The new news 24 thread

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

I was gutted to find out the moulded ‘board’ behind the fabric was actually cardboard - I was hoping that it was something a bit tougher that I could just glue new fabric to.

It was tempting to leave it, but the proton will be sold once finished so I want it to be as good as possible for the next owner.

If you find it still struggles to hold a shape, abrade the surface a bit then apply a skim of resin over it.  I did a very resin heavy fibreglass skim over a headliner board from my Merc S123 which had sagged, pretty much in a "well I can't make it worse..." Approach.  Worked perfectly and was really strong, didn't seem to have added much weight either.

[comfortablynumb]

9 hours ago, Stanky said:

Best use I've seen yet for The Tibetan Book of the Dead. I got given a copy and found that it completely redefined 'heavy going' 

It just seemed utterly impenetrable, I must have tried six or seven times to get into it, but without success. Eventually I donated it to a charity shop.

Well done for finding a better use of it than I ever could!

I've found that with 'Catch22', and the historical book about the St Nazaire raid. Both seem to use 400 words where 10 would do, and with the St Nazaire book, the author seems to spend as much time as possible trying to impress on you how much cleverer than the reader he is .

Shame, because the entire event fascinates me.

Clarkson did it MUCH better.

Edited March 4 by comfortablynumb
Spelllllling

[Split_Pin]

I was put off reading books for life at school.

In 5th year,  I chose 'Laidlaw' by William McIlvanney and I enjoyed it because it was a bit like Taggart.

So, In 6th Year Studies (CSYS) I picked another 2 of his books 'The Papers of Tony Veitch' and 'The Big Man' to study and as above, he uses about 400 flowery words to describe someone walking through a door. Really hard going. But that was just the start.

The prescriptive texts were 3 Thomas Hardy Stories, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge. It was like wading through glue.

The only thing which lightened my mood was that I thought the image of The Mayor on the front cover looked like Jeremy Clarkson and so it was for the entire story

 

[lesapandre]

A lot of classic texts taught in schools are not really that engaging - and do give those learning a funny idea of literature - and indeed put them off.

Hardy has his place - but the stories are not really relevant to today. 

[lesapandre]

2 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

I've found that with 'Catch22', and the historical book about the St Nazaire raid. Both seem to use 400 words where 10 would do, and with the St Nazaire book, the author seems to spend as much time as possible trying to impress on you how much cleverer than the reader he is .

Shame, because the entire event fascinates me.

Clarkson did it MUCH better.

Again a lot of military history books are badly researched and badly written. They just use the subject as a hook to draw purchasers in.

Some very well written stuff too.

But many of the poorer books don't use primary sources for material and just recycle already published material with a lot of padding out.

[Split_Pin]

Yas! Airbag light stayed off on the 75. Jist waiting on the lower arms and handbrake and then we should be oan fur a Pass!

[vulgalour]

On 03/03/2025 at 13:30, vulgalour said:

Brimmed the fuel tank on the Renault yesterday and did think I'd overfilled it just a bit.  The filler neck seems to be a bit of a funny shape, it took a few attempts before I got the nozzle angled just right so it didn't keep cutting off every time I got £1 fed into it.  Today I came out to the van doing the same trick as the Princess when it is brimmed.  The drive here slopes to one side and the van was parked with the filler neck side on the lower edge of the slope, fuel was leaking from somewhere between the filler cap and the top of the fuel tank, not a lot, about the same as the Princess does and in pretty much exactly the same conditions.

Once the van was on level ground the leak stopped.  I'm not sure there's much in the way of baffles in the fuel tank, the fuel gauge wanders all over the place when you go around corners and when you get to about half a tank of fuel you can go around a corner and put the low fuel light on.  You can also watch the needle go up and down in relation to the camber and bumps on a road.

Note to self: don't brim the tank on either car unless it's immediately before a very long drive when you're going to use up a good amount of fuel.

Update on this: the leak has completely stopped, I am no longer any more of a hazard than my usual baseline.

[comfortablynumb]

2 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Again a lot of military history books are badly researched and badly written. They just use the subject as a hook to draw purchasers in.

I think that's what annoyed me as much as anything, the author had clearly done his research on the military operation, and had a seemingly good insight into the working of it.

Like @Split_Pin says, it was like wading through glue.

I appreciate that a TV history programme is, and should be, more lightweight than a proper written record, but there's a happy medium 

[wuvvum]

[comfortablynumb]

Should add @wuvvum, not congrats on the write-off, just on actually getting it back!

[Popsicle]

The Pisshat is still on my drive, I've extended the temporary insurance till Friday, a deal has been struck, he wanted £2.5k, I offered £1.5k, so we agreed on £2k, a bit more than I really wanted to spend, but the seller does owe me a few hundred for some stuff I did for him so that will be taken off.

So as its now mine, time to start slowly sorting it out.

The cavernous boot looks like this.

Unfortunately underneath the liner looked like this.

Everythings* there apart from the most important thing, a spare wheel and a pumperuperrer.

Fortunately FB marketplace came up with a matching 'Minneapolis' wheel, with decent tyre, locally for £45.

Fits like a charm and all buttoned up nice and tidy.

Time for me to go to Screwfix for some more lithium grease and have another play with the sticky roof.

 

[Bear]

Distracted by the RX-7 all morning, jacked it up and took the back wheels off, brushed everything off, WD40d any bolts I think I might need to look at, freed off the handbrake, visually checked the flexi hoses, and... I have a feeling that after the thermostat is delivered, the coolant flushed,  and I've put the new oil and filter in, then reassembled the intakes and stuff... it might be close to functional.

[Split_Pin]

I kept saying in my head "He should definitely buy that Passat"

Glad you did!

[PhilA]

On 03/03/2025 at 05:43, hairnet said:

interesting color

that splitter

has the boss beasted it on i10 yet

 

F8 green, 1968 color. I like it. 

Splitter is functional. Stops the front end lifting at speed.

Hasn't really gone too far yet. I haven't even given it all the beans.   

 

Phil

[artdjones]

5 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

The prescriptive texts were 3 Thomas Hardy Stories, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge. It was like wading through glue.

Did they feel that the teenage suicide rate wasn't high enough that year? The only way they could have made it gloomier for you was to substitute Jude the Obscure for Far From the Madding Crowd.

At least Far From the Madding Crowd has an ending looking forward to possible better times ahead, albeit after the main characters have been put through the wringer for years. Most of Hardy's other novels make one feel like reaching for the rat poison.

[Split_Pin]

3 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Did they feel that the teenage suicide rate wasn't high enough that year? The only way they could have made it gloomier for you was to substitute Jude the Obscure for Far From the Madding Crowd.

At least Far From the Madding Crowd has an ending looking forward to possible better times ahead, albeit after the main characters have been put through the wringer for years. Most of Hardy's other novels make one feel like reaching for the rat poison.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles was fucking tragic like. I can't remember any more than that thankfully.

[artdjones]

22 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles was fucking tragic like. I can't remember any more than that thankfully.

Basically Tess gets raped and has a baby which dies. Later, she marries a man called Angel Clare without telling him about what's happened. On their wedding night he confesses to some pre marital fornicating. In return, she tells him about what happened to her. He is appalled, dumps her and goes to Brazil.

Her rapist continues to pursue her. In the meantime, out in Brazil, her husband repents and decides to return. Unfortunately she tells him it's too late. Later, she stabs her rapist, who bleeds out through the living room ceiling. She goes to her husband, confesses to murder, they reconcile, and rush off into the woods for 5 days of wedded bliss. On the fifth day they wake up to find themselves surrounded by the police. She is captured, and gets hung.

It makes East Enders look tame.

[Split_Pin]

3 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Basically Tess gets raped and has a baby which dies. Later, she marries a man called Angel Clare without telling him about what's happened. On their wedding night he confessed to some pre marital fornicating. In return, she tells him about what happened to her. He is appalled, dumps her and goes to Brazil.

Her rapist continues to pursue her. In the meantime, out in Brazil, her husband repents and decides to return. Unfortunately she tells him it's too late. Later, she stabs her rapist, who bleeds out through the living room ceiling. She goes to her husband, confesses to murder, they reconcile, and rush off into the woods for 5 days of wedded bliss. On the fifth day they wake up to find themselves surrounded by the police. She is captured, and gets hung.

It makes East Enders look tame.

I knew there was a reason I'd mentally blocked that book out.

[Popsicle]

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I kept saying in my head "He should definitely buy that Passat"

Glad you did!

Cheers mate - I did um and ah a bit. I really don't need it, but I do quite like it.

Yesterday Mrs P asked if I was having it, I said depends on the price, her exact reply was 'you're a fucking twat if you don't buy it, I much prefer being chauffeured around in that than your bloody van', she has a wonderful way with words! That kind of helped to stop my procrastinating.

[brownnova]

7 hours ago, lesapandre said:

A lot of classic texts taught in schools are not really that engaging - and do give those learning a funny idea of literature - and indeed put them off.

Hardy has his place - but the stories are not really relevant to today. 

As a teacher of those texts… agreed! This is the last year we’re teaching Of Mice and Men in Wales. A better list of books has been provided with the new GCSE spec with more contemporary authors. We’re looking at a book by Maya Angelou next year. Should be better we hope! 

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles was fucking tragic like. I can't remember any more than that thankfully.

I can only really recall the film… and that’s mainly because it has Gemma Arteton in it. 

[richardmorris]

23 minutes ago, brownnova said:

As a teacher of those texts… agreed! This is the last year we’re teaching Of Mice and Men in Wales. A better list of books has been provided with the new GCSE spec with more contemporary authors. We’re looking at a book by Maya Angelou next year. Should be better we hope! 

I can only really recall the film… and that’s mainly because it has Gemma Arteton in it. 

This is an excellent book. 

[stuboy]

The oldest came back from Hamsterdan today and sent me this... enjoy

[crad]

all the talk about books earlier allows me to plug the humble public library... at least then if you don't like the book you just give it back and nobody loses anything!

[Split_Pin]

The 75

"I'M BACK BABY!!"

 

[Rust Collector]

My efforts with PVA glue have mostly paid off

It’s not perfect, but it’s all one piece now and should look tidier once back in the car and pinned in place with trim.

Any recommendations for a cleaner that I can use on the fabric? I imagine it won’t stand up to anything that gets it particularly damp, but I’d like to try and reduce the water staining on it.

[richardmorris]

4 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

My efforts with PVA glue have mostly paid off

It’s not perfect, but it’s all one piece now and should look tidier once back in the car and pinned in place with trim.

Any recommendations for a cleaner that I can use on the fabric? I imagine it won’t stand up to anything that gets it particularly damp, but I’d like to try and reduce the water staining on it.

I’ve always used autoglym interior shampoo. Spray and wipe off. https://www.autoglym.com/cis500-interior-shampoo.html

[Rust Collector]

10 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I’ve always used autoglym interior shampoo. Spray and wipe off. https://www.autoglym.com/cis500-interior-shampoo.html

I’m pretty sure I’ve got some of that in the garage. Will have a bash this eve to see if a light misting and a wipe with a cloth will make a difference.

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I’m pretty sure I’ve got some of that in the garage. Will have a bash this eve to see if a light misting and a wipe with a cloth will make a difference.

Alternatively there’s the Mike brewer rejuvenation method- paint spray it grey!

[Rust Collector]

2 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Alternatively there’s the Mike brewer rejuvenation method- paint spray it grey!

Don’t tempt me. I’ve already had thoughts of if there are spray-on dyes.

[richardmorris]

5 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Don’t tempt me. I’ve already had thoughts of if there are spray-on dyes.

Of course there are…

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AlezyB-Flexible-Leather-Textile-Clothes/dp/B0CZ77KH59/ref=asc_df_B0CZ77KH59?mcid=d92fb088c0fb3d19b6a2b7e103fccfdd&hvocijid=5246893427588461776-B0CZ77KH59-&hvexpln=74&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5246893427588461776&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9215033&hvtargid=pla-2281435177418&psc=1&gad_source=1