Testing White Wall Wipes from Detail Pro

Testing White Wall Wipes from Detail Pro

The white side/wall tires on my old Jaguar don’t look that white anymore, quite dirty and not matching a newly polished car. I have tried different kinds of mild soaps before, and high pressure water as well. Without any good results. Maybe this this stuff would do the trick?

Having my car at an exhibition, I bought White Wall Wipes at one of the stands. The reseller told me that these would get the white color back; born skeptic I did not have that much belief in this. I went to try it out at once. The result was surprisingly good! As my tires have never been cleaned with this stuff before, it took some effort to clean the tire I tested on. I rubbed one spot until it was white, and worked my way around the tire side. It took about 10-15 minutes getting one really dirty front wheel cleaned; but what a result! Almost as new. Impressed! The rear wheels went faster, and it took me about 35 minutes to get them all right. If I clean the wheels frequently, I would guess 10-20 minutes in total is enough.

The box I bought consisted of 35 wipes, which will do for many years ahead in my case. Depends on if the box is able to keep the moisture in the wipes, that is.

Before I started - click on the image to enlarge it.

Started cleaning

The box I bought cost NOK 119 (about €15 / $19 in the time of writing), which isn’t all that bad at all. Detail Pro can be found here: http://www.whitewallwipes.net/ .

Clean away the left overs.

See the difference?

A few tips
Wipe the entire white wheel side before you start rubbing. I found it easier to rub the dirt away later if I did this. Clean away the loosened dirt frequently. If you don’t clean it away from the black part of your tires, then it will leave milky/wax like stains, not looking that nice.
I used a rubber glove, as this stuff dried my skin out quite well, and they dirt from the tires stick good to your hands.

The result - I like!

The test was conducted Sept 29th, 2012, and I have no relations with producers nor resellers.

Morten

Exhibition, Stavern 2012 - day 2

Exhibition, Stavern 2012

Day 2 of LVSK's vehicle exhibition in Stavern, Norway September 2012. Arranged as a part of the club celebrating their 25th anniversary.

The second day of the vehicle exhibition in Stavern September 22-23 was more hectic than day 1.
Hectic in a positive sense that is, more people, better weather and even some more cars.
As mentioned in the report from day 1, a lot of beautiful cars, bicycles and motor cycles to watch.

Not going to bore you with a lot of word this time; enjoy the pictures!

Morten

Reidar's mint condition Mustang '66 cab.

A Northern Roadster from 1905, powered by a 2 cyl boxer. Note the horn!

Sigmund's Chevrolet Bel Air '55

Ole's Ford Taunus 12 -1954 powered by a 1200ccm 4 cyl engine.

Front of the Ford Taunus 12

Nice line up of Saab cars.

Volkswagen Transporter 23 from 1955.

Another nice line up - some really good looking Ford A cars.

Opel Kapitan - very nice indeed!

1936 Packard 120 B Convertible Sedan - 8 in a row, 120 hp.

Utstilling i Stavern - dag 1

LSVK arrangerer bilutstilling i Stavern 22-23.september - her en kort oppsummering fra dag 1.

Det var jevnt påsig av mennesker som tittet på de circa 60 bilene som sto utstilt i Stavern, ingen trengsel, men allikevel mange som la turen innom. Været kunne man vært heldigere med, det var kald og relativt kraftig vind. Da var det godt at man hadde anledning til å kjøpe kaffe, nystekte vafler, pølser og brus - og nyte de i et lunt telt på området.

NAF hadde satt opp en liten øvingsbane for barn, hvor de kunne kjøre små elektriske biler, og ta "lappen". Det så ut som de som prøvde seg storkoste seg.

Det var også noen stands på området, blant annet American Dreams, som stilte opp med både gode priser på olje, dekk/felg og tilbehør, samt gode tips. Jeg kjøpte og prøvde, med en viss skepsis, White Walls Whipes, som skal gjøre hvite dekksider rene og hvite. Jeg ble imponert - mine særs møkkete dekksider ble nærmest som nye. Dette skal jeg komme tilbake til senere.

Arvid Henriksen sin '57 Volvo PV

Det krydde av flotte kjøretøy - sykler, lastebiler og personbiler i de fleste varianter.
Blant annet sto Arvid Henriksen sin nyrestaurerte Volvo PV fra 1957 der. Dette var et imponerende syn, og her ligger nok utallige timer arbeid bak. Nydelig interiør, som eksteriør med god krom og skinnende sort lakk. Bilen har en B16 motor, har 3 gear og hydrauliske bremser.




Klikk på bildet for å blåse det opp.

Rune Hansen sin '61 Karman Ghia

På et annet sted på området, finner vi Rune Hansen sin VW Karman Ghia. Dette er en 1961 modell, med en bokser 4'er som produserer 75 hk, 4 gear og hydrauliske trommelbremser. Runes nært opptil perfekte bil har vært å finne på mange samlinger i Vestfoldsområdet de siste par årene. Hans omfattende restaurering er godt dokumentert gjennom bildemateriale - dette er litt av et arbeid.

Jeg ser frem til å ta turen til Stavern også i morgen, og håper værgudene er i litt bedre humør da.

Morten

Bilutstilling i Stavern

I dag kl 11 åpnet veteranbilutstillingen i Stavern. Ca 60 biler, i alle aldre, står utstilt i dag og i morgen, søndag.
Kan anbefales!

Forberedelser til utstilling

Nesten alt klart for kjøretøyutstilling i Stavern 22 og 23 september. Bilene er ikke vasket, men de går iallefall :) Småpuss gjenstår, nå er det bare å krysse fingrene for godt vær og at folk kommer og titter på bilene våre.

Vi sees i Stavern - utstillingen er åpen 10-16 lørdag og søndag.

Mer informasjon finner du her: http://lsvk.lmk.no/

Ekebergmarkedet september 2012

Ekebergmarkedet arrangeres av Norsk Veteranvogn Klubb , og er i hovedsak et bruktmarked for veteranbiler og motorsykler, samt deler til kjøretøyene. Allikevel så finner man en rekke andre produkter på markedet også, for det meste brukt med også noe nytt. F.eks. husflidprodukter og noen butikker/leverandører som har stand på området.

Etter å ha pratet om å legge turen til markedet i mange år, var vi relativt tidlig på plass lørdag morgen for å gjøre gode funn. Parkeringen virket velorganisert og kostet 100,- pr bil. Det hadde nok kommet endel regn tidligere, for parkeringsområdet var stedvis svært hullete og gjørmete, men slikt er ikke mye å få gjort med. Ved inngangen sto noen flotte, gamle brannbiler - fungerte bra som møtepunkt.

Markedet virker godt organisert.

Nydelig!

Ved første øyekast virket ikke markedet så stort, andre nevnte at det hadde vært større tidligere. Men tiden gikk fort, å gå over hele området tok mange timer, og vi fant litt småting som kunne passe både i garasjen og i stua. Det var gode muligheter for å sette seg ned og hvile litt - det var også god tilgang pølser, vafler og lignende.

Det var nok en god fest på området dagen før (og mange gode handler ble nok gjort allerede da), og noen utstillere var litt preget av det.


Som overalt ellers - det er muligheter for å gjøre gode handler, og det er muligheter for å gjøre dårlige - det er lurt å være forberedt med en prisidé hvis det er noe spesielt du ser etter. Blant annet så jeg brukt verktøy, som var priset høyere enn butikknytt fra samme produsent.

Mange flotte biler var å se - spesielt var det noen flotte Jaguarer, en BMW som så bra ut og en Buick som var spesielt flott.

Alt i alt hadde vi en hyggelig og fin tur, og det ble noen kjøp. Jeg tror neppe jeg tar turen tilbake allerede neste år, men kommer sikkert oppom en senere gang.

Morten

Replacing speedometer cable on Jaguar Mk2

Car: Jaguar MK2 3.8 M/O LHD 1962

 

Back to sharing experience on different small tasks; in this case on a Jaguar Mk2.

The speedo wire is fairly simple to replace, but expect 1.5 - 2 hours for the whole job, testing included.

Before you start, if you have a new wire ready, make sure you have the right one.

On the MK2 there are several different lengths -  make sure yours is long enough at least.

Cable lengths:

Manual O/D

Early,     LHD: 96"

Early,     RHD: 78"

Late,      LHD: 106"

Late,      RHD: 68"

Automatic

Early DG, LHD: 60"

Early DG, RHD: 78"

Late BW35, LHD: 84"

Late BW35, RHD: 66"

Source: sngbarratt.com

1. The connection points for the speedo are back of the speedometer and at the gearbox, under the car.

It goes through the firewall, and for my LHD alongside the left inner wheel arc,

kept in place by a few clips.

So, make sure you can access the connection point underneath. It is easily accessible by just jacking up the car on the left hand side.

Before you jack it up, you can to the major work.

2. Unscrew and remove the plate below the dash.

3. You need to get the speedometer out. First unscrew and remove the black plastic around the steering column, the removal of the speedometer will be easier.

Back of the speedometer - note the mounting bracket/mechanism

4. Unscrew the to setting screws on the back, same patent on most English classics from this period (Smiths).

 

5. Gently remove the speedometer, and unscrew the speedometer cable. Use a good light source to see where the cable goes through the fire wall.

   On a LHD, the hole is lower left corner of the fire wall.

The cable goes through the firewall

6. From under the bonnet, pull the cable out and loosen it from the clips, and let it drop through the engine compartment.

  

7. Take the new cable and follow the same line over the wheel arch, as the old cable. Do not use the clips yet. Push the new cable through the hole in the firewall gently about 5-10 cm. Through the hole in the dash where the speedometer should be, grab the cable, make sure you do not bend it too much and attach to the speedometer.

Where the cable originaly was

8. Check that the cable works by turning the core. The speedometer should react.

9. Push the new cable through the engine compartment, following the same route as the old cable did.

10. Fasten the clips.

11. From under the car, remove the old cable. Look at how/where it is connected to the frame/body. If the cable has a lot of bends (it does not last long with 90 degree bends), that may be why you are changing it now. If so, find alternatives places to fasten it to the car.

12. Attach it to the gearbox.

13. Use strips or similar to keep it in place - and remember be aware of bends.

14. Put the speedometer, plastic around the steering column and the plate underneath the dash back in place.

15. Test drive! (Well, not with the car jacked up ;)).

In general be very careful with having bends on the cable when it is mounted.

Cheers,
Morten

Triumph TR6 test drive and club meeting

Tuesday September 11th I attended the LSVK club meeting in Kvelde, Norway.
As usual the meetings are well organized and touches into interesting subjects, in particular information about the upcoming celebration of the club turning 25 years.
The event, an exhibition in Fredriksvern verft in Stavern, is going to be great with a lot of the club member’s cars on display.

Even though the temperature is dropping here in Norway, and the evenings are quite cold and dark, I decided to drive my Triumph TR6 PI the 20 minutes to Kvelde. It has no roof (after a rebuild, I haven't prioritized mounting this) and it was cold. But that was soon forgotten. The sound of the TR6 beautiful engine sound rev’ing, no other cars on the nice curvy road - not much can match that.
No speeding needed, just the acceleration out of the turns - the six'er working well, but not perfect, and the note from the Phoenix manifold and big bore exhaust. Intoxicating!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Triumph for making the TR6!

Morten

Jaguar Mk2 starter motor

Remove and fit starter motor, Jaguar MK2
This was one of the first jobs I did on the Jaguar MK2; to overhaul a not working starter motor. Also the first meeting with the rather tight and not very accessible starter motor of this car. It is a bit tricky to get out, and in, but it is totally doable.

Here are the points and order that I found to work best for me:

1) Isolate the battery.

2) You need to be able to work from under the car - the only way the starter motor is coming out without taking out the whole engine or an angle grinder. So jack it up or elevate it/make access to the underside in other safe way.

3) Inside the car, push seat back as far as it goes. Remove the gear knob. Remove the seat cushions (not the entire seat).

4) Unscrew the mid-console/section at the back. Lift it a bit at the back to get it over the securing bolt, then you need to pull it backwards a bit, then raise at the front and slide forward and upwards.

5) Push away the right hand side air supply tube, going to the back.

6) You need to open the metal plate, tightened with three screws, above the front of the gear box channel. Remove any material that prevents this (sound etc). I chose to unscrew the mounting bracket for the radio, then just tilt it to the left; made access a lot easier.

7) Through this hole, you gain access to one of the bolts on the starter motor. Find a suitable tool to access it. Extender is probably good, and some light to see where to put it. There are only two bolts to fasten the starter engine.

8) Unscrew it entirely.

9) Rest of the work is done from under the car.

10) On my car, it was no way around removing the oil filter. I tried to get the starter engine out the front at the suspension. No luck, not enough room. I tried to get it passed the oil filter, same story. The oil filter was removed, and then both removing the engine, and getting it back in, was fairly easy. The removal of the filter will obviously result in a good portion of oil coming out as well. Be prepared.

11) The second and last bolt, you need some light to see. When you have it localized, it is easy to unscrew. Support the engine with one hand, and unscrew entirely.

12) Then guide the engine down and out through the opening where the filter was. You may have to tilt it a bit.

Now, there is surely a very good reason for removing the motor, and the appropriate action is described elsewhere. In my case it was cleaned and in general needed love and care, tested and ready to be put back. Still the original starter motor fitted. When putting it back, just reverse the steps above. It went very fast and easy putting to it back in. I attached the bolt from under the car first, then engaged the bolt from inside the car.

Cheers,
Morten