Got the oil pipes from Cropredy yesterday, thanks David, swapped out the leaking one in about 20 mins, really easy, the unions came apart with minimal force, the biggest problem was getting the spanner into the confined space enough to get leverage.

To fit the lower pipe I need to jack up the car and I was short of time so I'll pick that up when I next do some stuff on the car.

The autopsy on the pipe revealed corrosion, the pipe is flexible, the rubber outer skin had perished, allowing the metal braiding to corrode and weaken the pipe. It had become so inflexible that it felt like metal.

Problems on my list to sort:
Temp gauge - get reconditioned/recalibrated
Oil pipe - replace second one
Slight scuffing sound from nearside front wheel on right hand bend.
Tighten handbrake
Cure leaking gearbox sump

Got the car out of the drive this morning and noticed a small pool of oil beneath the engine, on investigation the connecting pipes to the oil filter are at fault. One of them has a small leak, not around the joints but on the body of the pipe. Strange because they are made of metal, are not chafing against anything, and show no corrosion on the outside. I am reasonably confident that they have not corroded from the inside as they contain oil....so I'm scratching my head a bit as to the problem.

Anyway, as the leak is fairly small I still drove to work and have bandaged the leaking area with some rubberised tape.

I've called Cropredy for replacements, one pipe has been located (sod's law it's not the one that's leaking) and are trying to locate the other.......I will conduct the necessary autopsy as to the cause of the leak when I've replaced them.

Mileage 182,087

Successful trip to Cropedy music festival at the weekend, didn't count the miles but it has to be 80 each way. Rained all weekend, so the terrain was ugly. No problems though, and we breezed through the mud on our way out. The car looks like I've been 4x4 off-roading.

It was a tight squeeze to fit everything in, tent, beer, dry clothes, wife, dog, chairs, and the obligatory 1/2 boot full of tools and spare parts.

Exhaust leak fixed, car running as smooth as it ever has, lovely burble of the V8 now re-instated.

Current Status:

Mileage: 181,301

Alternator: Fixed, new from Cropredy £411
Offside Front Brake: leaking caliper fixed.
Tyres: Four new tyres £594 from Huntingdon Performance Tyres
Oil: Changed filter and oil £41
Carpets: attempted refit but failed miserably, double sided tape and Velcro don't work
Core Plug: failed on Thursday, 10 yards from home, dumped the contents of the cooling system in about 2 minutes, fortunately I have a set in my spare parts box.
Track Rod Ends: £43 changed with tyres

To do:
Carpets
Leak between exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe (again!)
Temp Gauge: still showing high, have concluded it's the gauge as I've changed everything else. (Although strangely enough for the first 30 miles after changing the alternator it was showing normal but has since reverted to type)

Apologies for the interruption to the blog, I've had a few foreign trips that have eaten into social diarising time. Chicago, Paris, Brussels and Latitude Festival.

I've had a bit of a roller-coaster ride with the car.

The alternator finally siezed, history tells me that when these mechanical devices make strange noises it is time for action. I left it too long and it finally failed on the way to work. Called the RAC, response time 1 1/2 hours, so I whipped the offending device out, dismantled it on the roadside, freed it and had it back in the car within 20 mins. It was still complaining a bit (mild screeching) but I decided to risk the journey home and called off the RAC. Had to rent a car for 24 hours as I was due to pick my daughters up that night.

Excellent service from the car hire company (www.marshallrental.co.uk), Marshalls at St Neots. I called them at 8:45 and by 9:15 they had a car delivered, thanks for getting me out of a hole! Just a shame it was a Peugeot.

The power of the blog........after insinuating rampant telephonophobia at Cropredy spares dept on Sunday (the blog was on Sunday, not the phobia, obviously because they were closed).....lo and behold I get a call today...they have located a sender and will send it on Friday....I apologise to David.....full apology and faith restoration will follow on receipt of the temp sender on Saturday.

Did you read my blog David?

Mileage 178,457

I struggled last week to get the right temperature sender from Cropredy.... infuriating that the statement "I'll look into that and call you back" never happens to it's conclusion, I don't know whether they are trying to save their phone bill, or the guy in the parts dept has telephonophobia. Even a "can you call me back in an hour" would suffice......you just get nothing, so you ring and "Oh, I meant to call you about that" meantime 2 days have passed. So still no sender!.....anyway enough of the rant.....

Had a trip to Bury St Edmunds, I met up with an old work colleague and we had a couple of beers in the Nutshell, reputedly the smallest pub in England, it was very cosy, absolutely packed out (6 of us in there!)

Nothing to report on the car, temp still showing high, running smooth, a bit of a blow from the join between the manifold and the exhaust pipe. Filled up with petrol on the A14, the guy at the filling station abandoned his till to get a few pictures of the car "for his collection", not sure that pleased the queue at the till but it made his day.

So....here we are...the start of another week..tax increases and service cuts looming on the horizon like a perfect storm....at least we have the comfort that they will be fair and not entirely unexpected!

Week 2 of the epic temperature saga for the Jensen. Thought I'd fixed it but it's started showing hot again. I am 99% certain it is the sender unit, as the fans cut in when I'd expect them, normally when the temp is just above Normal.....but the gauge is showing just in the red.

Just need to get a right size sender unit, in the meantime it is hard to resist slapping the heating on full blast when the needle moves into the red.....the 1% doubt has a mental effect far in excess of its mathematical size, a bit of a David and Goliath tale if you get my drift (the 1% being David)

"Fix the Jensen" day today...the bits arrived from Cropredy yesterday, the sun is high in the sky and the kids have homework/revising to do....my moment has arrived.

Radiator sensor unit successfully changed, head sensor wrong size....it's too big *&@~#! I've taken the old one out and cleaned the contacts. and replaced it Filled the rad up with water and ran for 10 mins....bingo, temperature just above normal and the fans cut in, holding steady at just above normal.....success!

Hand brake pads changed......no problem.

Still to do....change the oil filter, sort the noisy alternator out and get the carpets back in place....it's too hot for all that....maybe one night next week....time to throw some chicken and prawns on the barbie and sink a few Budvars....cheers!

Well it wasn't the thermostat :-((, took it out completely and still getting a high temp.

Water pump is working, radiator is flowing. Having taken it for a test run, and there being little/no logic behind the gauge readings, I can only deduce that the temperature sender is playing up......have ordered the bits to replace.

If anyone else has any ideas, please don't hold back, let me have them. A prize of a nearly new temperature sender awaits the first one that correctly identifies the problem!

The friday night ritual of driving to Derbyshire was particularly troublesome yesterday. The car decided to run hot all of the journey. I stopped a couple of times to let it cool down. No other symptoms other than a high temp gauge. The heater was working ok, electric fans were on, so I was confident that the coolant was circulating, "coolant" is probably a bit of a misnomer at the moment.

Worst case scenario was to breakdown at the side of the M1 on a Friday of bank holiday weekend. (although the RAC does seem to come out quicker for the Jensen than I can recall for my more mundane daily transport)

Strange that the temperature should be lower when stationary that at speed. I did manage to complete the journey, but after Leicester I switched to the B roads through Market Harborough joining the A14 about 1/2 way along.

I've been on a day trip to London today so not been able to look at the car, but I've been racking my brain as to possible causes. Faulty temp sensor or gauge, blocked radiator, blown head gasket......anyway I had a eureka moment today........the thermostat sticking!...it seems to fit all the symptoms....just need it to stop raining to prove the theory....I'll keep you posted.

I'm a bit miffed...the parts ordered from Cropredy didn't arrive today!

I haven't driven the Jensen for for 2 days, away with work, in any case it needed a rest after the hard driving at the weekend.

I had a few hours to spend on the car tonight. The noise from the engine, suspected water pump, is definitely the alternator. I took off the fan belt and span (spun?) the pulleys on both. Strange because I had it refurbed about 10 years ago!

While I was oiled up I had a bit of a root around:

• Handbrake, it was a bit loose, the culprit was a missing pad.
  
• Suspension, a cracked rubber on the track rod end....about time to replace.
  
• Probably due for an oil filter change as well.

I'll call up Cropredy tomorrow with a bit of a shopping list......I hope it's a sunny weekend!

Mileage 177,407

Just got back from a round trip, 90 miles to the Lincolnshire coast (Huttoft Beach) fishing with my brother (nothing caught), followed by a 120 mile sprint across to Southwold on the Suffolk coast ( again, twice in 2 weekends) and back home.

All done in temperatures in the mid 70s. No problems, great drive from Lincs to Suffolk, mainly single carriageway and lots of overtaking. Too many cameras!!

Saturday 15th May....road trip to the coast, Southwold and back via Framlingham Castle. ~200 mile round trip, car ran a bit warm for most of the journey, slightly above normal, but kept its cool. The temp wandered up a bit in traffic but the fans did their stuff.

Picked up some fresh fish from the quayside, some sea bass and plaice....very tasty, followed by a plate of fish and chips and a pint of Adnams.

The dog took a liking to my fish and chips.........

.............but sensibly kept away from my beer.

We called in at Framlingham Castle on the way back, a very interesting site steeped in history, notable for being owned by the Howard family. Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke, married 2 of his nieces off to Henry VIII. Any takers for which of Henry's wives they were? Clue...they were both beheaded ... you'd have thought he would have learnt his lesson after the first decapitation!

Targa Tasmania 2009 Mt Claude Jensen CV8

need some serious work to be able to drive mine like this.....one day maybe!

So...post election, doom and gloom for house prices, the economy, shares, the pound.......twaddle...life will go on the same, taxes will rise (because they have to). The only interesting bit is the current horse trading between the parties to get a government together, puts a lot of power in the hands of the minority parties.

Another week in the Jensen completed successfully, a bit of a temperature spike on the way to work on Friday but think it was a blip from the sensor.....heating, fans etc were all behaving themselves. Another trip to Derbyshire on Friday night, took it a bit steady and kept to the speed limits where possible.

Weekend weather is rain, rain, rain......no chance for the water pump investigation, have to be one night after work next week. The noise has got no worse.

Mileage now 176,199.

Here's a few pictures from Woburn, howling gales, hail and torrential rain didn't dampen the spirits, although the weather was apparently better than yesterday (some sunshine!!). A good turnout of Jensens, 2 CV8s, 5 Interceptors, 3 JHs and a wayward pink (technically "rose") 541.

Some nice other cars, Triumph Italia, couple of DB6s and a few Mark 2 Jags caught my eye. First prize has to go to the WWII ambulance, immaculate, excellent attention to detail and fully equipped.

Bank holiday Monday and it's ............raining. Road trip day today, Jake (the dog), me and the Jensen off to the Bedfordshire Classic Motor Show at Woburn Abbey.

I spoke to Derek, the local Jensen Owners Club contact and he says I should be able to get on the stand by buying my way in on the day. Obviously I didn't tell him about the state of the car, just hinted that it was my daily transport and that it wasn't concours condition :-). I did wash it this morning, just getting rid of the frostbite enough to type!

Given the weather and lack of garage, I've only managed to cure the exhaust noise (had to as grounding the car on a speed bump made it a lot worse - see separate blog for rant on speed bumps). Good news though it was as I suspected the smaller gasket between the manifold and the down pipe causing the problem, the new copper manifold gaskets are holding secure....well worth the exta £££s.

Great news....rain, rain, rain and plenty of it......and the front windscreen seals are holding tight. I suffered from trench foot during the winter from standing water in the footwell. About 4 weeks ago I stripped out the all mastick from the lower corners of the windscreen (not a quick task) and reapplied. Not only did it look a lot better but finally I have the answer to whether my efforts were in vain.

Nothing else to report, car is behaving itself, starting and stopping in the required places. I still need to fix the water pump and exhaust, but for the moment at least I can compete on the decibel front with the "souped up" 1.1L vauxhall nova's cruising the streets of St Neots on a Friday night.

too sunny, too much to do in the garden, too many barbeques to cook.....didn't touch the car at the weekend, I'll have to sort the water pump and exhaust out next weekend!

Mileage now 175,353, the commute this week has been unremarkable. The noise from the suspected water pump has settled down, likely the calm before the storm.

It is 4 weeks since I fitted copper exhaust gaskets with great success (although the saga of fitting them is worthy of a whole new blog!), no longer does the car sound like a tractor and the sweet burble of the V8 is prominent. I did get a hint of exhaust noise at speed today, but suspect it is further down the exhausts and therefore easier to fix, add to the list for the weekend.

So the UK flight ban has been lifted to a huge sigh of relief to most people (apart from those forced to stay on holiday!). But the fallout from the volcanic eruption is far greater, the commercial choas of getting the delayed people and goods back to where they need to be, the long suffering flower growers in Africa with rotting petunias, and worst of all the number of people that have a little piece of Iceland deposited on their cars.

The biggest dilemma is what to do with the ash? We are told that it is abrasive enough to bring down a fully loaded Jumbo Jets, is it safe to continue driving?

Do we expect government guidelines to advise us on how to deal with this national disaster....the first political party to publish such guidelines gets my vote!

Another trip up to Derbyshire successfully completed yesterday, about 160 miles round trip. No recurrance of the water pump(?) noise.

Started the car up this morning and had a high pitched squeal, at first suspected the fan belt, but soon realised it was a derivation of the suspected water pump noise...my only conclusion is that the car is in someway trying to communicate with me. 5 minutes warm up and it disappeared....I'll look at it over the weekend.

Got a huge result on the insurance, went to change it from 3000 limited mileage to unlimited. Because the car is over 45 years old, the cost is the same: £101!!! Thanks AON, Footman James or whoever you are now. Cheap motoring, no road tax and £101 for the insurance.... if only I could get more that 12 mpg and reduce the oil consumption!

A successful week, a top up of oil, couple of tanks of petrol, another trip up to Derbyshire.

Started up today and got a grinding noise from the front of the engine, it is in time with the enging revs so suspect either the water pump or the alternator. My money is on the water pump. Ran it for a few miles and it disappeared.

Uneventful day, work and back and a trip to Belper, about 250 miles. The car never missed a beat but was a bit oil hungry with the motorway driving, had to add about 1.5 pints. Who needs an oil low warning light when you can just wait for a left hand corner and watch to see the oil pressure needle drop.