Positive thinking

It seems like a long time since I posted anything here. Probably because there hasn't been much tangible progress to report on any of the projects.

I've laid in a lot of the wiring in the van now and drawn up diagrams for the two new fuse/relay boxes that have to be fitted. All the clever mains supply kit arrived this week too so I'm currently finalising the plans for how that will all fit in. Once it's fitted, I will be able to carry a couple of large leisure batteries in the back of the van which will not only supply all the 12 volt equipment but will also feed an inverter that will provide mains power too. With an external feed connected the inverter runs "in reverse" and charges the batteries instead. All very clever but getting the wiring right (and finding somewhere to install all the equipment!) will take some planning. I'm just compiling a last order of electrical components so I can have a complete kit of parts ready to fit.

I was getting rather depressed with the whole van project earlier this week as I seemed to be spending a whole lot of money and not making much progress. I've spent several hours during the week and the whole of today stripping out the worn steering linkages and replacing all the joints however. It's all back together again now and it feels like I've made some real progress so I'm thinking rather more positively about it all now. I also replaced the sway bar (anti-roll bar) linkages too. I think the ones that came off may have been the original 28 year old ones. They were made entirely from rust anyway! A quick test drive just around the houses here and it does seem to feel a lot nicer but that may just be my imagination, I need a longer run really. Hopefully that's the end of assorted rattling and clonking noises from the front end though.

Next job on the van is to take it to the body shop on Monday to have its dent repaired. A replacement for the broken door mirror was delivered last week but it was damaged so had to be returned. I'll have to wait for another one to be sent before I can fix that.

All progress on the white Spitfire has come to a halt at the moment as Karl was involved in a serious road accident and is still recovering. I'm not in a hurry for it at the moment though so I'll catch up with that project later. I did take part in the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run in the end despite having to withdraw my own entry due to the Spitfire not being ready. Instead I went as co-driver in a Triumph Acclaim (yeah, I know it's made from Honda parts but it has a Triumph badge on it!). The run was hard work as usual but I'm glad I got the opportunity to take part. Thanks Caroline for inviting me to join your team.

The race car is still in the garage gathering dust. It's due out for its only competitive event of this year on the 25th October at the Birkett relay race. I'm looking forward to being able to get on the track again. I have now ordered a new trailer to transport the race car. It's a proper enclosed box trailer and should be pretty good. The trailer is currently being built (yes, I actually bought something new that doesn't need fixing as soon as I get it home!) and should be ready in time for me to use it for the Birkett weekend if there are no delays. The timings will be tight though as I'm hoping to collect the trailer on the Friday, bring it home, load the car and then go directly to Silverstone! The back up plan is to hire a trailer for that weekend from one of two local companies I've found but I'd rather avoid that expense if at all possible.