How much shite is too much shite? Electrical Storm

[Saabnut]

Still not moved the Bentley  

Been a busy week! Went to Sheffield and took the Disco in to the specialists (Hoggs in Sheffield, highly recommended) and left it with them. Next morning they called to say the boost pressure sensor had failed (this was the third item I replaced but with secondhand and the replacement was also faulty, the perils of parts roulette with secondhand parts) and they could not source a replacement as Bosch told them they had been obsolete for many years (they are only fitted to automatic TDIs). Lots of googling later and only one place had them listed - Rimmers in Lincoln. Cost? Just over £550 plus VAT! For a sensor, the robbing barstewards. More phoning around and DLS said they could get me one for £350 plus VAT but would take a week or so. A call to my friend Simon who understands these electrical black magic things and he reckoned a work around could be done.

Next morning he called to say one of his suppliers could supply one (LR Direct) and one was duly ordered. Cost? £43 delivered! Collected Disco still without Turbo assistance and Thursday headed home. Called in near Kelso to collect this (shite photo taken in shite weather today):

 

Very pleased with it and ideal for what I need. Slow remainder of the trip ensued.

Yesterday, I was informed another forum favourite* was up and running again and was almost ready for MOT so could be rejoining the fleet in the next few weeks much to the joy horror of many.

Today I went to visit my MOT man (not the one who has retired but my much stricter friend  ) who has been borrowing one of my fleet for the last couple of weeks. He has been nagging me to sell it to him for over a year, so I agreed reluctantly to sell it to him. He immediately gave me the cash for it in case I changed my mind  so today, this left the fleet

I have had it for nearly 2 years, covered 5000 totally trouble free miles in it and enjoyed them all. I will regret selling it, but I really have too many cars and it will be looked after well. To balance things up a bit, the car I swapped the recently departed Modus for is now ready for collection having had a new belt etc fitted so there will be a new addition later in the week.

[cort1977]

Sorry to see the AX go, I remember following you over the hill in it and it certainly went well.

[Saabnut]

As previously reported, my friend recently bought a new* car for his wife but as she is rather small she struggled with the driving position. She managed fine with my Modus, so a swap was agreed.  Today I was passing so a kollekshun was made, no thread as it was by trailer and only 20 miles away. So what piece of prime shite has replaced the Modus? This:

But wait - It is a posh one (I think)

But this is the important bit

First impressions? It goes well but is absolutely minging. Stinks of dog, a full hazmat suit would probably be a good idea and if I look hard it may have a straight panel.  Overall it is real shite, but will do as a shopping trolley.

[beko1987]

Be a frugal thing to smash around to the shops and back over winter. 

You can't use the disco, it'll dissolve... 

[hairnet]

nae cops in aberdoom run on red and hoon it everywhir

 

[brownnova]

Mrs_b still says her 2.0HDI 307 was the best car she owned... 

Until some knob burnt it out... 

[catsinthewelder]

You need to be more careful with that welder 😂

[Saabnut]

Can't believe it is nearly two months since the last update. I have never done so few miles (unless offshore!) with barely 500 miles covered in the last 2 months, about 100 in the Disco and the rest in the 307. Have to say the little Pug  is better than I expected, fairly comfortable, goes OK and about 45mpgees. Only thing I don't like is it is Boring with a capital B. Sadly this is the most important thing for me, so it will have to go, either a swap for different shite or offload post lockdown. Life is too short to drive boring shite!

I have spent the last three weeks or so tidying* my shed but I soon get distracted. I am making progress but it is slow. (*moving shite from a pile on the floor to a slightly tidier pile on a different piece of floor). The first target is to get to the Saab Sonett that needs the timing setting up after the distributor came loose. We got it roughly correct (enough to start it) at the NEC in March 19 since when it has sat awaiting attention and slowly getting swamped with shite. For the first time in about a year I could actually get to it

And a bit later I had it on my hydraulic wheel skates so I could move it so I could get the bonnet open. A turn of the ignition key resulted in a running fuel pump, but no turning. I put a charger on and left it overnight and this morning, for fun, tried again. It started second try! Tomorrow, I am going to try and set the timing, and more pictures will follow.

On another subject the Cobra is nearing completion and it goes for a half day rolling road session on Friday 12th. Sadly COVID means I cannot attend but really want to know how much (insert Jeremy Clarkson voice) POWER it is producing. My friend has promised pics and videos. It is sad I am looking forward to next Friday more than I did for Christmas.  

[hairnet]

moar sonnett porn please

must visit land of saabnut................

[Saabnut]

35 minutes ago, hairnet said:

moar sonnett porn please

must visit land of saabnut................

More hopefully tomorrow!

You are very welcome to visit anytime, spare room available. Sure we can make it an essential journey as well!  

[hairnet]

hairdressers car would get a nosebleed going that far north :D

 

[hairnet]

Must do this again right enuff

[cort1977]

Well you wont be doing it this weekend, 50cm of snow forecast!

 

[hairnet]

lol

did delph oldham today and theres remnants of snow kicking about road towards ripponden so fairly high and gets quite mfn quite quick

only 2 miles from town centre and it was ok

got to chaps farm and chap said good job you didnt show up yesterday wouldnt have made it - his lane was maybe 300m from the main rd and then 200m up his track - and he runs wagons 😮

 

[hairnet]

three words you say after scotland

in the summer

 

[Bpirie1000]

Cracking fleet buddy.. i am in Inverurie.. decent man cave aswell..

[Saabnut]

Thank you. After the lockdown is over, feel free to visit.

In other news, the ice has melted today and managed to get into my shed today so hopefully work can start again tomorrow. As a bonus I managed to get to the shops today, all be in in low ratio with diff lock in on the drive. Roads are clear though!

[Supernaut]

13 hours ago, Bpirie1000 said:

Cracking fleet buddy.. i am in Inverurie.. decent man cave aswell..

Wahey! Hello from Aberdeen!

 

10 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Thank you. After the lockdown is over, feel free to visit.

In other news, the ice has melted today and managed to get into my shed today so hopefully work can start again tomorrow. As a bonus I managed to get to the shops today, all be in in low ratio with diff lock in on the drive. Roads are clear though!

I'm well versed in the absolute requirement for a 4x4 in rural Aberdeenshire, from my days growing up near Turriff. My parents have always owned something 4WD just in case. I still remember going sideways round a corner in the snow at the tender age of 17 in a series 3 Land Rover... Was only doing about 15mph.

[hairnet]

18 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Thank you. After the lockdown is over, feel free to visit.

In other news, the ice has melted today and managed to get into my shed today so hopefully work can start again tomorrow. As a bonus I managed to get to the shops today, all be in in low ratio with diff lock in on the drive. Roads are clear though!

would rip the piss but cant

not like bimbling about in the 0.02mm we get down here

chap i follow on you tube lives near houston - saw the shit weather they got last week

he has a 3 wheeled ryker thing - he went out on it round his neighbourhood and then to get some bread and milk (his power was out)  - lucky to get 15 mph he came to stops just to demonstrate things and was lucky to get moving again

 

[Saabnut]

Snow has all gone and at long last it has stopped raining! Today was actually pleasant outside, so was a day of footering (one for the locals - general messing). Yesterday evening I drained the Disco cooling system and refilled with finest Aldi diet Cola. Today I drained it and it seemed to remove a load of crud, but the heater is still feeble which was the reason for doing it as per @dollywobbler. I think I now have air trapped so will revisit tomorrow.

Next was to get the Subaru ready for collection, received a fair offer (among the chancers) after advertising it on Gumtree from someone in the borders. Communication has been good and now spoken on the phone so fairly confident he will turn up. Battery charged, one tyre pumped up from soft and it started first turn of the key.

Next, fired up the Saab c900 vert (the one behind the digger) after several months and would have started the other one if I could have found the key.

After that, decided to sort the ramps on my plant trailer. Securing them were nuts and bolts secured with the worst welding I have seen for many years, one had already broken free. A few seconds with the angle grinder and new Aunty Luce (all right antiluce) fittings crossed that off the list.

This evening I put together the history of a Saab Sonett for a Frenchman after a request via the SOC (I am their Sonett Registrar). With some help from @LightBulbFunI think I have it sorted, but decided to test myself and reply in French. I am expecting an email saying WTF did you say soon  

The rest of this evening I have been filling in forms to register as a dating club with DVLA for Ducati Cucciolos which took a while (my friend is the true expert but they needed two names). Will be interesting to see how that goes.

Tomorrow, after the Subaru has been collected, I will either get on with my own Sonett, sort the brakes on the Enima or go shopping as the fridge is empty! Time will tell.

[Saabnut]

Only a partial success today. Spent most of the morning on the phone chasing work, and most of the afternoon waiting for a call that did not materialise! Oh well.

The buyer of the Subaru turned up on time, checked the engine and drove it to his trailer for the return journey back to the borders. The engine is going to replace the rattly one in his hovercraft, the rest of the car will be broken for parts. Shame in some ways as the bodywork was good, but very little interest in a car needing a clutch. Still, I have a tiny bit more space, so tomorrow it will be some decent photos of the next one for sale after a trip to restock the fridge.

[LightBulbFun]

On 16/03/2021 at 19:03, Saabnut said:

Only a partial success today. Spent most of the morning on the phone chasing work, and most of the afternoon waiting for a call that did not materialise! Oh well.

The buyer of the Subaru turned up on time, checked the engine and drove it to his trailer for the return journey back to the borders. The engine is going to replace the rattly one in his hovercraft, the rest of the car will be broken for parts. Shame in some ways as the bodywork was good, but very little interest in a car needing a clutch. Still, I have a tiny bit more space, so tomorrow it will be some decent photos of the next one for sale after a trip to restock the fridge.

I find that rather fitting, as dont know if I actually managed to get the Question out, but during one of the recent Autoshite Zoom calls I was wondering what the road legality aspects of a hover craft are

especially the smaller more personal ones that would actually fit on a public road LOL

I have to wonder what vehicle class are they fall under, and as such just what the legality aspect would be LOL

 

I know the larger ones are generally considered nautical vehicles and fall under the same stuff as boats, but theres no rules AFAIK? that say you cant drive your "boat" on the road 

for example while the Motorway regulations specifically say your not allowed to take your Locomotive onto one, it says nothing about boats...

[cort1977]

Wouldn't the skirt be destroyed pretty quickly on the road?  I love hovercraft even though (or perhaps because) they are noisy, thirsty and a bit shit really.

[Saabnut]

Hovercraft are a separate class. Not road legal in any size or configuration. They will not pass an IVA  

[Cord Fourteener]

26 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

I find that rather fitting, as dont know if I actually managed to get the Question out, but during one of the recent Autoshite Zoom calls I was wondering what the road legality aspects of a hover craft are

especially the smaller more personal ones that would actually fit on a public road LOL

I have to wonder what vehicle class are they fall under, and as such just what the legality aspect would be LOL

 

 I know the larger ones are generally considered nautical vehicles and fall under the same stuff as boats, but theres no rules AFAIK? that say you cant drive your "boat" on the road 

for example while the Motorway regulations specifically say your not allowed to take your Locomotive onto one, it says nothing about boats...

Lol.

My guess, as it has no ability to steer along the road in a manner that is not literally drifting, you'd soon get stopped and have the book thrown at you, if you made it past the first corner without crashing.

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

Hovercraft are a separate class. Not road legal in any size or configuration. They will not pass an IVA  

but any vehicle over 10 years old does not need IVA or type approval... 

just get a hovercraft historian to write you a dating letter, fill in a V55/5 and bobs your uncle?

"WHEEL-PLAN: NONE"

[Mr Pastry]

39 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

I know the larger ones are generally considered nautical vehicles and fall under the same stuff as boats,

Not sure about that.  The cross Channel and Solent hovercraft were registered as aircraft - G-ABCD style, and I think the trips were referred to as "flights" rather than "sailings."   I may have remembered that wrongly, it's a long time ago.  Hovering is flying, innit?

[LightBulbFun]

Just now, Mr Pastry said:

Not sure about that.  The cross Channel and Solent hovercraft were registered as aircraft - G-ABCD style, and I think the trips were referred to as "flights" rather than "sailings."   I may have remembered that wrongly, it's a long time ago.  Hovering is flying, innit?

Reminds me of this LOL 

31:27 in if the time stamp link fails

[somewhatfoolish]

20 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

Not sure about that.  The cross Channel and Solent hovercraft were registered as aircraft - G-ABCD style, and I think the trips were referred to as "flights" rather than "sailings."   I may have remembered that wrongly, it's a long time ago.  Hovering is flying, innit?

There was a bit of a demarcation bunfight between the CAA and the Board of Trade over who would have the job of governing hovercraft, it didn't really get sorted out properly as neither really wanted the job; these days they get lumped in with other kinds of floaty things under the umbrella term High Speed Craft and are the responsibility of the MCA.

[New POD]

20 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

Not sure about that.  The cross Channel and Solent hovercraft were registered as aircraft - G-ABCD style, and I think the trips were referred to as "flights" rather than "sailings."   I may have remembered that wrongly, it's a long time ago.  Hovering is flying, innit?

The drivers were called pilots.