cort1977

Are you in Angola now? I used to go regularly but not been for a couple of years. I have spotted a very few Chinese made vw santanas kicking about but not much else of note.

Love the Lada. A pipe dream of mine is exporting a Zaporozhets in a similar way. From Latvia though so easy import. Possibly.

Absolutely top work all round there.

It's definitely a thing in remote parts of the States like idaho.

I think the copper will still exist in many places, the change is you will have to have a router to talk to the exchange and plug the phone in to that. I think this will mean the end of being able to use the old rotary phones though?

That's very generous, thank you. I have actually got a wheel now so all sorted. He gave me a Specialized Rockhopper hardtail frame that has been upgraded with various expensive parts such as Race Face cranks and a high end Rock Shox fork. He also gave me another fork, another wheel, various tyres and loads of little bits. My neighbour has several bikes and likes to upgrade them so his older parts get moved down to this hardtail. He has now sacked off 26" wheels altogether and has a Santa Cruz ebike so all the old stuff he has given to me.

Well done for perseverance. I hate that feeling, struggling to do something with inadequate tools when you own the right tools and just don't have them to hand. Gah!

My very nice neighbour just gave me a load of mountain bike parts and a frame. I only asked him if he had an old 26" wheel. He said he doesn't have 26" wheel bikes any more, couldn't be doing with trying to sell bits and I could have them. Amazing. Will have to buy him several cases of beer.

As in so many things I'm out of date on registration codes.

OO is an Essex plate I think.

Left a brand new battery connected on my sierra and then ignored it for a few months. Now very dead and likely beyond redemption taking a charge and starting the car. Fucksticks. Grump rescinded.

Isn't that all cats ever? That's all our furry oxygen theif does.

Sorry to hear about your dad. My dad is a fantastic bloke but utterly clueless about cars and driving. So in a way he drove my interest in fixing cars because he didn't know how and he certainly wasn't going to give me the money for someone else to do it. He's 84 now and still going strong, he's practically blind but managed to walk 8 miles around Epping Forest with his mates the other week.

That's what I was thinking too. I would either have done that or fired up the parts cannon before getting the arse with the whole thing and leaving ti sitting for months... Great work and looking forward to seeing it driving.

Still snowing here as well. At least we have power today...

No.

Obviously the devil is in the detail but I don't think this will be too bad for enthusiasts like us. The anti-tampering part looks to be aimed at DPF deletes and remaps. Admittedly, it might restrict mapping but I suspect that the industry will find a way to make maps switchable for the MOT test without too much bother. If it makes life harder for the pop and bang brigade and the ones leaving black smoke everywhere I can't get too sad. Might have more of an impact on motorcycles with aftermarket exhausts. I can't see anything that changes the principle that a vehicle should only have to comply with legislation that existed when it was made which is fair enough. There is a part about "extending order-making powers to allow the registration and use of small volumes/small series innovative vehicles that do not comply with all type approval requirements subject to alternative safety/environmental/security measures being included" might be good news as it may allow small runs of products and cars without full crash testing type-approval. It might allow things like the requirement for E-marked glass for IVA tests to be relaxed. I'm sure the Mail and climate deniers will have a field day with this but doesn't look like much of an issue in the real world.

Happy to assist it's repatriation. That looks awesome, best colour. Assume it has the rear facing seats?

It is, we were out on skis yesterday at Aboyne.

We had a power cut from Friday night to Sunday at 1.30pm. I came home from being away for a few days at 1.35pm. Wife was not amused. Getting back to normal here now, schools are shut for two days but I think most services are now restored.

Me too. Seriously, it sounds pretty bad (I'm not at home right now). Wife reports power cut since 5pm in Aberdeenshire.

I think like good ones run by people with a bit of nous will continue to evolve and thrive. The ones that are not so good or not interested will fail or retire. In general terms though electric cars need a lot less maintenance; the mechanical parts are simple and robust, the electronics are no more complex than modern ICEs. There's still tyres and brake work but the overall demand for maintenance will drop in the next decade or two I think. Which is also a problem for non-prestige manufacturers who don't make much margin on selling cars, the profit comes from parts and maintenance.

Or actually have a licence. Many old people in Ireland never sat a test, in the late 70s they just gave out licences to anyone who had had a provisional for a while. Like my wife's grandmother. Wife's grandmother was stopped going too far though when they put a roundabout on the Tralee road. That stopped her gallivanting ways and notions of grandeur.

That looks like fun. We used to have a similar type of thing that we used quite a lot when the kids were younger. Note the AC unit on top because America.

It's the only way that works. Disgusting, yet satisfying.