Life with a Gamma

[Harvey]

Finally home at 2am this morning, after a long but flawless and comfy drive from Harwich via West Hampstead. Phew.

[DavidLaver]

I feel cheated - a reliable continental run is no entertainment for the gallery 

You'll have to satisfy the baying crowd with driving (and passenger) impressions compared with, say, the Dedra you used to run.  Would you do such a run again?  Would the passengers come along as well?   I expect you have a stiff back but that will be the nerves.

David

[Thotos]

from Harwich via West Hampstead.

  Were you enjoying driving the Gamma so much you decided to go back the long way round? You should have popped round for a cup of tea ....  

[Harvey]

My passenger needed to be dropped off in West Hampstead. I'll canvas him for a few words on his impression of the Gamma's cruising ability. I had to get up at half five to drive the F*cus to a meeting, so I'm a little word numb at the moment. I'll post something more when the neurons are firing again.

[Harvey]

Spot the replacement hose...

[fay66]

Spot the replacement hose...

You can now get silicone hoses in black

Brian
8227

[Harvey]

...unless it's a distress purchase and blue is all the supplier has!

[DavidLaver]

That looks chavtastic 

I'd be tempted to go over the blue with self amalgamating - and given all you need to do is change the colour the screwfix at 1.78 seems a bargain next to the 7.49 at Maplins (see links below).  The wonders of the internet - the last roll I bought was from a chandlers where I was delighted to find some let alone worry over the price.

Is the shiny bit some new alloy pipe?  Maybe wire brush the laquer off it and let it grey, or a quick fix would be some grey paint or perhaps black as much on the basis that everyone has a bit left in a can somewhere in the garage.  Maybe wrap the alloy in tape?  Bandage the sore thumb 

...or perhaps there are more pressing jobs...and the blue and shiny bits are badges of "it really does get used" pride.

Great to see it at the AGM - and well done on the successful jaunt.

David

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=4099

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/34666/Sealants-Adhesives/Tapes/Building-Construction-Tape/NN-Self-Amalgamating-Rubber-Tape-19mm-x-10m?cm_mmc=GoogleBase-_-Datafeed-_-Sealants%20and%20Adhesives-_-NN%20Self%20Amalgamating%20Rubber%20Tape%2019mm%20x%2010m

[Thotos]

Spot the replacement hose...

Hey! You've copied my patented (not) design 

[Harvey]

The wife of a close friend from university days recently had a baby, and I thought I'd pay a trip to see them. The other of our trio was also available, and in the spur of a moment, I'd suggested we "raid Den Haag in the Gamma" as an alternative to flying. The offer was readily accepted, but before anyone else knew the motoring pleasures (and risks) that lay in store.

When it came to Turin in 2006, I had no hesitation in signing up on the expectation that the Dedra would manage the journey with no trouble. As it happens, the only glitch on that journey was that the passenger side front indicator housing fell out, needing a gaffer tape repair to hold it in place!

As the day of this departure neared, I thought I ought to sort overseas breakdown cover - just in case. I also realised I'd left it too late to sort the cambelts before going, so would have to trust in another 500 miles out of them. (Yes, Roger, I know - it'll happen before the car emerges for the spring, I promise!)

The drama of Thursday is detailed above. At 08:15, I realised I had steam coming from the engine bay, and had a moment of panic.  At the roadside in Bath I dithered over whether to return home and collect the Focus, but decided to get to work and see if the problem could be diagnosed. Sure enough, the hole in the hose was more apparent when I parked in Chippenham.

The Gamma Consortium is a friendly source of expertise. I suspect that the close bond achieved comes from us clinging to others showing the same obsession, madness and masochism. The task seemed to be that I needed to find a radiator hose for a Nova (the Quinten Hazell hose) or resort to the temporary solution of a universal hose. Stuck at my desk, I scoured the internet with little luck or hope. Eventually, I settled on a plan to purchase from Merlin Motorsport at Castle Combe circuit as they're only a mile or so from Andy's house. This would avoid me braving the traffic queues to get to Halfords (and its like) on the other side of Chippenham.

Upon arrival at Merlin, I was dismayed to discover that their longest universal hose of 37mm internal diameter was too short. The helpful assistant suggested silicone hoses - buying two elbow sections and a connecting aluminium section. He was tentative in offering the solution as "it won't maintain the period appearance of the engine bay" - like it bothered me at that point! I leaped at the suggestion, and made my way to Andy's for the repair.

The journey to West Hampstead was uneventful. I kept to about 60mph to avoid the worst of the wheel wobble, and enjoyed music (cassette adapter the best upgrade to the car so far!) as I cruised the M4. The car instils a different state of mind than the Dedra. The Dedra always seemed quite urgent, and although I was never an aggressive driver, my mind was always evaluating the next opportunity to overtake. The Gamma delivers its power more sedately. There never seems to be a rush to get anywhere. The seats feel like armchairs. In some ways, motorway driving in the Gamma is like sitting at home, listening to the stereo, but with a wheel to drape your arms on.

I arrived at about 10pm in the end - about 2 hours later than originally planned. I checked the engine bay, and no more puddles in the spark plug sockets, and no obvious leaks. Phew. We set off at 05:30 the following morning (after oil and water checks), avoiding the London traffic, and made our way to the M25 and then round to the A12. There's not much to add - again, the car cruised effortlessly and faultlessly. In order to keep on schedule after roadworks caused small delays, I did power through to 80mph where the wheel wobble effect was of small amplitude at the steering wheel. Again, the car was quite happy to sit at that speed, and it never felt fast or strained.

Once on the ferry, I was able to relax a little, and worry about seasickness instead of about the car! From the Hook of Holland, it's about 45 minutes to where my friends live. I parked between two old Peugots (a 404 estate, and a 304 coupe) owned by one of their neighbours and stopped to chat with the owner as he worked on the estate (bemoaning a lack of time for car maintenance - that's universal!) The journey back was likewise uneventful and comfortable.

From an impulse decision, through cursory preparation (trusting in the car) to the stress of last second repairs - and then a gradual relaxation back to faith in the car. It started first time every time, and behaved impeccably. Apart from the whiff of old leather inside, it could have been a journey in a modern car. Neither friend had quite appreciated how old the car is, nor the risk of us not making it there at all. How used we all are to 100% reliability...

My only other overseas drive was in the Dedra. Both journeys involved mostly motorway-type roads, which don't provide enough variance to be able to compare the characters of the cars fully. The trip to The Hague was a thoroughly enjoyable adventure, and I look forward to more like it (without the pre-trip stress, preferably!)

[Charles]

Hi Harvey
It's good to hear that the car performed well - I'm so sorry that the hose failed.  One important point though - did you top up the antifreeze. The Gamma engine is, of course, all light alloy and so very susceptible to corrosion. It is, therefore, very important to maintain the antifreeze level especially if you're not driving it much (like through the winter). Another point, your car is the only working Gamma that I have seen that does not have the radiator air lock modification.  So when refilling the system it is especially important to ensure that there is no air trapped in the top of the radiator.  Rads with the mod are available although as yours seems to be working well, it's probably best to leave it in place for now - it would be a pity to swap a good radiator without the mod for a possibly furred-up up one with the mod.  The ultimate solution to (potential) Gamma cooling problems seems to be to fit a modern 3 row rad as some owners have. Charles

[Harvey]

Hi Charles. Yes - there's plenty of antifreeze in the system, and Andy massaged the hoses to make sure that all air bubbles had been "burped" out of the system. If I need to top-up further, then I'll do it with pure anti-freeze. Oh, and the hose you fitted was in way better condition than the original. I'm so lucky it sprang a leak before the trip rather than during... 

[sparehead3]

How used we all are to 100% reliability...

ahhhh ... but this weekend whilst coming along the M32 preparing to turn left onto the M4 the "serpent" belt on the passat came apart ... driving the aircon, fan and power steering. It's a bit of a wake up suddenly having no power steering at 70 - I actually thought the wheels had locked straight till I wrestled it round. Managed to make it back the 10 miles to home without overheating (benefit of a low revving diesel?) and it's all fixed for £70 (incl two belts and labour) Hey ho

[Harvey]

This evening the car is going into the garage for the winter, to avoid the salty horrors of a British winter.

Alan Wesson kindly dropped by to look at the car yesterday, and in order to sort all the rust scabs (none believed serious or threatening) it looks like a £3,000 - £4,000 job.

Can anyone lend me a fiver?

[DavidLaver]

What I found so heart warming about the Dutch trip was seeing courage rewarded.   

Could you be brave enough to avoid the garage (often a terrible place for a car) and go for a pressure washer to keep the salt off and a tin of rust eater "just inside the door" for a "little and often" to at least stop the rot spreading?

Another argument is that if it needs 3-4K spending to make it pretty, is it going to be noticably worse (or the bill much higher) having enjoyed it through the winter?  You'll be blowing air past and through it, the mechanical and electrical stuff will be the better for it, brakes hate standing.

ANOTHER argument is that winters are a lot milder than they used to be.

David