Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[AnthonyG]

The new Premier Inn is very nice and brand spanking new. I stayed there in July, and will be staying there again next weekend.

The beds will all be doubles regardless of double/single bookings. They are good but you may wish to ask reception for extra pillows, there’s only two for a big bed and they don’t leave extra ones in the wardrobe unlike some other hotels do.

There is a Costa very close, and the Tesco ‘artisan’ coffee shop is now also open. 

When I booked for next weekend it appears that the Beefeater restaurant next to the Premier Inn is now open for breakfasts, this was totally shut up in July.  At least I think it’s a Beefeater, it could be a TGI Fridays - whatever it is it’s open.

[New POD]

11 hours ago, egg said:

@LightBulbFun - defo go for the Premier Inn, usually a few extra pennies, but they don't eat away at the soul quite like a Travelodge!!

(I've never had a good night's sleep in a TL....)

I can't get over that TL continue to charge for WiFi.  I get a business club rate and the main difference would be that the cheapest price was available with free cancellation.

The place I used to stay in Trentham,  was connected to a pub, and they always put me in the room that overlooked the outside smoking area.  Which I thought was shit. until I realised I could use thier WiFi for free. 

[Six-cylinder]

The rain came down yesterday afternoon, this was the view from my front door.

This morning I found the 2CV roof had pooled and I had a couple of fish onboard ready to travel.

[Saabnut]

Sadly now almost certain I will not make this after all. I had hoped to be home tomorrow but looking like late Sunday evening now so will not have time to do what is needed.

Next time....

[Six-cylinder]

With the healing hands of a plant guru our tractor is starting again and running.

[hairnet]

went to a customer today and he has an identical fordson to uncle shays

i asked him thats nice what do ya do with that

'fuckin thing is broke' it ran into the back of another tractor on a run (imagine armagh/portadown accent )

 

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

With the healing hands of a plant guru our tractor is starting again and running.

oh yay! does that mean I can have a go?  

(as a side note its amusing/it tickles me to see despite all the weather and everything, the exhaust protection device someone made from one of my old water bottles is still there ) 

[ruffgeezer]

Atch I might have to make an appearance again later in the year, my last visit was overshadowed by my own demons and I only managed an afternoon in think? 

It'll not be this time though as I'm still recovering from back issues, which depending on which doctor you listen to is a slipped disc or a torn muscle. Either way it's bloody painful. 

 

[Six-cylinder]

I wish!

[hairnet]

meh early te ftw

 

[richardmorris]

As mentioned during the flying visit, this is the quick walk up to see a 3000yr old stone circle earlier this morning.

[mitsisigma01]

Did you fall off a cliff at the start ?

[richardmorris]

5 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Did you fall off a cliff at the start ?

That’s pace I think. It was steep though, 900ft of climbing up in 1.5miles.

[Mrs6C]

22 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

oh yay! does that mean I can have a go?  

Why not? It's actually a very comfortable old thing to drive.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Mrs6C said:

Why not? It's actually a very comfortable old thing to drive.

yay  

yeah I regret not trying to have a go on the Messy (does she have a name?) last time I was at the FoD so im quite eiger to try now, having never driven a tractor before im curious what its like  

as someone who has never driven much before compared to the average shitter, the FoD is a bit like letting a kid into an amusement arcade for the first time, I wanna have a go on and experience all the things!

[Talbot]

On 8/12/2020 at 3:10 AM, LightBulbFun said:

why an invacar... because they are something I find highly fascinating and am very enthusiastic about and life has royally crapped all over and taken away pretty much all of my opportunities

im not going to let it take away this one, I also hope to use it to enable me to get mobile once more and regain some semblance of personal mobility 

 its my rage, rage against the dying of the light thing if that makes sense?

 

getting any car for me be it an Invacar or a K11 Micra or what have you, is/would be a massive undertaking for me,

say I went for something like you describe, id still need to spend all the effort hours and money I have put into driving lessons, id still need to make/ensure the thing is road worthy and insured, as well as worry about tax, and MOT (something I dont have to worry about with the Invacar)

 

so if Im going to have to put in all this effort time and money into it regardless, im going to go the extra mile to make sure its something im truly enthusiastic about something I know ill personally enjoy

something for me thats actually worth putting all that effort into

This all makes perfect sense and is part of the ethos of this forum.  No issues there,  (and isn't the question I asked)

On 8/12/2020 at 3:10 AM, LightBulbFun said:

s basic as the seat looks I have actually found it to surprisingly comfortable for me (with others having said the same) and thanks to the handle bars, the lack of foot pedals means my legs are able to find their natural rest position which helps a lot with my back pain (which will flare up/get worse if my legs are forced into one position for a long time, like when driving a normal car) 

so a Model 70 is much more ergonomic for me in that regard then a normal car

This is questionable at best.  Given that (as I understand it) you have barely any experience of "normal" cars, I cannot imagine you've tried enough different vehicles to have a comparison.  A "normal" car just doesn't exist, there is massive variance between makes and models, and you cannot tell me that with the millions of pounds spent on making modern vehicles comfortable to sit in and reduce driver stress that a flat bit of foam and a curved bit of foam come anywhere near close.  It's like comparing a £15 office chair (flat bit of foam on a sheet of plywood) with the seat from almost any car, which has different rates of springing, ergonomic shaping to the cushion, lumbar adjustment, angle adjustment, back angle adjustment etc.etc.etc.

I'm sure you've managed to convince yourself that an AC70's seat is the best thing in the world for you, as you're so "invested" in them, but the truth of the matter is that they are cheap, nasty and thrown together based on '60s technology.  Until you've driven maybe 50-100 different vehicles for some length of time, you cannot say for sure what actually works for you and what doesn't.  I say this from experience.  I used to think that several different cars I had as a teenager were perfectly comfortable and that I didn't need anything else.  Then I drove something else and realised how wrong I was.  I've gone round that loop about a dozen times now, as car seats have gotten better and better over the years.  Every time I think I've found a car that suits me just perfectly, a better one comes along that gives less fatigue, less back pain, less leg stress and less numbness after 6/7/8hrs of driving.   I can now have a fairly good idea on getting into a car as to whether the seat is going to be comfortable for me over an extended period of time, but it's taken driving hundreds of different cars over at least half-a-million miles to be able to know that, and even now I'm not always correct.

[Mrs6C]

@Talbot You make some good points there and I don't think @LightBulbFun would disagree with you on many of them. The usual seating position that works for you or I though, doesn't work for LBF, due to the physical effects CP has on his legs and back.

I'm sure he'll be able to explain it better, but it's not so much the ergonomics of the seating itself that is the comfort issue but rather the capability to stretch out and position legs and feet, without them being constrained (particularly laterally) by the surrounding structure of the footwell of a regular passenger car that makes the difference. The Model 70, by the nature of its design for its originally intended user community, allows for the driver's legs and feet to be extended (or not) in any direction across almost a 180 degree range, whereas most other cars don't have the physical space for this.

I could see something with a bench seat working well as an alternative; perhaps there will be a classic American vehicle in LBF's future!

 

[Mrs6C]

In other Model 70 news, I have been tinkering around with the air ducting on Dolly, in an effort to remove these, clean out any detritus and replace them as needed, before the manifold and carburettor are refitted.

Some small creatures have been having a field day in there, literally!

This lot came out of the pipe and exhaust heat exchange chamber on the LHS...

 

This lot came out of the RHS... it was like winning the jackpot on a fruit machine as they cascaded out...

This was what was left in the RHS pipe. I had to cut off the pipe clip with a hacksaw...

The heat exchange chamber on the RHS looked like this:

A variety of tools had to be employed... the next one will be Henry the Hoover...

I had a bit of a go at cleaning the black stove-enamelled parts of the engine bay. It was getting towards dusk by this time though, so it wasn't too serious an attempt. It did improve things just a bit.

Before:

After:

The ducting I removed is a bit past its best. I think these two pieces will be replaced and retired...

Before @LightBulbFun gets too worried about REV, I would add that the metal cover over the ducting chamber on Dolly has been off over the winter, thereby allowing said small creatures ingress... REV's cover is fixed in place so all should be well...

 

[adw1977]

I see that Zelandeth has some sort of more modern seat in his Model 70, so it seems there is scope to have the best of both worlds - a more supportive seat and the extra legroom. 

[Zelandeth]

28 minutes ago, Mrs6C said:

In other Model 70 news, I have been tinkering around with the air ducting on Dolly, in an effort to remove these, clean out any detritus and replace them as needed, before the manifold and carburettor are refitted.

Some small creatures have been having a field day in there, literally!

This lot came out of the pipe and exhaust heat exchange chamber on the LHS...

 

This lot came out of the RHS... it was like winning the jackpot on a fruit machine as they cascaded out...

This was what was left in the RHS pipe. I had to cut off the pipe clip with a hacksaw...

The heat exchange chamber on the RHS looked like this:

A variety of tools had to be employed... the next one will be Henry the Hoover...

I had a bit of a go at cleaning the black stove-enamelled parts of the engine bay. It was getting towards dusk by this time though, so it wasn't too serious an attempt. It did improve things just a bit.

Before:

After:

The ducting I removed is a bit past its best. I think these two pieces will be replaced and retired...

Before @LightBulbFun gets too worried about REV, I would add that the metal cover over the ducting chamber on Dolly has been off over the winter, thereby allowing said small creatures ingress... REV's cover is fixed in place so all should be well...

 

This seems to be standard!  I'd suggest taking the silencer off and giving it a good shake and blast through with a pressure washer or similar.  The amount of crud that was packed in mine was ridiculous.

[LightBulbFun]

13 hours ago, Talbot said:

This is questionable at best.  Given that (as I understand it) you have barely any experience of "normal" cars, I cannot imagine you've tried enough different vehicles to have a comparison.  A "normal" car just doesn't exist, there is massive variance between makes and models, and you cannot tell me that with the millions of pounds spent on making modern vehicles comfortable to sit in and reduce driver stress that a flat bit of foam and a curved bit of foam come anywhere near close.  It's like comparing a £15 office chair (flat bit of foam on a sheet of plywood) with the seat from almost any car, which has different rates of springing, ergonomic shaping to the cushion, lumbar adjustment, angle adjustment, back angle adjustment etc.etc.etc.

I have barely driven anything yes, but I have sat in/been a passenger in many seats/vehicles, so I can tell pretty damn well when a seat/setup is going to give me trouble or not

(right down to the fact through a fun/slightly traumatic series of of events I have a chair from one of my secondary school classrooms, most people have pens and books and signed uniform from their school days, I have a fucking chair LOL, hard plastic thing so I dont sit on it, it lives in the kitchen doing other duties )

and what I was saying is, that I found Model 70 seat surprisingly comfortable for me

you asked me

On 12/08/2020 at 01:51, Talbot said:

Which begs the question as to why on earth you'd even consider driving an invacar, which has all the ergonomics of a plank of wood.

and as explained, I found that the General Model 70 ergonomics worked well for me, much better then a plank of wood as you seem to assume, I was not just on about the seat, but the whole layout of the vehicle

as I tried to explain in my post and @Mrs6C does in hers, its not just the seat of a vehicle can effect my back pain when im in or driving a vehicle its a number of things like mentioned how I can position my legs/feet over time etc

13 hours ago, Talbot said:

I'm sure you've managed to convince yourself that an AC70's seat is the best thing in the world for you,

and thats hardly the case, I said quite early on in my endeavours to get a Model 70 that I had a plan to replace the seat with a more comfortable option, probably a Citroen Xantia seat, as @Zelandeth showed one of those can bolt right in

but since then I have had much more experience being in Model 70's first, sitting in @dollywobbler's TWC for about 45 minutes when he kindly visited me in his trip through London, and finally driving in my own Model 70 over a few weekends

and I said above I found the seat to be surprisingly comfortable, and thats all I was saying!  so I dont think im going to need to swap it out, but I have no qualms of doing so if need be

 

I have no idea how REV/a Model 70 is going to be like for me driving on the open road but I was simply stating that preliminary results where good and I am/was quite happy about that, because I had no idea how idea how a Model 70 would be for my back, and im not sure why thats such a bad thing that it turns out its actually surprisingly comfortable for me? LOL

 

and finally you say 

13 hours ago, Talbot said:

This all makes perfect sense and is part of the ethos of this forum.  No issues there,  (and isn't the question I asked)

 

 

im guessing you mean by "and isn't the question I asked"

to say you where not asking why I would drive an Invacar, but why I would do so with my bad back

and the perfect sense bit is still a big reason why, even with my back I still want to drive one with my bad back, it might not be the most comfortable for my back (an automatic hydropneumatic Citroen with the comfiest of comfort spheres is probably what it really needs, or a big American barge as @Mrs6C says  ) but as I said im not going to let it take this away from me

 

if I just stopped doing anything that hurt my back id be an internet browsing vegetable (and I have been there back when I couldn't walk for 6 months about 7 years ago, and given how housebound I am it still feels like I am at times but I digress)

another good example is going down to the FoD is always going to utterly knacker my back, but I still do it because of how much fun it is and good it does for me mentally 

 

but it is still very much a not so fun balancing act on how I do things on a day to day basis to make sure I dont overwork my back and properly cripple myself

its why for example during periods of driving lessons, pretty much all my other projects/hobbies (computers and lightbulbs) ground to a halt, because I simply did not have the spare back capacity for them if that makes sense

(not to mention my Routemaster/London bus hobby that Iv had to give up almost completely years ago entirely, because I just cant get to the events etc)

[Andyrew]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

 but I still do it because of how much fun it is and good it does for me mentally 

And that's the important part and all that matters. 

 I think we can move on from The who should drive what stuff now. 

 

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Y'know, I can't help feeling that @LightBulbFun and @Talbot should meet one day....

[LightBulbFun]

25 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

And that's the important part and all that matters. 

 I think we can move on from The who should drive what stuff now. 

but speaking of what I drive LOL

 I know I have asked this before so my apologies, but time has moved on a bit since then

but you mentioned in the past you might be able to help get some stuff for REV, do you know if you will be going to the up coming FoD Gathering? (apologies if you have said already and I have missed it!)

if so I wonder if its worth asking you to finally grab/bring the stuff 

or maybe just some of it like the H4 halogen head lamps (which via @Zelandeth's posts reminds me do they have a side light? the Model 70 has the side lights integrated into the head lamps, but I understand not all 7 inch setups do)

[Andyrew]

6 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

if so I wonder if its worth asking you to finally grab/bring the stuff 

not a problem. Bang a post up in your thread what you need and I'll see what i can do. 

[Six-cylinder]

Today's rain did not come until after 12 noon and as the mechanic fixing our 1 Ton dumper was due to arrive at noon I was at the field, light rain started soon after he arrived and then coat on amount but to my surprise he carried on in the poring rain while I hid under a large umbrella.

The problem was the idle was too high and the governor sometimes jammed open. Last time he was with us he fitted the recon pump but could not get it to run nicely. Further investigation showed the exhaust had been bashed into the linkage, the linkage was broken and crudely repaired. The Mech reset the linkage and found the slightly kinked exhaust now fouled the re-positioned linkage and a bit of exhaust bending had to be carried out.

The next job was to make it tip as the hydraulic control lever was stuck solid. He stripped, lubricated cleaned and tugged without effect so the prybar lever came out and it all works fine now tipping and folding back.  

So in spite of the rain a very successful day and we now have a fully working 1 Ton dumper that starts on the handle.

[hairnet]

how many choclate biscuits/wispas/lager/calvados for a go in the 2cv please?

 

[beko1987]

I'm more likely to be popping over Saturday. Not sure when or for how long yet as mum wants me to help assemble the roof of a summerhouse thing they've bought... 

I won't have the kids though so that's going to be easier to just swing by and stay as long as wanted! 

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

how many choclate biscuits/wispas/lager/calvados for a go in the 2cv please?

 

He says* it’s fine. Looked fine yesterday. So assuming it is fine price could be a couple of hours grass cutting.

[Six-cylinder]

3 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

He says* it’s fine. Looked fine yesterday. So assuming it is fine price could be a couple of hours grass cutting.

I bet some French farmer has fitting a grass cutter to a 2CV!