mat_the_cat

Are you sure you're on the right forum?

Are you sure you're on the right forum?

What do you do about claiming for expenses? I've ridden for work trips a couple of times when I've been working from home, but never claimed for the mileage. It did cross my mind to claim for the ice cream I had once, as surely that counts as fuel?

Are you sure you're on the right forum?

Knock on the drivers window and when he winds it down pop your penis though the opening and piss all over him and his passengers. Always works for me.

Many, many dice valve caps?

More work done,,the mojo is flowing today , probably because my back is in top shape for the moment
 
The synopsis of the job is that I'm currently doing little cosmetic tasks that will improve the look of the car as for some reason everyone at the inlaws, and also work assume its terminally rotten etc ,,it isn't but looks it abit
 
so common rot areas for these protobishis is the rear axle, lower rear quarters, front wings behind the flaps, the front bumper, rear sills and the inner rear wheel tubs go behind the dampers
based on the list Ive done the rear sills,,and axle so naturally the front wings came next..
 
jack it up ,,grind the rot out

 
then cut out a patch for the hole and flap mounts and shape it with a house brick and some skirting board, weld in place and grit wheel it smooth

 
mask up ,key the surface with a toenail buffer and some 'davids' zinc primer goes on

 
Top coat applied which is basically some ford colour that I compared with the car tactically parked in the line of sight from the paints area
and the flap bolts greased up and popped in

 
flaps on but my method is to space them off the wings so the metal has a chance of drying out

 
Done, NS to do next but its much less rotted thankfully

 
 
this is probably the first task ive done where the primary reason was the appearance of the car rather than necessity, is that a sign of ageing? 

Are you sure you're on the right forum?

Its not though - I other forms of motorsport the idea is to finish the race in one piece and actually cross the finish line. Yeh some people enjoy seeing crashes (although that I do find a bit odd tbh) but the racers in all other forms of motorsport do try and avoid crashing.
 
It'd be a bit like the winner at horse of the year show being the last horse standing after a team of French butchers have chased the rest of the horses around before reducing them to burgers.

Are you sure you're on the right forum?

^^^ I'll PM you Mr Imp...
 
I've been over to Otley this afternoon to collect the Van!!!
 
To say I am over the moon is an understatement. It looks amazing. A first class job. I just collected the van, the doors and whatnot are still in primer but I'll collect them after next weekend. Excuse the MB content   I borrowed it off Father Vin as the Marea power steering is being a bit tempramental at the mo...
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

I would leave it, they are just having a smoke. By treating them like they are going to commit a crime, you will wind them up and they will commit a crime.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy

Machine gun their car while they sit there, then set fire to the remains.
 
It's the sort of reasonable and proportionate response that I'm sure the police will find acceptable*.
 
*If you're in Florida and the car is full off black teenagers looking mildly threatening.

I've just done a HMRC webinar on expenses. You're allowed up to 20p per mile for bike travel with no upper mileage limit unlike cars.  If your employer pays less you can claim the difference back from hmrc if you do a tax return, and if your employer pays more than the non-taxable 20p limit then it's taxable like income.
 
Chapeau if you cycle more than 10,000miles a year for work though!

I used to commute a 50 mile round trip every day, on which I only had to give way 3 times and in winter often didn't see another car. (Especially when the weather was like this!)
 

 
I could do it in half an hour normally or 20 minutes at a real push, and the road was great for driving:
 

 
But earlier this year work moved to 60 miles away, and to start with I was going in every day although technically I was supposed to be working from home most of the time. The road is always busy, and full of dawdlers which I find a little frustrating. I didn't want to hammer the BX into the ground with 600 miles a week, so bought the Kangoo to use instead. But after a while I ended up only going in once or twice a week, and since I handed in my notice a month ago, I've only been in once!
 
The new job is 40 miles away, but as a bonus is literally across the road from where Lana works, so we can share* the driving and get another couple of hours together we otherwise wouldn't have had. (Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen!) I'll probably be driving most f the time, but that suits me as I enjoy it but she doesn't. And as she earns more than me has agreed to pay the running costs etc, ad I will continue to do the maintenance on her Bini which will likely be the vehicle we'll use.
 
In an ideal world we'd live closer, but where we live is more affordable than closer to the coast, and realistically out of reach for a similar property. Being able to do things on the way back from work that many people would only get to do on their holidays so overall the quality of life is worth it.

finished the coilovers i was making for my capri today.
 
 

So, for anyone still interested.
I finished off a few bits and pieces on this and since the weather was nice yesterday I took my life in my hands and went out for a drive in the beast.
 
What a transformation!
It's running beautifully now, very smoothe and it drives 100% better than it did on the way back from Milton Keynes. No more misfires, no more petrol smells and sooty exhaust from running rich. It seems to be running cooler now too, probably due to the timing now being set correctly! And the cutting out issue has gone away too.
 
I drove it on small local roads, and up the motorway for a good few miles and it didn't miss a beat. Even creeping along in traffic on a big roundabout it didn't start idling rough or cutting out like it did before.
It's surprisingly fast aswell! It had no problem passing the motorway speed limit and it didn't feel like it was doing the speed it was! Not that I'll be ever driving it that fast normally, it's an old girl now and I don't like pushing my old stuff that far. 60/65mph is about enough.
The sound it makes is awesome too! Especially when cruising along then nailing it! Who needs radios!
Everyone looks at it too, some little kid in his dad's people carrier thing was staring in amazement as they went past.
Hopefully the weather will stay dry and mild for a bit longer yet so I can get it out again. It won't be going out on salted roads.
It has highlighted a couple of other niggles though, worst of which is the indicators not working sometimes and the steering wheel isn't on straight, which is one of my pet peeves! I hate non straight steering wheels! Should be easy to fix though.
 
Apologies again for the lack of pics! I need to do better!

My absolute favourite memory of this was when I was still at school....There was a Standard Ten which somebody had painted white to the middle of the roof and red on the other side of the car.   On the red half he painted white dots and on the white side, red dots...Inevitably it died soon afterwards and went to the local scrappy.   For years afterwards various local Eights and Tens sported a polka dot door or bonnet.    

When I'm on earlies (7.00am start) I love it when it's really really cold as perversely I prefer cycling in then. I usually take a longer route (9.3 miles instead of 5.9) and go down the lanes. It actually spoils it for me if I see any other road users, because it's sort of like having all that lovely countryside to myself and the wild life.

Many, many dice valve caps?

Must admit the thought has crossed my mind...
So far I've not done anything which would stop it legally going back on the road, so I may keep my options open. I bet you not many people would park next to it at the supermarket!
 
Actually giving it a bit of use has got to be better than it just sinking into the undergrowth, and once the screen is done I'll be able to drive it into the forest and see how it behaves. Maybe a short term project to get it usable, and a longer term view to get it on the road?

Many, many dice valve caps?

Many, many dice valve caps?

I popped to Krispy Kreme in Manchester with a few friends and on the way back at about 10:15 on the motorway on a pitch black stretch, i glimpsed in the rear view and saw a familiar pair of headlamps looking back at me, it was another sierra, a pogweasel red j plate hatch with a short nose bonnet, i acknowledged the driver then on a stretch with lights he came up the side to have a closer look at the saph then got back behind me, as he left on a slip road it was beeps and waves, it really made my day because what are the chances of that happening

I do about 130 miles a day, 5 days a week. Luckily for me I give someone a lift, for which he pays me £10 daily. My Almera also gives 40-45 mpg (1.4 pez).
 
I use Fuelly to track mileage, over the last 12 months I've done 27k miles and as my signature attests, averaged 44.7mpg. if you're a real fuel nerd you can see that it costs me £3300 a year in pez to get to and from work.
 
I also have something of a wheeze going on, as in lieu of a payrise I was given a fuel card, for which I pay a flat rate of BIK tax at about £105 a month. The 'value' of the fuel card in pez is about £450 a month, and I make more in liftshare money than I'm taxed.
 
My preferred route is up the A32, then over on the A31. The A32 is a great driving road, it really makes the drive a pleasure - The Nissan is perfectly suited to it, I can hoon it out of the various 30 and 40 sections and have great fun without ever really cracking 60mph, though as its windy and undulating it feels much faster. 
 
On the way home I usually go down the M3 which is dull as fuck and about eleventy billion times more dangerous than the A32 due to the total mongs who seem to drive it daily. Only last thursday a mid 2000s clio lurched from the outside lane, right across lane 2, just missed my rear bumper in lane 1, then nearly drove off the side of the hard shoulder - all at ~70mph in fading light at 5pm. The driver then recovered control and followed me for many miles until I turned off. God knows what prompted that, but how they didn't kill themselves, other road users or me is incredible.
 
The Nissan is a bit noisy, but isn't actually too bad a place to be for 3 hours a day. The engine is very tolerant of the miles I'm putting on it (45k in the last 2 years) and I think its probably how these things ought to be driven - start it up, drive for ages then turn it off. Hence the superb fuel economy - which is only 3mpg shy of the 'official' extra-urban economy figure, and its racked up 130k miles in 18 years since the car was new and the figures recorded.