When Otto's pump started to fail, some sturdy whacks on the tank support bracket with a wrench or length of 4x2 would get it going again and when running he was then okay.

I looked out of the window at the 3/4 inch of snow on his cover, and booked him for his MOT in early December. Expecting at least rear damper replacement since they were advisories last year.

Or sneeze!

When I had 3 ribs busted, about an inch from the spine at mid shoulder blade height, I couldn't drive or ride for nearly 4 months. Did discover that for me a couple of squares of decent dark chocolate and one paracetamol was nicer, more effective and less side effects than 2 paracetamol.

Powerhouse / Brakemaster are my no 1 supplier for caliper overhaul kits, excellent quality and service. Second best are Wemoto.

Wafted to and from the brother in law's yesterday to do some serious hedge work and bring back some hefty bits of paving, which Otto shrugged off far better than my shoulders from lifting them in and out of the boot.

Over pressure blowing out coolant, sniff test confirmed it. Compression test was okay on left bank and rear 2 on driver's side, but nil on the front pair. Had obviously been blown between cylinders for a while (we'd only had him a few weeks), and now miniscule track through to the water from the...

I think you'll be fine. We gave Otto's blocks a gentle polish using light oil and 2000 grit wet or dry wrapped tightly around a plasterer's float. His gasket was totally burnt away between the front 2 cylinders on the driver's side. Been fine for 5000+ miles now. Heads were both skimmed a bit too.

Both sides did that on Otto. Soaked it up with an old bath sponge, wiped dry with kitchen roll, then sprayed it with high flashpoint solvent to drive out water, left that to evaporate and then lightly oiled them against corrosion. Been fine since.

That's what I did earlier in the year, ironically for a funeral. None of our cars are ulez compliant, so took the one that was comfiest and the biggest finger up to the system.

Having done similar on Otto the first year we had him, can recommend green gunk or autoglym engine and parts cleaner, effective and much less toxic. Also replacing head bolts with a stud kit, torque to 25lbft, leave overnight, torque to 50lbft, can then go straight to 70, no detectable extra...

Grimsby to home via the overnight stop. 150 faultless miles of comfortable wafting, 47mph average with 22.7mpg according to the trip computer. Very relaxing journey.

Caught up with friends and got lost in the backstreets of Grimsby. Fuelled up, 19.3mpg for almost 200 miles with quite a bit of idle or stop start crawling involved. Happy with that. Reset the computer after the stop and trip back to hotel got as good as 22.7mpg avg and range increase from 360...

And today went to the 100th birthday do, involving 2 stops in 8 miles to nanocom the EAS for pressure switch not changing state. And shouted at him for that.

Loaded up, garden centre lunch, check on the BIL, then a gentle trundle over the Pennines to that Yorkshire place, ready for the sister in law's 100th birthday today. Lots of heavy slow traffic, loving the auto box and lazy V8 combo for those spells.

Looks like foil bubble wrap thermal insulation, like for behind radiators in houses.

That sounds like what we need to do with Otto. Read the windscreen finisher is a pain. Lift it slightly and slide the clips to the left side with something like a credit card I believe, while praying the clips don't break. We've got some demon double sided tape we plan to stick some wood or...

Wafted to the garden centre for lunch, then home via fuel. Considering the traffic and roads of the last week, quite happy with 19.8mpg for the last nearly 400miles. Snugged under his cover with the trickle charger and dehumidifier, having taken nearly 2 litres out with it during the last 5 days.

Wafted home from the lakes in horrendous rain and spray yesterday, with the trip computer trying to tell us we managed about 30mpg according to the remaining range. Obviously it lies so will be interesting to fill up soon.

Got EAS, pressure switch not changing state error 3 times today after ages without it. Travelling nanocom to the rescue. What can we expect when we haven't sorted the seep through the roof yet and we go to the lake District?