Morgan 4/4 up in the air

What started as a minor job now grows into a full brake overhaul following a small loss of brake fluid.
Thinking it was the master cylinder I replaced it without any bother together with the front pads which were two thirds worn down.
At the stage of purging the lines of air I discovered that one of the rear brake cylinders was the true culprit so both rear cylinders will be replaced shortly.
Removal of the shoes is the fiddly part because without proper tools the job to get retainer springs off is a case of applying long nosed pliers and a screwdriver to prise them out of the brake shoe holes.
A weak point for the Morgan DIY owner here is a lack of good guidance on the subject. The few diagrams on the GoMog workshop manual are very confusing because the brake drum applications have been altered many times by the Morgan Factory. The diagrams are wrongly labelled and referenced in the accompanying text and therefore even harder to follow. Leading shoe and trailing shoes are said to be removed, firstly the trailing and secondly the leading shoe. Actually the reverse is the case. The leading shoe detaches first on my 2008 4/4. though this may not be the case with earlier models of the 4/4.
Also pictured wrongly is the orientation of the handbrake auto adjustment compensator held in by circlips picture on the trailing shoe whereas on my 4/4 it is fixed to the leading shoe as shown here. (To the left in both these pictures and closest to the front of the car)

Offside rear as removed and exposed

Another issue I have is with the peg which secures the handbrake lever to the shoe seen here on the upper right. It is held in place by a spirol Rotor Clip instead of a C or E type circlip. I would like to find a supplier of this clip as original fit. The manufacturer is in Sheffield so they will be my first port of call. Shoes will be replaced as a set having covered 53,000 miles and now contaminated with brake fluid.

Offside rear turned over to show the side facing the backing plate (inboard)  The compensator is here seen bottom left and attaches to the leading shoe.

Cote d'Azure

Here we are in the sun, but it's not shining much. The Cote d'Azure subjected to chill easterlies, thunderstorms and periods of heavy rain.
This exotic coast has been described as a playground and it is. Our little grandson can enjoy it much to our delight. Safe gated sea front climbing frames are found in the shape of a pirate ship or a steam train, and the slides are all slippery stainless steel.

Sanaray sur Mer is currently having works undertaken at the marina where the beautiful yachts rest in their lazy berths.
We marvel at the operation. An environment so carefully considered, where water is being pumped from deep diggings into a tethered filtration bay so as not to discolour the remainder marina.
A similar scheme of improvement was mooted at home where mud was to be removed from Topsham waterfront. However, tests revealed that the mud was just a little too toxic to risk disturbance and so the entire project was shelved.
The Sanaray harbour is protected by rock breakwaters, the sort that would solve our threatened railway nearer home, if only such defences were deployed at Dawlish. This week our main line trains through there were cancelled for a while, as large waves were set to batter the coastline. Opened in 1841 linking Cornwall to London, but now unreliable through neglect - our "home guard" bureaucratic lunatics stand idly by. 

Watercolouring is flavour of the month as the drizzle falls.  A harbour scene not to be rushed.
With paints in hand and knees akimbo, I have nibbled my way through a handful of pickled garlic,  anchovy pizza and olives.

Castellet is perched on an enormous pile of fossil rich limestone. The castle from which the village derives its name is almost 1,000 years old but far younger than what remains below. Densly packed sea creatures frozen solid and thrust up from the deeps.  From here is seen the A50  leading towards Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer.  I am not exactly pleased by my watercolour but at least it shows the lay of the land.  The colour green is too far into lemon and my efforts are in vain. With watercolour less is more and more is more than the viewer requires to enjoy the work.

Watercolours - Finding fresh horizons

Earlier works

Theatre Cottage  Powderham .....(53x35cm)

Powderham fallow deer.....(47x28cm)

Aller Arch, Dawlish.......(35x25cm)

Geese over Powderham......(49x33cm)

Bugerash.......(50x31cm)

After John Bauer......(27x20cm)

Sophia......(NFS)

Brantes, Near Mazan, Provence......(27x21cm)

Caramet.....(NFS)

Exe wreck submerged......(34x23cm).

..

Saddle Tor at sunset......(51x30cm)

The two boys on Haldon Moor....(NFS)

Coombe Cellars.....(34x17cm)

After Thomas Luny......(34x24cm)

St Ives longliner returning to harbour.....(45x33cm)

Thames Barges......(34x24cm)

Exminster marshes......(33x23cm)

Powderham - A frosty morning.....(49x30cm)

Back Beach   -  Teignmouth.......(50x24cm)

Babeny, Dartmoor......(52x31cm)

Self taught in this wayward yet beguiling medium, my challange is to exercise the grey matter with a palette of  complementary colours.

Recently  completed Works

Sanaray-sur-Mer......(47x29cm)

Add caption

View towards Bandol........(52x33cm)

Totnes - uphill......(44x32cm)

St-Jean-Pied-du-Port.....(50x32cm)

Exeter Cathedral.......(51x33cm)

St-Jean-du-Pied-Port. downhill......(50x29cm)

Kenton High Street........(49x33cm)

Heading NorthWest......

Round House, Powderham......(46x32cm)

Dartmeet,      (51x33cm)

La Ciotat.......(46x30cm)

Turf Hotel, Exeter Ship Canal.....(  x   cm)

Totnes - downhill.....(47x33cm)

Sanaray outer Harbour ....(39x29cm)

The Bovey Basin (from Babeny)...(42x18cm)

What  the aspiring artist might ask by way of motivation  to do better ....(watch the video)

Dash Cam up to Dartmoor

A foggy grey day was left behind today as we head for the moors and a meal out. Testing the dash-cam fitted to the Morgan here showing parts of the preferred scenic sections. 

The film begins at the foot of Telegraph hill with a romp to the top where we pass the Haldon race course on the left. Descending into the Bovey Basin some misty veils linger about as we pass the exit to Chudley and the filling station. I cut the film forward to The Dart Bridge and a twisty section – The Dart Bridge is under repair, having been hit too many times by traffic squeezing between its parapets.

 We pass some pony riders at the foot of the next steep climb which the Morgan gallops up at full throttle, until a sharp right hand bend is upon us. Into Poundsgate at a snail's pace creeping through the sleepy hamlet, past the old red pillar box, over a bridge and into the next hill section. This is a lovely sharp right hand climbing bend, and a squirt up and away until a thatched cottage on the left is passed.  It is owned by English heritage and under renovation, soon to be made viewable to the public. Now rising into much clearer air the sky is an inviting quite intense blue. Halting at a roadside pull-in we pause for a walk up to a large gorse bush where this delicious bright orange Chicken Fungus is found. Said to taste of chicken, once lightly fried and brushed in oil.

Sharp Tor

Returning onto the homeward run we loop towards the village of Holn, passing across Vennford Reservoir dam.

The Dart is seen to be very low and passing us heading off the Moor are a number of disappointed canoeists, having given up any idea of a paddle down the rapids.

We reached the Fox Tor Café by midday and by 1pm the place had filled with diners. The log fire throws out plenty of warmth.
Homebound with a brief shop at Trago Mills superstore, then back to Kenton, which was still cloaked in fog.

Gorse Bush hosting a bracket fungus

Bracket Fungus

Princetown on the far left horizon

Cathedral top bar Bee Hive - Enjoying some milder weather.

Unusually warm weather (15degC) has allowed my bees to get about this past couple of days and some pollen is being brought to the hive. The National hive next door seems even more active today.  Possibly due to my hive being better insulated and a lighter colour, therefore slower to warm up after the cold spell. 

Notice the Pollen

Through the Side Window

Propolis streak inside the viewing window

Honey stored on outer combes. During cold weather these are vacated - bees migrate to the left into the brood nest.

Darkest older comb is now about 5 months old.

Brood comb tightly packed. A digital thermometer reveals the two combs at the middle of  the colony to be the ones here on far left of the image.

I found myself a usefull little sugar sprinkler last week in readiness to dust them off with icing sugar and get a regular treatment going against the Verroa mite.