Lankytim

I sold a bonnet from a Jag X type to a couple of guys who drove three hours up from London. We fitted it on my drive and they left their old bonnet behind which I chucked in the scrap pile. They said all the breakers around them were absolute wankers who wanted top dollar for a second rate item and had no interest in helping them fit it. I think I charged them £40 or so for a mint bonnet to replace their lacquer peeled original and they were over the moon with it.

A while back I was in a Nike outlet shop and found a nice pair of trainers in my size, half price When I got to the till they tried to charge full price. I explained what the advertised price was and they agreed that if it did indeed say half price they’d honour it. Of course a shop assistant ran on ahead and swapped the labels around before we got back there. “Oh, you must’ve misread it”. The raised voices attracted the attention of other shoppers, one of which was Nick Hancock who was having a right nose at what was going on.

My local Lidl had them in for £99.99 so it must be an error. I’d try and get one and see what happens!

I’ve started to get bored with my perfectly capable, reliable and comfortable modern daily commutermobile and have started to wonder if it’s more sensible to make daily use of something a little more fun. Something tax exempt and up and running, suitable for my daily 7 mile each way commute but also capable of a motorway jaunt every week. I’ve always assumed that you can’t really use a 40 yr old plus car as your sole mode of transport as it’ll always break down and be unreliable but is that true? Do many here use an elderly motor as their daily to and from work? Mrs LT has a 2007 Honda Jazz so I would have access to a modern car should I need to. Using man maths I can work out that I should actually save money as I won’t need to run an extra car, pay road tax, plus I could enter low emission zones for free! So… good idea? Bad? What have peoples experiences been?

I did but now I don’t. Would he take any more work on?

You’ve got a body shop man???

Stoke on Trent. I say it’s a breakers yard, it’s only open Tuesday and Friday.

Another trip to the local breakers today, just for a mooch about. Is there any demand for old Space Cruiser parts? I managed to clamber over to this Spitfire but the thing is absolutely hanging. The 2 tone Omega has the 2.5 BMW Diesel engine fitted apparently. A Shiter was asking about a Fiat Stilo recently but I can’t remember who it was. Unfortunately it’s no longer where it was so is presumably buried in the nearby pile of flattened cars.

A couple of charity shop books that’ll go on the book shelf and never get read👍

Nice P6 on POLICE INTERCEPTORZ. (Yes I know, extra lazy)

Is car insurance going up? The Laguna insurance needs renewing at the end of the month and I’m getting quoted about £100 more than the cheapest quote last year, no changes to the policy, no claims etc. I’m not sure if it’s al a result of inflation/ current economic conditions etc or just price gouging by insurance companies as everything else is going up and people just have to cough up.

Condolences 😢

I spotted these two Dodge Rams last Sunday, they’re big old beasts! They seem to be the staple diet of those big crushing machines that feature on American YouTube videos but appear to be loved by enthusiasts over here.

Cheap Scania anyone?

I bet me and @wuvvum could get that demolished and carted away in bits pretty quickly if they ever decided to get rid!

Will this ULEZ expansion make much of a difference to emissions anyway? The cars that this legislation is aimed at are decreasing in number naturally every day as they reach the end of their lives. The revenue from ULEZ fines etc will get less and less until it’ll barely be worth maintaining the camera infrastructure.

I did think that initially but it’s all nice and free. The motor would barely run at all it was so full of… whatever it is.

More 145 fettling! The rear wiper has been stuck at 12 o’clock since I’ve had it and despite there being a feed nothing was working. The wiper motor in these is a bit of a work of art and seems way over engineered for what it is. The cover pops off and reveals all the inner workings. The whole lot appeared to be full of wax or grease, possibly rust proofer which has somehow leaked inside. With the motor removed and cleaned up I could get it to run and “park” no problem. Refitted back into the tailgate everything was going well until it started to blow fuses. I’ve no idea why this could be but I soon ran out of fuses and packed up for the day. At least the wiper is now parked where it’s meant to be instead of sticking up. Something which I’d never noticed before, the tailgate catch isn’t in the centre of the bottom of the tailgate, it’s slightly over to one side. I’m not sure why this is but I’m sure Volvo had their reasons!

I connected up the indicators on the 145 today, the wiring was a bit of a mess with scotch locks and connectors holding things together so a couple of parts were rewired. With everything connected up it all worked! The flash is a little slow but the relay makes a satisfying clonk from inside the car. I also investigated the non working horns and found the horns themselves to be dead and no voltage at the connectors when the horn ring was pushed. Both of the knackered horns were removed and a Ford Fusion horn was wired in and bolted up. I’ll have to investigate why there’s no voltage present but hopefully it’ll be something like a dirty fuse holder or something. Finally a primer bulb was added to the fuel line, the fuel leaks back to the tank when it’s been sat for a few days and it’s a pain sucking it back up to the carburettor to get the engine to run. The same Fusion that donated it’s horn also gave up it’s primer bulb and I can now get instantaneous ignition with zero fannying about. We’ll see if the primer bulb will be a permanent addition, a non return valve of some sort is possibly a better idea but the primer bulb was kicking about in a box of parts and does the trick, providing the petrol doesn’t melt it or something. .

I’m sure 1.9 XUD pumps and injectors fit these? Unless I had a dream about it.

This week at work I was given the keys to a truck to take to take out on a run, when doing my checks I found a severely bent wheel rim, the tyre was just about holding air. I filled out a defect sheet and found it had already been defected earlier in the day but the office had decided to book it out on another run as they were short of trucks! The rim has been half hammered back into shape and the vehicle has been out a few days this week with its bent wheel. When I spoke to the manager in charge of this stuff I just got the brush off. “How are we meant to know if nobody tells us” I thought that’s what the defect book was for…. Ive had this issue at other places I’ve worked at. 9/10 drivers won’t take a vehicle out as it’s got a dangerous fault but the last driver will… so out it goes.

You rang the seller to let them know, that was the correct and polite thing to do. Many wouldn’t even do that and just ghost the seller!

Wife cancelled our broadband deal because she spotted a much cheaper deal online. Entered the address and they don’t cover our area. Shopped around and other providers can supply us but there’s going to be a week or two where we’re cut off from broadband, kids not impressed. My phone contract is also up next month, so I’m shopping around. I can’t understand what the fuck half of these offers meanie what they provide. I’m seriously thinking of going on a tech detox and binning the phone off altogether.

The front of the 145 had been apart for an accident repair in the dim and distant past and just didn’t want to bolt up properly, leaving it with a distinctive “punched in the face” look. It’s been a job I’ve been putting off for ages but I eventually set about removing panels and getting them to fit betterer. The top inner wing on the passenger side has been replaced at one time and was t quite in the right position, being approx 5mm out and this was having a knock on effect on the outer wing, NSF door, front panel and front bumper, after some fettling i finally got the front wing to fit correctly and the other panels all fell into place. The result isn’t absolutely perfect but it’ll do. It all looks right now at least!

The wife has just returned from the orthodontist after taking the eldest to have braces fitted. Apparently the place has a shared car park and she must’ve parked in the wrong space as when she went to leave she was blocked in by a guy in a car who took pictures and when questioned told her he was with Parking Eye. Fucksticks. Edit, went back and the signs are pretty sketchy. It’s a large car park shared with other businesses but only a few signs in one corner referring to AUTHORISED VEHICLES and stating that the driver has to agree to the above terms or agree to pay a penalty. It doesn’t state what constitutes an authorised vehicle, doesn’t mention parking not in a bay etc. It also states that charges will be issued via a ticket on the windscreen, which Mrs Lankytim didn’t get. Apparently Mrs LT parked in space 3 but should’ve parked in 1/2. This red sign was pretty hidden away. Another sign mentions wheelclamping which hasn’t been a thing in England for years. I’ll be amazed if we hear anything and if we do we should be able to tell them to ram It. I suspect the guy taking photos was a bit of a busybody from a neighbouring office, compiling “evidence” to go to the Orthodontist and complain about someone pinching one of their spaces.