1970 Savanagh Beige Deluxe, The Sausage

[Sausage]

Quick mini-service and a good wash,

And off to Norfolk for a few days, stayed at Manor Farm just outside of Cromer. Nice campsite.
Got there Monday lunchtime and sat in the Sun for a couple of days,

Got pretty hot so had to use the sun canopy for the 1st time in 3 years. Knew it would come in handy one day...

Headed into Cromer on Wednesday and got drunk on the pier and town,

Was a fun walk back along the Beach to get home...

Packed up and left Thursday,

 

[Sausage]

Stopped in at the Thursford Steam Collection,

Lovely old running Switchback ,

Original Savages Gallopers with centre engine,

Sparkling Showman's Engines,

Had a good time and a sceptical Sarah liked it as well. Going on the old rides swung it.

Stayed the Thursday night at a place in Huntingdon,

Friday morning and time for Bugjam,

Friday got messy,

Sarah managed to get into the Fireforce tent for a closer look,

Out and about on Saturday checking things out but not many pics,

And then packed up and left Sunday afternoon with another Bugjam done and dusted. Roll on next year.

Quick drive back to Brighton to a comfy bed.
Van was fine the whole trip and got 31 mpg on average.
That is the last of the big trips away planned for the summer so time to stay local for a while.

 

[Sausage]

Spring is coming so have been busy servicing the bus between the rain and wind.
So far done valve gaps, plug gaps, points, timing, tightened fan belt, cleaned and changed oil in air filter, adjusted the brakes, checked wheel bearings, tightened up the handbrake, greased the front beam, lubed the door hinges and sliding door and changed the engine oil. MOT booked in for end of March and will have a new clutch fitted at the same time. Soon be camping time.

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[Sausage]

Fitted a dash mat in this morning. Looks a lot tidier.

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[Sausage]

Plan is to respray the wheels, fit a fold up table on the little cupboard by the sliding door and get some curtains made up as had enough of the Thermoblinds.
Deadline is the Easter Race meet at Santa Pod. We'll see....

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[Analog]

Nice work Sausage 8)

Reminds me i still have one side of curtains to put up in mine when the rain eventually goes away

 

[Sausage]

Ticking the boxes off the list...
A proper clean up inside and some new carpet,

Wheels off for a tidy up and paint,

Rubbed the rust down on the front bumper,

Washed and Ankor waxed,

Hubcaps polished up,

Started making a new fold up table for the buddy seat/cupboard,

 

[Bigbear]

Fitted a dash mat in this morning. Looks a lot tidier.







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I fitted my dash mat last week, then took it out within an hour! The reflection of it on the windscreen when driving was doing my head in!

 

[Sausage]

I haven't noticed it so far but probably will now.

 

[Sausage]

Fold up table finished...

New Curtains, reversible magna blinds, arrived today courtesy of Delilah's VW. Haven't tried them in the Bus yet but the quality is good and come in a smart little storage bag.

This saturday the Bus is off to Karl at Wolfsburg Wizards for MOT and new clutch. Should get it back the weekend after to pack it up ready for trip to the Pod for Big Bang the weekend after.

 

[Sausage]

MOT passed for another year. 1 x ball joint, 4 balljoint rubbers and new rear brake cylinder.
Had a new clutch fitted also which makes such a difference.
Headed up Santa Pod for Big Bang. Is always a good show and had lots of fun.

New curtains from Deliahs are nice.

 

[Sausage]

Headed back up to Santa Pod for the Festival of Power the following weekend. Windy and cold but had fun.

Rocket Funny Car

 

[Sausage]

Headed over to Apex the weekend before last. Got up there Friday night after something got a bit too hot under the rear seat and went bang on the drive up there.

Weather was shite but we had a nice looking next door neighbour....

Rain stopped around midday and took a wander but wasn't a great deal on which was probably down to the weather as it was real windy.

Watched some racing [at least i think it was racing] but didn't really understand it as there didn't seem to be a winner. The Retro Drift cars put on a great show.

Took a wander around the camping fields,

 

[Sausage]

Had a little wander around the pit area and saw some of the sprint cars.

Back to the van for some beer's

Silent Disco Sarah,

Up in the morning for a wander around but so windy up there,

Circuit Parade time. Didn't get up in time to take part so got some pics instead.

And my favourite once again,

So would we go to Apex again next year. Well, yep, but only if the weather was looking better than this year.

 

[Sausage]

After giving it a lot of thought I decided to replace the rear windows to the modern sliding ones. Quarterlights always leaked in heavy rain which was main problem. Also the magnetic curtains would have been a pain when they pivot inwards open pushing the curtains away from the body.
So replaced the rear left window with a solid pane and new seal on each side.
Middle windows came out and sliding windows went back in.
Was happy when I saw the window opening, zero rust...

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[Sausage]

Really should get this up to date as been nearly a year....
So, broke down on the way to Glastonbury last year shortly after filling the tank. It started losing power etc but after a stop for 10-15 mins it would be right again. Initial thought was a bad batch of petrol.
Got it onto site and forgot about it for the week.

Left on the Monday and the mission to get it home began. Long story short involved 2 breakdown callouts and 1 low-loader. Arrived back in Brighton 12 hours after leaving. Long day that one.

Was the first time it had been recovered all the way home in 5 years but was to have a few more to come.
So gave it a full service and took it for a drive locally. All seemed fine.
Left a few weeks later to head up to Norfolk before heading to Bugjam and after around 40 miles it started cutting out again. Pulled over, let it rest for 15-20 mins, turned around and headed back to home. Broke down again on the M23. Low loader called. Recovered back to home. [Did get to Norfolk and Bugjam but not the same in a tent!]

Next replaced the coil as the recovery man seemed to think it may have been breaking down when it was getting hot. New plugs, leads, condenser and points at same time.

Headed away for a local weekend on a campsite in August. Broke down again after around 20 mins. Managed to get it to the campsite and home again under its own power but it was starting to get annoying as it would be fine sometimes but not at others.

Fuel pump didn't seem to be pushing out a load of fuel so replaced it but still the same problem.

Took the carb off again, stripped, cleaned and refurbed it.

 

[Sausage]

Carb went back on and it was even worse, wouldn't even idle properly. It was the first time i had rebuilt a carb so took it back off and did it all again as i thought i had done something wrong.
So rebuilt it again and put it back on and still no joy.
Throw the towel in and booked it in with Karl at Wolfsburg Wizards to get it running proper and a fresh MOT.
He gave it a full service, tuned the carb and it seemed to be ok apart from the increasing white smoke coming out the exhaust. Passed the MOT without any problems so went to collect it. Karl did say that compression was down on 1 of the cylinders and said the engine will need a top end rebuild at some time but money is a bit tight so thought i would give it a go and see if i could get away with using it this summer.
Broke down on the way home from Karls. Low-Loader came and took it back up his workshop where he set about rebuilding the top end.
Collected it, paid the bill and got it home without any bother. Was running fine.

 

[Sausage]

While it was having the top end rebuilt i needed something to do so put together a suitcase stereo to use in the back of the bus or outside whilst camping. Two 6x9 from Halfords, load of images printed at work and a carboot-sale suitcase later i know have this.

 

[Sausage]

Thought it was summer ready but about a week after getting back after the rebuild the fricking thing started playing up again. Wouldn't idle at all. I played with the carb to try and get it running. Nothing. Karl was really good and came over to my place and went through it all again and the Carb was fooked.
It was an Empi repro which had been fitted when i bought it from T2D 5 years ago so i did alright lasting that long.
I have always fancied Dual Carbs but the Bus had destroyed my savings account recently so decided to stick with keeping it all stock but didn't want another Chinese Repro carb so found this place online...

http://www.riverhaus.co.uk/vehicle.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ordered a reconditioned German Solex and 2 weeks later it arrived. Kevin at Riverhaus seems a top bloke and i would recommend him if you need a new carb.
So 2 weeks before Big Bang i had this on the dining table ready to be fitted.

Popped it on. Gave it a tune up and set of to Big Bang. And.....
Made it there and back with out any problems. Was so relieved.
And had a great time up there.

And my fave of the show was this........

 

[Sausage]

Gave it a polish and a wax ready for some use

Old Leisure battery wasn't holding any charge anymore so got a new one to go in.

And the check list of things to do is pretty much complete. [Will be after this weekend anyway]

Next up is Santa Pod next weekend for some proper racing Nitro style at the Main Event and then the summer really begins.