With easy access to the starter motor I quickly discovered the intermittent starting problems were almost certainly due to the loose connection to the positive input (combined with the poor crimp on the ‘switch’ terminal). It turned out the nut wasn’t even finger-tight and held in place with dried-on mud. It seemed a bit daft not to remove it for inspection so I unbolted it and retreated from the lashing rain to the comparative comfort of the shed. Radio 4, coffee, roll-ups, lovely! There were also the remnants of the Quality Street tin, alas, only the long yellow ones and the flat yellow ones that no one likes, those that rip out your teeth without a careful chewing technique, but better than nothing…

The starter motor in my vehicle is manufactured by Valeo.

I scraped off the mud, dismantled the solenoid and starter housing and cleaned everything in meths just to complete my favourite Sunday afternoon mixture of aromas.

I was very pleased to see that although the inside was caked in carbon dust, the commutator was in excellent condition and the brushes as long as could be, years of life left in them. I had expected them to be badly worn as the outer insulation of the heavy cable to the solenoid was in a poor state. This was easily remedied with a length of red heat shrink.

The solenoid plunger was sticky and seemed to have a residue of grease, maybe a graphite-based substance judging by the colour. I cleaned this off and have reassembled it dry (hope this is correct).

After a dusting with a soft brush I hoovered out the stator assembly. Just for show, but maybe some added protection I painted the casing with black and chrome spray and Monday lunch-time reassembled it ready for fitting. Not the best paint job but at least it now looks refurbished even from the outside.

So, not much to show for a Sunday afternoon but another little job ticked off the long list and I enjoyed myself.

New Year’s Eve gig 2015

I enjoyed a lovely gig, depping on bass with Kenny and the Motives at The William Burt Centre, Westwinch, Kings Lynn. The house was packed with dancers wanting to have fun and it was such an enjoyable night it flew by, very often the last gig of the year is a hard slog, this was easy, and the only night of the year where you walk away with a week’s wages at the end. There were some lovely middle-aged ladies to look at and dream about, with a few impressive cleavages doing their, er, cleaving.

DW transparent drum kit

A highlight was Marty’s new drum kit. It was delivered that day and despite him working until 2pm he had it tuned and ready to go, on the stage by 6pm. It’s a fantastic looking and sounding drum-kit but he has decided to continue using his 1968 Ludwig snare as the DW seems to lack a bit of that crack from hitting hard close to the rim. Marty is well-pleased with his self-Christmas present and even on this tiny stage it looked the part.

Thanks for reading and happy new year to all.