crad

So today ive been finalising the metalwork by filling areas with weld that needed it mainly around the outer arch section as i grinded too much away (whoops) anyways ive managed to rebuild it as best as i could. there is a few pin holes but i may just leave them as i really dont want to make more work for myself again. ive tested the structure of the arch and it seems strong so thats good. I will use a fine layer of filler just to get it all smoothened out so that it looks right, so a day of sanding i dont think will be too bad after all the work ive had to do today lol. 



 


Today i also managed to flood the sill with cavity wax, made sure it got into all the areas and especially the areas where the welds were as the paint will have burnt off on the inside. i also managed to get it up into the arch too where i had to fill it with weld so that should hopefully be nice and protected from the inside now. I used Bilt Hamber S50 Cavity Wax which came with a handy lance to get into all the tight areas. 
 

 
And Finally here it is with the Door on:

The Door needs slightly lifting up, i put it on in a rush as it was getting dark so thats something to do on another day.
 
For the next part of the project i will be focusing on this section of the front jacking point and floor on the passenger side. It just needs a small patch where it joins the floor. I really dont want to have to open this up but if it comes to it then i will have to. but i think once thats done i will be taking a break from the welding due to winter, and ill put my focus onto the other jobs, perhaps suspension and such who knows ill see. 

 
 

Hello guys another update to the civic, ive finally managed to get the outer piece welded on. It was a bit of a hassle however. Every other repair panel ive made seemed fine to weld to however the genuine body panels are just terrible to weld to and i have no idea why, so there was plenty of crappy plug welds and blown holes. 

I spent a few hours making sure that everything was lining up right making sure that the 1mm gap was present. This side shown here welded up really well however once i started work on the other join, the gap on that side had opened up leaving me with a gap of about 5mm to weld up which i really was not happy about. But i managed to somehow get it welded up thankfully. shown below, by the time i had got this done it was getting dark so i had to do the rest today.
 

 
Here is the join which i grinded down, this was probably the best side and for a first attempt im pretty chuffed, theres still some more work to be done regards to grinding but thanks to the clocks going back and the nights rolling in i have less time in the day to do so. Its by no means perfect, i still need to build up them plug welds as the metal just blew through at the slightest bit of welding. 

 
After a bit of primer it didnt look too bad. however it will need some more tidy up work doing to it tomorrow...

 
That was the good side, now for the side which was worst thanks to that 5mm gap that i had to fill.

 
Its not brilliant but the main thing is, is that the panel gap lines up right with the door, There are some pin holes that need to be filled and theres a section of metal which has just got a bit too thin from grinding so i will have to build that back up and grind it back into shape. Ideally i want to use as little filler as possible. 
 
Fingers crossed i can get this all neatened up tomorrow so that it looks like it hasn't been done. 

What a shitty evening. My friend called and her fiance has died. Never met him but I have noticed that with him seems to be the first time she was ever happy and from what she told me, he seemed like a great guy. Totally unexpected. 36 years old, had a heart attack and was gone in minutes. 
 
Straight after that call my mum phoned and my sister has been taken to hospital. Waiting to hear more about that - that's all I know. 
 
I was looking forward to a pleasant, quiet Friday evening with a book or film and a pizza! 

Unless I'm reading this wrong, they'll make almost as much as any other MOT garage/centre.   I take my cars to my local garage, pay my fee and barring a few exceptions (car fails badly and gets scrapped, my tame welder isn't available to fix rot I missed before the test) if it fails I'll take it back within the free re-test period.  One fee paid.
With the above model if it failed I'd still take it away, fix it and return for a pass, at which time they'd be paid their fee.  One fee paid.
They will only lose in the case of a bad fail where the car is taken away and scrapped, or if the car keeps getting presented without all the fails being fixed, and as mentioned above they probably have a piss take limit!

There are a few knocking around Peterborough, as you might imagine. 
If there are BeamNG fans, someone's modelled almost the entire Polonez/Caro range into the game: 

https://www.beamng.com/threads/fso-polonez-aka-fps-trapez.82134/

And, for good measure, er...the entire factory so you can nose dive out of the final inspection pit if you want. Another modder used LIDAR data to map out Heaton Park in Manchester. No, I've no idea either. 

https://www.beamng.com/resources/fso-factory.13645/

I used yet another mod to fit solid fuel rockets to a Polonez in game, where it was surprisingly effective as a hydroplane (bit like a budget Polish Ekranoplan)...
 



Er... never mind. 



Fuck. 

also speaking of the grauniad, good news for us shitists

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/16/suvs-emit-more-climate-damaging-gas-than-older-cars-do-study-finds

So.
One side done, loads of swearing under my breath.
Reached out for the matches, could not find them….. 
Carried on installing this hateful stuff.
One side done, eventually.

Drivers side.
Glass out.

Cleaned up first.

Done and refitted, with lodgers help holding mounting button in place.

Last glass done.
And for some reason it was not easy.
Aaaahhh yes, concave glass.


Woke this morning.
And guess what……..?

Kept on working it, eventually settled and happy to move on.

And both sides behaving.


Time to move into the next phase.
Blackout.
Can you see what needs doing?

Template.
CAD to the rescue.

Done.
Needs to be seen stepping back a bit.

And next little job….
Curved ball.
Door window  frame……..

Cut out.

Applied.

AND LOOKING AT THE COMPLETE PICTURE.
MEEHHHH…..


Another small job done.
Time consuming, and many people would neither notice or get it done.
But works for my head and need to make small changes.
Video.

https://youtu.be/mE2D4uY5A2Y?si=G2ua2KlcNw3kp-9v

That’s a load of time consuming, non sweat inducing work done.
Do I like it?/ 

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

Suppose I should update this...
Cumbernauld had no work, so I have ended up doing a nine week  straight spell in London; I return north on December 3rd for a week's holiday, then back down until New Years eve; this is likely to change as London don't want us down here over the festives.
Bow continued along the no shifts line, but I got a start date at Barking on October 30th for induction and type training; this left a gap of a week or so. I asked Barking if they had a preference for routes to learn, and was told 62s and 145s.
I utilised this week well, and learned the 62, 145, 167, 179, 362 and 462, then reported for induction and type training at 0830 on Monday morning.
"Transfer from Bow?"
"Yeah"
"Interesting. You've done mirrorless Enviro 400MMCs?"
"That's all I drove at Bow"
"Well they trump everything so no type training required; if you can drive a 400 you can drive a 200. Did you manage to do any route learning?"
I handed over my six learned routes.
"Fuck, you've been busy! Fancy a shift today?"
And so it began... Enviro 400MMC 10321 became my first steed at Barking, 222 duty on the 145.
The week continued; 145 Mon-Wed, 179 Thurs, 145 Fri and 462 Sat; took today off for the Chalk Farm running day. This coming week is 179 tomorrow, 167 Tues/Weds, 62 Thurs, 362 Fri, 167 Sat and 462 Sun.
 
On my last report from Bow I had 26 Enviro 400s outstanding to tick off; I managed to do 11352, 11358, 11359, 11360, 11366, 11369, 11371, 11382, 11396, 11398 and 11399 before leaving Bow, meaning I managed all bar fifteen - 344, 348, 350, 354, 356, 361, 363, 364, 376, 379, 380, 383-5 and 391.
Barking is a better fit for me as a driver - better routes for a start - so fingers crossed it works out!
My first week at Barking's ticklist is as follows...
Enviro 400MMC
10319, 10321, 10324, 10326, 10328
Enviro 400MMC Hybrid
12399
Enviro 400 'Classic'
10174, 19773, 19775, 19783
Enviro 200MMC
36632, 36638
 
Not got a laptop down here so another (small) phone camera dump is all I can offer!
 
Next update... whenever, if anyone is still interested in the London split saga?

They're not similar. They are bigger in virtually every way. 

https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/kia-sportage-2021-suv-vs-ford-focus-2022-5-door-hatchback/front/
 
Nearly 200kg more weight in a Sportage. Or 8 bags of cement being driven around in the car all the time. 
Add that against everyone having them as people do now then on a whole it's a huge amount more. Negating savings in engine technology improvements on reducing emissions. 
They're still the same case above where the equivalent hatch is lighter, smaller and more efficient than the equivalent SUV. 
That is the crux of the safety issue with cars getting taller. Fine for the occupants but any pedestrians they hit are far more likely to be hitting the grille/going under rather than going over. Thus the impact point and highest area of energy transfer is more likely on the torso or head rather than the legs - areas where much more damage sensitive parts of the body are. 
The easiest way to show this is in the frontal view. Think about where a 0.8 metre to 1.5 metre (e.g. 8-12yr old child running out) would be hitting these two. Maybe easier to crouch to the rough height of such an individual in front of an SUV and equivalent shorter, traditional hatch to get a real world idea.

It'll be far more likely the legs and lower body hitting the top of the Focus grille line than the Sportage. Hit the legs and you're going over the top on the Focus. Hit the mid torso on the Kia grille line... doesn't bear thinking about what will happen.
 
This is why in an impact with a pedestrian, SUVs end up far more likely killing that individual. The flat high fronted nature makes them pushing far more energy into that ped than a lower height equivalent vehicle. 

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

I agree. Like that kid was killed by the runaway Defender. Why does anyone need a several tonne off roader with an instant 400bhp around a city packed like London?
I strongly feel that cars should be acceleration limited in highly populated areas. The cars know where they are from GPS and it's easy enough to ring fence major cities of the world (drone software does it with airports). Would reduce the potential damage in an accident and reduce the emissions from braking/tyre pollution. There is zero need for someone need to be able to get to 60mph in sub 5 seconds and to 30mph in sub 3 seconds in anywhere there is residential houses. That's so fast that an accidental slip of the foot means that at 20mph you're soon 40+ mph in a literal second. 
Of course it won't happen as car companies sell cars on gadgets and performance. So they'll fight nail and tooth over any such restrictions. 

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

think the article is spot on tbh. the crux is that cars are far too big, and SUV's are the biggest offenders. nobody needs one. if you need space, buy an estate. if you need it for offroading, get a jimny. if you need it because you need to keep up with the jones', you need some sense knocked into you.

I'm not moving very fast on this, not least because I've been fitting ram pipes within the air filters of my TR4, Katie  < here > and then also swapping out her seats.  But the plan for tomorrow is to drive up to nr. Downham Market, where those Norse Folk live, to see my friends Mathew and Justine.  Mathew loves his Triumphs and Justine is supportive to the point of her even coming to our Triumph Sports Six Club meetings and being socially active. She's one special lady.   Mathew has kindly offered to help me tidy the Daimler up - so I'm hoping to drive, pending floods and other obstacles, the 65 miles so that he can have a look. 
...But as the car's windscreen rubbers leak ! and because of the present weather situation - I really wanted to have a go at sealing around the windscreen today.  Rain water dribbling down the back of the walnut veneered dashboard and onto my right ankle isn't what one expects when driving a distinguished motor car. 
so . . .
  
^ I eased open up the rubber windscreen seal to vacuum out the soil deposit., having previously been shopping for a suitable sealant which I found at my local, and extremely helpful windscreen replacement specialist - Gold Windscreens, Martlesham, Ipswich who very kindly provided a tube of the above, together with a spray pot of appropriate glass cleaner, and copious lashings of helpful advice.
The task of oozing said sealant inbetween the rubber seal and the windscreen glass went well enough. As a novice, the technique I used (but did not take a photo of ..because I had my hands full) was to draw an old n' rounded flat blade screwdriver along the rubber to open up the seam, and to immediately follow along behind that with the nozzle.  It would have been very much easier with two persons !   Job done and the excess firstly scraped and then wiped away (on industrial blue paper toweling) and then the residue was cleaned up with the solution provided.  I did another run with the sealant, this time very tightly into the corner, because somewhere along the past 55 years - the old window rubber had lost it suppleness, so having been pulled away it was not pinching tightly closed again.  

Job neatly done.   Hopefully tomorrow will be dry and bright anyway
Pete