JEEVES GETS A BOOST

This is an old photo, it is from about a year ago, that is before we invested in the battery isolator cut-off switch. (which was probably the best £7 ever spent). You can read more about this on this post here. 

This photo shows the new cab style - the TX4 alongside Jeeves the Fairway parked behind our place in East London. The TX4 is ever-so-nicely breathing a bit of life into Jeeves. Thanks to the guys in the taxi mechanics shop down the road who take pity on us from time to time.

BLACK CAB CAKE

This is the kind of cake i want to make for Jeeve's birthday. But i would make it more Fairway style.

FAIRWAY TAPE

It looks like Jeeves is world famous. This is some woven tape bought as a present for us from a friend from New Zealand of all places. We are going to use it to make some curtain straps for Jeeve's curtains made by Mia. What a nice little touch that will be.

BATTERY CUT OFF SWITCH, THE FINISHING TOUCH

So we finally managed to install our newly purchased Battery Isolator Cut Off Switch that we wrote about in one of our previous blog posts. It was super easy so fix on to the battery, following the instructions that we also put up on that previous post and now it is bye bye to struggling with old rusty nuts and bolts that get stuck every time. The pleasure of switching the battery on and off by a simple turn of the dial is pretty amazing!

You just have to make sure the whole thing is screwed on nice and tight so that there is a good connection. Fingers crossed that Jeeves will be all good from now on!

Nice and tight

BATTERY ISOLATER CUT OFF SWITCH

We had our battery die on us AGAIN after not driving Jeeves for a week. So as usual we called the AA out to help. This time, a young guy on a bike came out to help, he got the battery started without too much trouble but the best thing is that he told us to get this battery isolater cut off switch which would make it infinitely easier to disconnect the battery at a twist of a dial.

The isolater switch and my trusty spanner

For a very reasonable £4.99 (plus postage) we found this piece on ebay which we hope will make it much more likely to disconnect the battery. Even though we knew we should do it, we never really did. I'm about to go and install it now, so i'll write an update with the outcome.

The nice AA guy injecting some life into Jeeves

These are the simple instructions that come with the bit.

SIGNS OF SUMMER

As opposed to his Swedish miniature version, Good ol' Original Jeeves is enjoying the first moments of spring. So we thought it fit to change to his summer wheel, courtesy of Anna, Mia's sister.

One happy driver

Yes, it might be a small thing to write about, but look how happy Jacqui is. Some things only the soft touch of a comfy steering wheel can achieve.

JEEVES THE SNOWMOBILE

There might be little signs of spring out there, with blossoms on the trees and occasional kisses of warm wind in the air, but winter is not over yet!  We received this image from snowy Sweden, showing the troubles of being a very small Jeeves in the claws of Father Frost.

Who forgot to change to winter tires?

This mini-Jeeves was built by Stefan, Mia's brother-in-law and is really being put to the test by the elements! We might send a 'Build-your-own-tow-truck' to save him!

THE CAR BOOT BUG!

We have definitely caught the Car Boot Bug and have yet again been to sell our worldly possessions for a penny a piece. Our local car boot is Princess May School in Stoke Newington. Its run by the London Car Boot Co. and is a really nice and friendly one with lots of returning customers and sellers.

Welcome to our shop!

This Sunday was a little empty at first as rain was predicted, but we still made a good profit as more people showed up later on. We are looking forward to a few more of these, especially when the weather is warmer.. brrrr! Jeeves makes it so easy to stick everything in the back and drive down. Once you get over the fact that you have to get up at 5.30 in the morning! And Jeeves loves to earn his own money.

Some of the carefully selected items on display

We also had great company by Jacqui's brother Kevin, his girlfriend Suzana and also Shawn and Carling who were all trying their luck in the car boot business.

Our 'shop' was hugely improved by the use of two massive tables that we borrowed from our friends at Moraes of Manna, who serves up very tasty thai food at Broadway Market every saturday. Well worth a visit!!

The car boot gang and some happy customers

We love car boots! On both sides of the stalls. This time we didn't get anything for ourselves but last time Jacqui found a brilliant Liberty Print shirt. And we are hoping that the guy who we sold these exiting objects to, below, is happy with the purchase. After all, health and safety is key!

The latest trend in face-wear

JEEVES LOVES HIS SHEEP SKIN STEERING WHEEL COVERS

This year Jeeves got special Christmas presents from his Swedish extended family who are very experienced with the trials and tribulations of sub-zero weather conditions. To say that these steering wheel covers have been life-changing would be an understatement. He is like a new taxi! We LOVE them!

Mia falling asleep at the sheepskin wheel

The product warning should read: "Beware: Drivers may accidentally fall asleep at the wheel"

Over the last few months Jeeves has been lucky enough to have a secure lock up, courtesy of Lee and Kathryn from the fabulous Lock 7 cafe in Broadway Market. They so kindly let us part Jeeves there whilst Mia and I get our act together and sort out some more permanent parking solution.

Jacqui modelling our summer steering wheel

As we mentioned earlier, we got a front passengers seat installed when we first got Jeeves, this was probably the best thing we ever did. This is me modelling what it would be like if the guys down at the taxi garage could also install an extra steering wheel. This would be extra helpful for the times when Mia falls asleep at the wheel.

The steering wheel cover is so soft and fluffy, who could blame her?

There she goes again. She works too hard!

BUILD YOUR OWN JEEVES

We found this little Jeeves craft kit at the London transport museum, and thought it would be a great christmas present for people in general... and dads specifically. In fact, the London transport museum was a great place to find lots of goodies related to... London... and transport.

Build your own black cab for just £7.99!

Below you can see the finished result, as put together by Jacqui's dad in Sydney. Stay tuned for more mini Jeeves's from other parts of the world... specifically Sweden!

Beautifully crafted

We are not obsessive or anything... but LOVE cab stuff, so if anyone has any links or other pictures of Black Cab memorabilia, please send it to us and we will post it here to share.

Crafty Cab

It's been Christmas and New Year, so first of all; a very happy 2011 to all of you!

I decided to do a little cross stitching as a Christmas gift for Jacqui, and what better inspiration than Jeeves.

Jeeves immortalised in thread

She took it all the way to Australia were she was visiting family over the holidays, so it was almost like sending a little effigy of Jeeves to test if he can deal with the warm climate (and floods, as it looks at the moment!) in case we ever manage to, in some epic way, drive all the way there.

Jacqui and her brother Trevor at Bondai Beach

FOAM MATTRESS

We had a slightly crazy idea that we could sleep in Jeeves. Make him pay his way in the form of a hotel room. We do plan on a more sophisticated method of making a bed in the back, but for starters we thought we would try a piece of custom cut foam to place in the back on the floor.

Holy moly which foam should we get?

Pentonville rubber is an old-school and great shop on Pentonville road near angel (104-106 Pentonville road, N1 9JB to be precise) They have a huge range of different densities and shapes of foam including tubular foam that was being purchased at our time of visit by a guy who was going to use it to make huge 'spagetti hair' for a prop. 

Trying to decipher the complex world of foam

We were lucky because we were able to get our foam cut to size in about 10 minutes while we waited. In case anyone is interested in this ridiculous amount of detail, the size to fit on the floor in the back is 52cm x 172cm. We chose medium density foam in  3inch thickness which was pretty comfortable for a nights sleep here and there. It cost us about £30 and should "last a lifetime".

Mia with our cut-to-size foam bed

The opening hours are normal working hours during the week 9-5pm, 10am-3pm on Saturdays and its closed on Sundays. 

Stay tuned for futher progress on the sleeping conversion.

BUTTONS AND KNOBS

This post is all about the buttons and knobs inside Jeeves... they operate everything from whether the car is ready to be started, heating and lights to the cappuccino maker, passenger ejection seat, and the all-important turbo button... good for the motorway. More on that later in this post.

First, we want to introduce you to our winter friend, the little blue box. We tried starting the back window de-mister as it fogs up a lot when its cold, but it didn't seem to work. We went to see our friends at the garage and they told us that there was a small blue box that should be plugged in, but was missing. This magic box makes the de-mister work. 

The magic blue box in situe

Mr friendly mechanic got us one from a dead taxi which was so nice of him as the are usually around £50 and often 'go missing' as ours had. Our back window will now stay clear and de-misted all through the winter. The de-mister works on a timer for 15 minutes as people used to forget to turn it off and drain their batteries.

The blue box

The buttons below are just on the middle of the dash board and and indicate various lights. (from left to right)

Button 1: interior light for the back passanger area
Button 2: interior light for drivers area (front)
Button 3: don't know as it doesn't seem to work (clues welcome)
Button 4: hazard light (thank you button for people behind)
Button 5: don't know, but same symbol as button 1 (clues also welcome)
Button 6: back window de-mister

All the little buttons on the dash board

The hazard light which is nice communicator with fellow drivers

The magic turbo button

So, back to the all important Turbo Button. This button basically allows the car to go into the fourth gear. It is the small square button next to the gear stick, in the picture above. When you press it the green light (in the picture below, to the right of the steering wheel) turns off and you can swoosh down the motorway like all the other cars.

Start indicator lights

These lights also indicates if the car is ready to go. When you first start the ignition the orange and the green light comes on and then when only the green light is on you are ready to go!

TWO UP FRONT

This post is a long time coming, and probably one of our favourite and earliest modifications we made to Jeeves when we got him. That is... a front passengers seat. As you may or may not know, black cabs have a bit of a void in this area. We really wanted to be able to both sit in the front. Some of the important jobs for passengers include - getting the driver un-lost, being the DJ, holding the coffee and providing general entertainment.

We had seen a few different options around for the front seat, including a folding seat similar to the flip-down ones on the back. This would have been an OK option, but with a comfort factor of about 5... on the other hand, our friendly mechanics managed to install a drivers seat from another (dead) taxi into our space. There were some previous fairway models with a narrower drivers seat, and this was perfect as our passenger's seat.

If you have mega long legs, its not the most ideal of options, but given there is less space on the passengers side, we think this is a great solution and works perfectly for us. Apparently it is the seat belt that was actually a bit trickier to install, but our guys did an amazing job.

Here you can get an idea of the amount of space at the front, and the seat bolted firmly onto the floor.

ADVENTURE TO RICHMOND PARK

Richmond Park, south London

The autumn is here and the perfect time to get out of the city and smell some nature. Richmond Park felt like a good choice as it is Deer Rut season and we could see some stags prancing around the fields. We decided to go around and pick up a bunch of friends and have a picnic amongst the trees and the dog walkers. 

Mia with the appropriate chauffeur head gear

We drove down from Hackney across Tower Bridge, and made our way to Richmond Park. It was such a nice drive and we fitted everyone into the spacious belly of Jeeves. As we drove through the park there were hordes of deers, so we got out quota of wild-life-spotting filled.

The Deers of Richmond Park

It was also an opportunity to thank Michael and Claire, who came along on the first viewing of Jeeves to be moral support and lend their opinion on the purchase.

Michael, Sam, Catrin and Claire enjoying the passenger area

And yes, those are optics that you can see in the right hand side of the picture. The former owners left them from when they transformed the back of Jeeves into a small bar, and we found them quite handy for our passengers.

After arriving at the park, we even found a car park where everyone could have a little go at being a cabbie.

Milla is testing her knowledge, but Mia and Jacqui are blocking the drive way 

Handsome Jeeves in all his glory

We also got to use our folding picnic table. It fits perfectly in to the boot when folded up, but also fits in the back of the cab when set up for candle lit indoor taxi dinners.

A perfect autumn picnic

The taxi picnic cake made by Milla after Mia dropped the camera in it.