Andy’s Racing blue

Ajracer

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I cut my teeth on the BG which I enjoyed,learned a lot, spent a lot and got a fair price considering the outlay on Collecting Cars which gave me some funds to buy Trophy #151 and get her to a condition that I’m happy with.
The down side of all this is I like tinkering and I’ve been itching for another project for some months.
Classics such as TR6,MGB etc interest me but the thought of a 50 year old car which looks shiny on the outside but is as corroded as the titanic underneath fills me with dread!
So I came to conclusion that it’s best to stick to what you know. I also have discovered that for some unknown reason all the best Clio’s seem to be up North.
Living in Bournemouth I could not believe it when the BG was a 4 1/2 hour drive away in Kings Lynn Norfolk and then the Trophy lived in Warrington which incredibly is where the BG ended up with the new owner a few weeks later!
Well it gets worse for poor AJ the southerner who finds a great car 45mins drive north of Glasgow.
I set off on foot at 6.30am yesterday morning to my local station,catch a train to Southampton airport, got on a flight to Glasgow and was collected by the owner.
Many thanks to Craig, his partner and his patrol head Dad who made me feel incredibly welcome after my long journey to potentially buy a car so far away on the strength of photos an documents.
I took this picture when I first arrived, took her out for a test drive and the deal was done.
550 miles later and a quick wash I put her to bed next to the T.
Meet my new evening weekend runaround.
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Big Dave

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Looks REALLY nice.....

Yep i get what you mean about cars being far away, i got my T from Dundee, And i live near Blackpool....
 
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Congrats,I love that.

The blue looks really vivid in the pictures,happy motoring.
 

Ajracer

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looks super tidy Andy! did you take any scenic routes on the way back to Bournemouth?
I’m afraid not. The weather was crap and to be honest I just wanted to get her home.
If it had been in the summer I would of made a right old road trip!
 

Ajracer

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I won’t bore you all with the journey of my mini restoration of the RB as its all been logged in the CS forum.
She has had a full brake, suspension and underbody refresh.
Got her back from my detailers last Saturday after a stage 1 mechanical detox and Swissvax onyx canuba wax Polish.
Bloody shiny!
Love the colour of this little car.
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Ajracer

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RB had her first visit to k-Tec this week to sort out a couple of minor issues that I ran out of talent trying to sort! Lol
The long running saga of the abs/serv/tc lights not going out and the car feeling lacklustre while cold and also not pulling as hard as she should in the lower rev ranges was quite frankly pissing me off.

My previous BG and Trophy have been very well looked after by Stephen and the team who have an amazing depth of history and knowledge of the RS cars so all is sorted now.

My Icarsoft diagnostic code reader obviously got brain fog and it turned out to be the left abs sensor not the right that was causing the problem
Regarding the sluggish performance while replacing the auxiliary belt and tensioner the timing was found to be miles out.

Had a free morning today and it was sunny and I thought sod it!
Bournemouth to the Haynes Museum near Yeovil is 50 miles away with country roads including ZigZag hill near Shaftesbury to enjoy.
Love this little car!
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Ajracer

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Looks fantastic Andy - are there some great cars inside the Museum
Thanks Nick. Yes the Museum is fantastic! Hundreds of cracking cars on display.
One hall inside is called the red room and obviously all the cars are red from a TR5 to a Countach. Well worth a visit and has a good restaurant too.
 

Ajracer

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RB has been on a 3 day road trip down to southern Spain!
I split the journey into 3 500 mile chunks.
Day 1. Bournemouth to Dover, through the tunnel and stopping at Orleans south of Paris.
Day2. Orleans to Vitoria - Gasteiz northern Spain via the Pyrenees mountains.
Day 3. Vitoria - Gasteiz to Nerja southern Spain.

The car drove faultlessly throughout and averaged 39mpg at a steady 80 mph.
The french roads may not have the backdrop but the surface quality puts our network to shame.

Day 3. To be honest i was bloody Knackered. 1000 miles on my own, 500 to go in a Clio droning away and it was starting to get hot (30 deg).

The last leg spurred me on as the slight detour via the Sierra Nevada National Park near Granada was driving nirvana!
Mountain roads, views to die for and apart from a few crazy cyclists and bikers I had the road to myself.
More trips in the future.
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Ajracer

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Managed to find some time for another trip to Espania next week.
The wife does the usual sunbathing/reading books etc but after a few days I get bored so I’ve pre planned another 1 day jaunt for RB.
The well respected Evo mag columnist /racer Dickie Meaden has on many occasions raved about the Marbella to Ronda Mountain road.
It’s about a hours drive each way on quiet smooth twisty roads with amazing scenery on the way.
Pulled these images off the web. Can’t wait!
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