clayts450

And another dead battery on my 2 litre. To be fair it was some no name affair and criminally underrated (an 063 360A 40mAH cheapie slung in by the previous owner). Refused to charge beyond 10V so I suspect a dead cell or two. Anyway, pulled the trigger today on a Yuasa 3005 (thanks Dave for the suggestion) from Tayna for 57 quid. Poor old Coupe has been neglected since lockdown, not driven in anger for over three months now. Just about keeping on top of four out of five of the Rovers, which also displayed dead batteries at various times throughout lockdown, some more than once. The fifth Rover (1992 214 SLi) is stuffed away on the naughty step in a garage far far away, but I unhooked the battery on that one before laying it up.

Yeah, I had a play with the handbrake on the 820 on Saturday - it's just a screwdriver down the back of the plastic cover of the handbrake to pop it off and you can get at the adjuster easily enough. I'm well versed in the routine as I had to do it to the 620 to get that one through an MoT - it's the driver's side which is the problem, and I did strip back everything, regrease , wound piston in etc etc, and squidged the pedal a few times and tightened up the adjuster. Didn't solve it and by then it was getting dark and raining, so I'll have to have another go. On about 9 clicks presently, so not far off. At least now it holds on hills which it didn't do before, but I think it'll be a case of getting the spring off, cleaning it all out and giving that cam nut a good old waggle to and fro as that seems to be where the resistance is - precisely the same thing which happened on the 620, funnily enough. Thanks for the heads up on the sunroof drain and for confirming my suspicions on the actuator. Further investigations to ensue...

Sorry for not being around much lately, but other members of the fleet have been getting the love. Coupe has been neglected a bit since the replacement rear window went in, but it then did me the 250 mile round trip to my parents' without any hassle, and I'm trying to commute in it at least once per week (have to cycle through four of the others on fleet too, to keep them moving). I did have to look at the back brakes again as they started making the bedspring squeaking noise, so pulled them apart and regreased and put back together and all is well (and quiet) again. I do need to renew the ATF again (2nd change of 3) and that'll be the next job, just as soon as the weather stops chucking the wet stuff down. Three current issues to sort out - (1) driver's door lock no longer works with the blipper (passenger door works fine, boot release works fine), but works okay on the key, so suspecting the actuator may need switching out, unless anyone has any other troubleshooting tips ? (2) leak in the boot (in the nearside cubby hole under the plastic tray) - I suspect this may be related to the big dent and I need to bend some metal out and maybe wang some sealant down there (3) I've lost the connector and the wires for the parcel shelf mounted brake light ! I think this must have been when I stripped out the back of the car for the window replacement, and I have stuck it all back together without fishing out the connector, so I'll need to take it all apart again ! Meanwhile, I have acquired another Rover/Honda, this lovely old girl, a Mk 1 Rover 820 Si manual - Rover M-series engine, with just 43K on the clock. Cost me hardly anything and the previous owner has done everything needed to get it through another 43K without any fuss. Some minor rust treatment and an iffy handbrake to sort out and all will be good. 1990s executive car driving at it's best...

Nowt much, just a few servicing bits and bobs for the 214 and 420. Their prices are okay most of the time, and I prefer OEM. It's their postage prices which make me cross. Hence, I'll do a 30 or 40 quid order and then pop over on a Saturday morning and pick up in person. Not too far from here, only 45 miles or so, and it gives one of the fleet a run out.

Yes, now I can actually drive it properly, and commute as well. To be fair, I drove it over to Rimmer Bros in Lincoln (you'll know them, Dave) to get some Rover bits (always like to pick up in person) and I heard a sound like a stone rattling in the wheel arch, and then a horrible repetitive clunk clunk noise. I was only 5 minutes out from Rimmers, so drove there granny style. Reversed into a parking space, another loud clunk, and the repetitive noise stopped. Suspected the brake caliper. Got home...yup. Whichever idiot was last in there didn't tighten up the bottom guide pin properly. Oh hang on...that was me. Idiot. Sorted now

Yes, I think it had to come from Stateside - they really struggled to find one but kept at it. Very impressed with their customer service, if I'm honest. Sadly the miscreant was never found, but I suspect it was kids. Interestingly the fitter said it wasn't the first replacement pane to go in.

Finally, Autoglass sourced the replacement quarter glass and fitted this morning:

2023 I suspect. Forgot to add, also changed the pollen filters. Do I win five pounds ?

Autoglass update on replacement window ? Still on back order, expected mid-August ? (but, it is mid-August ? Sorry, not in yet). Pain in the proverbial as I can't really commute in the Coupe at present as where I work is in a rough part of town, and an already shattered window is just an open invitation. Elsewhere, serviced front/rear brakes, now have set of four Honda wheels on, two with new tyres, and with shiny Type R red centre caps to offset the silver nicely. Pics soon.

Don't know yet - they haven't reviewed the footage yet, but they believe it should extend far enough to see someone looking at the damage they caused - good thing is we have an approx time window to save them reviewing tons of video.

To be fair I probably have some compatible new spark plugs here somewhere (need to also do the 620 and the Streetwise and have some lying around in a 'safe place' - I know not where). Euro Car Parts had the right Denso ones in stock and didn't sting me much, as they had one of their never-ending DFS-type voucher codes available which brought them down to about 4 quid apiece, not to be sniffed at.

In an interesting development one of my neighbours has CCTV and may just have caught the incident on camera - we shall see.

All done and even had time to pop some new spark plugs in as well - the gaps on the outgoing ones were certainly wider than 1.1mm so hopefully there'll be some improved explosions with the new Denso plugs (NGK were outgoing). Good colour though, so no sign of rich/lean running.

Nice one, thanks. I was going to pop into Wilko (the modern day Woolworths, in my opinion) for 'something better' on the way home from work so it looks as if that'll do the trick ! As you say cardboarded up windows is a bit of an invitation to ne'er do wells to 'improve' the situation.

I've covered both sides with thick cardboard and Gorilla tape, as the glass is hanging in there on a wing and a prayer at the moment and I don't want some kid hurting himself (the neighbour's kid - who deffo wasn't the guilty party - poked it with his inquisitive 4 year old finger and got scalded by both me and his Mum). I've stuck some polythene over the outside as well, but ran out of Gorilla tape, so that's held on with parcel tape for now. Looks like it'll be off the road until the window is replaced, as I don't want to chance it popping in transit. Good job I have one or two other cars to rely upon (and the Rover 620 has likely got a reprieve now after it generated quite a lot of interest at the Festival of the Unexceptional !)