chodweaver

Liked for the salvage plan, not for the state it's been allowed to get into. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

You are both obvs as daft as brushes. I like your style! Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

If you run out of foaming fabric cleaner, I've heard from a couple of different sources that old fashioned shaving foam* in a can is exactly the same stuff and a fraction of the price. I picked up a can of said in Tesco the other day for 70p and hit a bolster on the Corsa's drivers seat with it. To start with, I thought I'd bollocksed it up - a vigorous vacuuming of the cushion did not seem to get the stuff out again and it left a pasty whiteness. But 24 hours later, left to its own devices, it seems to have worked quite well. I will be performing further tests, but so far, it hasn't done any harm and does seem to have removed a fair bit of grime. * not the gel stuff

I'll have a copy too, if you still have one. Pm incoming. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

PS love the fleet. Two BXs and a 740. Mm mm.

Mrs CW, better versed in these matters than i, suggests paying for a credit search on the name listed in the deeds to see what light that throws... As for your original question, I too have pretensions towards a car for every occasion - once you have the camper van and the sporty little number sorted out, the world is your oyster - waftmobiles come in many shapes and sizes, and mpgs too. However, planning is something that happens in idle moments in my head, and almost never comes to fruition. What DOES happen is that I procure a vehicle that roughly fits one of the categories you outlined, and then I NEVER get rid of it, being now well practised in the trotting out of the following arguments: "As soon as I got rid of it, I'd need/want it..." "Replacing it for the sort of money I'd get for it would never happen" (first realised when looking for a slightly more modern replacement for our 6 grand 31 yr old glacially slow and rather thirsty but otherwise perfect-for-us camper, only to find the utter shit that was on offer for twice the money) "They're getting rather rare, now. I'd never be able to afford another" "I have a plan* to restore it and put it back on the road... next year" "Remember that car I scrapped cos I CBA'd to fix it? That was a shocking waste and I'm not doing it again..." "It's not costing me anything, at the moment" "You didn't say that when it was the only vehicle that started, when yours wouldn't" "You don't really want me to do tip runs in YOUR car, do you?" And then, later, the next purchase will inevitably be spontaneous, ill thought out, but cheap in mitigation for the tissue-thin justification for it. Fortunately, I've chanced upon a couple of vehicles that really do fill the requirements of more than one category - I won't bore you right now with the details of the first, but the second manages to be: builder's van/tip run mule/executive transport for up to 7/frugal long legged mile muncher for road trips across Europe (those were the days)/somewhere for two to sleep in surprising comfort after that party. A large well specced diesel MPV is a very useful vehicle...

Bugger! This sounds (sounded) like a good read - I had no idea it existed, or as others have suggested, I've dismissed it due to the name having previously been used for modified stuff - content which leaves me completely cold. (See SiC's swan song on RR regarding a very talented man and a complete waste of his time on a Ka or other tiny shitbox that when finished looked like it had been fashioned from blue ice cream - his verdict that it should be killed with fire nearly saw me bust my clacker valve.) Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

^^ I'm inclined to think that both of these things are like the Irwin's - a deterrent. After snapping off a (admittedly very cheap) extractor in a snapped bolt for an exhaust bracket on a chassis rail, I learned to not put myself in the situation again... +1 for Bahco socket sets - I have a metric and part imperial 1/2 and 3/8" drive set with combination spanners which I keep religiously clean and orderly, and has been a joy to use, as it includes UJs and two extensions for both drives, and a screwdriver handle/extension for the 3/8. The long reach 3/8 drive sockets are a boon too. The foam handles are a sod for getting dirty though and seem to be the weak point - they've started to loosen and rotate on the ratchet shaft, but they have taken 10 years abuse, and aren't causing a problem. Other stuff is all a mix and match - fortunately some Snap On screwdrivers and knipex pliers from my first engineer job, but other essentials are a pair of (Solingen?) gland nut/plumber's pliers, mole grips and vise grips, large and small. And a long Magnatex screwdriver that refuses to die. First job also kitted me with a basic Fluke multimeter. The PP3 powering that must be 15 years old now... Clarke mains rattle gun, because I was fed up of the mortal fear that a scaffold bar would put me in when trying to shift the wheel nuts on the camper. Aldi special Powercraft drill driver - which has been absolutely brilliant. Likewise the Sheppach bandsaw from Aldi is good value - though a bit fiddly to set up - but I think all bandsaws are. Bosch circular saw - on offer at a B&Q Trade point, and a Lidl chopsaw - both have done everything I asked of them. Also a Parkside router (actually Bosch with a metric collet) again has done everything I've asked of it. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

^^ I'd have some of that. I know I could have it with a longboat on it, but I always preferred the Honda details - like the rear light clusters. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

That's the Turin shroud version of T50... Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

Yeah, like Paul sez, if it were me, I'd be doing my damnedest to fuck them up. You might have missed the boat with tree preservation orders, but you might try looking for some endangered species of moth or newt on it. Or find and 'rehome' some badgers onto the land and then make sure their presence is well publicised... My parents bought their dream plot in 1951. Land adjacent to and being sold by the local church. A 1/2 acre thicket of bramble and apple orchard. Next to it, a paddock, also church land. My folks enquired if the paddock would be available to purchase in the future and the local vicar told them it would be, so they built their house close to the boundary with the paddock, in expectation of buying it too and ending up with their house in the middle of a large garden - they were both keen gardeners. In 1952, they asked the vicar if the land was available. He told them 'not yet'. Then developers turned up, and built 13 houses ('bungalows' the plans said) on the paddock. Four of the houses were within five yards of the wall that separated the two plots of land, every one with four first floor windows overlooking my parents' house and so close that any privacy on that side of my parents house was gone. Relations between my parents and the local church soured somewhat after that. When my parents built an extension, they were prevented from putting any windows on that side of the first floor because it would compromise the privacy of the new builds. So I understand the anger you feel towards the school and the developer. Fuck em up, any way you can. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

That's odd - the first gear is super low in mine (even to the extent that if totally unladen, pulling away in 2nd is viable, even desirable) so the turbo is spinning from the get go. Never tried a petrol one. The diesel's thirst is quite bad enough. And yes, I've done (some of) the gear linkage bushes, prompted by losing some of the gears. Ah. Just remembered. Mine has the gearing and back axle of an LT55. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

You think it might catch the wind a bit? Being the 2.5 diesel (let's hope it's the turbo), it'll be spritely up to, ooh, 15 mph, and anything above that will take a while. The gearchange is huge but at its best, pleasing to use (which is fortunate, given how much cog swapping is required to keep this moving). There is no PAS and the wheel is enormous. The seats are the most basic from a base 1980 Golf, with itchy cloth. All the ingredients for a truly miserable vehicle... It'll be an absolute hoot to drive and the exhaust note is glorious. I'm counting my blessings here - if it weren't for the lockdown, I'd be trying to figure out where I could park that while I raped it for bits for the chodcamper. Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

Just the bad breath, or did he have some other odd habits too?... Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

...for which there might well be a very good reason - Raleigh managed to push out a whole batch of Arenas one Christmas, all of which had dodgy welds between the head tube/down tube that failed - cue some nasty accidents and injuries followed by compensation and recall... Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk