Ask a Shiter

[meggersdog]

You need to know the thread pitch but if you have one of these http://www.toolandfix.com/fixings-and-fasteners/bolts.html near you they are quite helpful.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Heres a good ‘stupid’ question. Is there an easy way I can charge up a second battery while I’m driving about? By easy I mean something like sling it in the passenger footwell and connect it to the cigarette lighter somehow so it can charge up a bit while I drive to work.

[Cavcraft]

It works on caravans and some Transits had two batteries. I don't know how they did it though so I'm going to suggest a series of kids windmills from Blackpool stuck to the roof (using Bluetak of course) from which various lengths of stolen copper cabling are crudely attached to the battery which is loose on the passenger seat and pissing out battery acid.

If that doesn't work then a council house front door painted black and nailed to your roof will make an ideal* solar panel.

[cort16]

I guess a cigarette adaptor you get for charging mobile phones and some cobbled on crocodile clips or mole grips would do it as it's all 12v. I don't know the kind of ampage you get through the lighter socket but my little plug in battery charger is just 3amps (it must be similiar) but it does take a while to juice them up. It is possible this might cause some catastrophic electrical melt down though as you'd also be feeding power from the battery back into the system via the cigarette lighter as that's how those cigarette lighter trickle chargers work. All in all I've no idea.

 

Alternatively drag along a collection of jumpers made from man made fibre behind the car then use the massive amounts of static electricity generated to charge the battery or make a cats hair stand up on end to entertain yourself and just forget about the battery.

[Albert Ross]

sure as shit did not put that there :/

Someone has traced back the code of the pic, to see if it is being used without their permission, and changed the image at that address (In a vain attempt to prevent their bandwidth being stolen), or, you HAVE put it there because you is a perv. Restecp.

[Novanick1]

one stupid question, why isn't it showing my rank anymore and why are there 2 stars under my profile picture.

[catsinthewelder]

Mr B

 

Us sad VW types use 'split charge relays' to charge up the leisure (camping stuff) batterys in the vans.

 

I've had a quick google and found this http://diywaterfedpole.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13439&sid=27c05e974185a76eeea68e27a6871a79

 

You can buy proper kits but essentially it's just a relay, a couple of fuses and some wire so you've probably got the bits sat in the garage.

 

At 30A I'm not sure that I'd want to use the lighter socket.

[hairymel]

 Is there an easy way I can charge up a second battery while I’m driving about? By easy I mean something like sling it in the passenger footwell and connect it to the cigarette lighter somehow so it can charge up a bit while I drive to work.

 

thanks for filling a bit my of spare time

 

all sorts of issues having 2 batteries some of which i don't fully understand

 

I have fitted split charge 2 battery systems before but i think it will be too much of a faff/expense if you are after a quick and dirty solution

 

fag lighter to fag lighter jump leads might be your best option

 

£7 for this one (clicky)

 

 

or this one which look a bit more substantial @ £9

 

 

 

either  chop off the end that normally goes on the car to be jump started and replace with croc clips

 

or make an adapter of cig socket - croc clips to plug into

 

i would hope the boxes on these things have the required circuitry to stop all bad stuff happening

 

let me know how you  get on

 

 

edit/ split charge relays look a real pain in the ass to wire in, i used smart voltage sensing relays on my installs which only needed a battery feed edit/

[Jim Bell]

Does anyone know if pre-1990 Rover 213s (Honda Ballade) share suspension parts with any later cars?

Shock and springs are the key item of interest.

[The Moog]

Would I be stupid for thinking about bidding on this? Been thinking about getting a camper when we get back to Uk but are these horrendous?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151062891835?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Hertz]

Ready for the most stupid question ever..?

 

Always wondered what would actually happen if you put your motor into reverse at say 50mph? Would it just eat the gearbox/clutch and break in a spectacular fashion?

 

Has anyone done it by mistake or on purpose?

[Junkman]

I once did it on purpose, because nobody is daft enough to do it by mistake.

 

It was a hired Peugeot 505 Break with five adult* automotive engineers aboard (in childishness roughly the equivalent of 17 pre-schools).

Cruising along the Autoroute at 140 odd clicks, the discussion ensued what would happen if someone shifted into reverse at that speed.

Three of them said it'd cause something spectacular, the other two said nothing, it's impossible, because they put a lock-out in to prevent total fuckwits from doing so.

Hence I depressed the clutch, shifted it into reverse (made some funny noises, but worked a treat) and let the clutch out. What followed was a sound not heard since the eruption of the Krakatoa, the interior instantly filling up with smoke, the car decelerating more rapidly than if you'd released an anchor, and a trail of metal debris and oil until the car was finally stationary after 200 odd yards.

 

Was kind of funny explaining this to the French equivalent of the AA, what with not speaking properly French and so.

"Peut-etre something avec la boite des vitesses, no?"

[Mr Lobster]

Similarly, whilst driving a 7.5t'er upto Glasgow some years back, my mind wondered what would happen if I applied the air powered handbrake whilst powering along at 56. Was there something that would stop me doing it or would I lock the back wheels, crash and turn into a rolling fireball before finally taking out Tebay services?

[Hendry]

^^^ I remember once being told by my driving instructor that if ever I wasn't paying attention and was in danger of running into the back of someone as a result or if someone pulled an emergency stop infront of me and I couldn't stop in time then put the car in reverse because although I'd wreck my gearbox it'd avoid an accident, I thought "nah fuck that, if I crash my insurance will cover the repair cost and fix the car or write it off and pay me out, if I wreck the gearbox ill need to pay upwards of a grand out of my own pocket that ill likely not be able to afford"

[Cavcraft]

Would I be stupid for thinking about bidding on this? Been thinking about getting a camper when we get back to Uk but are these horrendous?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151062891835?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

 

 

I bet that's crispier than several walkers factories. Only really fit for export imho, it looks shagged.  

[Junkman]

Shifting a car with a proper gearbox into 'P' while at full flight forward is much less exciting, really.

[Junkman]

Would I be stupid for thinking about bidding on this? Been thinking about getting a camper when we get back to Uk but are these horrendous?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151062891835?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

 

It's marginally less daft than buying the example with the missing sump plug, but not by much.

[messerschmitt owner]

I bet that's crispier than several walkers factories. Only really fit for export imho, it looks shagged.  

I'm going to look at it as it's in my village! It does look crispy - the doors and side steps always go in these and certainly the passenger side door is showing evidence of frilliness. Interesting to see what the box on the back is like - they're aleady hinting at a little damp - damp and wood frames, what can go wrong?

 

Engines are good though - I always liked mine and this does have the advantage of only having a cab that rusts.

[SambaS]

I definitely saw an indicated 130mph from my 1.4 MG ZR :/

[Cavcraft]

I definitely saw an indicator on the A130 from my 1.4 MG ZR

 

More likely.

[Bucketeer]

whilst driving a 7.5t'er upto Glasgow some years back, my mind wondered what would happen if I applied the air powered handbrake whilst powering along at 56.

 

Had this exact same thought a couple of years back driving an old Pickfords 7.5er, temptation was too great. Suffice to say the brakes did engage and the customer ended up with many more pieces of furniture than they started with.

[The Moog]

strangely my gf has accepted this as a project. Apparently vetoing an XM and other aasorted shite has been forgotten..fuck knows why..

 

 

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Wilko220]

Re Mr Lobster and Bucketeer...

 

I have my own similar experience. As a schoolboy I was passenger on a coach (a Plaxton Panorama with Ford running gear) when it's brakes failed on a dual carriageway. As we careered out of control, like something out of "Speed", the old boy driver (eventually) resorted to applying the air powered handbrake, causing us to power slide into the wide, wooded central reservation, at one point appearing to go up on two wheels, before taking a tree through one half of the windscreen. Miraculously, no-one was badly injured - not even the driver or the bunch of lads (including me) who had been standing at the front chatting to him.

After we'd all calmed down, it all seemed quite cool...

[dollywobbler]

^^^ I remember once being told by my driving instructor that if ever I wasn't paying attention and was in danger of running into the back of someone as a result or if someone pulled an emergency stop infront of me and I couldn't stop in time then put the car in reverse because although I'd wreck my gearbox it'd avoid an accident, I thought "nah fuck that, if I crash my insurance will cover the repair cost and fix the car or write it off and pay me out, if I wreck the gearbox ill need to pay upwards of a grand out of my own pocket that ill likely not be able to afford"

 

That sounds worryingly inaccurate, especially coming from a driving instructor! By the time you've faffed about trying to destroy your gearbox, you'll be in whatever it was you were trying to avoid. I must admit to once taking an MGB GT V8 from first to second. What a stupid place for second gear! The crunching told me to stop aiming that way and nothing further amiss occurred. Did similar in a VW LT once, which also has reverse in a stupid place.

 

I have been in a Vauxhall Astra Mk3 Merit 1.4 auto when the passenger thought it'd be funny to slam it into first. We were doing almost 40mph at the time. We certainly slowed down pretty quickly! Must have been terrifying for the car behind.

[Wilko220]

I remember driving an old rear-engined VW Transporter, which had Reverse where you would expect 1st gear, and 1st where you would expect 2nd. Ridiculous.

[barefoot]

My elderly mother, you know the sort of thing, short grey and irritating gave up driving a couple of years ago.

I think it was three. Now the old fool wants to start again.

I suspect that her ncd will have gone by the by.

Her car, a 206 was given to her niece who has run it intermittantly and insured it constantly since.

Adding a senile granny is apparently obscenely expensive, but the old girl asks if she can take out her own policy on the car.

So, two drivers, two insurance policies and one car.

Is it possible?

Or should I just tell her to buy and old Volvo and go do her worst?

[Spiny Norman]

Pretty sure insurance companies don't like two separate policies on one car.

[dollywobbler]

Correct. Would be better for niece to add aunty as a named driver. Surprised it's that expensive to be honest.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I can imagine the 'risk level' associated to a mad old bat who's already decided to hang up her driving gloves once must be pretty high mind you. If I was an insurance company i'd be looking for a way not to get involved, put it that way

[Cavcraft]

I remember driving an old rear-engined VW Transporter, which had Reverse where you would expect 1st gear, and 1st where you would expect 2nd. Ridiculous.

 

I once bought a 1959 100E* Anglia. 'You mind out, said the seller, reverse is where first is'. Yeah, yeah, I'll be ok. One mile down the road I missed the front of a double decker bus by a whisker as guess which gear I selected instead of first?

 

*That car also had the enormous benefit* of vacuum operated wipers. If you went slowly in the rain you couldn't see a thing, so had to speed up so the wipers got quicker. On wet roads with crossply tyres that was always something of an adventure.