Finally dragged the family to Clipsham

Ever since we called there on the Classic Cars drive-in to Maxey car show a couple of years ago, I've wanted to take the family to Clipsham.

There's this wonderful avenue of yew trees just outside the village and they each have a different topiary design cut into them. This is the best time of year to enjoy them. It's warm and sunny and the family finally relented. As much to get me to shut up as anything else.

Car went really well, although the water temperature still creeps up.

Made it!

My drives to Beaulieu and back passed without major incident. Friday was hot but the water temperature needle never quite made it into the red. Whenever it looked like it might, I put the heater on and adjusted the fans and vents to draw the maximum amount of heat off the element and away from the engine. It always lowered the temperature gauge and burned my feet.

The bizarre thing is the way it seems more likely to overheat when I'm rolling along. In town and slow traffic it seems to cope better, despite the broken viscous coupling on the fan. It's up around 65-70mph that the temperature seems to creep up. Any suggestions why this might be, readers? I'd love to hear from you: martyn.moore@emap.com

Wish me luck

I have everything around the replacement waterpump tightened up by eight-thirty and the kids go off to school. But there's still that lost screwdriver bit, probably wedged into a brake or steering mechanism ready to spell my premature demise on that fast right-hander by the bus stop.

A couple of years ago I bought one of those long, bendy rods with a strong magnet at each end. Driven by blind optimism I dipped it into the dark recesses of an engine mounting bracket. There was an immmediate click, so I pulled my rod out quickly to examine my catch - a PZ2 screwdriver bit. Hurrah!

I started the engine and was amazed how quiet it sounded. I'd been blaming that rattle on the power steering pump but clearly it had a lot more to do with the water pump. Before it got too hot I topped up the coolant again.

At first it ran quite hot. Turning on the heater and fans it cooled down again and when I turned them off it stabilized. The temperature gauge has always sat bang in the middle of the word 'normal'. That's where it is now as I set off for Beaulieu Autojumble - 130 miles and it's another hot day. Wish me luck.
If you're going to Beaulieu this weekend, please drop by the Practical Classics stand and say hello. Don't mention the paintwork, please.

If David Marks tells me a job takes an hour, I allow three. You know a job isn't going to go right when you put the socket set down on the rocker box too heavily and one of the screwdriver bits bounces out of the tray and disappears into the engine bay. But doesn't reach the driveway below.

Removal of fan and (broken) viscous coupling is easy enough, as is the dismantling of top hoses and header tank. The power steering pump tipped in and off came the belt. This is better.

So how come I ran out of time and it got dark? An hour to get the pump off and another hour to scrape away every last morsel of old gasket from the block, that's how come. And everything is so difficult to get at. Despite the huge engine bay the stretch to the front of the engine is considerable and I ache all over. And whoever decided to put those wing mirrors on my car should be shot. I've always felt they ruin the line of the car but when you come to work under the bonnet you really start to hate them.

I did manage to get everything reassembled but not tightened and checked, by which time dinner was a withered, dry morsel.

Two bottles of Adnam's Broadside cheered me up so I decided to change the virus and firewall software on my computer. At 1am my internet connection still wouldn't work and when I go to bed I can't sleep.

Help from abroad

I contacted old friend of the XJ6, David Marks at David Marks Garages who emailed me from his Cuban holiday to tell me it was more likely to be a failed water pump than just a gasket.

I called three Jaguar parts specialists and only SNG Barratt had pumps in stock. The ever helpful Kully had one sent to the office by overnight courier.

Leaving it a bit late...

It's Beaulieu Autojumble next weekend and I've just realised I haven't cleaned the Jaguar since the Spring event! Good grief.

Washed and took it for a run in the sun to dry it out. The temperature gauge was way up to the 'L' of normal - much hotter than the car has ever run. I stopped at a lay-by and saw those rotten drips from the water pump again. Two fat drips a second. It's a problem.