Journey 31st October 2015 - About a bit, ACCC Grille badge added

A spookily bright and warm Halloween! Perfect day to get Amy out for a spin, showing off her new grille addition.

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Bright, Warm and Dry
Temp : 16°
Journey : Winnersh and Bracknell
Distance : 20 miles

Decided to get an ACCC grille badge to go with the AA one. Biggest decision was where to put it. I went for the one sided look, rather than the one either side symmetrical look!

Journey 25th October 2015 - White Lion Visit and Gym Run

Lovely late October day. Bright sunshine, gold, red, green leaves on the trees. Bright crisp start turning to a warmish Indian summer day. Nothing else going on so a perfect day to get up to the White Lion in Amy. Did gym drop in the afternoon too.


Today : Sunny
Conditions : Bright and Dry
Temp : 8°
Journey : White Lion Antiques, Hartley Whitney
Distance : 28 miles

Just me and Reggie today. Have only done the White Lion once this year so far, for the Austin/Morris day which was a bit of a damp squib. The weather was slated to be good for today and turned out to be so. Got there around 10.15 had a coffee and a good look around with Reggie. He has taste!

It was his walk too, so the fact that the field was in use (and near enough full) was good for him.

He had a good snuffle about and didnt try to pee on any cars! He saw a couple of four legged friends whilst I was able to enjoy looking at beasts of the four wheeled variety.

Usual lineup shot, and a standalone. Loveley weather similar to a prior visit same time last year, so probably very similar pictures!






Oh well, definitely seen this shot before, but whats changed this time. Worsening front bumper and AA Grille badge I guess.

Next year's version should hopefully have a gleaming bumper again.

MGA was always my dream car. Having been introduced to world of Austin a bit more since having Amy, it's now a tough call between that and an Austin Healey.  I think the Healey might be edging it. Both out of reach realistically, but this photo opportunity today made for a good comparision anyways.

Journey 18th Oct 2015 - Go Karting & Gym

Nothing adventurous. Just the Go Kart run to Woodley and a Gym pickup

Today : Light Cloud
Conditions : Bright and Dry
Temp : 12°
Journey : Woodley and back and Pinewood and back
Distance : 18 miles

MPG Update

161 Miles / 7.03 Gallons = 23 mpg

Lower, but expected as a number of the miles were on either  3 cylinders or running on a partially working spark plug.

Hope to see the next one back up to the high 20's, but cold weather arriving, probably less long journeys and more warming up may see that number stay a bit lower.

Not perturbed though. All fine.

Journey 13th October 2015 - ACCC night

ACCC night, new venue at the Kingfisher Quays, Mytchett. Nice place, . Good catchup. Bumper replacement in progress.

Today : Clear Evening
Conditions : Getting chillier!
Temp : 8° dropping to 4°
Journey : Kingfisher on the Quays, Mytchett
Distance : 21 miles

Nice new location to photograph Amy at. You can see the Grey Somerset behind just about, that was the guy I bought her from. We've stayed in touch through he club for quite a while now.

His spare front bumper is off to the chromers, when it comes back I get it and give him my old one as a spare. Good deal. (I have to pay for the chroming though!!)

Journey 11th October 2015 - Gym and Dog Walk

Just dropped Izzie at Gym, walked Reggie at Wildmoor Heath.

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Mild, bright and dry
Temp : 14°
Journey : Crowthorne/Sandhurst
Distance : 20 miles

Journey 10th October 2015 - Thatcham Classic Car Show

Have been meaning to go to Thatcham since I got Amy. First year was too soon and in the middle of engine problems that I had at the time. 2014 was a clash with something, but made it this year. Last show of the season. Maybe one last visit to White Lion after this.

Today : Cloudy
Conditions : Chilly to mild, dull but dry
Temp : 8° (morning) - 14° (afternoon)
Journey : Thatcham
Distance : 50 miles

Not much to say. Good journey there down some fast country roads. Didn't miss a beat there or back which is good. Probably around 500 cars I'd guess. Ranging from a 20's model T Ford to a '56 Plate Mini Cooper. A beaten up Suzuki Jeep to an immaculate Aston Martin Superleggera.

Some pics. Weather not so great, but dry. Good company and mandatory Costa part way through.

Journey 9th October 2015 - Work

Just work and the long way back. No worries.

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Chilly misty morning, mild, bright and dry afternoon
Temp : 4° (morning) - 16° (afternoon)
ourney : Bracknell
Distance : 15 miles

Journey 8th October - Just Dog Walk

Just walking the dog, but went to Winnersh to get a longer drive in, and Coffee! No issues.

Today : Mostly Cloudy
Conditions : Mild, Dry
Temp : 16°
Journey : Winnersh
Distance : 9 miles

Journey 4th October 2015 - More diagnosis driving

I've kind've lost track of exactly what miles I have been doing trying to test out Amy's recent niggle. But close enough. Touch wood OK again now and really great weather for all the recent drive abouts. Rain coming back as we head into Autumn - so back under cover tonight. There may be an opportunity for one last show on Saturday 10th. Thatcham/Newbury. Weather dependant, we'll see. All's well that ends well this weekend at least!

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Mild, Bright and Dry
Temp : 16°
Journey : Winnersh
Distance : 10 miles

One faulty spark plug!!

It wasn't as obvious as I guess it should have been. There wasn't one clear symptom to start with. Ended up swapping plugs about. Un plugging them whilst the engine was running to see if that showed anything obvious. It didn't to start with. Swapped to a new set of HT leads that I have had for a while. That seemed to do the trick.

Drove around a bit, had a blast down the dual carriageway. Bam - back to before. Starting to get frustrating, too many bits and pieces weren't quite adding up, but still convinced it couldn't be anything too serious.

Left it overnight, this morning went to work and did everything non-major that you can do without replacing anything.

Valve Clearances - just because I haven't checked them in over a year..
Re-cut all of the original HT leads to get nice new clean connections.
Cleaned spark plugs - again!
Checked points gap.
Cleaned rotor arm.
Refitted everything.

Started her up - still idling very rough. Something definitely still wrong.

Took the HT leads off one by one. Cylinder 1 CLEARLY made no difference. (when doing the same test previous day had not really been conclusive)

Swapped the spark plugs between 1 and 2, retried. Cylinder 2 made no difference this time.

Swapped that spark plug with a spare. Hurrah - now idling fine.

Took her for a drive, all good. Had a 55-60mph blast down a long straight piece of country road. She handled it fine. Settled back to normal, about town, speeds and got back home with no misbehaviour. Hopefully that is fixed and it all came down to one spark plug!!!

Journey 3rd October 2015 - Halfords and diagnosing rough running

Spending a bit of time trying to fix this niggly problem. Just went to Halfords as I needed some oil and WD40 anyway!!

 Today : Cloudy
Conditions : Warm, Bright and Dry
Temp : 17°
Journey : Winnersh
Distance : 10 miles

Got to be ignition system somewhere

Cleaning up the bad spark plug clears the problem, but seemingly short lived and quickly starts to misfire again. As metnioned, no issue with compression or any other cylinders. So it cant be valve related / piston ring or head gasket. It cant be coil, rotor arm or condenser otherwise would affect all.

That leaves Distributor Cap, HT lead or the Plug itself.

Have swapped the plug around to start with as that is the easiest. When she starts running rough again, then recheck. If the problem has moved with the plug - replace it.

If problem remains in the same cylinder then look more closely at the HT lead and the Cap.

Will get there in the end!! Still have this damn electronic ignition set up that I guess I should fit... Hummmmm...

Journey 2nd October 2015 - Work and more rough running

Work and then a drive about after cleaning a plug up (rough running again to and from work - one plug wet, compression OK was fine after clean, different plug this time). Weird again. No big deal still, suspect maybe HT lead or dizzy maybe.

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Warm, Bright and Dry
Temp : 18°
Journey : Bracknell, Wokinham, around and about.
Distance : 18 miles