Ask a Shiter

[Skizzer]

I don't understand simple design principles![/size]

 

"The 5 is a reduction of the essential themes of the Renault 4, using simple industrial design form language. The surfaces are minimal and the discipline of the radii is consistently applied. The lamps fit neatly into the surrounding surface and the features aligned in an orderly fashion. Despite this formal correctness the car is quite cheerful and friendly"[/size]

 

.[/size]

 

What in the name of sanity does, '[/size]surfaces are minimal and the discipline of the radii is consistently applied' mean?[/size]

And what is the 'formal correctness' I am looking at, but not seeing in the photo above?[/size]

 

Thanks in anticipation.[/size]

Translation attempt: it’s not a horrid mishmash of creases and angles, and the curved corners are all in proportion with each other. But they aren’t so samey that it looks scary.

 

Further summary: it’s a pretty car, in exactly the way a Bangle-era BMW or modern Lexus (etc) isn’t.

[bub2006]

Regards towing van I was legal. A frames are meant to be only for recovery of broken down vehicles and seeing as vectra was bust I guess it's in the interpretation. Many here have used a frames. You will be legal with combined outfit of 3500 kg or less when towing a trailer or caravan. Can't see you getting stopped towing a car on a bar either.

[SiC]

Regards towing van I was legal. A frames are meant to be only for recovery of broken down vehicles and seeing as vectra was bust I guess it's in the interpretation. Many here have used a frames. You will be legal with combined outfit of 3500 kg or less when towing a trailer or caravan. Can't see you getting stopped towing a car on a bar either.

I should be fine with the Civic and the MGB, but the Audi towing something (even for emergency) equivalent sized will be over. E.g. my A4 towing a Passat.

 

Even the A4 towing a classic with a lot of weight capacity.

[Kringle]

How does everyone deal with changing cars and buying various others when insuring them? My insurance company charges a bomb to change anything and what if you keep it for only 3 months? Is there some kind of insurance which insures me with maximum car value/ total mileage and I can just tell them the car I'm using at that time?

Surely those guys who have half a dozen cars don't have separate NCBS for each car insured?

 

I've had a litre of birthday champagne this evening and the silly questions are flowing...

[JeeExEll]

I'm having a large pic made from sharp clear versions of these 3 pics for someone for a present. Anyone know where about the pics were taken?

 

I think it's somewhere really famous and well-known. I might add some more pics taken from the same position.

 

[Kringle]

Spa

[Guest Hooli]

En Rouge is it called? At Spa obviously.

[JeeExEll]

Yowza!!

Excellent. Now I know where to look for more pics.

 

Thanks for that, it's for a birthday pressie for an (almost) 11 year old lad who's mad into motor racing.

Check this out ↓↓.

 

 

[Mally]

OK - I'm reading up on insulation for a camper conversion (two halves of a van together....) - I'm going mental with the different raves about which is best. Can anyone with experience of either fitting or using please throw a bit of actual hands on/living with experience into the mix.

I'm losing it a bit at the moment and am kinda stalled with the purchase until I can make up my bloody mind (bit like my cars I suppose)

 

Cheers

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Camper-Van-insulation-double-foil-20m-L-2-Rolls-Free-Postage/281324372711?hash=item41803d42e7:g:q5YAAOSwJixZzAG0

 

I used this in our Tranny. Bubble wrap with tinfoil both sides.

Then Carpet glued on top. Will add that later if I find it.

Same spray glue for both.

Easy to cut, easy to stick.

Seems warm enough but we don't use it in Winter.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14-sqm-CAMPERVAN-CONVERSION-SOFT-TRIM-STRETCH-CARPET-VAN-LINING-CAR-VW-t5-6-BOAT/282482062571?hash=item41c53e34eb:g:AlcAAOSwHMJYODuy

 

Possibly this carpet, definately this glue, check the different prices. Mind you not sure where you live?

You need quite a lot of carpet, there is wastage.

[Fabergé Greggs]

Sorry if we've been through this, but if I was to buy a motorbike in Spain and ride it home, how do I insure it? What's the legality of riding it home on Foreign on foreign plates both Abroad and in the UK?

[catsinthewelder]

Find an insurer that will insure it on the chassis number,  be prepared to struggle to find recovery and head to a prebooked MOT in the UK if possible.

[Kiltox]

Would a solar battery maintainer actually work in the UK in winter/spring?

 

Van obviously has some kind of parasitic draw and it sits for a couple of weeks at a time not moving.

 

Could just fit a battery isolator and leave it turned off but I see these solar things are quite cheap now

[Guest Hooli]

If it takes a few weeks to go flat then I'd expect them to work, it's not going to need much power to overcome that level of drain.

[panhard65]

Sorry if we've been through this, but if I was to buy a motorbike in Spain and ride it home, how do I insure it? What's the legality of riding it home on Foreign on foreign plates both Abroad and in the UK?

I found that in Spain the car is insured so my Seat was insured on that whilst I was driving it back through Spain. As it was historic they only covered it in Spain. Double check with the seller to make sure it is insured and you should be ok. My breakdown company (Swintons) were fine with the Spanish registered car in France which was really handy. In the UK you can insure on the vin for a short period whilst getting it legal.

[DodgeRover]

Sorry if we've been through this, but if I was to buy a motorbike in Spain and ride it home, how do I insure it? What's the legality of riding it home on Foreign on foreign plates both Abroad and in the UK?

As said but in addition if you get a really shitty police officer over here then it's against the law for a uk licence holder to drive a foreign registered vehicle in the UK, yes there are some exceptions but this wouldn't be one of them.

I got threatened with being charged for this years ago

[steveo3002]

Would a solar battery maintainer actually work in the UK in winter/spring?

 

Van obviously has some kind of parasitic draw and it sits for a couple of weeks at a time not moving.

 

Could just fit a battery isolator and leave it turned off but I see these solar things are quite cheap now

used one on our golf...worked good 

[bunglebus]

Would a solar battery maintainer actually work in the UK in winter/spring?

Just make sure your cig lighter stays live with the ignition off, or find a way to hard wire it with a plug.

[steveo3002]

ran mine direct to battery with a small fuse...then a double pin plug to disconect when using the car

[Kiltox]

Just make sure your cig lighter stays live with the ignition off, or find a way to hard wire it with a plug.

Battery is in the cabin so I can just run it with the supplied leads straight to the battery

[catsinthewelder]

I bought a cheap solar battery maintainer from Aldi,  connected it straight to the battery and came back to a flat battery several months later.  Annoyingly you can only return items instore for a few weeks so I'm waiting for them to send me a postage bag to return it.  Is there a way to test it other than connecting it up and waiting?

[DodgeRover]

Ammeter it's only going to put a few mA in though.

[Kiltox]

Fucking fancy charger I bought from Lidl to charge the battery won’t do anything because it’s only reading 6.9V. Need a proper old school Autoshite battery charger that will zap away at anything

[twosmoke300]

You sure the battery isn't fucked ? Or rear lights left on ?

[cobblers]

Fucking fancy charger I bought from Lidl to charge the battery won’t do anything because it’s only reading 6.9V. Need a proper old school Autoshite battery charger that will zap away at anything

 

If you "jump start" the battery charger and then swap it onto your other battery, that should get you going. it needs to see 9 or 10v on the terminals, so maybe briefly connect it onto a smoke alarm battery. if one's not enough to get it going put two in series (or use 9v + the 6v on your van battery)

 

Once it's going it should charge fine. 6.9v really is absolutely flat as bastard though so it won't have done the battery any favours, there's got to be something amiss with the vehicle for it to be that bad. Has it got a tracker fitted or something?

[Kiltox]

I don’t know. It’s an ex fleet/lease vehicle and has a reverse alarm and speed limiter so a tracker is also possible

 

Do also need to make sure the load bay lights aren’t staying on - the rear doors seem a bit dodgy so maybe

[bramz7]

What does "as stated" mean when used with the price in car advertisements?

 

Ben

I assume (perhaps wrongly) it means FRO offering me any less than this price...

[catsinthewelder]

I wouldn't have thought that a fleet would leave a tracker in a vehicle but if you think they might have then PM me and I'll tell you where to look for it.

[somewhatfoolish]

If you "jump start" the battery charger and then swap it onto your other battery, that should get you going. it needs to see 9 or 10v on the terminals, so maybe briefly connect it onto a smoke alarm battery. if one's not enough to get it going put two in series (or use 9v + the 6v on your van battery)

 

Once it's going it should charge fine. 6.9v really is absolutely flat as bastard though so it won't have done the battery any favours, there's got to be something amiss with the vehicle for it to be that bad. Has it got a tracker fitted or something?

I've got an Aldi superdooper intelligent charger and it's well fussy about minimum voltage; it won't look at properly flat batteries, they need walloping with a dumb charger first to get some charge into them and raise the voltage to somewhere a bit nearer 12v, then swap over to the clever one to finish the job off.

[drum]

Wifey's 10 year old golf has the usual be wheel arch pox on the offside.

 

We'll I thought it was, but after the car wash wallah had given it a rub, the nearside looked like this.

 

Paint flaked off revealing clean metal u derneath. Surface rust only because it rained.

 

Is this a sign of a bad repair job or does vw paint just fall off?

[cobblers]

OE paint doesn't come off like that, somebody has been there before