Post by 33grinder on Oct 17, 2011 21:04:45 GMT
Erm ok, bear with me here.
You'll have seen the original Essex DAFs thread being copied over from the DAF Owners Club forum piece by piece. Some parts need editing and when it's just banter then surmising where needs be. So sometimes I fall behind a little and wonder when we will ever catch up.
For that reason I thought it best to start a second posting the current thread here. I'll run on with the other thread as it's kind of like an omnibus edition. In the unlikely event that it ever catches up this thread then I can end it there.
Confused? Bonkers? It'll all work out I'm sure...
CUT & PASTE
Welcome back to Essex all.
Yes, welcome back to our glorious county (?!!) and all good things DAF.
There was nothing to report on Saturday other than Matt attended a car show but due to a stubborn mobile phone I have no photos as it still steadfastly refuses to send them.
Sunday was to be our day of action, starting with a nice jaunt over to Central in Gavina.
All was going well and I was belting along the A12 in the fast lane (got to keep momentum on them there hills, can't afford to scrub off speed by getting 'boxed in' the slow lane you know!) and I was even considering what to play on Gavina's speakerz when I reached the lanes, however I was suddenly to experience a brown trouser moment.
Yes, fellow DAFfers. I can now claim membership to the 'broken belt' brigade. There was no sound like a shotgun being fired underneath my derriere, no drama as such. Just a gentle muted bang followed by a 'wtf was that?', a glance in the rear view to see rubber being left behind. That's all I had time for before Gavina decided that one wheel drive really wasn't on and that she'd be much happier weaving around the dual carriageway. Thankfully there were no cars around me at that point as the one wheel with drive pulled me onto the hard shoulder.
At this point I should italisize the word 'hard' as it consisted solely of eighteen inches of tarmacadam at best, the rest being a drainage ditched filled with pebbles.
Which left Gavina at a rather jaunty angle...
...and her rear axle burried up to the axle (photo taken after shovelling pebbles away by hand).
I was quite close to my turn-off for Central and thankfully Matt came to our rescue (as ever!) in Yolanda, managaing to find some proper hard shoulder a few yards further down the road.
A shovel was deployed and Matt pushed as I slowly dragged Gavina out. I doubt it's done her clutch much good but what else could I do? The wheel on tarmac was really the one I needed to pull me out but it was also the wheel without drive. Nor could I expect Matt to extract me with Yolanda should she become beached too.
We made our way to the services but a nasty noise from the front of Gavina didn't sound too promising. Still, we got her to the services and extracted the remains of the busted belt.
I wasn't too happy with the sounds she was making so Matt had a drive and thought it may be a bearing on the wheel that hit the drainage ditch. We made our way to Central but it became obvious that the noise wasn't a bearing and only happened on throttle. It sounds almost like a badly holed heat exchanger but there was also a nasty vibration in the transmission tunnel.
By this time it was quite late and our reason for meeting up was primarily to visit Chrissy in nearby Thorpe Le Soken to look at her 33 as previously advertised.
So we had a quick cuppa (to go with the packet of ciggies I'd chain smoked after the earlier incident) before fitting the Snowdrop's circlip to finish the oil seal replacement.
That done we set off in Yolanda arriving at our destination some nine miles and twenty minutes later, despite my map app sending us to a road that disappeared into a field.
Chrissy and her husband were there to meet us and what a lovely couple they are too. Usually resident in France they had no need for the DAF and Chrissy had parked her up in the garage in 1977 but hadn't the heart to let her go. She had arranged with a friend to take her to the scrapyard, however due to a death in the family that didn't happen and so Matt and I found ourselves looking at a rather fetching 1969 33 in turquoise.
Chrissy's husband had bought the car when it was two years old and at that time they lived in Belgium so the car is still on Belgian plates and has never been UK registered. This will take some headscratching but that is some way off in the future.
Having said that, she did come with a lot of original documentation.
She is remarkably sound for a car that's been parked up for so long although she has the usual problem rot problems in the usual DAF places. ;D
The front nearside wing has had some rot fibreglassed over, the floorpans have started to come away from the sills and both rear arches have some grot, the nearside not so bad but the offside will definately need some new metal letting in.
Her interior is looking quite smart and the fire extinguisher on the transmission tunnel was apparently to comply with Belgian law that all vehicles must carry a fire extinguisher.
Through the cobwebs her engine bay looked quite original and even has hotspot pipes.
It's fair to say that she had quite an effect on us...
...she's a lovely original car!
We then went inside for a cuppa and to hear some of Chrissy and her husbands memories of the car and it became quite apparent how emotionally attached she had become to her. I think there was some relief when we told her that the car was too good for breaking and that we would return her to the road. Then Matt popped outside again and we soon heard the sound of her engine turning over, as he'd had the forethought to bring another battery with him. That was quite a surprise as Chrissy hadn't imagined that she'd hear her running again and she was quite looking forward to visiting us at Central in a few month's time to see her car again.
You can then imagine how surprised we were when Chrissy said we could have the DAF and she didn't want any money for her. We did insist she took something though so they could go for a meal in a nice restaurant.
So, all being well the little 33 will be trailered over to Central in about a fortnight's time.
And so back to Jen's where there was time for a cuppa and a chat with Matt's neighbour (who owns the Fiat 126 seen in Goldie's advertisment) before heading off for a most enjoyable drive in Goldie, kindly on loan from Matt.
Today I was very pleased when I ordered my replacement belts from the DOC. I e-mailed Steve Bidwell and within three hours Gavina's replacement belts were in the post.
I'm currently carless as Rover has decided to start running hot and I suspect that her radiator is giving up the ghost, however I've yet to find a reconditioned unit for under £200. So, the plan is to take Goldie to Central next Saturday and return home in Gavina...hmm...
Why do our DAFs try to kill us?
Cheese,
33G.
You'll have seen the original Essex DAFs thread being copied over from the DAF Owners Club forum piece by piece. Some parts need editing and when it's just banter then surmising where needs be. So sometimes I fall behind a little and wonder when we will ever catch up.
For that reason I thought it best to start a second posting the current thread here. I'll run on with the other thread as it's kind of like an omnibus edition. In the unlikely event that it ever catches up this thread then I can end it there.
Confused? Bonkers? It'll all work out I'm sure...
CUT & PASTE
Welcome back to Essex all.
Yes, welcome back to our glorious county (?!!) and all good things DAF.
There was nothing to report on Saturday other than Matt attended a car show but due to a stubborn mobile phone I have no photos as it still steadfastly refuses to send them.
Sunday was to be our day of action, starting with a nice jaunt over to Central in Gavina.
All was going well and I was belting along the A12 in the fast lane (got to keep momentum on them there hills, can't afford to scrub off speed by getting 'boxed in' the slow lane you know!) and I was even considering what to play on Gavina's speakerz when I reached the lanes, however I was suddenly to experience a brown trouser moment.
Yes, fellow DAFfers. I can now claim membership to the 'broken belt' brigade. There was no sound like a shotgun being fired underneath my derriere, no drama as such. Just a gentle muted bang followed by a 'wtf was that?', a glance in the rear view to see rubber being left behind. That's all I had time for before Gavina decided that one wheel drive really wasn't on and that she'd be much happier weaving around the dual carriageway. Thankfully there were no cars around me at that point as the one wheel with drive pulled me onto the hard shoulder.
At this point I should italisize the word 'hard' as it consisted solely of eighteen inches of tarmacadam at best, the rest being a drainage ditched filled with pebbles.
Which left Gavina at a rather jaunty angle...
...and her rear axle burried up to the axle (photo taken after shovelling pebbles away by hand).
I was quite close to my turn-off for Central and thankfully Matt came to our rescue (as ever!) in Yolanda, managaing to find some proper hard shoulder a few yards further down the road.
A shovel was deployed and Matt pushed as I slowly dragged Gavina out. I doubt it's done her clutch much good but what else could I do? The wheel on tarmac was really the one I needed to pull me out but it was also the wheel without drive. Nor could I expect Matt to extract me with Yolanda should she become beached too.
We made our way to the services but a nasty noise from the front of Gavina didn't sound too promising. Still, we got her to the services and extracted the remains of the busted belt.
I wasn't too happy with the sounds she was making so Matt had a drive and thought it may be a bearing on the wheel that hit the drainage ditch. We made our way to Central but it became obvious that the noise wasn't a bearing and only happened on throttle. It sounds almost like a badly holed heat exchanger but there was also a nasty vibration in the transmission tunnel.
By this time it was quite late and our reason for meeting up was primarily to visit Chrissy in nearby Thorpe Le Soken to look at her 33 as previously advertised.
So we had a quick cuppa (to go with the packet of ciggies I'd chain smoked after the earlier incident) before fitting the Snowdrop's circlip to finish the oil seal replacement.
That done we set off in Yolanda arriving at our destination some nine miles and twenty minutes later, despite my map app sending us to a road that disappeared into a field.
Chrissy and her husband were there to meet us and what a lovely couple they are too. Usually resident in France they had no need for the DAF and Chrissy had parked her up in the garage in 1977 but hadn't the heart to let her go. She had arranged with a friend to take her to the scrapyard, however due to a death in the family that didn't happen and so Matt and I found ourselves looking at a rather fetching 1969 33 in turquoise.
Chrissy's husband had bought the car when it was two years old and at that time they lived in Belgium so the car is still on Belgian plates and has never been UK registered. This will take some headscratching but that is some way off in the future.
Having said that, she did come with a lot of original documentation.
She is remarkably sound for a car that's been parked up for so long although she has the usual problem rot problems in the usual DAF places. ;D
The front nearside wing has had some rot fibreglassed over, the floorpans have started to come away from the sills and both rear arches have some grot, the nearside not so bad but the offside will definately need some new metal letting in.
Her interior is looking quite smart and the fire extinguisher on the transmission tunnel was apparently to comply with Belgian law that all vehicles must carry a fire extinguisher.
Through the cobwebs her engine bay looked quite original and even has hotspot pipes.
It's fair to say that she had quite an effect on us...
...she's a lovely original car!
We then went inside for a cuppa and to hear some of Chrissy and her husbands memories of the car and it became quite apparent how emotionally attached she had become to her. I think there was some relief when we told her that the car was too good for breaking and that we would return her to the road. Then Matt popped outside again and we soon heard the sound of her engine turning over, as he'd had the forethought to bring another battery with him. That was quite a surprise as Chrissy hadn't imagined that she'd hear her running again and she was quite looking forward to visiting us at Central in a few month's time to see her car again.
You can then imagine how surprised we were when Chrissy said we could have the DAF and she didn't want any money for her. We did insist she took something though so they could go for a meal in a nice restaurant.
So, all being well the little 33 will be trailered over to Central in about a fortnight's time.
And so back to Jen's where there was time for a cuppa and a chat with Matt's neighbour (who owns the Fiat 126 seen in Goldie's advertisment) before heading off for a most enjoyable drive in Goldie, kindly on loan from Matt.
Today I was very pleased when I ordered my replacement belts from the DOC. I e-mailed Steve Bidwell and within three hours Gavina's replacement belts were in the post.
I'm currently carless as Rover has decided to start running hot and I suspect that her radiator is giving up the ghost, however I've yet to find a reconditioned unit for under £200. So, the plan is to take Goldie to Central next Saturday and return home in Gavina...hmm...
Why do our DAFs try to kill us?
Cheese,
33G.