Magic Carpets and Dirt Roads

So-ooo, Carbs back on the 3500 and it is running beautifully - burbling away at about 120kph (70mph) in a wooshy, shove-in-your-back kind of a way - but it does have a bit of a shake.  Don't know yet if it engine, transmission shaft (unlikely to be gearbox after the rebuild) or wheels.

The 3-litre has had its diff seal replaced (took less than an hour on the local friendly garage man's hoist), so my weekly crawling under-the-car-to-top-up-the-diff nightmare is over.  he showed me the seal afterwards - it was hardened to bakelite fragility, so hardly surprising it went.

Just took her out for an hour with my youngest daughter - great run, smooth as anything.  Don't think I've driven a 10-year-old car that runs as smoothly as the P5 - let alone a 45-year-old.

We went up into the hills and stopped for a coffee at the small town(?) of Sassafras (Dandenong ranges).

I know on paper the car is a slow old thing, but most of the time I find myself quite frustrated by the cars in front of me - so it can't be that bad.

I have driven her on dirt roads - and she copes with them well.  It isn't something I normally do though.  Rovers are tough cars and Australia's roads would have allowed them to prove it.  This road is just a side road in Sassafras.

Speaking of dirt roads though...

Perhaps I should rewind a bit.  Last weekend I went on 'camp' with about 30 other guys from Church. Mens camp, it was called - so minimal cerebral activity, plenty of carbs and protein and almost no vegetables (there was a tin of beetroot, but I don't think it got opened).

Anyhow, the 'camp' was up country in a small town called Rawson.  Plenty of 4-wheel drive opportunities and an on-site paintball complex.  Awesome.  Rawson is (sort of) between Mount Baw Baw (mountain resort) and Walhalla (remote but once thriving gold town) - look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhalla,_Victoria .

Managed to get the 3500 back from carburetor surgery just in time - which is good, as Rawson is about 2 hours from my house and not near a train station.  Picked up friend Allan and off we went.  Burble burble down the freeway.  It really is a magnificent car to drive.

Takes about 8 minutes to fill the petrol tank though because I have to fill at the slowest possible speed - otherwise the filler just cuts out (why IS that?) .

Anyhow, the last 30-odd km runs north from the highway and is an engaging, sweeping, two-way road with an indifferent (but sealed) surface.  Green Lightening took it in her stride and delivered us both, smiling and happy, in good time to settle in to our luxury(?) accommodation. [Hey - this is a budget church do, right?  4 to a room and about 5 on the sofas in the common room.]

I didn't stop to take pictures of the route - was having way too much fun driving - but here is the car at rest - having arrived.  Weather forecast was not great - cold and damp - but spirits were high.

The next day we had quite a bit of free time.  Those of a particular nature went paint-balling.  Others went off to do a bit of tame 4-wheel driving on the bush tracks.  Some went to Walhalla for a look around.  I wasn't sure what to do (other than NOT paint-balling) so I took myself to Walhalla (15 mins on even windier roads - great fun) and had a look round.  The shock of having to drink instant coffee at breakfast had been significant, so I consoled myself with the real thing.  Took a few photos - and here are some of them:

It was unfolding to be just a really peaceful day with me doing things I like doing and having a great chill.   It was literally a Godsent break from the ups and downs of work etc.

 Soon got bored of  being peaceful and unstressed, so had a bit of a look at the map and decided to drive to Mount Baw Baw, which is about 30 km the other direction from Rawson, on a dirt road.

Now this is a logging track, so there is plenty of room for two large semi-trailer trucks to pass each other - but is still a dirt road.  And 28 km long.  In my typically philosophical and patient manner, I decided to take it quickly to iron out the bumps.

Pictures in sequence are of a burnt out swathe of forest about half way there (from the big fires last year), then where I turned round at Mt Baw Baw because it said I had to put chains on, and another shot of the burnt forest.

So 50-odd km on dirt roads at between 40 and 100kph.  in a 35-year-old car?  But it IS a Rover - what could possibly go wrong?

 Well nothing, surely...

Not exactly.  Couldn't really tell on the dirt, but once I was back on the sealed road, it became really obvious that I no longer had functioning rear shock-absorbers.

And I have no-one to blame but myself.  Curiously, whereas before the car used to do a sort of hip-shrug when I braked at speed, now it doesn't.  This and one or two other things about the way it cornered unevenly, lends me to think that in fact one of my shock absorbers may have already been either gone, or on the way there.

Left and right bends are now consistent.  Trouble is, they are consistent in a rather floaty kind of way.  And speed bumps set up a trampolining motion like you would not believe.  Have a very reasonable quote to fit a 'good' pair of second hand shocks, but currently no money as a result of the battery-alternator-gearbox-radiator and carburetor expenditure over the past 5 weeks.

On Sunday - with a bit more free time, Pastor D and friend L and I drove to Walhalla again, with L providing a useful ballast to compensate for my undamped springs.  Dave had heroically risen at about 6 am and driven the 60 km round trip to bring back a coffee plunger and real coffee - so a trip in Green Lightening was the least I could do in return. L has a vast store of local knowledge which made the return to Walhalla really interesting.  Beautiful spot and a really interesting history - I'll definitely go back.

Quick reference note for the non-car nerds amongst you - Rover classified it's various post war generations of car in sequence as P1, P2, P3 etc, where 'P' stood for 'Post War' and the number was the sequence of appearance. 

Here in succession are the P2, P3 and P4 (I used to have a P4 in the late 80s / early 90s)

   

My black car is a P5 (the 5th model since the war) and my dark green car is a P6.  Leyland bought Rover during the gestation of the planned P8, which morphed into the SD1 - not quite so logical, I guess... 

There is a fair bit to do to both cars - in summary:

• P6 rear shockers
  
• P6 Heater unit needs reconditioning so it is not on all the time
• P6 Plastic tabs that are siliconed over the vents to stop knees cooking need to be removed (once the heater unit has been fixed)
  
• P6 Aircon needs regassing (once the heater unit has been fixed - no point in having the aircon and the heater on at the same time)
  
• P6 Need to identify the shake/wobble and fix
• P5 needs a new Alternator (the battery is fine, but the alternator is stuffed
• P5 Wipers need fixing (may be related) they only go half way up the screen
• P5 gearbox needs a recon (if poss, I will replace the BW DG with a BW type 35 or 65 (easier to maintain and keep leaks to a minimum - and likley to cost abut $1,500 less to do)
• P5 A whole heap of paint / bodywork (dented driver's door) and upholstery - all of which can wait (at least she photographs well!)
  
• One more for the P6 - when I am brave enough I need to look under the lambskin seat covers to see what needs fixing - but I am not yet - still recovering from lifting the covers on the P5
• Oh - and if I can rip out whatever stops the petrol going in at a normal flow speed, I will do that too - my old P6 in the UK was sometimes a bit awkward, but never this bad

D took a heap more pictures in Wallhalla (the sun was shining on Sunday) so expect these in the next posting

Bronchial Carboritis

So-o-o, just when I thought the alternator, battery, gearbox and radiator would be just about it, the car stops working again ☹.

I had an early morning osteopath appointment (oddly enough, my osteopath is technically the heir to some ruined Castle in England’s N East, but that is another story altogether – and one he himself has little interest in).

I drove the P6 (Green Lightening) the 4 minutes and 50 seconds it takes to get there – which with the warm-up period I gave it meant that it was almost warm when I switched it off.  It also seemed to be misfiring a bit, but it is 20 years since I drive a V8 regularly – and I thought it might just be a damp weather misfire.

When I came to restart it, it was still rough – almost got home when the Osteo’s assistant rang me to tell me I had left something there, so I turned round and went back – by the time I got there, the misfire was serious and she would not idle.

Picked up my stuff, got back in car, tried to start – but she would not fire at all.  The wonderful new battery and reconditioned alternator seemed to be doing their job beautifully – spinning the lump as fast as anything – but absolutely NOT firing.

I had meetings that morning, so had to leave the car, walk home, collect bag and catch the train to the city.  Came back mid afternoon, renewed my acquaintance with the trusty RACV recovery service and dumped the car at the family garage we use.  Initial suspicions were of bad petrol, but this turned out to be wrong.  The cabs are squirting way too much fuel into the chambers for them to cope with once the engine is warm.

The carb man is busy, so it will be at least a week.  Good job I don’t grind my teeth.

Paul (at the garage) was kind enough to let me hoist up the P5 to check the diff oil level, before I pressed it into service to get me to the airport the next day.  It was over full.  Arg.  Seems that because I have to jack up the car from the side to fill the diff at home – and because subsequently I am filling the diff at a fairly serious list to the starboard, the level is all wrong.  Could actually be that I bust the seal by over filling it.  Arg again.        

Remember, the battery and alternator on the P5 also seem to be terminally rooted, so starting to get to the airport was a bit of an adventure.  I am currently on the plane returning home and don’t yet know if it will start to get me home.  Thankful that the starting-handle works very efficiently.  I’ll let you know what happens.

(Several hours later) It did start (phew!) and I managed to pick up the kids as I was supposed to, so domestic harmony has ben preserved.

I wil get the electrics and diff leak fixed, it is just a question of funds...

Iron Fist in a Green Velvet Glove

Well - I picked up 'Green Lightening' (named by my 9-year-old) from the transmission shop on Friday (3 days ago)

All (and I do mean all) is forgiven.  What a great ride.

Turns out I have the Borg-Warner type 65 gearbox, instead of the more common type 35 - which is a good thing.

She just wooshes along, emitting a fairly throaty V8 growl from its twin pipes.  Noticed a slightly disturbing lack of response from the brakes when I started out today - but only once - I'll check the level shortly.  Also had to top up the power steering by a small amount (the manual says to check it every 1,000 miles anyway).

Second gear is a real stormer, good for at least 70 mph (112kph) which dispatches hills, slower cars and pretty much anything with disdain and aplomb.  I love it.

Now I have to work out the heating (possibly stuck in the on position) and the aircon (which at least needs regassing) and I will have a very usable car.  I had forgotten how little room there is for passenger's legs in the back, especially when the driver is a well-proportioned 6'4".

Can't be many 4-door 2-seater grand tourers can there?  Only the Brits eh?