Meeting with an Itala - David and Karen Ayre ( Legends)

Wow ! - I spent Monday with David and Karen Ayre. They were car No. 1 in the 2007 rally and will be car No. 2 in September. David is an expert on classic cars and has much experience with Lagondas. His straightforwardness and experience of these sort of rallies was both alarmingly refreshing and quite scary. Inner tubes by Michelin was my main takeaway from a very tidy lunch we had with friends in Hampshire.

They bought their 1907 Itala for lunch and David was kind enough to offer Richard and I the opportunity to visit his workshop for a chat about the Lagonda and other important things that we need to think about. Can't really ask for more than that ! 

Karen, David's wife and navigator , was regaling me with stories from the previous Beijing to Paris rally that they DID complete with distinction. It is amazing how easy it is to distort history - something Richard and I may need to do this year. Actually we can;t change history , not only are we both 50 , we both look it as well ! 

Pictures - What a joy to see Richard's blog with the car back up and running - Longing to see it again and work out which doors we should seal , which parts of the body we need to lock down. David made the point that the car will get shaken like a maracca being shaken by a madman in the desert of Mongolia. 

Talking of Mongolia I am happy to report that Richard and I will be guests of Mr and Mrs Tumur This is assuming we get to Ulaan Bataar. I am now really getting into the spirit of the rally by eating dried Yak and drinking neat Vodka = Way to go !!!

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rebuilt and better than ever (We hope!)

 

She's back!

Oh joy of joys! I collected the Lagonda from Roy yesterday afternoon for the weekend. We are running her in so keeping under 1500rpm and 45mph – very dull driving but none the less a joy to be back behind the wheel. The engine sounds so much smoother and all the vital signs are perfect. She looks much the same, but under the bonnet........I drove down from Grantham to collect Coco from school, which she loved. Even better she found a left over Mars bar from the Flying Scotsman rally. I have no idea how that escaped James and my clutches!

 

She goes back to Roy next week to be measured up for the exhaust and the sump guards. I will see if I can have her back for the Rutland show at the beginning of June. We were beaten into second place last year by a ropey old Austin 7.

 

RHC

5 points - Here's why

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What a week !

Tremendous to hear from Roy that the car is now ready and hopefully willing . 

Even better news is that Her Majesty's law courts have agreed to give me just 

5 penalty points on my driving licence not the 6 I was worried they might give me. 

So here we are back on track and rarin' to go. I have a massive map of the world in my 

kitchen to remind me as I eat wonderful ,healthy, modern cuisine that things won't be 

quite so nourishing in Mongolia and Kyrgystan etc - But what a great way to lose some weight !

I am off to Yorkshire this weekend and will try and stop in on the Lagonda on the way home. 

Beijing it's here we come .

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Good news at last!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roy just called to say that they have found the oil leak. The return valve in the new filter was very badly machined and wasn’t closing properly. It has been machined and is now working perfectly. The engine is going back together and hopefully the car will be on the road by the end of today.

 

We are back on the road to Peking!!!

 

RHC

Worries, worries, worries...........

Update from Roy on the car. The engine is rebuilt and running  like a dream. Very much smoother than before and therefore almost certainly the pistons were on the way out for some time. That’s the good news.......

 

The bad news is that we have very low oil pressure which indicates an internal oil leak and Roy is definitely feeling the pressure. It has to be something to do with the new oil filter which has been fitted. I hope that it doesn’t make him ill but we must have the car back on the road in the next few weeks. We still have things to do (monit, exhaust, sump guards and air filter) but if needs be we can go without them. We cannot go without a reliable engine and that needs some miles on the clock before shipping.

 

It’s bad enough that Roy is worrying but now he’s beginning to worry me! I think we will have a conference on Thursday if I haven’t heard anything.

 

RHC

Skytag

The Skytag GPS transponder arrived this morning. A tiny little box which will tell you, at any time, exactly where James and I are. If the transponder is stationary for long periods of time then clearly I will be extremely depressed! Hopefully you will watch the dot on the map moving remorselessly from Peking to Paris!

 

Under 2 months to go until the car gets shipped and 4 months until the beginning of the race!

 

Still no sign of the car yet. One has to travel with optimism so I remain completely confident that the car will be ready and working for the shipping date.

 

RHC

Fitting the new oil filter

The filter holder is the circular item on the left. The new copper pipes take the engine oil to and from the filter and are inside the sump. They have to fitted in the sump but avoiding any of the mechanical parts of the engine. The block needed some machining both internally and externally to get the thing to fit. It certainly hasn’t been “plug and play” as we thought.

 

RHC

Car Update

Well, on a sunny Friday in Lincolnshire, I finally saw the engine back in one piece. The cylinder head is back on and everything connected. Hopefully the car will be running by the end of Tuesday. The only issue with the engine is to finish fitting the new oil filter. Following the disaster in the Flying Scotsman Roy thought it would be a good thing to fit  an enhanced oil filter, much the same as fitted to the slightly later Lagonda LG45’s. Having purchased one from LMB in Belgium it has proved infinitely more complex to fit than he thought and it is only this that is holding us up. As you can see form the photographs it is an incredibly difficult thing to fit and as always with these sorts of things we are finding it very difficult to find the right sized copper piping to run through the sump. Finding the right sized piping is one thing, bending it without it crimping is an entirely different issue! I think that we may have spent an extra 2 weeks on fitting the oil filter but this is not the time for a post mortem. Having started fitting it we had to finish the job and hopefully we will feel that much happier to have the filter when in the desert. Anyway Roy is convinced he will be finished by Tuesday and after a test run the car will be off to have the new exhaust and sump guards fitted. The good news is, if necessary we can go without them. The bad news is we have absolutely no idea how long it is going to take the guys to fabricate the enhanced exhaust and sump guards.

 

I do feel confident we will get to the start line, barring any complete disaster when we restart the car.

 

I dropped off the numbers and the rally plates so when it comes out the car will finally be a racing car!

 

I know that there is something I have to do for the rally but I cannot for the life of me think what it is! I’m sure that it’s something to do with our Chinese driving licences and the colour of our eyes but for the life of me I cannot remember. That’s being over 50 for you!

 

RHC  

More Photos - Nice car eh ?

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Whoever said life was going to be easy ?

My blogging skills are still very much in their infancy - I hope to learn and improve.

My knowledge of pistons and gudgeon pins is improving albeit slowly - I can now 

draw the pin but then anyone interested in this blog will be able to do the same.

Julie and Julia is this the greatest blog story ever - please watch the movie ! 

I wonder whether Ham and I will be in a movie called - Ham and Spam ?

Ham and I are raring to go again with the car - can't wait to report in again. 

Builders and project managers - anybody want any advice ? Am happy to 

oblige as I have views , strong views , actually very very strong views. 

Views so strong that I need to close this blog down now. 

*@f$*&%@@*&**ing H*$%ll 

James 

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Engine rebuild update

Just heard from Roy that the engine is rebuilt with the exception of the new enhanced engine oil filter which we are fitting. Although it should simply fit onto the side of the block it is proving harder to fit than we envisaged. It needs some machining to get it in place. It should all be fitted and working early this week. Worst case we can simply put back the original blanking plate and go without the enhanced oil filter.

 

We can then get on with the other major issues such as the exhaust and the sump guard. Tomorrow is the 10^th May so time is ticking on. I will start to lose what little hair I have left, soon!

 

RHC

The troublesome Monit

Critical to success in the rally is our ability to accurately measurethe distances we travel. Without this we cannot accurately follow the route book. To achieve this we have purchased, at not inconsiderable expense, the rally’s recommended electronic unit, the Monit 2000. I knew that we had problems during the Flying Scotsman when it was showing the mileage continuing to increase even when we were stationary. Day 2 and it was completely unusable. It was soon clear that it was absolutely useless as currently installed. However until we get the engine back running there is little we can do.

 

I read Tim Wilkinson’s blog last night. Tim and his wife have entered their 1929 Buick into the Peking to Paris rally and have been having trouble with their Monit. I dropped him an email asking for help. Tim replied by return with great advice and hopefully we will get it sorted. “..it was interference from the HT leads, once they changed them from the open brass strips to a modern HT lead the problem went away.”. We will try this and see what happens.

 

RHC

 

What have I been doing ?

Nice to see the car coming along so well. 

Nice to see pictures of the engine looking so well.

Nice to see some progress

I have had an e mail from another competitor struggling 

with some of the same issues such as engines, suspensions,

clearance levels and general frustrations.We are not alone.

Ham has been having fun with tents and making sure there is at 

least six metres apart - here in London we struggle to find six 

metres apart from anyone let alone a tent.

I enclose some pictures of me and my other car just to see if it works.

JHBC.

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Engine update

I forgot to say what beautiful pistons and virginal cylinders we now have.

 

For those of you who cannot go to the beginning of the blog to see what the car is meant to look like I include a picture.

 

RHC

Engine update

 

Off to visit Roy this morning for an update. The garage is closed today and Roy is busy working on the Lagonda, thank God! The cylinder head will go on today. The cylinder head gasket and studs are in as you can see from the photograph. Once the cylinder head is back on the rest of the engine should go together fairly quickly. There is still however a lot to do.

 

·         We are fitting a new oil filter which needs a degree of machining to fit

·         The new larger air filters into the carburettors need to be fitted

·         The new sump guard needs to be made and fitted

·         The new exhaust needs manufacturing and fitting

·         The monit needs shielding and calibrating

 

Still a lot to do and time is passing us by! Last chance to change from seaborne shipping to air freight was on Saturday. We made the call to go by ship so have lost the flexibility of having the extra 6 weeks, however for the first time we have made a decision which saved us some money rather than the other way around. Roy remains confident......................................!

 

Roy and I had a good run through of potential spares and, taking a pragmatic view of things, have placed an order this afternoon with Lagonda Club for light weight, potentially rally stopping spare parts.

 

RHC

Camping!

I thought that before the car gets shipped I ought to know how to put the tent up, and more to the point how to take them down again. I have got a couple of pop up tents from Millets (one each). The instructions say that it should be erected at least 6m from the nearest tent. I can assure you that given the volume of noise that will emerge from James’ I shall be further away than that! The instructions clearly state no cooking or smoking in the tents which suits us since James recently gave up smoking after 35 years. I of course will find it hard not to rustle up a snack late at night. You can see from the photographs that I did eventually succeed in getting the tent back in the bag! That’s one better than they managed at our official briefing when the expert couldn’t get the tent folded down.

 

Off for an update with Roy tomorrow so will update you with pictures of the car.

 

RHC