Lights! Cameras! Action!

 I'm away in Devon for the next two weekends so a Sunday run posted by GB suggested itself as a suitable "shakedown" run. As the week went on, more and more names were added to the list of runners until it reached the heady total of 14! (mostly Lotuses though).

Another reason for heading out was the camera. I had two GoPro Hero 2s & a Hero along with two wifi backs which over the years had fallen into "graceful degradation" one, then both of the wifi backs failed, a charge connector fell out, the batteries although appearing to charge, weren't running the cameras. I mentioned on a club chat that I was thinking of buying a couple of cheap cameras & two of the Rogue Runners offered me their disused Hero 3s. One from my bestest friend inna world Linda, arrived by post midweek & the other from my bestest friend inna world Roger was handed to me at the meet point, so I again have cameras & re-used ones rather than new ones shipped here from the far east in a smoky diesel bulk carrier. I thought this was a very kind thing until I realised that by giving me the cameras they would still get videos of the road trips - they just wouldn't have to spend hours editing the footage down - cunning! (no - it was a VERY kind thing & I very much appreciate it).

Only the first one was in use on the run, the mounts for the second were sorted out on my return home.

It was pretty dark when I set off just before 06:00, pretty damn cold too, I chose a poor selection of apparel & was freezing almost from the outset. 

Then the traffic lights at the road works close to my house had frozen on red, so after sitting looking at the stationary lights of the car facing me I  took the initiative & drove through

The run started from one of GBs preferred start points on the A23 & the cars made quite an impressive sight. GB asked me to lead out, the Loti followed, with the other two kits taking up the rear.

To begin with I was having a little car trouble, the engine stuttering, especially when coming off a right hand bend. After a while I was thinking I should return home & investigate, when it stopped. I wonder if being in the garage with the temperature fluctuations we've had made moisture condense in the tank & the bends were slooshing it into the tank's sump? Who knows.

The roads were good, quite winding, not too much traffic & we made good progress. 

At one point I rounded a corner to find the road covered with doves & pigeons who didn't seem bothered about getting out of the way (they're a little like cyclists in this regard). I really thought this one had left it too late, but It just missed the screen pillar.

I don't much like being at the front, the camera footage isn't as good & I have to decide on the pace, so when we got to some dual carriageway I stayed on the inside lane so folk could pass if they wished.

Then passing through a village - we'd been stuck behind a car following two cyclists taking up most of the road having a chat, one cyclist turned off allowing the first car past, the Lotus ahead of me did the same but then veered off right & only at the last second did I see the other Lotii parked up for a rest. Rather than swerve I went on, turned round & went back

Having had a break, we set off again, up Ditchling Beacon which was mercifully free of cars & only a couple of bikes & then down to the coast to the east of Brighton & the Roedean cafe where the carpark was a mess of Lotus' going back & forth, getting parked up on the sloping gravel trying not to scrape bits on the ground. No such problems for the Stylus.

But there is a post-script, Richard in one of the kits hadn't arrived. I put a message on the WhatsApp asking if he was OK & got a curt "Yep", a little while later there was another message saying he was in the car park of a closed cafe miles away - it seems he's got his daughter to load the route onto his satnav & she'd posted one with the correct start point, but a different end. Not a good result on Easter Sunday - no bacon for him! On the other hand, Matt who hadn't done the route joined us for breakfast in his black & green MK & he lives not 1/2 mile from my Dad, who I was going to visit on my way home, so I had company on the way back. This will of course stop when the extended London ULEZ prohibits the 40mpg petrol Stylus - meaning I'll be making EXTRA car journeys when I go to see my Dad.

Adding Mass

Yes, not like me I know.

It's been a while since I posted on here because a/ I've been away & b/ it's rained - a lot, so there's not been much chance to get out in the car. It did go out last week over to the very good Silvesters Garage near Guildford for an MoT - all my cars have gone there for the last 30 years & they are both very good at what they do & trustworthy. It passed & the tester was kind enough to say it's the best Stylus he's tested this yea...... WAIT A MINUTE!

The "away" was a trip to Wales with my son & his family, I rented a house between Llangollen & Corwen as none of them had ever been to Wales & that put us closeish to the coast & Snowdonia, so my grandson & I hunted dragons in Conwy castle (there must be one - it's on the flag above the turret!) went on a steam train & a horse drawn boat & looked at sharks in the aquarium (he's not quite three). I loved every minute.

Back to the car. A spur-of -the-moment purchase of a fire extinguisher has added a couple of kg, I've mounted it on the rear parcel shelf so it's out of the way enough, but close to hand if required & I've also installed a sound system (sort of). A £10 purchase on ebay, it's a little gadget that takes a bluetooth signal from a phone (music or phone) & re-transmits it on FM. The inter-car radios we use have a facility to receive FM & mute it when a message comes in or goes out, so I can send music to the headphones from my phone - which is good, but the gadget also has an SD card slot, so carries it's own MP3 supply, it comes on & plays with ignition & a touch of the orange button on the radio plays it through the headphones. So this afternoon's job was to move the radio to somewhere I could reach it from the driver's seat.

This looked like a tricky one until I found a P-clip & made up a bracket to hold the radio on the roll bar. The radio should work better there as it's not in front of a vertical aluminium sheet.
 

With the first big trip of 2023, a school friends trip to Devon only two weeks away & the first proper road trip (the "Jam On Top" tour) only three weeks away, all this is coming together nicely

Waiting - Again

 There's not much happening to the Stylus just now, it's been cold & wet & yesterday there was 4 inches of snow! But there has been a little garage action, I ordered a bluetooth transmitter so I can plat the music on my phone through the radio headphones & installed that & I also bought a couple of stainless bushes to re-inforce the holes for the soft top spreader bar through the screen arch & after turning the outside diameter down a little & bonded them in this evening.

That's all for now, but the weather is getting better & I will soon be getting some miles on it.

Cool

 The new radiator fitted on the mounts & was filled, joy of joys the water stayed on the inside. A quick trundle along the A30 blew the air pockets from the system, the car was topped up & the very next day I took it to Bicester Heritage for their Ford "scramble" - it was very sub-zero when I left home. As soon as I pushed the car out of the garage, the windscreen fogged up & froze!

My planning for the event wasn't up to its usual standard & when the SatNav told me I'd arrived, I was in the middle of an old village. Fortunately my phone recognised Bicester Heritage as a thing & I managed to drive one handed & watching the phone for the last mile & still contrived to drive straight past.

When I did get in through the gate one of my bestest friends inna whole world took a superb photo of my arrival - even captured me smiling & that's a very rare achievement.

I was directed to park in front of the cafe where the more interesting cars were being parked - I may have imagined that though. The first thing I did (after having a hot drink) was check the water level. Not a drop had been lost, so I was able to empty the 10 litre tankful I'd taken with me into a drain to lighten the car.

There weren't a huge number of cars there, but there were some interesting ones, a hot rod Pop with some subtle but astonishing body mods, a '36 cabrio still used for historic rallying, a rally MkII Escort, a few Capris & Escorts & a modified 100e with a Pinto & a webasto roof.

By lunch time when I left, the temperature had climbed as far as "damned chilly" on the Blatter temperature scale, but on my uneventful return home I was pleased to see there was still no water loss at all. Job done.

Rad Troubles

The very first time I took the Stylus out with the car club all the water ran out because the rad had been mounted touching an edge on the GRP body, which had slowly slowly cut through the aluminium. I got that mended, but last weekend I noticed the water level was again low, but looking around I found a stain on the rad. £300 of Coolex radiator was leaking from the core.

I didn't buy it - I wouldn't be so daft, but as it was now obviously recycling fodder I bought a radiator from a Polo - which doesn't look so nice, but as it's tucked away deep in the nose, who cares? If it keeps the water in & the engine cool, that'll be just fine with me.

It arrived as promised & fitted perfectly in place of the old one, as a bonus it's 1/2 the weight & holds less water so there's a 2 1/2kg weight saving. It's now on the car & the cooling system has been flushed, tomorrow I'll tighten the clamps & put fresh coolant in it & give it a testing.

Just as an aside, the weight of the car at purchase was 700kg, the car still has all the features it used to have plus a few new ones, like removable side windows, USB ports, seat cushions, a fuel tank that doesn't scrape the road & it now weighs 627kg, None of it's been big stuff, just little savings here & there, taking off things it didn't need, like the oil cooler & swapping steel components for aluminium ones, none were really worthwhile in isolation, but they all add up - or subtract down.

Out Again

 

This weeks little saunter was from Newlands Corner to Brighton & we were joined by "Captain Slow" of the wider SKCC (also by some production cars). The Captain's name is legend in the SKCC for his ability to mend any fault on any car at the roadside - even welding things back together with a welder he carries in the seven in extreme cases.

The Captain's car was built from plans - meaning he bought lengths of steel tube & cut & welded it into a chassis etc & it's not long on the road after a major re-build & I have to say, looking good, the other runners were two Elises & an Exige 430.

The Stylus was going nicely today, getting back into it's stride from the months of non use. I've replaced the other two rod ends in the rear suspension leading arms with polybushes & the ride is much improved. Nick with the Exige commented on how it appeared to be riding the potholes better that his car.

Did I mention pot holes? Sussex seems to be in competition with Surrey to have the worst road surfaces, Fulking (it's the name of a place) was particularly bad with canyons about 4" deep right across the road. On the upside we went up Ditchling Beacon for the first time & there were no cyclists! we were following a 4x4, but at least it was keeping up a reasonable pace.

So, another nice run out, with no damage / breakdowns / things to mend & we got to meet Mrs Neil who has voluntarily agreed to come on the Rogue Runners trip to Devon, but appeared to be otherwise quite normal.

Camberley - Amberley - Camberley

 First blatt of the new year. As it was one of GB's, the Stylus was the only kit, the other three being Loti. The route was basically a figure 8 lying diagonally across a map from Christchurch to "the garage on the A23" (not much idea where it is - kind of Horsham ish), but it all went a bit odd.

When I set off it was dark - dark & cold, but mostly dark. I particularly noticed this because the driver's side main beam appears to have gone dead again. But by the time I got to the start point & we set off it was getting light, so not a problem - something to mend during the week.

It all started going wrong when my Satnav said "turn left" but everyone carried on. At the next junction is also said "turn left", again everyone carried on. Then it said to go straight across a roundabout where the road was plainly closed, we followed the diversion signs back along the road we'd come down, my SatNav now insisting I should turn right. After a while we turned left to follow the diversion signs & eventually the blue line on the screen suggested we were back on the route. However, it was still suggesting I turn off & the mileage to the end was increasing. I followed the herd & after a while we turned into a side road so our leader could have a conflab. When we re-started we had a new leader, but my SatNav still wasn't happy. After a while I lost sight of the car in front & following the route on screen turned left - apparently everyone else turned right.

I realised it had all gone wrong & pulled over to delete a load of waypoints & head for the cafe as I was cold & rumbled along in the sunshine, but I was driving through the same places, suggesting that we were on the route - but heading the wrong way. Whatever. When I arrived at the cafe the SatNav took me into the exit, so having never been there before I got confused & turned round & followed the A4 paper signs.

The cafe was on an "industrial estate" - a bit of "alternative farming" by a local land owner & even though I was now in the right place, finding the cafe was still a challenge. But find it I did & parked up & sauntered down to find a unit surrounded by Porsches as well as a couple of interesting cars, a Noble, a Lanham Sprite (one of the modern kits that's made quite locally) & an Inoccentti Mini, one of the square shaped ones that Inoccentti designed for themselves.

I ordered a coffee & went to the loo - which for no reason that I could fathom had a Red Arrows theme, the rest of the cafe was quite good, with lots of automotive memorabilia & F1 posters etc - BUT - no full English. Bacon rolls were possible, but apart from that it was burgers, pizzas & cake - lunch time stuff rather than breakfast, so obviously I had cake, a toffee apple cake in fact & very nice it was too. About 10 mins after I arrived, the others pulled in. "before we got to the the closed road" I said "the SatNav was saying turn left". "yes" replied our leader "mine too". I refrained from asking why he'd ignored it going in BOTH directions & got us onto the return route while still heading outbound.

If you want to test the cafe for yourself it's the "Torque Moto Cafe" - bound to have a website.

So then it was just getting home. The Stylus worked well - the temperature gauge only showed 60deg, so I'm wondering if it was so cold the screen heater rad was enough to over-cool the engine? I may have to fit a restrictor to ensure the thermostat opens. the suspension was good, no squeaking at all & a much better ride than hitherto without any detrimental effect on the handling, happy with that.