out.