Well, quite a bit has happened in the last few month...

Went laning with GLASS and notice a fuel leak whilst socialising in the car park - turned out to be a pourous fuel filter pipe. It was patched with gaffa tape and pipe clips on the day but has since been replace with a new section of fuel grade pipe.

Bought the new soft top hood from Haymarket and fitted it in no time at all. Now, I can lower the roof in 20 seconds and put it back up in 30 - I just hope the weather stays fine for a bit longer so that I can enjoy it.

Took the 2.8 Estate up to Scotland for the 3rd round of the BCCC. It was good to give it a good run (new engine in just before Christmas). Two nights camping and a lot of mud to play in, in return for 16 hours radio work. The Estate performed admirably

Following a post on FOG I determined that the Estates bulkhead had cracked, which in turn made the clutch difficult to disengage. A trip over to Peterborough to see another FOG member had the dash board out and the bulkhead welded up. We also found some cracks in the floor that were also welded up. The driving experience has improved dramatically.

Took the Sport to a fund raising pat & play day in Derbyshire and snapped a rear leaf spring. New parts were sourced from Milner 4x4 Off-road with another FOG member assisting me in fitting them - it's riding a little high at the moment, but hopefully it'll settle down a bit.

Sun 25th May 2008 - Drove down to the south of Birmingham in the Sport to meet some other FOG members for a bit of a social and an explore of some local byways and fords. I am pleasantly pleased with the Sports performance "off-road", although the extensive under body protection did rub on more than a few occasions. FOG member "Gypsy" has offered to give me a hand this week to "have a go" at those stubborn shackle spigots.

Sat 24th May 2008 - The Sport does fit in my garage (at least now 14 years of rubbish has been cleared away) - slight problem though, the up-and-over door fell off it's runners. I'm currently investigating refurbishment kits.

Sat 24 May 2008 - Had a go at swapping out the rear leaf suspension shackles this morning. Bugger, although I could get the nuts off and loosen the bottom spigot, the top one refuses to budge. It's all back together now, with a post on FOG asking for assistance

Thu 22nd May 2008 - Collected the new heater pipes this lunchtime and fitted them this evening. Ran the engine and topped up the water until the heaters were running nice and hot. Another job jobbed. Also managed to get the gasket for the Estate's turbo - another job for the weekend.

Wed 21st May 2008 - Took the instrument binnacle out this evening to investigate why the speedometer had stopped working. Turns out the inner speedometer drive cable has snapped. Another item to order from a local Vauxhall parts department.

Tue 20th May 2008 - Ordered a pair of replacement heater pipes today, the two that connect the engine to the heater matrix. They were near enough £10 each, but should last longer than a pair I might find in a scrap yard. They should be ready for collection on Thursday.

Sun 18th May 2008 - Got up rather early (for a Sunday) and went and helped out at the Cure Leukaemia 10K & Fun Run in Sutton Park. Was back by 13:00 so managed to replace the Sport's sunroof - hopefully this one will not leak

Sat 17th May 2008 - Popped up to FOG member Alex this morning. Primarily to collect some bits off "Fuddy Mucker", but it turned into a bit of a Frontera Social Meet as "Nifty Wolfe" was also there. Came away with; sun roof kit, waffle boards, Hi-Lift jack and a pair of extended shackles.

Wed 14th May 2008 - Bit the bullet today and ordered a new soft top for the Sport from Haywood Products. I did think of replacing it with a second hand hard top, but after last weekend's wind through the hair experience, I've decided to keep it a softy. I'll have to wait 10-14 days for delivery though

Sun 11th May 2008 - Looks like the soft top need replacing; after a cracking day out in the sunshine, refitting the hood revealed the side window zips have cross-locked. Will look at buying a replacement hood. Also noticed that the folding mechanism is damaged - fortunately I have sourced another mechanism off a FOG member (should be collecting that in early June).

Heater hose split on the Sport whilst out laning in Wales. Made a make shift repair by re-routing the pipe work to bypass the heater matrix. Topped up the cooling system with water from a spring. Drove home (80 miles) without issue. FOG's "The Engineer" will source a couple of replacement pipes off a scrapper during the week.

Sat 10th May 2008 - Had a practice at lowering the Sports soft top today. Although it had not been lowered for a number of years, it went down in twenty or so minutes. Took a bit longer to get it all back up though