Datsuncog

Currently having a shit week
This has made it
@Parky parky gis a wave

Slight fright today, although I was half expecting it since things have been going so well.  Yesterday the clutch pedal felt 'off', but I couldn't figure out if it was just me being tired, or the car being cold or what, so just had to wait and see.  Today on trying to reverse out of a parking bay I couldn't actually get reverse.  Now, the Princess has done this to me before a couple of times, I know the drill.  If the gear change is notchy, that usually means the oil is getting low so I check that and it wasn't as low as it would have been to affect the gear change. Dropped a tiny bit of oil in anyway to bring it to almost the full line and it made no difference.  That means it's clutch cylinder related.  It's not the clutch, it's not slipping, I'm just not getting full travel of the arm in relation to the pedal.  That is usually failed seals in the clutch cylinder or a collapsed clutch hose.  Checked those out and both are dry and don't show signs of damage.  Checked the fluid level in the clutch reservoir and it was actually very low.  It's been a while since I've checked this and the car had been sat around doing nothing for a while, it made sense that it might have disappeared a bit like brake fluid does sometimes.  Topped it up, still no change, opened the bleed nipple to check the hose wasn't restricted and found that there was air in the system, probably because the fluid had dropped a bit too low.  Once bled, all gears back to normal and reverse considerably better than it's been for a couple of weeks.
We'll see if normal service continues, it might, or I might need another clutch hose (there's at least three different lengths, which I found out last time I tried to get one) or to rebuild the clutch cylinder again.  Time will tell.  It's a bit of a relief something went wrong to be honest, it's been a bit overdue.

That's brilliant.  Tatty and honest - just the ticket.
I remember in 1999 I was 16 and me and my mate knew another guy who was a year older than us and he'd just passed his test.  Lovely guy - Christian family - and his NAN insisted that her car went to him.  Robert therefore had a brown Mk2 Escort on a V plate and everyone (other than me) felt sorry for him.  His contemporaries had Clios, Fiestas, the odd 205 and Novas - and he had to park his Mk2 Escort around the corner to avoid getting RINSED by his mates.  
Nowadays, he'd be everyone's hero.
Same with Cortinas.  Our caretaker had a brace of MK5 Cortinas and by 1999 I remember marvelling at them in the school playground thinking 'Fucking hell they look shit nowadays'.  They were both 17 years old, my daily is now 25.  
Crazy how things change so quickly.
Anyway, enough bumbling of the insane - well bought @HMC

I did however come away with these two from last night's shopping trip:

1982 Nissan Skyline R30 Turbo, and 2001 Honda Civic Si, in relatively restrained 'scene' get-ups.
I kinda prefer solid colour versions like the Honda, as they tend to get detailed tampo prints on the front and rear, which looks a smidge more realistic than lairy graphics on the roof and sides. Mattel's policy on mainlines seems to generally put decoration on no more than three surfaces.

The R30 does have graphics on the side, which means it doesn't get so much detail on the front - though does have printed rear lights and a licence plate, which makes up for it a bit.

Having said that, the printing machine seems to have slipped on the offside unfortunately, so the stripe sort of runs downhill and the writing at the bottom of the door has been snipped off.

OMG ERROR CAR $$$$$
I didn't realise until I'd opened the pack, and looking back at the pics from the supermarket, I put the one that'd be properly printed back... well, duh.
But! 
I'm pleased to see some newish Hot Wheels releases are finally making it across the water.
Just have to find some of the Matchbox mainlines for 2024, now...

Here’s something I didn’t know existed.
The Dinky casting for the Ford D series, I knew about the early type with early grill and opening doors and of course the late type with non opening doors and late style grill.
But I found this.

Early grill, non opening doors. In that same yellowish green the last version of the Johnson road sweeper comes in. I didn’t realise they did these like this. Almost an intermediate version of the D series.

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

I did however come away with these two from last night's shopping trip:

1982 Nissan Skyline R30 Turbo, and 2001 Honda Civic Si, in relatively restrained 'scene' get-ups.
I kinda prefer solid colour versions like the Honda, as they tend to get detailed tampo prints on the front and rear, which looks a smidge more realistic than lairy graphics on the roof and sides. Mattel's policy on mainlines seems to generally put decoration on no more than three surfaces.

The R30 does have graphics on the side, which means it doesn't get so much detail on the front - though does have printed rear lights and a licence plate, which makes up for it a bit.

Having said that, the printing machine seems to have slipped on the offside unfortunately, so the stripe sort of runs downhill and the writing at the bottom of the door has been snipped off.

OMG ERROR CAR $$$$$
I didn't realise until I'd opened the pack, and looking back at the pics from the supermarket, I put the one that'd be properly printed back... well, duh.
But! 
I'm pleased to see some newish Hot Wheels releases are finally making it across the water.
Just have to find some of the Matchbox mainlines for 2024, now...

I did however come away with these two from last night's shopping trip:

1982 Nissan Skyline R30 Turbo, and 2001 Honda Civic Si, in relatively restrained 'scene' get-ups.
I kinda prefer solid colour versions like the Honda, as they tend to get detailed tampo prints on the front and rear, which looks a smidge more realistic than lairy graphics on the roof and sides. Mattel's policy on mainlines seems to generally put decoration on no more than three surfaces.

The R30 does have graphics on the side, which means it doesn't get so much detail on the front - though does have printed rear lights and a licence plate, which makes up for it a bit.

Having said that, the printing machine seems to have slipped on the offside unfortunately, so the stripe sort of runs downhill and the writing at the bottom of the door has been snipped off.

OMG ERROR CAR $$$$$
I didn't realise until I'd opened the pack, and looking back at the pics from the supermarket, I put the one that'd be properly printed back... well, duh.
But! 
I'm pleased to see some newish Hot Wheels releases are finally making it across the water.
Just have to find some of the Matchbox mainlines for 2024, now...

Well now, I didn't buy all of them - I just had a rummage in the supermarket aisle (earning myself some odd looks) and snapped a quick pic of some dump bin items which may have interested those of us on here!
But I'll keep an eye out for any VW flatbeds I may encounter - might be back in that branch of Sainsbury's on Friday so will check again and see if it's still there for you.

I did however come away with these two from last night's shopping trip:

1982 Nissan Skyline R30 Turbo, and 2001 Honda Civic Si, in relatively restrained 'scene' get-ups.
I kinda prefer solid colour versions like the Honda, as they tend to get detailed tampo prints on the front and rear, which looks a smidge more realistic than lairy graphics on the roof and sides. Mattel's policy on mainlines seems to generally put decoration on no more than three surfaces.

The R30 does have graphics on the side, which means it doesn't get so much detail on the front - though does have printed rear lights and a licence plate, which makes up for it a bit.

Having said that, the printing machine seems to have slipped on the offside unfortunately, so the stripe sort of runs downhill and the writing at the bottom of the door has been snipped off.

OMG ERROR CAR $$$$$
I didn't realise until I'd opened the pack, and looking back at the pics from the supermarket, I put the one that'd be properly printed back... well, duh.
But! 
I'm pleased to see some newish Hot Wheels releases are finally making it across the water.
Just have to find some of the Matchbox mainlines for 2024, now...

I did however come away with these two from last night's shopping trip:

1982 Nissan Skyline R30 Turbo, and 2001 Honda Civic Si, in relatively restrained 'scene' get-ups.
I kinda prefer solid colour versions like the Honda, as they tend to get detailed tampo prints on the front and rear, which looks a smidge more realistic than lairy graphics on the roof and sides. Mattel's policy on mainlines seems to generally put decoration on no more than three surfaces.

The R30 does have graphics on the side, which means it doesn't get so much detail on the front - though does have printed rear lights and a licence plate, which makes up for it a bit.

Having said that, the printing machine seems to have slipped on the offside unfortunately, so the stripe sort of runs downhill and the writing at the bottom of the door has been snipped off.

OMG ERROR CAR $$$$$
I didn't realise until I'd opened the pack, and looking back at the pics from the supermarket, I put the one that'd be properly printed back... well, duh.
But! 
I'm pleased to see some newish Hot Wheels releases are finally making it across the water.
Just have to find some of the Matchbox mainlines for 2024, now...

I did however come away with these two from last night's shopping trip:

1982 Nissan Skyline R30 Turbo, and 2001 Honda Civic Si, in relatively restrained 'scene' get-ups.
I kinda prefer solid colour versions like the Honda, as they tend to get detailed tampo prints on the front and rear, which looks a smidge more realistic than lairy graphics on the roof and sides. Mattel's policy on mainlines seems to generally put decoration on no more than three surfaces.

The R30 does have graphics on the side, which means it doesn't get so much detail on the front - though does have printed rear lights and a licence plate, which makes up for it a bit.

Having said that, the printing machine seems to have slipped on the offside unfortunately, so the stripe sort of runs downhill and the writing at the bottom of the door has been snipped off.

OMG ERROR CAR $$$$$
I didn't realise until I'd opened the pack, and looking back at the pics from the supermarket, I put the one that'd be properly printed back... well, duh.
But! 
I'm pleased to see some newish Hot Wheels releases are finally making it across the water.
Just have to find some of the Matchbox mainlines for 2024, now...

Yes, yes you are
 

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

In Sainsbury's, and they seem to have a load of late 2023 and early 2024 Hot Wheels cases mixed in together across two dump bins...
Anyone mad keen on any of these?

Civic and Skyline are especially nice. I've grabbed one each for myself.
Annoyingly, Sainsbury's prices are quite high at £2.30 a throw - so I'm not gonna be buying any more speculatively tonight, but will be here for the next 30 mins or so!
If you want any, do shout...

Forgot to flag this up when it arrived last week.

The rather delayed March 2024 release from Corgi Model Club - the #236 Austin A60 Cambridge Driving School Car.

I've been looking forward to this one.

A chod-tastic choice of subject matter, and really well executed.
Also a fine reminder of the days when a prospective driver was let loose in one of these vast understeering boats with huge overhangs fore and aft, rather than a nice compact Micra with power steering.

The steerable wheels are, of course, the main feature - but it's also a lovely rendering of some prime BMC grey porridge.
Hard to know whether the design impetus was to model a driving school car, or whether it was to create a miniature Cambridge, but the steering was added at a later stage of design for fear it'd be too dull for kiddy tastes otherwise.

The L plates front and back are highly visible, anyway - and the casting was never modified or used for any other Corgi release. 

The student and instructor figures inside add a further dash of realism.
While, inside the box, are replicas of some educational matter:

There y'go - a highly abridged 'Junior Highway Code', plus some handy European language vocab.

Still, pretty exciting stuff. It's kinda nice that Corgi continued this theme through the '70s with the Corgi Driving School VW Beetle (including cones), and into the 1980s with the 1/36 scale Triumph Acclaim/ Honda Ballade proclaiming the same.

Box looks enticing, too.

And the usual facts and figures info card.

At least these cards are easy enough to store, rather than the floppy A4 sized leaflets masquerading as a magazine which accompanied similar partworks sold through newsagents.
But stay!

I happen to have a moderately knackered original here too.

In terms of colour and detail, it's a good match.

Just the underside colouration is a bit different.

Marvellous. Love it.

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

Cheers for that - very good to see!
Those are Action Drivers Epic Construction Yard sets - 2023 range releases, and will set you back at least £60 over here, if you can find any in the shops (I've only seen them online).
Surprised that Macy's stocked no basic Hot Wheels - unless there's just not enough margin on them, to justify the necessary shelf space in a big city store?
FAO Schwarz is meant to be pretty good as an experience, though I believe the Selfridge's store on Oxford Street in London has one of their concessions these days. No idea what they might stock to tickle our collective fancies...
Hope you're having a good time stateside, at any rate!

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

Blimey, I paid less for my real one!

(In 1997, granted)

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

Speaking of Hot Wheels... one I found in Asda over the weekend just past.

A 2023 release of a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone gasser.

I'm normally a bit put off gasser-style racers; they're not really my thing, but this one looked so nicely decorated with all-over tampos that it pushed me into handing over £1.90. I really like it.

It'd be nice to have a slightly more standard rendering of a '65 Comet, but I guess this is more what Hot Wheels is about.

I hadn't noticed the separate tailpipes exiting through the front arches until I took this pic, so that's a nice touch.

I'm probably gonna need more gassers now...

Lost my job after a month, and only 2 days in the field, as I'm 'not a good fit'. I know there's more to it, I've done fuck all wrong and just been shit on so they could give an excuse to fire me.

Better get the Civic running, then.

Kits exist for the Impreza - ABW in Essex do several, such as this: https://www.abwmotorsport.co.uk/product-page/superiwde-22b-4dr-to-2dr-conversion-bodykit
I've even seen the 5 door (wagon) converted to 3 door - it looks just as good as you can imagine!