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Father Ted

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6 minutes ago, anonymous user said:

Was Bulgaria one of the places they sent Maestros to and then brought back unsold to become the Apple/Ledbury ones?

They set up a factory in Varna, Bulgaria but only ended up building a couple of thousand Maestros there.

I only ever spotted one the whole time I was there.

IMG_20130623_102820.jpg.c470fc549ec6b80d26a8da0353bd1fc7.jpg

 

The van on the previous page papped by @andy18s  in Praktiker car park is a proper rarity and a great spot.

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14 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

Second day in a row I’ve forgotten to call the garage to book in the 323 for putting new drive belts on to replace the ones it flung off faster than a  hooker’s knickers on the M1.

I’d do it myself but the 14mm bolt at the bottom of the alternator is inaccessible unless I have a very slimline adjusty spanner, which the recovery man had (if only he had a drive belt that fitted too :() plus it’s getting far too cold to be twatting my own knuckles and swearing.

I've got dome of these somewhere, unless I've lost them.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bahco-9031T-8in-200mm-wide-slim-thin-jaw-adjustable-wrench-spanner-BAH9031T/264538224020?epid=2255465083&hash=item3d97b4f594:g:VA0AAOSwWkJY9VIE

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I'm at court today for what is the final time. The ex is still trying to get access to my kids. Her drinking is beyond help now and she regularly rings me pissed at midday. She was drunk at 10 o'clock in the morning at the last hearing. It'll be interesting to see what state she's in today.

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Just fixed the bonnet release on the Passat.  I thought the front suspension was overly complex until I saw the bonnet catch, it has about 25 moving parts.  Managed to get the bonnet open, cleaned and oiled it and it's working fine now.  Clearly, there is no German translation for 'Keep It Simple Stupid'.

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The Ford heated windscreen does come in bloody handy at this time of year. 

Having said that, my old heap of an Elantra isn't too bad at getting going on cold mornings - the blower is reasonably effective and the heater warms up surprisingly quickly for a diesel.  The main problem is that when it's been sub-zero all night, the unheated leather* seat is bloody cold on my arse when I first get in.  So I've forked out a fiver for a single fabric seat cover off eBay which will hopefully take the edge off the chill...

The 75 has a similar problem but at least that has heated seats - if I flick the seat heater on as soon as I start the engine, then by the time I've finished scraping the frost off the windows it's already warming up nicely.  Where the 75 falls down is the half wood steering wheel - that needs gloves when it's cold.

A mate of mine has recently bought a second hand Corsa D (not fully by choice - he is a driving instructor so it's a work tool.  His other cars are a Sandglow MGB GT and a 1969 Mini Cooper S, and his Mrs. drives a Rover 25), and apparently it has both heated seats and a heated steering wheel.  Maybe there is something to this modern car malarkey after all.

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New LH rear caliper fitted to the 406 tonight, as it wasn't working at all (hence the disc corrosion in the pic).  The lower bolt was a sod to crack off, so impact gun to the rescue, but otherwise it was an OK job.

20191204_171250.thumb.jpg.08ea75719502b872e5a4a84c76de790f.jpg

It was 2 degrees by time I finished, so not a particularly comfortable spannering session, but I probably won't have time this weekend.

Also these arrived for the 406 today.  Two new Vredesteins, £37 each from tyreleader, and an 8 month old part worn Goodyear for 20 quid.  The fourth already on the car is fairly new, I didn't check the date stamp,  but there's 6mm left.  A quality* Marshal.  Tread pattern is similar to the Goodyear, so hopefully all should be good there. 

It rides and steers well already, so I'm looking forward to seeing how new boots improves things even further.

20191204_210203.thumb.jpg.dd8e36b27aa5bf68ec81b0ff1d28c216.jpg

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Hello from a New Zealand summer.

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I've been mostly dodging huge landslides today. They're causing havoc, closing routes where there simply is no alternative. When I set off from Cromwell, my route was blocked, but they thankfully cleared it just before I got there. An hour or so after I arrived in Franz Josef, I got wind that the road I'd drive up the coast on had been closed by a huge landslide. Think I got lucky!

Mountain roads are hilarious in the rain in this thing. Open diff and about 270lb.ft of torque mean the traction control has been having a busy day of it. There may have been the odd dab of oppo. I wasn't even spanking it.

Up to about 5000kms in total now, 3000 in this and 2000 in the BX. Six weeks since I landed and still an awful lot to see.

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It was just a formality but it's still a big relief to get it over with. The district judge actually had to tell her to shut up on numerous occasions. I just kept my gov shut and agreed with her (judge) when prompted.
I'm quite learned in all the proccedings now if anyone wants advice on the proccedings or your rights etc.
Anyway, in a nut shell.
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Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

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