"Hazel" - a series 1 V8 daily driver

My last experience with Ctek was poor. Would NEVER turn on the 'fully charged' led unless I disconnected and reconnected it. Ctek said that was normal - none of my other makes of charger does this, they all switch from charging to full by themselves.
You have done very well getting a battery to last that long! At least ours dont need a battery box fan like some Jags.
 
I've changed the battery for a "Yuasa" with a larger cranking current & we'll see how it goes. OK so far, but Hazel still doesn't like waking up very much!

Just a totally different thought - should 'Tobacco Leaf' be officially renamed 'Autumn Gold'? :)

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It's very brown inside too with a Sandalwood interior, but it's just sooo inviting! ;)

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I really ought to have some brown flared cords to go with it :LOL:
 
I've changed the battery for a "Yuasa" with a larger cranking current & we'll see how it goes. OK so far, but Hazel still doesn't like waking up very much!

Just a totally different thought - should 'Tobacco Leaf' be officially renamed 'Autumn Gold'? :)

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It's very brown inside too with a Sandalwood interior, but it's just sooo inviting! ;)

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I really ought to have some brown flared cords to go with it :LOL:
Look more like Buckskin in that picture....
 
A shot of Hazel on the North Yorkshire Moors; the same place my avatar picture was taken:

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Lovely though this car is, I'm still on my midlife crisis hunt for a replacement Alfa :oops:
 
Lovely though this car is, I'm still on my midlife crisis hunt for a replacement Alfa :oops:

Well, the Alfa is bought & I'm looking forward to starting on it very soon. As for Hazel.... she's far too good to let go & is regularly providing transport for me whist OCC & BOP are off the road (more about the latter another time).

There's something about this car; it just feels like it's made from one piece & has the comfiest seats by a country mile, so if I do sell one, it may be BOP, we'll see...

A work trip last week; lovely weather, countryside & car :cool::

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Hazel's rear wings are now getting a bit tired after a lot of use, the N/S one particularly:

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This one was subject to a bit of shunt damage all those years ago, so will probably get replaced as it doesn't fit that well any more. The other side is not as bad as this one, so will perhaps get a welded repair & touch up.

Still a good-looking car, me thinks! :cool:

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Hazel was out today for the first time in a couple of weeks :cool:

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'She' started well & ran superbly. Although a little damp on the road, there had been no salt about for a few days, so time to blow the cobwebs away!
 
Our daughter has chosen 'Hazel' as her wedding car in August, so amongst the other P6 (& Alfa) jobs, I've got to get Hazel looking her best. As posted earlier, the main issue is the NSR wing which is split at the top.

I had a look through my spare panels & came up with this:

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It looks a bit ropey, but it actually is very good with only a bit of surface rust & no holes. In fact it's never been on a car as even the front seal's rivet holes are not yet drilled:

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I've now prepped it, primed & guide-coated it, which has shown a few irregularities, but overall it's pretty good:

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I'll now prime it again & flat it off prior to spraying colour when the weather gets a bit warmer :)

Incidentally, I am thinking of selling a full set of used wings that I have - they won't be quite in the condition of this one, but will be better than a lot. I've had 3 sets for around 20 years & there comes a time when you know you're not going to use them all! ;). If anyone's interested, please let me know. They would need collecting from East Yorkshire.
 

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If your battery is not starting it well.....
Undo all connections at the battery and the earth, clean with wire brush until shiny, apply Deoxit or similar , or smear grease on the battery poles (reduces corrtosion from battery gases/vapours), replace connections. Check earth lead for corrosion. Same for the through body connection in offside footwell - both sides. Then the connection to the starter solenoid. Then the engine earth lead.
We only put salt on our chips down here. Or in NZ, on our chups.
 
If your battery is not starting it well.....
Undo all connections at the battery and the earth, clean with wire brush until shiny, apply Deoxit or similar , or smear grease on the battery poles (reduces corrtosion from battery gases/vapours), replace connections. Check earth lead for corrosion. Same for the through body connection in offside footwell - both sides. Then the connection to the starter solenoid. Then the engine earth lead.
We only put salt on our chips down here. Or in NZ, on our chups.
Many thanks for this; I'll go through these steps carefully :thumb:
 
It's been a while since I posted any P6 work updates on here, due to my other projects, but I have now brought Hazel into the garage for a good service which will include rebuilding both carbs. It is struggling at times to keep ticking over & it has been at the back of the garage queue for some time now.

Our daughter got married a week ago, but we used BOP instead of Hazel. Despite being in traffic during 28 deg heat, BOP ran perfectly (which was a relief ;)). More on that later.
 
Hazel is not quite the 'daily driver' of the title at the moment as it has been very difficult to keep running at all :(

I've bought all the various service parts & also decided to refurbish the carburettors whilst I was on. I've owned the car for 15 years now & it's never had any major work done to the engine, so I thought a carb rebuild would be wise.

They were quite grimy:

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although most of this appears to have been from the rocker gaskets:

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There was nothing apparently wrong with the carburettors that I could find, although the offside one was rather blacked up:

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Hazel in the garage with dog Ruby asleep on the job:

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Carbs refurbished & back on. Just repainting the rocker covers, then will hopefully get the car running again & do the full service & tune-up I've been promising it :)

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