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On 1/20/2021 at 4:24 PM, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Dropped my K11 off for it's MOT tomorrow, seemed prudent given the snow due this evening and rest of the week where I live.   Expecting the drivers sill to need to meet the welding stick.

Wait, if it snows you can't park within 50 Miles of where you live. Those streets are crazy.

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2 hours ago, davehedgehog31 said:

Had the Focus in for front alignment and wheel balance yesterday. Was pre-booked for 8:30am, took them 6 hours.... just as well the garage was close to home. 

Anyway, to his credit the guy did spot one of the front pads had delaminated, so I had an afternoon of tinkering planned. 

Still wasn't happy with the holed and generally shagged drivers seat so decided to try another scrappy. Abbey Breakers in Paisley. Came away with a seat for £20 which I was very happy with. It's currently in the flat drying out....

A fine scene;

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Good selection;

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Was back home to start on the brakes. Gubbed pad;

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A video presentation of a Scotch Gear Top Tip;
 

 

Was only doing pads and a general clean up of brakes, discs seemed decent enough yet. Noticed coolant just below minimum line, so thought I'd top up. Well fuck.....

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That centre piece isn't threaded so couldn't run it back out. Tried to lever it out, but it was crap plastic so it just ended up mangled. Last minute order from ECP of a new expansion tank for £17 saved the day. 

Fitting was easy, it sits on some tabs that hold it in place, then it's just three hoses to unclip, then reassemble. 

IMG_20210121_181648.thumb.jpg.7c7b84b5521696493e8eb2cd9ee035c9.jpg

 

Blimey, I’m pretty sure the high top extension on those LDV 400s is fibreglass. 

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The van is still the only operational vehicle on fleet, whilst I rekindle my mojo to sort out the others.

620 - I was hoping the ignition fault was just a dodgy relay, so swapped that out. No dice. I do have a replacement ignition switch but it means getting upside down under the dash, and room is tight because the 620 is parked right up next to the MOT-less Accord. So why not just move the Accord you say ?

Well, I aimed to do just that. Fired it up, dreadful squealing, smoke from under the bonnet, battery light on. Yup, alternator goosed, I suspect the pulley must have seized, and now the belt is fucked too. So that ain't going anywhere. Well it is, actually. Car Takeback will give me £250 for it, even with it not starting (must be the cat that bumps the value), so there's only one way that car is going now, sadly. Shame, but I can't be doing with throwing money at a car which is likely to fail it's next MOT spectacularly in any case. Given I have a set of Team Dynamic wheels in the council garage which came off the Accord and seeing as these seem to go for silly money on the Bay, I should get close to recouping my £450 outlay on the car 18 months or so back, once I can be arsed to give the wheels a good hard clean.

420 - still done nothing with it. Just want to check a few things before sticking it in for its MOT.

Streetwise - need to source a replacement K-series alternator - they seem to go for reasonable money second hand, so shouldn't be an issue. Just finding the time around the day job to do the work.

 

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This has moved for the first time since end of October, a few 1/4 mile trips for firewood.

Started instantly, brakes still free, bone dry inside, all working perfectly.  Moderns are amazing!

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I now have rear gingercators! Thanks to @vulgalour for suggesting the Tamiya paint. It has worked perfectly. 

Reversing lights are also orange with LED (Gu10 lamps) driven via diodes in parallel with the indicators for extra visibility.

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22 hours ago, davehedgehog31 said:



A fine scene;

IMG_20210121_110222.thumb.jpg.54fb4883bf893fc868049a59bf563d8e.jpg

 

 

 

19 hours ago, HMC said:

Blimey, I’m pretty sure the high top extension on those LDV 400s is fibreglass. 

They are indeed. That was the first thing I thought when I saw that. It's holding up well isn't it.

In the very old days we (postmen) used to travel in the back of those with no windows or interior trim of any description, just a tip up bench seat running down each side and lots of nice sharp spot welded seams. You really could see how they were made. The top of the fibreglass top was opaque to let a bit of light in, in fact I thing it was all opaque but the rest was painted red. There would be six or seven of us perched on these seats, being dropped out to our deliveries along with the drivers packets on the floor in between us (obviously not as many as we get now, it was more letter based). That was probably over twenty years ago though. I don't know if anybody actually died in the back of them but it is strictly forbidden now unless it has the extra row of forward facing seats with seat belts. So of course I have never* travelled in the back of an unseated van since. 

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6 hours ago, Yoss said:

In the very old days we (postmen) used to travel in the back of those 

It's still legal to ride in the back of a pickup truck here, sat in the cargo bed- so long as you are sat on the floor and not the wheel arch or side of the bed.

It is not a requirement to have a tailgate either when carrying pax in the back, only recommended.

Sitting on a flatbed is disallowed, however.

Phil

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When I had a summer job in North Carolina back in 1999, I was the only one who was allowed to drive the boss's Dodge Ram pickup (because I'd lived in France and was therefore used to driving on the wrong side of the road).  On 4th July I drove the whole house (about 12 of us if memory serves) into town to see the fireworks - three in the cab and 9 in the bed - I thought I was bound to get moaned at by the local constabulary but they didn't bat an eyelid.

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Whilst the Fiesta got it's Mot after work on Thursday, I spent a bit of time making this little lady watertight;

IMG_20210121_184441.thumb.jpg.a735425fcea54ebacdc99dac335a3a29.jpgIMG_20210121_184435.thumb.jpg.885c9d8aa4600f04bb3eb523c46a469b.jpg

The elderly owner lived close to the garage and had an 'incident' last year whereby the RH mirror got hit against a passing tractor and as a result smashed the side window. 

We ordered the parts in but by the time they arrived from Hyundai, she had decided to stop driving. 

 

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This weekend the boss will be having a look underneath to see if it will pass another mot, and then it will be up for sale/ roffle to find it a new home. 

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^^ Okay, I can't quite top that but in an even earlier life I was working at a meat factory in Chandlers Ford. I'd been there a while doing various jobs when I got a transfer to nights which was cleaning out all the machines with a pressure washer. Started at 8pm which was fine as I could get the bus in, Hampshire Bus VR or ex London DMS, but we finished about 2 AM. A fellow night worker had a VW T2 pick up. This was pre VW scene tax or contrived rat look, it was just an old van. He already gave somebody a lift home so the front was full but I was welcome to hop in the back. I was only doing it for a few months before I went back on days but the novelty never wore off. Sitting in the back of a pick up at 2 AM was always fun. The option was an hours walk (it was before I had passed my test) which might have helped. 

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19 hours ago, Asimo said:

I now have rear gingercators! Thanks to @vulgalour for suggesting the Tamiya paint. It has worked perfectly. 

 

Well done on getting it going, please could you pass on the paint tip as I was at the point of taping Quality Street wrappers to the back of the Sherpa as it's Chinesium LED rear lights have faded to clear on the indicators.

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2 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

Well done on getting it going, please could you pass on the paint tip as I was at the point of taping Quality Street wrappers to the back of the Sherpa as it's Chinesium LED rear lights have faded to clear on the indicators.

This is the stuff, from model shops or eBay. It adheres really well to the polycarbonate lenses.  I sprayed the lenses inside and outside until they looked right, about 4 coats in all.

A83CDECC-511C-4473-9381-F62ED65CDB18.thumb.jpeg.2c2ff1f3c3ff963d6f17fa55b5a081d8.jpeg

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