Oiling the wheels.

I've now started stocking oil for classic cars.Made by Morris and Penrite.The older 20W/50 oil is recommended even now for classic cars and bikes as the modern thinner stuff tends to promote leaks and high oil consumption.

Oils well that ends well

I'm stocking the older transmission fluids.The Borg Warner boxes in most classic cars use a non dexron type fluid that can be hard to get hold of.The dwxron fluids might promote slippage in a box not designed for them as they are more 'slippery' than the non dexron types.

Taking a bearing.

I took the Rover p5b out and after a while one of the front bearings got a bit hot.When dismantled I found the outer bearing had cracked and was badly pitted.The bearing parts were all by different makers and odd sizes.I bought a replacement bearing but found the old one had started to turn inside the hub so the new ones simply dropped in.I had to buy another rover hub and disc.

Car club web site.

I've started on a web site for my local classic car club the Norwich classic vehicle club So far its a bit basic but I've been held up a bit with work on the shop.

Rain?.It must be car boot time.

I tried the car boot again but the weather was pretty grim.After a while I gave up,put all the stuff back in the van and came home.I bought a decent socket set and a small pressure washere so it wasn't all bad news.
I've been working on a forum for a classic car club I belong to.So far it's going well and I'm finding out about a lot of events I previously knew nothing about.Good idea to swpa info with other classic car owners,you never know whos got that bit you've been looking for for weeks.

Wet start to the car boot.

Funny sort of day at the car boot.Rain first thing but then it was hot and sunny.I bought one of those big tool box thingies on wheels and a pile of really big imperial combination spanners.I bought a bumper for a car,looks like it might be for an A30 or A35 or similar for a couple of quid and a couple of nice elora socket sets.The last thing that had sat nder a stall nearly all day was a Snap On timing light in its box and a compression tester by the same people.

Mystery car,anyone know what it is?

I found this photograph the other day.I know I took it but can't remember where or why,does anyone recognise this old car?. I seem to remember at the time I had an old Rover P3 but I can't think why I should have taken this picture,is it an old Standard?.

A mystery car,anyone know what it is?.

The Norwich Classic vehicle fun day.

 

This went past my shop the other day.There will be a lot more like it at the Norwich Classic vehicle day on June 5th.

I had been thinking of taking my P5b Rover  along for the day,but decided not to bother.

Work on lowestofts docks.

This large crawler crane arrived on the docks yesterday.It's working on the quayside in what used to be the old fish market.This pic was taken from one of the upstairs bedroom windows facing east,in the distance is the North sea.

Building work by Bodgit and Scarpa ltd.

I'm still repairing the drain pipes on the shop.The victorian cast iron jobbies have been covered by the rendering on the top floors and there's nothing other than that holding them up. I've replaced the steel pins that fix them to the wall on the lower floors,they were corroded through in most places and missing entirely in others.

Rendering on the building has covered the fixings to the pipe whichisn't fixed anywhere near straight anyway.

Pipe has come away from wall as the fixings have corroded away.

Water pipes and the front door.

The cast iron pipe on the shop front had come away from the wall,it was about as straight as a donkeys back leg anyway and a wonder it hadn't fell off years ago. As this is a conservation area the council wont let us use modern plastic pipe so the old pipe had to be removed,the wall behind repaired and new fixings made to hold it back on the wall.

 

The front door next door to the shop entrance.no longer fitted,subscidence and a lot of rot around the hinges meant there were gaps in places and it jammed in others.the frame was repaired and the hinges reset.The window at the top had been painted in the shut position but was opened with carefull levering and wedging.The door is now being repainted.We are going to remove the metal grilles in the shop windows and replace the wood holding the glass,this has rotted out due to condensation running down the inside of the glass.

Some more restoration.

The front of our shop Baconsdozen is starting to look a bit rough so we are undertaking a long overdue repair and repaint.The sea air and winds are just as unkind to paint finishes on wood and masonry as they are on cars.So far,apart from cementing the carpet when a bag of cement from Wickes fell to bits as I carried it through the shop,things haven't gone too bad.We've decided to change from the blue and white to a light and dark brown colour scheme.the paint is supposed to be guaranteed six years and with the price of it I hope they're right.

Funny sort of day.

I spent the morning dismantling and adjusting the top suspension swivels on my P5b.Things went well,the joints came undone,they weren't that worn and still had a bit of grease in them.Repacked with grease they were bolted back together and apart from finding a split in one of the rubber boots that will have to be sorted out one day things went well.
All full of enthusiasm,I decided to get the paint pot out and touch up a couple of chips.I know I put it somewhere safe,but couldnt find it anywhere.

Exhaust on the Fairway taxi (again).

I spent a morning under the taxi putting on a new down pipe.The old one broke,I took it off and welded it back together but a few weeks later it broke again a few inches further along. I noticed the old pipe vibrated badly,it was getting thin anyway and the vibration soon finished it off.
A few days before I started I soaked the maifold and downpipe bolts in Plusgas as I tried before to undo one and it would have sheared before coming undone.After a couple of soakings all the nuts and bolts came off without much difficulty.
The taxi is showing its age and despite more repairs rust is showing in more places.
After that I messed about for an hour trying to get to grips with Facebook

Fairway taxi exhaust.

I've repaired the down pipe on the taxi once but it sounds like its about to go again,getting noisy to drive and it was pretty hard to weld last time as parts of it are pretty thin.
I'll take the floor boards out this time,its going to be easier to get the silencer off. The front pipe to manifold bolts look as though they are going to be hard to remove without breaking off.

News from whats left of Lowestoft fish market

The cafe in the middle of the fish dock in Lowestoft harbour is closing.The 'Europa' which has been there many years has closed and the bulding will be left empty.The fish merchants still on the dock say ABP the port owners are trying to force them out to move in more of the windfarm opertaion and the owner of the cafe has given the same reason for her business being forced to close.
The wind farms were supposed to bring in jobs,all they seem to have done is put a lot of people out of work.

Autojumbling again.

I wentto the Rednecks diner autojumble on sunday.It was a bit quieter than the last one but I sold quite a few whitworth spanners and sockets.and other stuff. I couldn't see that much to buy, I bought a few spares and then had a look at a collection of old British bikes.there were some of the old 650 twins and a couple of bantams.make a nice contrast and looked great in the sunshine.

I've gone all global.

I have now bought the domain name  baconsdozen.com I'm told that will make it easier for people outside the UK to find me. I'm not sure how any of this works so it will be a question of wait and see.

Norwich Classic Vehicle Club meeting.

I went to the meeting of the Norwich Classic Vehicle Club at Anglia Windows Social Club.Even coming from lowestoft we are allowed in to their meetings and events.

Tis mustang was just one of the american cars present.

Giving the car a lift.

I'm making some car ramps using some heavy timber and angle iron.The timber which is 8 x 2 inches approx will be placed one plank on top of another and the angle will form the stop..This will be much stronger than the thin angle iron ramps although much,much heavier.I don't trust them anyway and I think axle stands are a bit unstable when the car is over a foot off the ground.

With just the finishing off to do I tried my ex-london taxi on them.The weight is handy is one way,it means the ramps don't try and slide out from under the wheels as the car drives up on them.These taxis are quite heavy cars with a strong seperate chassis and a bulky diesel engine and the ramps needed to be strong.

 

Later I spent a morning under the Rover with waxoyl and fluid film in an effort to keep the rust bug at bay for a few more years.The black waxoyl seems to dry quickly but remain relatively soft,apparently it has to be renewed or touched up on a fairly regular basis to provide protection.