HubNut Blog

What’s on my mind?

Project Rav4: The Collection

The task of replacing the XM is complete. For now. Yes, I have purchased another quality motor vehicle.

As I’ve already reported, I was having real trouble finding my next steed. At one point, I was eyeing up a £250 Toyota Previa. In Stockton-on-Tees. Then, some degree of sanity kicked back in. I really don’t need a people carrier! The products of Lexus, Honda and Subaru came in for scrutiny, because no matter what, it had to be Japanese. I like to practice what I preach and as I’m editing Retro Japanese magazine, I needed to have something Retro. And Japanese. (I’m borrowing a Jaguar while I edit Classic Jaguar magazine as I’m too poor to buy an actual Jag!).

One of the biggest issues with living in Wales is that car buying means big travel. The chances of finding something suitable on my doorstep were slim, though a Toyota Carina E almost made it. Really, that’s just a bit too bland isn’t it? I mean, an editorship is a prestige position. It requires a vehicle with commanding road presence. Something that shouts quality and power.

So I bought a Rav4.

I spotted it on Ebay, and also found a Gumtree ad almost a month old. There, it had been advertised at £900, though this had dropped to £700 on Ebay. Had to be worth a look. Especially as it had a towbar. It was up the road in Conwy, North Wales and the description made it seem pretty good. No rot, mechanically sound. Well, ads can always make bold claims so for once, I decided to view before handing over the readies. I contacted the owner who said he wouldn’t take less than £650 for it. Blimey. £50 off already and I hadn’t left the house!

We currently have a variety of vehicles on the fleet, some of which are ideal for such a long-distance mission. So, we took the Perodua Nippa. Rachel doesn’t like big cars, so that ruled the XM and Jag out!

New motor! Can this truly replace the XM?

Just nipping up the road to North Wales took a good couple of hours, even with my driving. The Nippa doesn’t often get treated with such a heavy foot, but we did have to get a shift on. Its tiny 847cc, three-cylinder engine had to work hard, especially up the hills of Snowdonia. In terms of torque, it has none. Fortunately, there is no rev counter fitted.

We arrived in Conwy and were treated to a distinct lack of rain. This was nice as I needed to crawl underneath the RAV4 and have a good look at the underside. Rot is a killer, especially around the rear suspension mounts. Bits were prodded and as not very much fell off, I decided all was well enough.

There were issues though. The rear tyres were right on the limit of legality, if not slightly the other side of legal. Also, the spring was missing on the driver’s wiper arm, so it wasn’t doing a great job of clearing the screen. However, it drove well on the test drive, with good clutch bite and no alarming noises – other than a similar amount of road noise racket to the Nippa. Which means LOADS. There’s not much trim in the back.

The price was adjusted down to £580 and we quickly retreated to a hotel for a rather late dinner. The hotelier made the mistake of suggesting we might like to sit at a different table. Here’s a thought. Don’t try and make my wife do something she does not want to do, especially when she’s hungry! It was amusing as the dining room was enormous and had two other people in it. The food was good though and well worth the expense given that Rachel had agreed to accompany me on this silly car caper.

We set off in convoy, hoping it wouldn’t rain. A few hundred yards later, it started to rain. I suspect the owner had tried to do something about the poor wiping by applying Rain-X or similar to the windscreen. Certainly, the water was beading up nicely and the wiper would clear the screen as it travelled up. On the way down, it would lift several inches off the windscreen before banging back onto the screen at the bottom. I filed this under annoying, but I could at least see where I was going. Until it got foggy.

In all the excitement, I had rather forgotten the question of fuel. On the way up, I had even noticed a likely petrol station, yet, somehow, completely missed it on the way back. I was probably distracted by the comedy wiper, that seemed to be waving to cars as we passed them.

By the time I realised that we were rather short of a sensible amount of fuel, we were in to Snowdonia. Fortunately, the rain stopped, which allowed me to focus on the fuel gauge all the more. I knew there was a petrol station in Dolgellau. Surely we could make it there? I began to hypermile. Quite easy when any serious pressure on the throttle pedal simply resulted in the disappearance of the Nippa.

Of course, I hadn’t bargained on petrol stations not being open late at night. It was shut. DRAT! Or words to that effect. Sat Nav reckoned there was another station close by but, not for the first time in recent weeks, it then seemed to get horribly confused about where said station might be. Sod it. I would push on for Machynlleth, some 13 miles away. I reckoned this would be ok, because the route was mostly downhill from where we were. There may have been some coasting, which as a MiDAS minibus instructor, I know is a bad thing. This is putting the car in neutral and letting it roll. I left the Nippa behind at this point, as one steep hill allowed me to get up to the dizzy heights of 60mph. In neutral. The gauge was starting to point some way below empty though. Was I actually going to make it?

Cripes! That’s low! Less than empty apparently.

Thankfully, I did make it. I pulled up at the pump half expecting the engine to cut out there and then. Happily, it didn’t. In fact, I got 48 litres in, which is apparently about ten litres less than the tank capacity. Hmmm. The Nippa also does this trick. False empty?

Full of fuel. Nippa (and Proton Jumbuck) wait in the background.

With a known amount of fuel on board, ie a full tank, and close enough to home that Rachel could find her own way (she’d had enough of following the RAV by this stage), I got a proper shift on – albeit knowing the rear tyres weren’t very clever.

And I became very surprised. The RAV is a very easy car to drive quickly. It stays remarkably flat in the corners, turns in nicely and doesn’t have that nose-heavy feeling that I get in the XM. The engine pulls well, and you can maintain decent pace without having to take it beyond 4000rpm. The chunk gearlever is a pleasure to use too. I was liking this a lot.

I’d been warned that the ride would be rubbish, but it really isn’t – albeit I was directly comparing with a bouncy Perodua. Sure, it’s not XM comfy, but it’s really not bad. I was suffering some backache, but then I’d driven a minibus for a couple of hours, then leapt into the Nippa for a few hours (hardly the last word in comfort and the furthest I’d drive it since I bought it 14 months ago) and then into the Rav. It’s hard to say whether the ache was due to one of those vehicle, or all of them!

The only real downside is the super-smooth steering wheel. It’s like polished glass, so I may need to chuck a cover on for some actual grip.

There’s plenty to do with the new arrival, but I think that’s enough words for now. Stay tuned to see how I get on with it. I mean, can it actually tow stuff? We’re going to find out…

Buying a car. So difficult!

I usually enjoy buying cars. You may have noticed. But I’m now trying to do something very difficult. I’m trying to replace the XM, which is something I’ve put off for some 18 months. Largely, that’s because it’s a really nice car, but as I’ve covered more and more thousands of miles in it, I’ve also found it very difficult to think what might replace it.

I need something fun and Japanese. Why did I sell the Prelude again?

The problem is, I HAVE sold the XM now, and so I need a replacement. Quickly. I’ve done some work today, and an oil and filter change on the Nippa. For the most part though, I’ve been glued to online classified sites. I know my next car is out there, but I can’t find it!

I want something Japanese. Not just because of editing Retro Japanese, but because I genuinely do love stuff from Japan. There’s something very pleasing about Japanese cars. You can feel the efficiency and the thought process. The sort of thinking that ensures the headlight warning sound is just right, yet somehow scatters switchgear over the dashboard as it if the positions were chosen via a game of pin the tail on the donkey. Those switches will operate every time you ask them to though, and feel robust.

Typically, I’ve not got much budget, but that’s no problem. Under a grand, there is a veritable sea of delicious Japanese metal just waiting for a buyer. Luxurious saloons, sporty coupes and rather dreary family cars, I really am finding it hard to focus on what I actually want.

Practicality is a little hard to find. I’d love a Nissan Prairie, but they don’t often come up for sale. A Honda Civic Shuttle might be nice, but they’ve all seemingly disappeared too. There are some 4x4s, but checking the MOT History via the government’s FANTASTIC website reveals that most of them have had catastrophic failures for corrosion. They’re shagged in other words. Quality is certainly in short supply.

After several hours of fruitless searching, in which I genuinely convinced myself that a Toyota RAV4 short-wheelbase was a practical machine, I gave up. There just isn’t a Japanese equivalent of the XM that falls into my price bracket. To be honest, there aren’t many cars at all that manage to be quite so incredibly practical as the XM. It has a boot that you could sell for £1m as a flat in Chelsea, yet the ride and passenger space of a limo. It’ll tow 1500kg. It does 50mpg. That last point is particularly annoying, as Japanese diesels are a relatively new phenomenon really. In the 1990s, where the most affordable bargains currently lie, you’re exposed to Toyota’s head-cracking 2.2 and 2.4 diesels and not a lot else. The Japanese didn’t really get into their oil burners until later in the 1990s. Which means they’re too new.

The search goes on, but my desire to own a tow car is diminishing. I’ve already sold the trailer, am not particularly enjoying caravanning anyway, and am working on a different plan to get my 2CV back home. So, who knows what I’m actually going to end up with…

Project 2CV: Chop Chop!

I’m just back home after a remarkably enjoyable few days on the road. I’ll tell you about the other stuff some other time, but as many of you have chucked money into my project fund, it seems only right to first focus on the 2CV. So here goes!

I got to Citwins in Bradford at about quarter to ten this morning. Not as early as I’d planned, as I managed to end up at Alan’s house after entering the wrong postcode! Clearly, my brain was not firing on all cylinders on this sunny Monday morning.

Tea was consumed, and we looked at Elly’s naked body and talked through the plan. Which was mostly for Alan to get an angle grinder out and start chopping. A few minutes later, that’s exactly what he started doing after removing the windscreen and rear side glass.

Alan starts chopping out the rot.

Note the trolley that the bodyshell is resting on. This is a jig that allows Alan to line up all the bolt holes. A bolt-in frame is holding up the front bulkhead here, which allows him to do some serious chopping. So serious in fact that a short time later, this happened!

Eek! Floors and lower bulkhead chopped out in one piece.

Yes, that’s the entire floor, sills, lower bulkhead and chunks of the C posts all off in one piece. A lot of rotten bodywork. Alan was hampered by previous welding work carried out by my mate Dave. Never let it be said that Dave’s welds aren’t solid! Though I was sad to see bits of our old washing machine heading for the scrap bin. It amused me to have the dead machine living on in my 2CV.

After this, Alan noticed a problem with what remained of the bulkhead. It was four layers in places, where new metal had been let in over the old metal. This would be a right pain to weld to. The decision was made to chop even more bulkhead out. At this point, Alan had to dash off for more repair panels. The rear seat box was also in worse shape than predicted. Nearly all of it would need replacing.

After he returned, and more tea was consumed, more prep work was undertaken. The lower bulkhead was chopped out and the old seat box removed. Alan then started to fit the jig he uses to put the A, B and C posts in the correct position. This allows fitment of new sills in a manner which hopefully allows the doors to close correctly. The person who previously fitted the sills, not a 2CVer, didn’t have such a jig. Which is probably why I could get my hand out of the bottom of the passenger door, even when it was closed…

I went to fetch lunch in the meantime, and when I got back, new metal had been installed!

New C post section tacked in. Note jig (red) to hold the body in shape.

I was astonished. This had gone from a teardown to a restoration in seemingly no time at all. There is still more rot to be chopped out – notably the inner rear wings, boot floor, rear light panel and windscreen panel. There are other spots of localised rot to sort out too. That work can take place once the structure is more solid again.

With the new A and C posts tacked into place, the sills could then follow. After that, the lower bulkhead (a larger piece than first intended), floors and rear seat box could follow. Suddenly, it looked rather more like a solid 2CV shell again!

Looking better! Panels tacked and clamped into place.

How utterly fantastic. Sure, there’s still a lot of work to do, but I had to leave just after the above photo was taken, and that was at 3pm. It seemed a pretty decent showing for five hours of work, especially as parts-fetching took up a good half an hour, and we had a (very) brief pause for lunch too.

We are so fortunate with 2CVs that so many aftermarket panels are available. Very little has to be constructed from scratch and after many years of production, a lot of these panels seem to fit pretty well. That wasn’t always the case! It saves huge amounts of time, though the panel bill alone for this restoration is going to be over £1400 I suspect. I’ve already spent £1260 of the project fund, which leaves a rather perilous £860 for labour. I suspect this will not be enough by quite some way. Restoration is an expensive business!

However, your support has made this happen. I’m hugely grateful for that. Even with my improved finances of late, this project just would not be possible. As it stands, there’s now a really good chance of me getting Elly back on the road in time for mine and Rachel’s tenth wedding anniversary in July. Obviously, the 2CV needs to be a key part of this, just as she was before. I’ve got my work cut out!

A very special day, almost ten years ago!

PS – If you’ve seen pics of me swanning about in a Jaguar XJS, I should point out that it isn’t mine! Don’t worry, Project Elly funds are for Project Elly only.

The Train: A journey

It’s not often I get to write a blog post while travelling, but hey, there must be an advantage to The Train somewhere! It certainly isn’t speed. I once managed to drive to Peterborough from home in under four hours. This train is taking about six.

A train, today.

In theory, The Train would have allowed me time to work, but the lack of internet connection is an issue there. I also find it far too distracting a place for brainstorming – apologies for the management speak, but it pretty well describes what it’s like when I’m planning content for magazines or trying to decide what video to do next. Also, only the first two trains (of three) had power points. My laptop, being rather an ancient beast, is not what you’d call endowed with long battery life. In fact, I’m nervously glancing at the power meter now. Especially as I’m also having to charge up my phone (for the second time on this trip) because smart phones are power hungry monsters. Like Donald Trump, but in electronic form, and rather more clever. And less racist.

In theory, The Train would have left me with nearly an hour to explore Birmingham. It didn’t though, because I had lots of luggage with me. Had I been in a car, I might have risked leaving some of that luggage in said car to have a wander around. On The Train, this was not possible. There was somewhere to leave luggage, but they wanted £6 just for one item. I decided not to take up this ‘generous’ offer. I may have laughed. So, I ended up stuck inside New Street station which, while very impressive, is not a cheap place in which to find one’s lunch.

In theory, The Train is very relaxing, because there’s no driving to do. In reality, the first two trains were unbearably hot and quite horribly noisy. Then the train got invaded by school children on a trip. That has never happened when I’ve been in my car. Sure, they were quite well behaved, but one young girl kept accidentally kicking me. I decided against kicking back as I felt it could have created a scene. An ugly one.

Birmingham New Street. Baffling. And very big.

I will concede that this third train is comfortable and relatively quiet. It’s even better now I’m facing the right way, though I do wonder if it might be French. That’s because it clearly has a good diesel engine, has a floaty ride and has lots of interior rattles. By the time you read this, I will probably have done some research to find out where it was made, and discover it was Barnsley or something.

There is a reason for this suffering though, which has probably been revealed via social media already. Yes, I now have a Jaguar XJS to look after. No, it isn’t mine and yes, you are quite correct that someone requiring donations to fund his 2CV’s restoration really isn’t in a position to run a 20mpg Jaguar. I suspect I won’t be driving it often, though I will be using it for work-related reasons, which means I can at least consider some of the fuel genuine work expense.

The latest project car – a 187,000-mile, 4.0-litre XJS.

That work-related reason is Classic Jaguar of course, so I really can’t tell you an awful lot about the car. You’ll have to grab a copy of the magazine (not the first one, it isn’t in that one. You must buy it for other reasons). However, I can confirm that the only place you’ll find a head-to-head test between The Train and a Jaguar XJS is on my blog.

I’m handicapping the Jaguar quite heavily, as I’ll be taking about three days to get home, covering over 350 miles. At the moment, I’m going to boldly predict that the Jaguar wins…

Busy times – Jaguar and Japanese

This poor blog has been sadly neglected recently, mostly because I’ve been actually getting paid to do quite a lot of editorial work. It does somewhat sap the energy to then keep blogging away on top of that!

I’ve just got the first issue of Classic Jaguar to the printers, and that’ll be on sale on May 20th. Obviously, being me, it’s much more than just E-Types and XKs. I’m particularly pleased with my article on the underdogs – the bargain Jaguar saloons, even if bargain is a comparative word. If it’s affordable you want, in Jaguar terms, I make the case for the original S-Type and 420.

Jaguars are just so darned appealing.

There’s lots of other stuff too, which you’ll soon be able to read. It will be in the shops, but also available at the Kelsey Shop, where you can currently find this subscription deal.

By way of complete contrast, I’m also editing Retro Japanese, and work is now underway on the second issue. To my surprise, the first issue wasn’t just a success, it has been a complete sell-out! There is a huge amount of love out there for Japanese metal, and it’s not just folk interested in ridiculous amounts of power and going sidewards in a smoky manner. There’s plenty of love for the often exceedingly rare daily drivers of old. Datsun 140Ys, Toyota Corollas and Mitsubishi Colts. I am fast discovering just how strong that love is, and it’s also introducing me to a whole new world of classic car enthusiasts who have largely been overlooked by the classic press. It’s hugely enjoyable to be editing a title dedicated to this world, and heart-warming to see it so well received.

From fantastic Jaguars, to everyday Nissans. My life contains fantastic variety right now.

You may point out that I don’t currently own either a Jaguar or a Japanese motor (now the Prelude has gone) and you’d be right. You may think that really, the editor should own examples of the car he writes about, and you’d be right there too. Bear with me folks. Plans are afoot!

After all, while I’m well known for my love of Citroen motor vehicles, it is far, far from an exclusive deal. As with so much in life, enjoy what you like, but never be scared to explore new avenues. My love of cars has always been wide-ranging. Which is why at the moment, looking after these two very different titles makes me very happy indeed.

EV: Cleaner than you think

I’m not sure how I found myself checking the official figures for electricity generation in 2015 on a Sunday evening, but it happened. And it’s very interesting too.

Electric cars are greener than you think.

You see, a very common criticism of electric cars is that the fuel still has to come from somewhere, and that often means a coal-fired power station doesn’t it? Well, according to this document, it really doesn’t! In fact, over the whole of 2015, coal accounted for just 22.6% of power generated. The really interesting bit is that renewables accounted for 24.7%. In other words, more electricity was generated from green sources than from dirty ol’ coal.

Sure, gas still accounted for 29.5% to be the overall winner, and that’s still fairly bad, but gas is at least cleaner than coal – both in terms of storage and when you burn it. Power stations can capture the carbon from combustion too, or they could if the Tories hadn’t cancelled a competition looking into such technology back in November. Oh well.

Interestingly, actual electricity generation was down too, though my joy was shortlived. Turns out we were just importing more from France and The Netherlands.

One reason for the renewables boost, apart from more wind and solar farms, is that Drax power station is gradually converting to Biomass operation. That’s good isn’t it? Tree grows, absorbs carbon, you burn it to make heat and out comes the carbon again, to get absorbed by the next generation of tree. This should be carbon neutral.

The only problem is that each burner requires 2.3 million tonnes of Biomass per year, and that’s rather a lot. Apparently, it currently comes from North America, which means carbon emissions from shipping. You also worry about the state of forests having to provide this much fuel.

Still, things are heading in the right direction. For electric cars to be really clean, they need to run on clean electricity. I know hydrogen is touted as the real future, and I agree with Riversimple that it could well be, but I also find something elegant and rather wonderful about pure electric vehicles. I admire the simplicity.

I’m still some way from owning an electric vehicle myself, but the desire has not gone away. It really will happen. I just can’t say when.

XM: 900-mile week

I really have been dashing around a bit over the past seven days, and that has seen the XM clock up 900 miles – including towing a caravan to Llangollen and back.

It’s a car that infuriates me at slow speeds (horrible clutch, tired engine mountings, stupid, stupid foot-operated parking brake, poor ride around town) but still amazes me above 40mph (tons of torque, floaty ride, not what you’d call noisy). On the way to Kent last Monday, I discovered that it was delivering a mightily impressive 49.5mpg too. That’s not bad for a huge, executive barge with an old-school, mechanical-pump diesel engine. It’s about the same as a Rover 75 diesel I owned a few years back, which had similar power, not as much comfort and about six times the complexity. It had several ECUs for instance. While the XM has a few, none are related to the running of the engine. It’s actually a very simple machine.

But, even simple machines need maintenance, and after it developed notchy steering, I was forced to remove the LHM tank, clean the filters out with petrol and pour in some flushing fluid. You’re meant to leave that in for 500-1000 miles, which can sometimes take me a month or more. Not this week!

Nice, clean filters after a smelly petrol bath.

In fact, coming back from Llangollen, the XM’s steering went all notchy again. I guess this means the flushing fluid has done its job and the filters are once more all clogged up. That’s why today, I was planning to drain the fluid and replace the LHM.

I started by replacing the rear brake pads, because they’ve been low ever since I bought the car. I have a set of pads – I have no idea where they came from – so thought I might as well take the opportunity to replace them. It’s also a chance to check the wheel bearings (nearside rear isn’t great) and the operation of the calipers themselves. The rear brakes see very little use as most of the vehicle weight is up front, and brake pressure supply is carefully regulated by the rear suspension units. The more weight in the back, the more the rear brakes operate. That’s why the pads that had a few mm of pad depth in November 2014 still have a few mm of pad depth so much further down the road. However, new ones mean less piston is exposed to the elements, and it just makes me happier – especially given that towing really does get the rear brakes working.

Sadly, with that job done, I managed to seriously twinge my back as I moved the trolley jack to the front. I’m an idiot really, as I’ve done exactly the same thing before. My jack is very heavy! So, I’m sitting in the house, trying not to move very much and had to abandon the job halfway through.

XM after the first filter change. All was well. For a while…

But, all this does make me realise one thing. I still really, really like the XM. Yes, the low speed ride is annoyingly poor (a Jaguar trumps it easily) and the steering is a bit dead, and the sunroof is a bit noisy and still leaks a bit on occasion, and the dashboard plastics are horrible, but somehow this car keeps making me smile.

Which means I’m going to have to scrape together the money to get the clutch replaced. It could be the original, but the operation is needlessly heavy. I think it could transform how the car drives. Anyone fancy the job?

April fleet update

Right. I’ve been mega-busy, but I’d better do a fleet update. Here goes. First, the headline news. The Dyane has been sold! Though it hasn’t quite gone yet. It’s still in my garage and I’ll be using it for Drive It Day this coming Sunday. Once it has gone, at some point in the coming weeks, I’ll be moving the 2CV’s chassis back into the garage so I can check what it needs before the body is plonked back on top. Not that work on the body has started yet – some panels for it will be making their way to the restorer this weekend. I need to then find time to get up there to see some progress – that’s not going to be before I’ve got Classic Jaguar magazine to print.

Dyane will soon be off to London.

The XM has been very busy, with many family and work visits carried out over the past few weeks. It has already clocked up 1000 miles this month, which is pretty impressive given that it has spent many days in the past few weeks not moving at all. It is an infuriating car at times. Like Saturday, when it locked me inside and Rachel and some friends outside. That wasn’t good. Also, trim rattles are annoying, it’s rubbish over potholes (like all ‘strut’ hydropneumatic Citroens), the clutch is too heavy, the gearchange too horrible. But I still seem to really like it for reasons that are impossible to explain.

The Nippa has very nearly clocked up 3000 miles since I last serviced it a year ago. Almost time to chuck a thimble-full of oil and a new filter at it. The interior plastics are utterly dreadful, the ride is appalling, it’s really, really noisy and so much fun to drive quickly.

Nippa still proving ideal for, er, nipping about the place.

Then there’s the caravan. I’ve been trying to get on top of any leaks and today jacked it up to make sure the brakes work. They do. At the end of the month, we’re actually going away in it to properly live the caravan dream. We’re meant to be away in it twice in June, though I think I’ve found a way to avoid having to lug it all the way back from the south of England only to have to take it back a couple of weeks later. It could be the future of caravanning. Simply leave it vaguely near where you’ll need it next time to avoid having to drag it home!

Oh, and there may be a new addition to the fleet next month. I think you’ll like it, but you’ll have to wait and see!

XM: Yet more miles

I keep having to put fuel in the XM, which is a bit disconcerting, as it’ll do over 800 miles on a tank of fuel. In recent weeks, it has dragged the 2CV’s bodyshell up to Bradford, hauled a caravan from North Wales to home and transported me to events and meetings all over the place.

Library photo from 2014, though I did overtake a red Tesla Model S today.

This weekend, it was family and friends at the heart of things, which saw us dash over to Sussex for a start off. This was to allow us to catch up with Rachel’s sister and family, which is always a pleasure. The motorways were generally kind to us, and the XM ate up the miles with only a slightly iffy indicator stalk giving any concern – the indicator relay was occasionally clicking very quickly. Apparently, that’s down to dirty connections. I’ll have to pull the switch apart and see if I can improve things.

Not that indicator switch wear is likely to be a problem for most Audi drivers. We encountered some right royal twonks on our travels, and they really have replaced BMW drivers as the problem motorists. I did take real exception to one Audi-driving idiot, who just gently drifted into my lane with no signal, forcing me to take action to avoid him. What is actually wrong with these people? I mean, for the most part, the motorway was flowing in a marvellous display of synchronised common-sense. Entirely random people coming together, and making something work. Pretty much every BMW driver I saw displayed excellent indicator and lane manners. Not the Audis though.

The next stage of the journey saw us travel from Sussex to Sidmouth, in Devon. It was an utterly horrible journey – the sort I’ve had rather too many of in the south of England over the years. Traffic was heavy throughout, with some sections of the A31 down to an absolute crawl. Google maps reckoned 3.5 hours for the trip. It took over 5 hours. Rubbish! Not helped by Devon council closing the road between Honiton and Sidmouth, but only mentioning this fact at the start of the road in Honiton. We could easily have diverted around it if we had known. The diversion signs were hopeless too. Fortunately, Rachel has map skills.

On arrival in Sidmouth, where we caught up with an old friend and drank tea, the XM started running its cooling fans, even though it wasn’t hot and the key had been removed. I had to open the bonnet and start wiggling relays until it stopped. It does this from time to time, because Citroen decided putting the relays in an exposed position behind the headlamps was a good idea. It isn’t.

From Sidmouth, it was a quick hop up to Tiverton for a gathering of my family. By now, the XM was annoying me. The clunky gearchange and horrible clutch are the main complaints, but the exceedingly random central locking is also a pain, and the driver’s seat lacks lumbar support, so it hurts after several hours at the wheel.

After a few days in Devon, we headed back home today and were treated to the sight of a Skoda Octavia dangling in the air on the M5, because its caravan had got blown over. It had obviously wagged the dog in a big way, leaving impressive skid marks and the whole rig pointing the wrong way. It has been pretty windy, but it’s a reminder of why some call them wobble boxes…

As we left the motorway behind and got onto the twisty roads of Wales, the XM’s steering started to play up. It’s done this a few times recently, where the steering assistance seems to suddenly and randomly diminish at times. It makes it very hard to drive smoothly, as you’ve no idea how much assistance you’ll have when you turn in. I’ve had it on BXs before, and I’m hoping a hydraulic service will sort it out. At the very least, I’ll pull the filters out of the LHM tank and give them a good clean. I may not have time for a full hydraulic flush, though it probably should have one after 133,000 miles.

So, not a problem-free trip, but we did cover over 600 miles without actually breaking down. I must take some comfort in that. I didn’t really manage to get any photos of the car either. I usually take loads of photos of my cars. Is that a bad sign?

Caravans and stupidity

I’ve been enjoying my new caravan quite a lot, and even spent some time today sitting in and working. With the enormous front window open and fantastic velour to sit upon, it was all rather pleasant. I have also managed to get my ‘collection caper’ video online, and here it is.

With family visits not very far away, I thought it was time I tried to get to the bottom of the XM’s horrible suspension clonk today. Having managed to drive many hundreds of miles since it first started doing it, I’d reasoned that it was unlikely that anything would fall off. It probably already would have done. But, I really wanted to know what it was!

I got a message from Pete Sparrow at ‘very early’ this morning, which said ‘it’s today or never mate.’ So, I quickly had a bite to eat and jumped in the XM to head to Hereford and some Sparrow diagnostics. Pete somehow found time in his usual, frenetic schedule to have a quick test drive, and deduced that it could be a brake caliper issue. When we got back, I jacked up the XM and removed the road wheel and sure enough, Pete quickly spotted that the brake pad anti-rattle spring was missing. Oops. I now remembered that I was struggling to fit it and put it to one side to fit later. It wasn’t meant to be two months later… Still, the noise was just the pads rattling around, so at least I knew it wasn’t serious.

Oops. There should be a spring here!

While I was there, I took Pete’s advice and swapped some tyres about. When I refitted my Continental Winter Contact TS850 tyres last Autumn, I only realised afterwards that I’d successfully rotated the offside tyres front and rear, but put the same front tyre on the nearside that had been in place the previous winter. Now, after two winters of my hooning, the inside of the tread had very definitely been worn away. Slightly low tyre pressures certainly didn’t help, and I also wonder whether the wishbone bushes are past their best. Fact remains though that two winters of use has been pretty much enough for that tyre. The softer compound does cause these tyres to wear out more readily. I don’t currently have a set of summer tyres to switch back to. Something I’ll need to address, as sunny motorway miles are particularly unkind to winter tyres.

On returning home, after getting some important work done on Classic Jaguar magazine (felt appropriate to do some of this in the caravan), I set about sorting the XM’s brakes. It didn’t take too long to whip the wheel off and refit the anti-rattle spring. I also fitted new wiper blades – aero ones. Not a fan of the aesthetics, but hopefully they’ll take the stress out of driving in the rain. Quite important in Wales. Of course, not everything went to plan and I did almost managed to crash the XM into the Nippa. And I caught it on video!

HubNut – celebrating the average!