:: Diary - April 2026 ::

:: Thursday, 2 April 2026 ::

One last thing to do on the Vixen's trunnions: make sure theey're full of oil! I bought a wee mini grease gun for a fiver, put some oil in, and tried to pump it into the grease nipples on each side, but just couldn't get any in.

Sudden thought - I remove the nearside grease nipple, and clamp it in the vice, and try to pump oil through - nope, totally blocked, but not with grease, I think the wee "sealing ball" and spring are rusted in place. I get an empty pump-action oil can, put in some EP90, and try that, to pump oil directly into the thread where the grease nipple should be. It fits pretty tightly into the hub, a couple of wee squirts and oil starts seeping out of the seal around the top of the trunnion. Then the other side - they only took a little, but they're definitely full now, of the correct lubricant! I put the nipples back in to keep all that oil in!

Everything now ready for the 24th year of TVR-ing - that's if we can afford the petrol, since Donald Trump's bold plan to... what was it again? Whatever it was, it has resulted in fuel prices going through the roof, with talk of rationing if it gets worse. We shall see...

In the meantume, I'm glad I got the electric car for day-to-day driving - well, until electricity prices go up!

:: Friday, 3 April 2026 ::

Nice surprise this morning when I opened my TVRCC Sprint magazine, and there, on page 8, was a wee article reminding S Owners about the existence of my other website at tvrsseries.co.uk. This was set up as a "revival" of Colin's TVR S Site, which contained lots of useful information and resources specific to the TVR S Series.

Nice to see it mentioned, although it would have been even nicer if they had got in touch with me about it first!

I understand, though, that both that site and this one are pretty anonymous - if you know who I am, you know. I did that originally (oooh it's 23 years next week since I bought my first TVR and set the other site up!) because I didn't want any cross-over between these random rantings, and my "other life" as a chartered engineer / company director etc. One must maintain a certain professional reputation and decorum, doncha know? Now that I have retired, I suppose it doesn't matter so much.

Nice to see it recognised. I suppose that means I'll have to keep maintaining that one too!

:: Sunday, 5 April 2026 ::

It's TVR Car Club day! I was looking forward to getting a TVR along to the first meeting after the winter... and I still am, but the winter isn't over yet. Storm "Dave" arrived overnight, and continues this morning - strong winds, pishing rain interrupted by brief spells of horizontal snow and hail stones. No... we decide to go in a sensible car. Me and Bobby meet up at Eric's for the run through. Dave isn't going today because he has enough to do elsewhere.

The meeting is fairly quiet - I think that some may be socialled-out after the Celtic Gathering last months. Doesn't affect us though, obviously.

We are joined by a Tamora owner who has been along before, and is looking for advice on how to remove metalastic suspension bushes (of which the Tamora has many!). I'm not entirely clear why he's replacing them all, I think he's been advised by a TVR specialist who has spent time as a race team mechanic with the mentality of "everything is either new or fucked", with no in-between. Anyway, this owner says he's struggling with bush removal, and wonders if there's an easy way.

In my experience, without a 10-tonne press, there are two types of metalastic bush when it comes to removal - some are bastards and the rest are absolute bastards. I've tried every method in my time - threaded rod and different sizes of drifts and sockets to push / pull them through (works if they are not too rusted in), burn or drill the rubber out and then hacksaw through the outer shell (guaranteed to work but takes ages and your arm falls off), or use a small flat drift to "peen" the outer edge of the bush inwards to fold it in on itself, until you can get a bigger drift and hammer on it to batter the fuck out of it. This latter method came in handy recently when renewing a rear trailing arm bush on my daughter's Fiesta. She learned that day, as I did many years before at my own father's knee, a far more extensive vocabulary than she thought I possessed.

We also discuss the demise of Hugh's Vauxhall Mokka against the arse of a works lorry, the progress of the repair to the door of his TVR, and his realisation that his daughter always knows where he is (or rather, where his phone is) in case "something" happens.

We also discuss our first wee run in a couple of weeks, to the Oban area. We have decided on a route and booked accommodation, so all that's left to do now is pray for half-decent weather.

After we get back, I give Bobby a lift home, where we encounter a Range Rover embedded into the side of a bus on a bend in a wee country road. Nothing much is happening, because I suspect that the bus driver won't move until a manager comes out from the depot. We have to perform an 11-point turn on this wee road with a high verge on one side and a stone wall on the other, and then drive miles all the way round to get to Bobby's house.

Most of the rest of the day is spent in updating the tvrsseries.co.uk website, digging up and adding suitable photos, and updating text since I first rescued and saved it 10 years ago.

:: Monday, 14 April 2026 ::

It doesn't look like the prayers for decent weekend weather are wworking - it's not looking promising! Nevertheless, let's try and get the wee car looking presentable! I'm taking the S for this one, just to get it a wee run.

It's dry today, so I move it out of the garage, where I can get round it better. It was washed before I put it away, so it's only got some dust and a few wee handprints to deal with.

The first step is to clean down the paintwork with detailer, and then properly clean the manky windows. In anticipation of normal dry Scottish weather, I apply Rain-X to the windscreen to help the wipers clear all that falling dampness.

Then I decide to remove a few wee window stickers that have accumulated over the years - one for a show I attended in 2008, one for a club that I never ever joined, and one for Blackpool Thunder that doesn't exist any more.

It still looks not too bad!

Then I pack up some tools to take with me, just in case of any minor setbacks and that's the car just about ready for Saturday morning, leaving at 9am, route all planned, at least as far as the first eating stop...

Just in case you're wondering, I've done around 1,800 miles in the electric Kia, and I'm really enjoying it. It's different when there's no engine noise, but it's very comfy, not that much smaller inside than the Range Rover.

Stuff I like

Electricity only costs around 7p per mile, and that's at a standard tariff (off-peak tariff would reduce that to around 2p per mile, if they could get the "smart" meter to work!);

Quiet, comfy and smooth;

Easier to park than a Range Rover (especially when others can't park in the middle of a space);

adaptive cruise control (once you get used to it);

I can pre-heat it on cold mornings.

Stuff I'm not so keen on

Various bings and bongs for going too fast, or not being in the middle of a lane, or looking in the mirror for more than half a second, etc (although you can turn those off with one button);

"Steering assist" - this one really gets on my tits. It steers the car itself to keep it "in lane", which is fine - but when you're driving on some of the pot-hole-ridden mediaeval cart tracks that our local council classify as "roads", you can feel the feedback through the wheel, trying to straighten you up as you weave between tank traps, and it can be disconcerting until you realise what it's doing. Again, you can turn it off with a different button.

i-pedal - you can use 4 levels of regen braking instead of the brake pedal - think of it like changing down through the gears to stop. It works, but I feel it's like driving with the handbrake on, because I'm an old fart. You can turn it off too, especially at higher speeds, like on motorways etc, so it feels more "normal".

It doesn't make very loud "vroomy" noises, so there's no point taking it round Maccy D's on a Saturday night.

Driving? Well it's not the most dynamic drive you'll get, but it does accelerate like stink, with no hesitation while it decides on the right gear, so overtaking is incredibly easy. It rides well, it corners well (for what it is - it's no TVR) and it feels well put-together. It's got more toys than you'll need (or even figure out how to use).

All in all, I like it!

:: Tuesday, 15 April 2026 ::

I know that I have frequently taken the mick out of Halfords, but I need to take it back. I had the best customer service experience this morning.

I have a fair number of "Halfords Advanced" tools, mainly socket sets but also other stuff. I read reviews that they are sturdy, not quite Snap-On standard but a hell of a lot cheaper, but with the same "if it breaks, we change it" guarantee, which I've never had to call upon.

Until today. Years ago, I bought a set of three 3/8 inch drive socket extension bars. They have a wee button that locks the socket in place, so it doesn't fall off into the depths of the engine bay or garage floor, never to be seen again.

Everybody loses 10mm sockets. I have never heard of anybody finding one. Where do they all go?

Anyway, the middle size is ideal for removing spark plugs on the S - the short one doesn't give enough clearance, the long one doesn't fit between the engine and the bulkhead for the plugs at the back of the engine. The last time I used it, during the services for the 2 cars, I noticed that the wee button had disappeared, so I couldn't get the socket off until I had about a dozen tries at poking a wee drift into the hole to compress the internal spring.

It's not the end of the world, but still a pain in the arse. So I decided to put the lifetime guarantee to the test, and took it into the shop. Man at the counter says "oh right," and disappears to get another one. He's all apologetic that they don't do the ones with the wee button any more, they discontinued them about 10 years ago, and only do the ones with the wee spring-loaded ball. He hands it over, I sign, and it's as easy as that!

He says that they don't cover them if they are rusty, or show signs of abuse. Good job I didn't bring in some of my older 1/2 inch drive sockets then - and some of those are probably older than him! In fact, a few of them might be older than me!

:: Friday, 17 April 2026 ::

I was mulling over the trip this coming weekend, and then for no reason, I thought "maybe I should clean those engine loom connectors". If you look at this article here you'll see an article from Car Mechanics magazine, February 1995 which explains that the wiring loom to the various sensors etc in the engine need to be clean, so they don't send duff readings back to the ECU. I forgot to clean them during the service.

I know that a few years ago, I had an unexpected MOT fail on emissions. Not me, the car! It turned out that the connector to the air temperature sensor in the inlet manifold had broken. That had sent the ECU into "fire more fuel in" mode. I fixed the wire, all sorted.

So today, I'm going to take the main connectors apart and clean them out with contact cleaner. Wee job, can't do any harm.

The big one here is the main connector, under the inlet manifold on the right-hand side of the engine. The separate blue wires connect to that white air temp sensor that caused the MOt fail.

On the other side of the left hand cylinder head, under the throttle body, this is the engine coolant temperature sensor. This sends engine temperature info to the ECU, NOT the gauge, which has its own separate sensor lower down.

And then this is the connector to the idle speed control valve, which bleeds air past the throttle as necessary at idle speeds.

With all of those apart, I give them all a good blast with electrical contact cleaner, then leave them to soak for a minute before I dry them out with the airline.

I leave them again for a few minutes to fully dry out, then connect them all back up again.

I took the car out of the garage to do this wee jobs in better light, and as I walked towards it, I was struck, even now at the start of my 26th summer with the car, by how beautiful these wee cars are. You forget, don't you, when you're seeing them all the time, how beautiful all TVRs are, but occasionally, sitting reflecting the sun, you suddenly just see them again for what they are.

I did a talk a couple of weeks ago for a local group, on the history of TVR, including photos of all the main models (and some pretty rare ones like the Trident and the White Elephant), and I remembered again, how "other people" see them. I'm lucky to have 2.

Anyway, that's me ready (I hope!) for our wee weekend trip.

:: Saturday, 18 April 2026 ::

We're setting off today on a wee two-day trip just to blow the cobwebs off the cars, and ourselves, in preparation for the coming TVR-hooning season. Dave has had to call off, so that leaves 4 cars.

We meet up outside our usual Maccy D, and bump into a friend of mine from the Porsche Club, who is now a member of a multi-marque supercar club. He is there in a Porsche, but the other cars in his group include an Audi R8 etc. They are off for a visit to the McLaren garage in Hamilton. The last time I went there, I spent more time in the Bentley showroom next door...

Anyway, we set off on time, and John joins us a short time later, after we have crossed to his side of the Forth. We head on up north, and pass a horrific-looking head-on crash on the other side of the motorway, all screened off from view. We discover that the accident happened several hours ago, so it doesn't look good.

Eric leads us on to our first stop for breakfast, then suitably full, we prepare to head on to our second scheduled stop. At this point I produce a packet of Jelly Babies to share. Eric produces 4 smaller packets. Everybody understands exactly the significance.

Then it's off towards Spean Bridge. Bobby and I have been bravely roof-off up to now, but change our minds after it pisses down not long before we stop at the next cafe.

The cafe is nice, the cake is delicious, but most of the staff are new. There are 18 customers in the place, and at least 9 staff that I counted, only one of whom actually seemed to know what they were doing. It was still good though, and I'm sure they'll all be trained up for the tourist season.

Onward! The next stop is the Green Welly at Tyndrum. I lead down the Great Glen through Fort William, and down the A82, where we encounter a council roads lorry putting up a "roadworks" safety sign, on the crest of a hill on a left-hand bend. You can't see over it, under it or past it, so getting past is more a leap of faith than an act of judgement. Got to put the safety signs in exactly the right (stupidest) place though, eh?

Further down, we meet another council lorry, with a man walking towards us carrying a "Stop/Go" sign sideways. We can see past this lorry though, so I pass, only to see another council guy behind it holding a "stop" sign for traffic coming the other way. Safety first eh?

As we head south through Glencoe, I pull into a layby for a wee photo opportunity. I stop beside a camper van (just out of this photo) and the guy in it starts talking about TVRs. Then he shows us his drone - it's a fantastic wee thing. He says he'll take a video of us leaving, and upload it to Tik Tok. None of us has Tik Tok. We can't find it.

At the Green Welly stop, we see a guy who looks exactly like Dave. Poor sod. This causes much hilarity.

Then it's on to the hotel, where we tuck the cars away for the night and prepare for dinner, which was absolutely delicious, and then bed time.

Oh! Report on the engine misfire! It's still there... It's not bad, it's only within a certain mid rev range, and it's fine if you ease off the throttle slightly. So it's all right, but not right. Eric suggests injectors. Bobby suggest dirty air filter. Both good shouts!

:: Sunday, 19 April 2026 ::

After breakfast, we set off south through Oban, after a quick stop for fuel. Then it's down to Lochgilphead, through a wide assortment of roadworks, some of which are still here since I last came down this road, years ago.

We stop in Inverary, when I eventually foind the correct car park, and visit a wee cafe for lunch.

Then we head off to the edge of Loch Lomond and north through Crianlarich to a garden centre in Crieff, for our last cake stop of the trip.

Our final leg takes us down past Gleneagles, through Glendevon to re-join the motorway at Kelty, then south over the Rover Forth to home.

We've done around 450 miles, through some spectacular Scottish scenery, in a car with a mid-range misfire - oh, and a slightly rattly clutch release bearing - and it has been brilliant!

Roll on the next trip in May!

:: Thursday, 23 April 2026 ::

I realise that my write-up of last Sunday was uncracteristically brief - none of the usual blethering pish that normally accompanies a whole day of TVR-ing. That's mainly because there was nothing noteworthy - or rather, rather, nothing worthy of new notes. There was the usual chat and banter when we stopped, and when we were moving, there was the usual enjoying the car anew, even although I've had it for 20-odd years. Even after all this time, every drive is still an occasion to be enjoyed.

I forgot to mention that there was 1 breakdown over the weekend: Mrs Git has a 25-year-old VW Beetle, and on Saturday, she stopped to talk to a neighbour, and the driver side window fell into the door, never to budge again. That was it - she stretched a tarp over the widow and abandoned outside the Gitcave, for me to look at when I get home.

Now, you think that playing about inside TVR doors is tricky... not compared to that thing...

I start on Monday, happily removing clips and screws, and 11 different electrical connectors, to get the doortrim off.

Instead of being greeted by the inside of the door, with the window mechanism ready for repair, I'm greeted by this - a plate which totally covers everything. The only thing that's not covered, is "how to get the bloody thing off".

I'm not going into a step-by-step, because I have enough websites on the go, without starting a VW Beetle one. Suffice to say that taking out all those screws round the edge achieves absolutely nothing. Eventually I manage to figure out that the window runners are fixed to that panel, not to the door, so I need to lift the glass up into the upper frame, to get the panel off. I can only lift the glass if I disconnect it from the mechanism. I can only disconnect it from the mechanism if I lift the glass to line up with 2 access holes. I can't get the mechanism to move at all. Catch 22.

I diagnose that the motor (on this side of the panel) is ok, but the regulator (on the other side) has fallen to bits. Then I discover that if you buy a new regulator, it comes ready-mounted to a new panel, complete with new window mechanism and runners, ready to fit. And all for £30. It's a no-brainer - I'll order one of those, so this old panel is now expendable. I cut 2 wee holes in it to access the screws holding the glass in place, lift the glass up and hold it with tape, and then (eventually after mich fiddling and blood loss on sharp edges) manage to get the bastard panel off.

So here we are, at last, with the system stripped.

I order a new panel on Wednesday morning, and it arrives today (Thursday). Reassembly is the reverse of removal, but much easier because now I've seen how it fits together, and all of the screws and connectors are accessible (and I know where they are). It still takes me 2 hours to get to this stage though...

Then I reconnect all the wiring, check that everything works, then reconnect the door catch and refit the interior door card.

Mrs Git is happy!

In the middle of all that, while I was waiting for that new panel to arrive, I decided to have a go at the TVR and this mysterious misfire. Bobby suggested the air filter, so I cleaned out the foam with a K&N kit, left it to dry overnight, and re-oiled it this morning. I can't fit it yet though, because that side of the car is up against the garage wall.

Eric suggested injectors. I could take the fuel rail off and take the injectors out to check and clean them, but first I'll try mixing a bottle of injector cleaner into the fuel tank. The bottle says it treats up to 60 litres (or around 16 gallons). My tank is 15 gallons capacity, and I think it has around half that in it - so this stuff will be a little bit concentrated until I put more fuel in!

The Car Mechanics article that I mentioned last Friday, says to clean out the throttle bodies and the idle speed valve with carb cleaner - so I do!

I start the car up (without any air filter at this stage) and it does seem to idle a bit better. I don't want to take it out until I get the filter on, though.

Oh, I nearly forgot - in between of all that, I had a lunch time meeting today, and decided to go in the Vixen - its first decent trip since I re-jetted the carburettor etc. It's feckin lovely too and driving beautifully!

:: Friday, 24 April 2026 ::

Today is a fart-about day while I wait for the gas man to come and do the annual boiler service, so I need to hang around the house - especially since Mrs Git has disappeared in the Beetle just so that she can put the window up and down. She denies it, of course, but I know that the opportunity to test out yesterday's repair will be irresistible.

A couple of weeks ago, i bought a pair of net door pockets, to install in the Vixen to hold all essential nick-nacks.

And here they are. Not very big, but big enough for the real travel essentials - sunglasses and a bag of jelly babies. Perfect.

Then I refit the air filter to the S, and after the gas man has finished, I take it out for a wee test drive. The engine seems to be much better already! Was it the injectors? Or the air filter? Or the idle speed valve? Or something else? I dunno, because I did them all at once. I'll know better once the injector cleaner has worked its way through the system.

For the moment, though, I'm a happy pixie!

Except... the driver's side window is stuck. It won't go up or down, it's stuck half-way. Passenge side works, so it's not the fuse... further investigation required, hoping that it's not even more awkward than that feckin' VW.

:: Saturday, 25 April 2026 ::

TVRs are much more cleverer than VW Beetles. If you leave them overnight, they fix themselves. The window seems to be working perfectly this morning. I take it out for a wee run for an hour, just to work some more injector cleaner from the tank, through the system. It seems to have worked! There's still the slightest flat spot if you boot the pedal right down, but if you're not trying to force the flat spot / misfire, it's not there.

---

[last month]

[home]

[next month]