Allegro Club International

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

With the arrival of better weather I put the trickle charger on the battery and waited for a full charge. Despite a fully charged battery SWP 377V was not for starting and I think it is because of lack of fuel to the engine. I have had this before when the car has been laid up for a few weeks because of bad weather. I think petrol falls back in the fuel line to the carburettor and the suggested cure is to put a non-return valve in the fuel line. Anyhow, I have some professional assistance on the way and we will see if we can overcome this seasonal hitch!
cheers Joe

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

Well, we got started - as predicted fuel was not getting to the engine and a bit of priming for the carburettor solved the problem. Here we are on a run to warm everything through.........

IMG_20190228_163258339 by Joe Lamont, on Flickr

Cheers Joe

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

SWP 377V has seen quite a bit of work recently - the weather has been ideal, sunny and dry. So today involved a trip to Perth and here she is in the wild:

IMG_20190328_142728981_HDR by Joe Lamont, on Flickr

Next to the Vauxhall Corsa the Vanden Plas doesn't look so small. At least today we didn't have to hide in a jungle of SUVs!
Cheers Joe

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

The good news today is that SWP 377V passed her MoT with no advisories.....thats a help! I see from the mileage on the MoT I've managed just over 800 miles this year - room for more I think! Especially now we've got all this sunny weather......cheers Joe

Sean Golden · Joined: 11 May 2019 Posts: 11

it looks lovey mine has the has the same colour carpets well done for getting it Sean

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

SWP 377V is in good form. Before Christmas we had an oil change and an episode with aftermarket rebound straps. Back in the summer I had a pair of straps fitted replacing the fraying originals. Well, they are lucky to have lasted 4 months - one snapped at the eye piece - here is SWP 377V on the ramp:

IMG_20191005_095922180 by Joe Lamont, on Flickr

Many thanks to Graham for supplying proper reinforced straps, so all is now well!
I try to keep SWP 377V running through the winter and so far so good. I am trying to avoid that situation where fuel runs back from the carburettor and there is not enough fuel in the engine to get started. So here's to more open weather to allow us to get out and about! cheers Joe

Graham · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 625 Location: Hereford

Great to see Joe, well done!
Can we order some better weather anywhere??? Please?????!!!!!!

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

Hi Graham, thanks for your message - I had SWP 377V out in the sunshine today, and from nowhere a black cloud appeared and dumped rain on us. That meant another half an hour drying off the car in the garage!
However, the latest project is a paper one - to register SWP 377V as an historic vehicle for road tax purposes. The tax is due in April so when the V11 reminder came I went hot foot to the post office. Post offices these days are shabby places where you queue endlessly to get to the counter. Once at the counter you have to explain what an historic vehicle is and what they have to do - i.e. send the V5 to DVLA with 'Historic' written on it together with the keeper's signature. Well we managed all that, and I guess we can wait for 6 weeks for a new V5 document to emerge from DVLA. All in a good cause! In the meantime we shall keep driving, rain or no rain! cheers Joe

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

The registration of SWP 377V as an historic vehicle has run into a Coronavirus roadblock I think. Today I received a final demand to tax the car and no sign of any acknowledgement of the historic status application. Not to be wondered at in the circumstances, so I paid for 6 months tax and wrote a follow up letter about the historic status. We'll give this some time I think! Here is SWP 377V, newly taxed, on a shopping trip.....cheers Joe

IMG_20200421_142448200 by Joe Lamont, on Flickr

Graham · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 625 Location: Hereford

Looking good Joe! I need to embark on the same process for my estate although not so much of a rush as it is off the road at the moment.
Fingers crossed!

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

Well, six months passed and I received a reminder for car tax for SWP 377V. This time I had to try and get contact with DVLA. For quite a while in the summer the enquiries line was off the hook but now, finally, I got to speak to a real person! She proved to be very efficient and after about 45 minutes we had everything settled. I got the 'Historic' status V5 and I was refunded the £90 or so I had forked out for car tax 6 months previously. So I was well pleased with that, and to celebrate I booked the car in for an M-o-T. Strictly speaking we don't need one, but I think it is worthwhile. SWP 377V duly passed so all is well! cheers Joe

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

SWP 377V has been running well and it is time for an oil and filter change. She's booked for that on 11 January and while the car's in I will take the opportunity to have the alternator changed. Its not that the present one doesn't work but I suspect its 45amp and in this cold weather the battery doesn't seem to be getting fully charged up. So we have a new 65amp alternator and we'll see if it makes a difference...... all the best for the festive season!

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

An interesting little experiment has played out, albeit unwittingly. In the cold weather I haven't taken SWP377V and RKB143T out onto the salty roads. To keep them in trim I run them in the garage for 30 minutes, getting the cooling fan cutting in and out. About a week ago I ran both cars this way and then left them until today. Today SWP377V's battery did not have enough charge to start the engine. RKB143T's battery did the job fine on the third turn. So SWP377V's problem could be the battery, but its relatively new, and I really suspect the alternator. Anyhow on Monday a new 65amp alternator will be fitted and we'll see!

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

Well, SWP377V has had the oil and filter change and now has a shiny new alternator:

IMG_20210114_132618141 by Joe Lamont, on Flickr

We haven't had the chance to try things out yet because there is 2 inches of snow. I don't think SWP377V would appreciate an outing in this weather! Anyhow we will look out for an improvement and see how it goes.

joelamont · Joined: 02 Apr 2016 Posts: 68

Well the new season is underway with some really good weather. I've had SWP 377V for 8 years now and I remember when we first got her we fitted a new battery and 4 new tyres. That of course is now 8 years ago, so we have done a full replacement with another new battery and 4 fresh tyres. The battery has already made a difference, making starting a lot easier, especially after a few cold nights.
Lets hope we get some time on the road now! cheers Joe