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

[Zelandeth]

I really don't have space to store large quantities of it. If I did getting a 20 or 50 litre drum would make way more sense. Especially on a car like that which requires pretty frequent changes.

I usually shop at a little independent place down in Dunstable - not least because they're good guys and old school shops like that are so few and far between these days. Use them or lose them. I don't mind if things are a few quid dearer and they're usually fairly reasonable. It is however an hour and a half round trip to get there and I just don't have that time available at the moment so I'm stuck with Halfords etc who was £35.99 for 5 litres of 20W50.

As you suggested I said no to that and did order some online for considerably less than half their price.

I really do need to get around to getting some two stroke oil in larger containers though, the 1 litre bottles are ridiculously expensive for what they are and don't last that long when you're chucking in 2-300ml a time.

[mickthemaverick]

I usually shop at a little independent place down in Dunstable - not least because they're good guys and old school shops like that are so few and far between these days. Use them or lose them.

Would that be Milehams Zel? I still use their branch in Southdown:

BFTW Dunstable

BFTW Southdown

[Zelandeth]

That's them. If anyone needs a headlight for a Mk3 Escort or a radiator for a Nissan Sunny I know they have those on the wall behind the parts desk!

[Zelandeth]

Oil and coolant are now in stock. So that O-ring and some free time are all that stands between me and getting the Rover back together. Hoping to grab something suitable from Pirtek sometime in the next few days.

I may have entered a raffle this evening which if I win will end me up in a world of pain. I had to do some research to confirm that I could even legally drive it on my licence. However I'd absolutely need to figure out somewhere secure to rent for storage as parking this on the drive would immediately result in *all* of our neighbours lining up to murder me. Even the ones we get along well with.

[CitroJim]

I may have entered a raffle this evening which if I win will end me up in a world of pain. I had to do some research to confirm that I could even legally drive it on my licence. However I'd absolutely need to figure out somewhere secure to rent for storage as parking this on the drive would immediately result in *all* of our neighbours lining up to murder me. Even the ones we get along well with.

I'm intrigued Zel I have a thought on what it might be. I'll keep to myself though...

[Hell Razor5543]

It sounds like a BUS!?!

[CitroJim]

It sounds like a BUS!?!

Ahh! But what colour and how many decks

[MattBLancs]

It sounds like a BUS!?!

Ahh! But what colour and how many decks

If you're going to do it, may as well do it properly!

Spoiler: show

https://bestpedia.in/2020/04/did-you-kn ... y-existed/

[myglaren]

It sounds like a BUS!?!

A Routmaster

[Zelandeth]

It sounds like a BUS!?!

Not *quite* that big. Bus wouldn't actually fit on my drive, this just about would - albeit displacing two vehicles and annoying the neighbours. Hence the need for off site storage most of the time.

Also that would only have needed to be 30+ years old to drive on a car license (getting insurance is something of another matter but is apparently easier than it was last time I looked ~15 years ago. Whereas this I can only get away with because it's pre 1960.

End of the day though it's a raffle and I'm one of probably thousands of other entrants, so very unlikely to be an issue!

[bobins]

It's not big, green, American, and have 3 axles by any chance ? If so..... best of luck, both in the raffle and - heaven forbid - if you actually end up owning it

[Zelandeth]

It's not big, green, American, and have 3 axles by any chance ? If so..... best of luck, both in the raffle and - heaven forbid - if you actually end up owning it

Maaaaaaaybe...

As stated, god help me if I win it. Would be worth it though. I have driven one before - I do have a picture taken by my friend who owned it of me grinning like an utter idiot.

Don't actually have many pictures of me driving interesting stuff, usually because I was busy driving. I did get sniped by a mate pulling up at the stand in a 60s Daimer double decker on one occasion I think, but that's probably about it.

Edit: Found that one.

Could have done without being reminded it was 15 years ago!

[Zelandeth]

For those playing along at home but who don't follow the same chaotic collection of bad influences on YouTube as me, the vehicle in question is a 1958 M35A1 military truck. One of these - Wikipedia link.



While they're obviously not small, it's a great way of showing how much bigger cars have become in that they don't seem anywhere near as massive as you would expect when you see a photo of one in isolation. Still think the neighbours would murder me if I parked one on the drive.

I have driven one before, and my main memories are that for something of that age that it was surprisingly easy to drive and that the exhaust note was glorious. I seem to remember about 50mph being the end of the world, but it got there reasonably quickly. All the wonderful things of commercial designs of the era such as air over hydraulic brakes and a design which has changed more times over its lifespan than the weather so getting to just about anything involves a lot of cursing. I got volunteered to connect up a replacement alternator as I had the smallest hands and remember swearing a lot. Especially at the guy who chose the location for the oil feed to the turbo charger.

The way driving licensing works for this is that it falls under an exemption for goods vehicles with a build date before 1st Jan 1960. The only proviso is that the vehicle can't be laden. Insurance apparently isn't actually that much of a headache simply because ex military gear like this has such a following that many thousand people have been here before. That was always the big headache where preserved buses were concerned (where the rule is 30+ years old rather than <1960), and indeed probably why I didn't make a very silly decision on a couple of occasions before. Honestly if I did end up with this though it would be a pretty good push towards actually getting a cat C licence. I imagine a lot of what I picked up during the cat D training will carry over there anyway. Just something that you need a good reason to do given it's going to cost a couple of grand. I imagine between the reduction in insurance costs and ability to actually carry things in it would make it worth it.

I wouldn't get too excited, it'll be something like a 1 in 7500 chance of ending up in my hands so it's unlikely.


In Rover news we have hit a bit of a speed bump. This thing.



Or rather the O-ring in the plastic bag (to reduce the odds of me losing it). I made a run to a couple of places today and they have confirmed what I suspected. That is that it is not a standard size. Or at least it isn't any more, may well have been a different story back in the 60s. The problem is that it's so chunky. The smallest standard size with the necessary cross section is more than double the diameter we need. So it stands to reason that Wadham's had a batch made up as a special order. This hacks me off even more to be honest as if they have gone to the effort of doing that why didn't they just go the extra mile and specify a better material than the typical 21st century rubber that's started to disintegrate before it's even been moulded? I'd far rather pay £5 for a part I'm confident that will last 10+ years than £1 for something I need to take apart six months down the line to replace.

There are two main suppliers of parts for the P4 and to be honest I don't have much confidence that they're not going to have used the same source. So I'm left with a bit of a quandary. Do I try ordering from them and seeing if theirs are indeed better? Or do I look at getting a batch made up in a suitable material (either Viton or EPDM - I'd need to double check which is actually best suited to this application though I think they'd both be fine)? Downside is that this would require me to order at least a couple of hundred of them. Which depending on the per unit cost I wouldn't necessarily see as the end of the world as I doubt I'm the only one in this boat and I'd be happy to sell on the extras at cost to other owners over time. Depends really if they are going to be £0.50 each or £5.00 each as that vastly changes the magnitude of the problem. Also means probably waiting a month.

One suggestion that Beeline had was potentially getting a square section washer stamped out. That's vastly less labour intensive so likely to be something that could be done in far smaller batches, and there's even a company over in Bedford that can do it. Problem is though that the round section here allows a fair bit of give in terms of the gap it lives in whereas a square washer would need to be more precise - and so far I've not found accurate dimensions for what the original washer should even have been. Rather than measuring one that's already of questionable origins and has already been squished. More digging required. Going to spend an evening bashing my head against that and seeing if I can find any info on it in the owners club technical pages before making a decision on how to go forward with that.

[CitroJim]

I'd say that vehicle is the perfect Milton Keynes transport choice, given all the potholes currently

One of my neighbours has just taken delivery of a new VW SUV... A Gayman I believe it's called. And I'm sure it's a few inches bigger than what might be your new toy Zel

[bobins]

Polymax down on the old Bordon army camp make and sell 'O' rings amongst other things. They recommend something called Aflas TFE/P for automotive 'O' rings https://www.polymax.co.uk/o-rings/aflas-o-rings/
There's also Butser Rubber who apparently make high grade 'O' rings https://www.butserrubber.com/products/seals-o-rings/


As for the big, green, American three axled thing......... a pair of scaffold boards up the back, and you could drive the Trabant onto the load bed and park that there. Technically speaking, one less car parked on the driveway.... what's not to like ?