Well-l-l, a few things have got in the way of my regular(ish) updates. I changed jobs (twice), we had Christmas (twice), had our summer holiday (twice), took a few long weekends on a friends houseboat (nothing flash, but loved it), a bunch of other things - and I imported my 75 year-old Mum - whose now been here for a year.
So, all-in-all, a little hectic, but generally good. Whilst I'm sure you find my personal life tremendously interesting - I bet all you really want to know about is how the Rovers are fairing.
So - in short, reasonably well for two quite old cars that are generally expected to perform like much newer ones. I have had the P5 now for well over 2 years and it soldiers on stoically. Oh - apart from the alternator AND the battery failing in a slow, declining kind of way, over about 3 months. Then the brakes - but in more of an "Aaaarg, my brakes have failed" kind of a way. Luckily the car in front was moving too, so no dents or injuries - just a bit of an unexpected adrenaline surfeit on my part.
Have now replaced the alternator with a second-hand Ford one, and the battery with a horribly expensive new one. Oh yes, brakes... more on that later.
Another big issue was that the wipers more-or-less stopped working.
When I say more-or-less, what I mean is that they would only travel about 3 inches from rest, up the windscreen, before returning to the rest position. Even better than that, when I switched them off, they wouldn't stop - but preferred to continue twitching, same 3 inches, somehow looking like the legs of an insect in its final moments.
Given that the wipers on a P5 rest at horizontal, a 3-inch arc is not much use in heavy rain, unless the driver is about 2 feet shorter than me.
Even if I turned off the engine and removed the key, they would return to their St Vitus-like thrashing as soon as I restarted the car. The only way to stop them was to disconnect (then reconnect) the battery.
Seems that one of the two cables operating from the wiper motor had worked loose (stripped thread on the retaining collar), which meant the wipers were being asked to go one way, but not the other - or something like that. I have had it fully explained to me, but the wonders of 50's designed, British car wiper systems are more sophisticated than my ability to understand them.
Needless to say, the redoubtable Edward has fixed the wipers (thanks to a similarly aged scrap Humber Snipe, and his remarkable knowledge of how these things work), although the third time I used them (working perfectly) they wouldn't actually switch off until I killed the engine. Odd - possible electrical fault. I have since worked out that they need to settle into their rhythm. Once they have run for about a minute, they behave perfectly.
Edward also fixed the broken front quarter-window catch - so really, the dear old 3-litre (christened Black Beauty by one of my kids) is in fine fettle and doing a good job. Engine is running beautifully as it has since Edward took a tuning fork to the valves, timing, changed plugs and leads and generally gave it some much needed love. Gearbox still leaks and occasionally kangaroos between 1st and 2nd - which isn't too much of an issue because 1st is rarely engaged. Apparently this is normal Borg-Warner DG gearbox behaviour. There is still a dent in the door and the need for a partial respray - plus the interior needs a fair bit of attention - BUT - such delightful patination aside, Black Beauty is a very enjoyable, modestly rapid, very characterful old motor.
Remember, although 45 years old, she has only covered about 57,000 miles since new, so is essentially a really solid old car, and I'm still enjoying it hugely. I've done about 12,000 of those miles since Feb 2010, so a lot of the issues I have had are as much to do with suddenly starting to use a car that has been pretty dormant for decades, as anything else.
Most recent excitement was the brake failure (due to faulty re-sleeving of the master cylinder under a previous owner) - duly fixed, oh - and brand new tyres. SUV road tyres, not the light truck tyres that were previously on. What a difference! No more scary lock-ups in the wet, about 15% quieter, steering significantly more direct and much lighter. Awesome. Engine runs beautifully smoothly. The car is a genuinely (modestly) quick cruiser along fast, bendy, two-way roads. And I've discovered that the faster you go, the better it handles. Quite remarkable. Running up to Lake Eildon, through the Black Spur and some really great country roads - it just feels in its element. Here it is up at Eildon, next to friend's houseboat (being slipped) and her father's 70's (?) Holden Kingswood wagon. I love how well older cars survive in Australia - remember, I grew up with the salted winter English roads eating old cars from the sills outwards.
And what about the P6 (or Green Lightening, as it has been named by the previously mentioned child)? Well - although the shocks were fixed, Geoff (who did the job) did point out that the entire suspension system needs re-bushing - and I have to say - although my last P6 ('Vincent' - can't remember why, but that was it's name) was 20 years ago, I did think Green Lightening's suspension was a little unforgiving compared with Vincent's.
Please don't go thinking I am in the habit of humanising inanimate objects on a regular basis - it really seems to be only old cars and random items of kitchenware. So that's alright then, isn't it?
When acquired, the P6 had a long tube (looked a bit like a vacuum-cleaner hose) running from the air intake on the breather box that feeds the twin carbs, all the way across the engine - and down behind the nearside headlamp. I couldn't really work out why - and neither could anyone I knew. So one evening I took it off.
As a direct result, I gained fuel consumption (from about 17 l/100km to 14 l/100km) and a huge amount of oomph. The pipe must have been massively restricting the flow of air into the carbs.
Green Lightening went to Edward, to have the following sorted:
- The brake fluid leak that drips onto my left foot when braking hard
- Electronic ignition fitted
- Removing the airbox and fitting air filters directly to the carburetors (I'm hoping for more gains in oomph and economy)
- Doing something about the brake squeal - when warm, the brakes squeal at an astonishingly intense level - it is enough to turn bone to powder - yet the pads are not worn through
- Fitting the correct oil filter (current one is way too big (possibly from a Range Rover) which can have an adverse affect on engines designed to run on low ail pressure)
- A full engine service (not had one done since I got the car - and have done about 10,000 km in it)
- Check brake lights - they sometimes stop working for no obvious reason
Also hoping he might be able to:
- Lower the driving seat (my head touches the roof when I drive)
- Fix the slightly intrusive vibration at about 1,000 to 1,200 revs
The big remaining projects on the P6 will then be:
- Re-engineering the air conditioning so that it (a) holds gas for more than half-an-hour's running time and (b) is actually safe
- Re-bushing the suspension
- Converting to LP gas
- Re-upholstering
Each of the first two jobs are likely to cost more than $1,000 each, so I need to plan them reasonably carefully.
I tend to use the P6 for weekdays - getting to work, visiting client sites etc, and the P5 for weekends.
So, I wrote all the P6 stuff (above) in Dec 2009 - and it is now May 2011. It is curious to read it again and realise what has and hasn't been done. To revisit:
- The brake fluid leak that drips onto my left foot when braking hard. Not exactly fixed - it is a bit complicated to get at the master cylinder... - so I either drive with my left foot hooked away, or I wear old shoes.
- Electronic ignition fitted - Done
- Removing the airbox and fitting air filters directly to the carburetors (I'm hoping for more gains in oomph and economy) - not done - I'd have had to spend too much, and anyway, it runs great - the long term strategic plan is to replace the heads with later ones so that I can fit a four-barrel carb - which should really spice things up a bit.
- Doing something about the brake squeal - when warm, the brakes squeal at an astonishingly intense level - it is enough to turn bone to powder - yet the pads are not worn through - coated disks with 'stuff', which worked a bit, but not much. Have since had rear pads replaced and calipers reconditioned, which has stopped the squeal from the back, but not the front. Have acquired reconditioned calipers and new(ish) pads for front, now saving funds to have the bushes done at the same time, to minimise labour costs...
- Fitting the correct oil filter (current one is way too big (possibly from a Range Rover) which can have an adverse affect on engines designed to run on low oil pressure)- Done
- A full engine service (not had one done since I got the car - and have done about 10,000 km in it) - Done - engine runs like a dream now
- Check brake lights - they sometimes stop working for no obvious reason- Done, faulty switch
Also hoping he might be able to:
- Lower the driving seat (my head touches the roof when I drive) - already as low as it will go - so need to acquire lower seat.
- Fix the slightly intrusive vibration at about 1,000 to 1,200 revs - not done, but later work re-routing the fuel line (so it wasn't resting on the nice hot exhaust manifold), and flushing out the carbs with diesel, seems to have eliminated the vibes...
I took the P6 interstate a couple of weeks ago - did 1,500 km (about 930 miles) over 6 days at a nice, steady, unstressed burble. 12.5 litres/100km (22.6 imperial mpg).
Still saving for suspension bushes, but using the car most days.
I've done over 10,000 km since purchase (Sept 2009)
One day, when I'm feeling brave enough, I'll publish the costs of both cars to-date. In truth, its certainly no more expensive than leasing and running a new car - and it may actually work out cheaper over 5 years - but I won't know for sure until about mid 2014 - so keep an eye on this space :-)
Well - that's my theory, anyway...
Wheeeyoow!! More excitement here than on (any episode of) The Bold and the Beautiful. Apart from one of my daughters being a featured extra in a pop video and my other daughter singing on TV. And me turning 50. 
