Oh how I wish that other clubs had the same dedication for sourcing 2nd hand and remanufacture of spares. Jowett are in a class way beyond some clubs.
Its all fine when its a model built in volume and still around in volume - Your MGB's, Minors, Minis, Escorts, TR's, E types and many more are all catered for by both the clubs and market specialists but take something more unusual or lower volume and its a real problem - We realised decades ago that as the new old stock spares dried up that if we didn't support the spares requirement then how could we expect owners to retain the cars let alone maintain them.
Chris - All very true, but when cars are still being scrapped as uneconomical to repair with no central warehousing parts store for the bits, for particular clubs and very little remanufacture of unavailable parts...plus the interior quality (maybe even unsafe) quality of imported parts it really makes me wish that I had heard of Jowett before I invested so much time effort and money in my car. Volume cars may still be around but every day there are less on the road and eventually will end up as scarce as Jowetts
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 7, 2021 6:40:39 GMT
Spent yesterday over at a fellow Jowett owner (several) & member with the families long owned 1952 Jowett Javelin Delux
Re-application of Dinitrol underbody wax - this car was restored in 1974 and that's when the last Dinitrol was applied - 47 years & 100,000 miles ago and the car is still rock solid with absolutely no evidence of rust ingress whatsoever on the underside (Hard evidence that the Dinitrol treatment works) but the treatment is now wearing thin
Fortunately Keith has a decent 2 post lift - he had cleaned the underside / removed the wheels & masked off underneath in advance of my arrival - I just needed to complete the masking to the top side
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 8, 2021 6:29:00 GMT
So whilst at Keith's I needed to turn down a set of arms for my spot welder and had the use of his lathe - quite novel it's probably the late 80's since I last touched such a piece of kit
New arms are 20mm diameter whilst the arm sockets on my machine are 16mm hence they needed turning down
I also could do with a pair of extension arms and whilst they are readily available in the market they are stupidly priced (£400 +) for 2 lengths of copper bar with a few holes drilled in them - I purchased a 1 metre length of 20mm copper bar for just over £50 delivered and made myself a set at the same time
New short arms fitted and the machine lives on - I've owned it 10 years + and it was used / several years old when I purchased it
That's a good advert for Dinitrol wax there Chris.
What's the saucer shaped thing under the rear of the Javelin?
That dish is spring loaded - the spare wheel carrier goes here and the spring loaded dish retains the centre of the spare wheel to prevent it from sliding about on the carrier
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 12, 2021 8:37:46 GMT
Work continues at a steady plod at Grumpy Towers
I've now completed the floor tiling to the utility including the cuts
Things are advancing externally too
£2k's worth of fencing for the new patio was delivered this week (its been on order for ages)
The railway sleeper retaining wall has been increased in height to take of account of the undulating levels of the existing ground areas but only once I dug the old rotten sleepers out and replaced them with fresh sound sleepers (My are the bloody heavy to move by yourself)
The hedge & lawn area are going (there's an old fence somewhere in the hedge) with the hedge removed and replaced by the fence it will give a little more room for parking & opening car doors etc - No doubt Mrs GN will regrow some type of creeper type plant up the fence to take the raw edge off it - lawn area is being relaid with slabs of Indian stone to match the existing areas of the property
Patio will take in an existing unused area up to where I have laid the new sleeper boarder and again the hedgerow is being deleted
Whilst I'm not really into loosing the hedge because of the diverse habitat it attracts we have over 100 metres of it around the perimeter of the house & workshop - it attracts all sorts of everyday common bird species including wrens, robin's, sparrows, starlings, blackbirds, finches etc but there is a also a cuckoo nearby along with owls & 2 pairs of red kites - the pigeons I attempt to detract has much as possible - we also have a hedgehog that visits on a regular basis - we have some mitigation for taking the hedge out too - the 2 small front lawns which I normally cut have been turned over to wild them selves with wild flowers - personally I think that they look much better - Mrs GN is also turning her hand to bee keeping and is taking lessons from a neighbour that has several hives & decades of experience - hence there is hive going into the front garden - Mrs GN also has no end of pots with a endless array of plants dotted around the place
Some changes to the parking & drive area is on the cards too - area behind the Javelin is going to be put to better use and I'm just in the process of laying a new sleeper boarder to delineate the areas - just waiting to hear from the builder to when he can slot the fence & patio into his schedule - I'm perfectly capable of the task but simply don't have the time
Chris - Interesting plans. Shame about the hedge but I appreciate from my own experience, how much time, either by yourself or a contractor, it takes to keep it under proper control.
Chris - Interesting plans. Shame about the hedge but I appreciate from my own experience, how much time, either by yourself or a contractor, it takes to keep it under proper control.
It will still leave over 80 metres of dense & diverse hedgerow and it takes some looking after - from historic images the chapel has always retained a hedgerow perimeter border but was half the height of what it is today - its now 2 metres in height for a privacy screen more than anything
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 14, 2021 6:13:41 GMT
More work done over the weekend
Raising the height of one of the original railway sleeper boarders to create a raised planting bed for Mrs GN
And the delineation of the area to the right of the newly installed sleeper which is going to be further developed once the builder arrives on site - I'm having to do the work in stages - the sleepers are very heavy to be humping about especially given the weather that we've had
More to the point cutting the sleepers down with a chainsaw in full PPE if only for a few mins is akin to being stuffed into a high temperature oven
Just one more sleeper to cut then dig in & lay in order to delineate the lawn on the left to the what will become the new patio area on the right - all a worthwhile exercise - with a section of lawn now being deleted to form the new patio - unsure if the two small areas will remain has lawn at the rear - Mrs GN might turn these over to some form of planted areas - then the decision to let the small boarder area of grass to the side and the 2 front lawns to re-wild themselves has natural grass & wild flower areas - In effect its reduced my lawn cutting duties by 90% - always hated the task of grass cutting anyway - whilst it achieves a neat lawn / grass area it always feels like a utter waste of my time
You are getting on well, I'm impressed. A little ironic that you are getting rid of a grassed area when I am trying to repair mine (no thanks, I don't want you to drop it off on your next Preston run!!!) due to damage from the mini-wolfs rally turns.
You are getting on well, I'm impressed. A little ironic that you are getting rid of a grassed area when I am trying to repair mine (no thanks, I don't want you to drop it off on your next Preston run!!!) due to damage from the mini-wolfs rally turns.
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 16, 2021 21:03:27 GMT
Bye, Bye old trailer now at its new home - its done me proud - purchased as a temporary measure when I had the previous one stolen - it was supposed to be with me for a few months until the insurance company got their act together - instead it was with me for 3 years - sold it for what I paid for it - I've spent a few quid on it with the winch & led lighting along with 2 tyres but its readily paid for its self +++ each year without fail - it was starting to look scruffy and needed a refurb but I just don't have the time - new owner is going to undertake a full strip down / shot blast / repaint of it - so it lives on - decent well looked after trailers are difficult to come by and fairly expensive when compared to the cost new - new one it is then - gets collected tomorrow
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 19, 2021 8:42:21 GMT
Very busy currently (when isn't it) at Grumpy Towers with a few days running about in absolutely foul wet weather - some of the running about involved collecting the new trailer which has been on order for months
Purchased direct from the manufacture and built to my own specification around a base trailer
5 metre bed wide load but because 99% of the the time I'm single handed when loading / unloading I've gone for the options that make my life easy - so it's fitted with hydraulic tilt bed, 2.5 metre loading ramps, winch on remote control, full width trailer bed other options added were LED lighting & strap locker box
Integral battery for the winch in the load bed floor - The trailer is on a euro trailer socket which is 13 pin but the P38 is still on 7 pin which I need to change - I'm currently running a 13 pin to 7 pin adaptor but once changed this supplies power to the winch battery and maintains it on charge whilst connected - it will all also connect the reversing & fog lamps on the trailer
It was put to use within an hour of collection has I had a clients car in Leicester to collect
Compared to the old trailer its a doddle - loading time is reduced to a third of what it would take with the old trailer
Unloading is just as easy - no more pushing dead motors off trailers - just raise the bed and roll them off - bed raises very quickly too with just a few pumps
Lots of well thought ideas - love the step down between the mudguards along with low clearance height of the wheels & mudguards that allow the doors to be opened on the loaded vehicle - lots of other things like the ease of ramp stowage & locking, multiple tie down points, tows very well at all speeds - reverses beautifully and is very easy moved by hand when unloaded / un hitched
Its 700kgs unladen and grosses at 3000kgs - hence a 2300kgs payload which covers everything that goes in & out of the workshop
Its been some time in coming - but now its here & put use twice in the 24 hours since purchase it comes very well recommended - excellent value for for money when compared to the Ifor Williams / Brian James / Indespension equivalent
Chris- That looks THE business. I'm sure that it will pay for itself in simply taking care of your health, as a one man operator that is so important. Never mind the savings in time etc. Now to make sure that it stays in your possession and not some 'orrible tea leaf??
Hitch lock , wheel clamp , ground anchor etc would all be thrown at that i think!
Cracking looking trailer though Chris , worth the wait!
Hitch lock comes as standard - bullet proof wheel camp on order (there's loads of chocolate toy town ones on the market) - if its not at home under the gaze of a cctv system / security lighting - then is at the farm / barn that also has cctv / security lighting and you would have drive past the occupied farmhouse to access the trailer (even if you knew where the trailer was)
