What have you done today

[Chuffer]

Another fab turn out at the Earls Barton monthly Classic Car & Bike meet this evening with I estimated well over 300 cars and bikes . Each meet has a specialist theme with dedicated parking area and today it was American and Hot Rods . Some very interesting cars on display including a supercharged Chevy Belaire and a Chevelle Supersport Pro - Street Rod , both capable of running 9 second 1/4 mile.
Several Corvettes too , three of us at least being CCCUK members . Some great pick ups and a rarity here in the UK I think was a Chevy Corvair GT 500 plus the stunning 1950 Chevy Skyline .

 

[Chuffer]

A few more Earls Barton beauties .

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Gawsworth Hall last BH Monday. This show is a little known gem that brings out the best that Cheshire has to offer.

But Corvettes....

 

[Mr. Cricket]

23 turned up

 

[Chuffer]

Another day spent in the Bog Boy`s Toys Box today and an absolute bore !! A 28 inch diameter bore to be precise . Finally we are back to working on our steam loco again now the pig push on the Class 33 Diesel is done and dusted for the time being . Ably assisted by our newest and youngest member to our group Jamie , a student at Loughborough University just up the road from the railway workshops , we were both head and shoulders inside a massive cylinder a piece laboriously hand polishing the light rust build in the cylinder bores with ever decreasing grades of abrasive paper and copious amounts of Duck Oil . All very tedious but that`s loco restoration for you !
Back out in Vette tomorrow in hopefully glorious sunshine at Daventry Motor Fest so whoopie doo !

 

[Chuffer]

Just back from Daventry Motor Fest today with the sun tan well and truly topped up . This is an annual event that takes place in a public park in the centre of Daventry , Northamptonshire and also produces a big turn out of assorted classics , moderns and customs . It also attracts a large steady flow of Joe Public all day to admire the cars as it`s free entry for them being a public park . It was a sell out for show cars and I went along with the 25 car turn from Long Bucby & District Classic Car Club . LDV was one of only two Corvettes out of the hundreds of cars on display and drew lots of attention from young and old like as our Corvettes always seem to. A great day to hang out with old and new friends and chat with the public

 

[Roscobbc]

Another day spent in the Bog Boy`s Toys Box today and an absolute bore !! A 28 inch diameter bore to be precise . Finally we are back to working on our steam loco again now the pig push on the Class 33 Diesel is done and dusted for the time being . Ably assisted by our newest and youngest member to our group Jamie , a student at Loughborough University just up the road from the railway workshops , we were both head and shoulders inside a massive cylinder a piece laboriously hand polishing the light rust build in the cylinder bores with ever decreasing grades of abrasive paper and copious amounts of Duck Oil . All very tedious but that`s loco restoration for you !View attachment 30114View attachment 30115View attachment 30116View attachment 30117View attachment 30118View attachment 30119
Back out in Vette tomorrow in hopefully glorious sunshine at Daventry Motor Fest so whoopie doo !

Some of those threads on that 'flange' certainly look a bit 'iffy' Mike?

 

[Chuffer]

Some of those threads on that 'flange' certainly look a bit 'iffy' Mike?

Indeed they do Ross . They are the studs that hold the cylinder covers and piston valve covers in place and subjected to very high pressures . If you look closely some are marked with a X . Those are too badly wasted to have the threads die nutted and require replacing .

 

[Roscobbc]

Indeed they do Ross . They are the studs that hold the cylinder covers and piston valve covers in place and subjected to very high pressures . If you look closely some are marked with a X . Those are too badly wasted to have the threads die nutted and require replacing .

I did see the 'X' marks and wondered.......

 

[Roscobbc]

Hadn't used the Vette for a good 6 months. Even though it's stored in a good environment with no moisture and always at a temperature a few degrees higher than ambient......I don't like the thought of keeping too much 5% ethanol based Super Unleaded fuel in the tank and its potential to hygroscopically 'attract' water.)
So over winter I have been gradually syphoning-off the remaining fuel and using it in the daily driver.
Happy (and a little surprised) to get the tank almost totally empty with no signs of water remaining at all.
Took a WW2 spec' Jerry can down to Tesco's, filled with 15 litres of 99 Super Unleaded. Then did an oil and filter change. Cranked-over for seemingly ever until oil pressure showed and away she went, all ready for summer

 

[Chuffer]

Hadn't used the Vette for a good 6 months. Even though it's stored in a good environment with no moisture and always at a temperature a few degrees higher than ambient......I don't like the thought of keeping too much 5% ethanol based Super Unleaded fuel in the tank and its potential to hygroscopically 'attract' water.)
So over winter I have been gradually syphoning-off the remaining fuel and using it in the daily driver.
Happy (and a little surprised) to get the tank almost totally empty with no signs of water remaining at all.
Took a WW2 spec' Jerry can down to Tesco's, filled with 15 litres of 99 Super Unleaded. Then did an oil and filter change. Cranked-over for seemingly ever until oil pressure showed and away she went, all ready for summer

. Ready to rock n roll .

 

[CaptainK]

Went to the WSR steam gala briefly on the Friday, at Bishops Lydeard.

Guess the name of this Terrier:


Who was teamed up with 11456 as a short train:



Can you guess the name of the loco below? I bet you'll be wrong. Despite the name "Robin Hood" on it (and 2986 number), its actually "Lady of Legend" (2999). For some reason I don't understand, WSR ran a poll on their Facebook page to change the loco's running name for the steam gala. "Robin Hood" evidently won.



One of Chuffer's babies - Erlestoke Manor:


They say Terriers are mighty, and here we see one having a standoff with Erlestoke:

It was actually a traffic jam due to apparently a train failure causing delays, so they were shuffling trains around to keep things going. Erlestoke had just offloaded passengers from Minehead, then had to back up as far as possible to allow Fenchurch in from Norton Fitzwarren to offload its passengers. Then Fenchurch backed up into a siding to allow Erlestoke to head out down to Norton. What you can't see in the photo above is "Lady of Legend / Robin Hood" on the other line, as its hidden by Erlestoke in the photo's angle.


Note to self: Whilst exciting to see the trains moving around, and lining up the camera etc, must remember to NOT leave the baby in the pushchair on the platform whilst baby is asleep. Leads to more awkward photo taking whilst baby is awake.

 

[Chuffer]

Great photos Captain I bet all the shunting about kept the `Bobby` ( signalman) well occupied for a while with two trains occupying the same line in facing directions and the`Calling On ` signals brought into play as an `all clear to the point of obstruction ` instructions given to the drivers .
11456 is generally known as a `Lanky Tank` as they were built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1891 ( hence the `Lanky` name ) and were absorbed into the London Midland Scottish Railway ( LMS ) in 1928 and eight of them were still in service with the nationalised British Railways as late as 1961 at the grand old age of 70 !
The `Terrier ` tanks are an even older design built in 1872 for the London & Brighton & South Coast to the design of William Stroudley who was the LBSCR Chief Mechanical Engineer at the time for light weight passenger trains and shunting . Fenchurch`s unusual ochre livery was officially known as `Stroudly Improved Green ` and applied to many LBSCR locos in the Victorian Era . The paint was so "improved " it probably had no green in it at all !
The railway had their monies worth out of them too as the last survivors where still in action on the Hayling Island branch well into the 1960`s as their light weight was well suited the severe weight restrictions on the long wooden trestle bridges from the mainland to the island which is why several have survived into preservation .

 

[CaptainK]

Thanks Chuffers. I thought you'd fill in all the background details for me .

I wanted to go to the Gala for longer, and also ride on the 11456 / Terrier combo as they were doing "half the line" return trips, and also short trips to Norton and back. But sadly due to my change circumstances right before the gala, I was rushed for time so had to pick what I really wanted to see at the Gala - and the Terrier was what I really wanted to see this year. The colour is lovely on it, really makes it stand out. Gorgeous indeed. Gutted I didn't get a ride on it, but circumstances change. Still, got some photos of the wee baby man with each loco (except maybe 11456), so can't complain. And no, I don't put baby photos on the internet. Sorry.

 

[Chuffer]

Thanks Chuffers. I thought you'd fill in all the background details for me .

I wanted to go to the Gala for longer, and also ride on the 11456 / Terrier combo as they were doing "half the line" return trips, and also short trips to Norton and back. But sadly due to my change circumstances right before the gala, I was rushed for time so had to pick what I really wanted to see at the Gala - and the Terrier was what I really wanted to see this year. The colour is lovely on it, really makes it stand out. Gorgeous indeed. Gutted I didn't get a ride on it, but circumstances change. Still, got some photos of the wee baby man with each loco (except maybe 11456), so can't complain. And no, I don't put baby photos on the internet. Sorry.

I am sure you will get other opportunities as the WSR always seem to acquire interesting `guest` locomotives for their galas . Vintage little tank engines certainly do have a character all of their own and often have odd quirks to their controls not found on larger and later build locos . The oldest two tank locos I was fortunate enough to work on as both a fireman and then as a driver was Lady Armaghdale built in 1898 for the Manchester Ship Canal Railway and No. 813 built in 1900 for the Port Talbot Railway Company .

 

[Chuffer]

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours this morning at a Cars & Coffee meet held at EBC Brakes world headquarters just up the road from me in Northampton . The usual crop of hot hatch`s , Beemers with crackling exhausts and Jap cars with more negative camber than a broken wagon wheel .
But a few interesting cars too such as Dodge Viper , Mustang , stunning Hot Rod and a 1960 Chevy Impala resto-mod plus a very pretty Lotus Elan +2 that belongs to a member of EBS staff team . The Hot Rod and Impala are regular attendees and meets in my area but I never get to speak with Impala guy as he always parks up and then seems to disappear . The Hot Rod guy is very friendly and also is a Corvette C4 owner who lives in the next village to our Nats venue at Sywell . I think I might have convinced him to join CCCUK . He built the Rod himself over a 10 year period and is absolutely stunning .
A pair of USA police cars were a crowd pleaser and both were fully kitted out with all the usual US police tech equipment , comms , and even a pair of assault rifles in a rack between the seats !! The black one was a genuine State Of Missouri patrol car and the owner was in full uniform complete with hand gun , cuffs and radio on his belt . He caused a riot of laughs when he `collared` an EBC guy , yelled at him to get on his knees with hands on head whilst holding his gun to his back . Then threw him on the hood of the patrol car and slapped the cuffs on him . It was great chatting with other enthusiasts and the Vette draw lots of interest from the younger lads to those of a `more mature` disposition .Nice bacon bap and coffee too so what`s not to like ?

 

[Chuffer]

Had a great day at Oakham Classic Wheels today held at the Rutland Showground . This is the third year we have attended and it`s a huge show with masses of classics plus trade village , street food , auto jumble and live band on stage . The weather was good and the Lancaster fly past was the cherry on the cake . Unfortunately out the CCCUK cars booked which is the minimum requirement for a club stand , only three of us turned up and was great to meet new Central South region member Dave who drove all the way from Shifnal in Shropshire in his recently acquired C6 to join us . At least we had a prime location in the heart of the show surrounded by the traders , food outlets and live band which gave us full exposure to the crowds and lots of attention to our cars .

 

[teamzr1]

Uugh
Looks like a 1958 Caddy ?

Had an uncle who had one back than and one time we went on a trip and there was 9 of us jammed in it
I was made to sit on the floor in back and due to exhaust smoke coming in I puked the whole way home
as being car sick and was dizzy for like hours
That car was

 

[Chuffer]

Uugh
Looks like a 1958 Caddy ?

Had an uncle who had one back than and one time we went on a trip and there was 9 of us jammed in it
I was made to sit on the floor in back and due to exhaust smoke coming in I puked the whole way home
as being car sick and was dizzy for like hours
That car was

Yeah , I think it is a `58 Caddy and equally as reliable as your uncle`s car by the look of the heavy duty rope coiled rounder the front fender ready for use in the next tow ???

 

[Roscobbc]

Had a buddy who owned a '59 or '60 'befinned' Caddy 4 door sedan in white many years ago........it was rather tatty in appearance. It had the then optional (and troublesome) extremely rare air suspension option.
Seem to remember it having a huge 12v 'V' twin compressor mounted in the engine bay on the drivers side inner fender. GM's system was well known as being prone to air leaks - Roys car was no different (probably worse) and the 'pumped-up' air reservoirs would leak-out all the stored air after the car was left parked.
When we all would go out in our respective cars on a cruise we would always have to wait for 10 minutes for Roys Caddi to 'pump-up' the reservoirs.
He would have to be careful parking near a kerb as the body could 'catch' the kerb edge or prevent opening a door on one side.......yes it settled that low, literally on the ground, and a look that today people would die for.
The comfort and ride really was very good (for a Cadillac anyway) noticable better than a stock 'sprung' Caddi. On a very quiet night you could always hear a very faint 'hissing' sound comming from Roy's Caddi as the system leaked air!