My day off today & I had a few more errands to do in the morning, so it was lunchtime before I got to the workshop.
I really need some bits & pieces welding in place now, but Mr Loon was busy masking & primering a customer's car, so I pulled the spark plugs & gave 'em a clean. Not looking too bad colour wise, so the mixture must be more or less right.
A little oil collecting in a couple of the plug recesses. I'm assuming it's weeping from the rocker covers. Tweaked them up a tad.
Oil laying at the back of the valley gasket. I've already taken the clamp off the back edge & squirted some sealant around it. May have to try some more. The dipstick's showing slightly above the full mark, so maybe just finding it's own level.
Radiator level's fine.
I repositioned the bracket that holds the kickdown cable outer sleeve, to give me more adjustment. That altered the tickover so I wound it back down a touch.
All seemed well, so time for a little drive.
As we look out of the workshop door, we can see the A339 Basingstoke to Newbury road, running along the horizon. I've lived in either Basingstoke or Newbury for most of my life so know the road well. It's been my test track for most of the vehicles I've built over the years. About 7 or 8 miles away is Kingsclere, where there's an American style roadside restaurant called Nelson's Diner, (named after a donkey that lived in the field before they built it -mine of utterly useless info, me). I grabbed a spare fuel can & checked my breakdown recovery card -just in case, then headed for the diner.
A fairly uneventful journey. Throttle response isn't right. When I put my foot down there's a flat spot, a hesitation. Like it's kinda gasping for breath before accelerating. I found myself stomping on the pedal, then pumping again before it picked up. Bigger carb jets needed? The brakes definitely need re bleeding. Same thing- first stomp, halfway to the floor. Second push, fine. So I was double pumping both pedals.
Steering's heavy & the huge turning circle's a pain but I'll get used to it.
Pulled into the diner.
The manager came out
Mind if I take a photograph?
No. Mind if I park sideways across 3 parking spaces? I can't turn tight enough to get into 1.
I slurped a banana milkshake -try one of our 30 flavours, including Mars Bar, bakewell tart, jelly baby or whisky -& ordered a full fried breakfast.
I texted Loon to let him know I'd got there in one piece
-hang on, I'll nip over & join you.
As I finished my meal & ordered another 'shake he pulled in with his Mum. A maple syrup shake & a Snickers one, plus another banana please.
Only a small diner, but the food's great with huge portions. A Nevada burger for Loon, potato wedges for Mum. The truck looks good parked outside.
