Welcome back one and all. Yes, welcome back to Essex.
An update is overdue so, put the kettle on, feed the dog, go and have a tinkle and make yourself comfy because this will be a long and picture heavy update, just like the good ol' days!
First we have to rewind to 23rd November 2009. No, an update is not
that overdue...
...moreover that this was the very first report for Essex DAFs and I quote myself, if I may...
[...]Matt spent much of his life in Cornwall. He has been into Dafs for many years as his father used to run them. Here's a photo of one of Matt's favourite Dafs owned whilst in Cornwall, a 33 which he eventually sold to a friend who restored it and is still using it today.
Well, that car was owned by Matt's friend Bob, who then sold the car to Alex oop North, who sold it to Andrew of North London who named her 'Pooh' then sold it on and we lost touch of her, until that is she appeared on a Classic Car website for sale at a princely sum of £85. So, we knew that it would come full circle and Matt would end up owning her again. On the Saturday of Easter weekend, something brown and tatty rolled into the overflow.
OK, so we can now fast forward to the next weekend. In fact, the Friday before. I had the day off to wait around for most of it for a carpet fitter to turn up. Quite handily they don't tell you when they will be arriving until the day before when they call at 4:50pm to tell you they won't be arriving the next day until at least 2pm. Well, that's helpful!
Still, I had a windscreen fitter booked in for midday (hedging my bets that whenever the carpet fitter arrived, I'd at least get the morning or afternoon at my leisure) and this was to sort out Priscilla's rear screen rubber which, last time I took her out in the rain leaked to the detriment of her rear seat. I can't blame the previous owner as he genuinely did not take her out in the rain. Knowing that I intend to take this car to Angelsey I really need it to be watertight!
Knowing that coupe glass is unique and we don't have any spare, I was taking no chances with this. Danny had one used rubber in his inventory which I relieved him of and the windscreen fitter duly came and removed the rear screen and old rubber.
That was when we found this...
...and this...
...which needed a bit of poking...
...and became this...
Needless to say there was no point in fitting the windscreen into this lot. It's all ready to go back in though...
Now, having no back windscreen fitted and knowing what the weather has been like recently it's a bit of a no brainer that really, a mobile welder is what was needed. My MOT man gave me the number of the old boy who does their MOT welding and he came to view the work Saturday morning. He did the obligatory teeth sucking, procrastinated and told me he would be able to do the work any day the following week except Monday. That suited me fine and I told him I would book a day off work the following week and let him know.
That afternoon I made my way in Rover to Island Landrovers. It was immediately obvious what Martin has been up to recently...
...remember the accident repair work that involved a replacement galvanised chassis?
Also on the ramps was this Nissan Nivara receiving a new clutch. Apparently it was a joy to work on.
BUT, I wasn't there to look at Landrovers and the like, I was there to crack on with project Gavina and on with breaking some eggs.
So, off with the bonnet...I knew that roof-rack would come in handy...
...front grill...
...bumper...
...and engine...
to reveal a broken boomerang - but not broken in any of the three places where Martin had previously welded it for me! ;D
The clutch however seems to have faired absolutely fine since the last time that I rennovated it.
And that is about as far as I got that day. As a parting thought, what were they smoking at DAF the day they decided it would be a good idea to pass the speedo cable through the battery tray?
And so there we are and it was all too soon time to leave for home.
That was to be the extent of DAF activities that weekend and I was to return to IL the following weekend for more fun.
First up, the remnants of her exhaust system were easy to remove...
...followed by the speedo cable (thanks for the tip Jo!
)...
...which meant I could remove the battery tray...
...followed by the voltage regulator...
...vacuum valve...
...and throttle cable.
Removing a split pin from this gimboid was an epic half hour battle which caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth...
...but eventually I won through and was able to remove the master cylinder.
...and so to end of play and time to go home.
Over at Central Matt and Ken were also having a productive Wednesday, as reported previously on this thread by Ken. I do have some pictures though with which to elaborate Ken's report, courtesy of Matt.
Here's Ken working on Dorothy's dented passenger door.
There's still a dent but it's nowhere near so bad. This will be sorted...one day! ;D
Whilst Ken was on dent duty, Matt looked into Dorothy's broken speedo and cable tied the strut gaiter.
Here's the speedo problem - a snapped cable.
Finally, here's Ken giving Dorothy's interior a spruce up, his endeavours I was to benefit from yesterday.
Matt was to return to Central the next day and his attentions were turned to Mimi, his 55 saloon. Well, one of his 55 saloons that is...
Matt wants Mimi on the road asap and spent his limited time replacing her washer button and screwing her heater controls back in...I don't think we can remember why they were unscrewed...
Next up was to fit seat belts. Matt foun an original pair with DAF press release buttons of the anchored variety and all but finished installing them...
...if it weren't for missing one of these gimboids. If you have one going spare, please let Matt know - he wants it!!!
Now, I did book Friday off work for Priscillas' welding. I spent the next few days calling the welder (no answer), leaving voicemails and texts. Friday came and the welder didn't. If there is one thing I don't have time for, it's people who waste my time. If he had second thoughts he should have let me know, rather than waste my time and a day's holiday.
I was determined that the day would not be another total waste of time and so set to stripping around the area that needed welding, most of which was straight forward enough.
These were pop rivited in and had to be drilled out, but being brittle one of them broke.
I then made my way over to Central to help Matt recover the stricken Yolanda from Matt's flat. Those following this thread will remember that one of her belts 'wound up' on itself jamming the secondaries and breaking a half shaft.
At Essex DAFs, when we recover a car with flat tyres we don't mess about with foot pumps and the like, we just bring a tyre that has air in it and swap it over...
And so, after a few enjoyable moments driving through Colchester town, we were out in the country and safely at Central.
Rover was 'ere...
Yolanda can in fact drive but only carefully for short distances. Oi! Turn those lights on!
All parked up.
WE INTERRUPT THIS REPORT TO BRING YOU A NEW COMPETITION - THE MYSTERY WHEEL COMPETITION. WHICH VEHICLE DID THIS WHEEL COME FROM...ANSWERS ON A POST CARD (OR JUST POST YOUR ANSWER BELOW)...
And so, back to our report...
Now, I was determined that my day off work was not to be wasted and getting Yolanda back was a good investment of time, but seeing as this body was out I thought it would be a good idea to get some repair sections for Priscilla so any potential welder would have a choice of fabricating sections or using off-cuts.
And so, out with the cutting disc and off we go...
Eventually some handy panels were liberated for Priscilla. The tub was tucked away for another day and it was time to take my leave.
The following day, Saturday, was to see Matt start move some cars about in the museum and put Yolanda in the front row for ease of access. Work on repaing her has started.
Ipswich John turned up with his mechanic friend Colin who has a penchant for Talbots. Well, it takes all sorts I guess! ;D
Now
that's what I call a grinder - what a tool!
And the endeavours of John's trip - a nice little parts haul.
Regretfully I could not be there on Saturday but I did have another welder visit. Unlike the previous one, this one was not phased by the work. He could weld the bottom aperture lip and the offside D pillar but would need to fabricate a section for the nearside pillar. He also suggested that it may be better for him to trailer the car to his workshop to make a better job of it and could also blow over the repaired area with colour matched paint. His quote was reasonable indeed so a plan was made to collect the car today, Monday.
Yesterday was an early start as Matt was to collect me in a very laden down Dorothy to attend the club AGM.
All went well and we made a stop on route at Cambridge services for a cup of the brown stuff and a dutch moment.
However, in the environs of Leicester things were not to go so well as a misfire had developed along with a burning smell.
The misfire was a points issue which was soon rectified, but the burning smell was from an overheated rear drum.
We were unable to get the drum off to investigate as Matt's tool kit had been slimmed down considerably in order to fit in all those spare parts for others. All we could do was to cool down and, although Nick was kindly on his way to our rescue, we decided to limp on regardless.
We decided to pick a route devoid of roundabouts to reduce braking and chose what would turn out to be a delightful route, albeit a right rollercoaster in which our brakes would be possibly even more tested than they would have on the dual carriageway.
Eventually we made it to the AGM and it was lovely to catch up with friends old and new, not least to unload Dorothy.
Our journey home was to be expected with the drum overheating again and forcing us into a leafy lane lay-by which on the outskirts of the county which unbeknown to Matt and myself appeared to be a local dogging spot. We were entertained by an exceedingly camp man and his friend of his experience of drum brakes and also informed that there was a pond nearby, before they drove off...only to return later. At that point we decided that the drum had cooled down quite enough thank you and that we should be on our way again. By leaving the hub cap off it really did have a cooling effect and so off we went, low on petrol but our dignities intact and not a moment too soon, as our fiends in their pink Micra returned again just after we had left...
And so on we went, stopping for petrol and checking the drum occassionally which thankfully behaved itself for the duration of the trip. Just as we thought we had pulled it off, Dorothy started misbehaving on the outskirts of my home town and spluttered to a stop, her battery flat as a pancake.
Regretfully there was nothing more that Matt and I could do at that stage and so Dorothy was to make a new friend that night.
And so there we go. Ah yes, it's Monday tonight so Priscilla has been collected by the welder, hasn't she? Well...no. I left work early, called him (and he was 'in the middle of something but I'll call you back'), has he? Has he fcuk! Are all welders timewasters? Will it be third time lucky with somebody else? Time will tell but I am fast running out of it - and patience!
Well, that's all from us for now.
Cheese,
33g.