The grumpy thread

[retrogeezer]

I was posting that with my tongue firmly in my cheek......it still has to be delivered here by the RM of course and that is part of the reason costs are going up no doubt.

[Cavcraft]

Well said, Mr Imp.

 

Wages, pensions, fuel, running costs etc all go up so obviously stamps and parcel costs will too. The P.O and it's staff (mostly) do a bloody good job and it should be run as a business. Good luck to them I say.

[Negative Creep]

On that note, yet another package I've ordered has failed to arrive. Odd how the letters and anything that isn't shaped like a DVD or game still turns up. Seems more than a coincidence to me and I'm certain it's being stolen somewhere along the line

[M'coli]

If it's letters or large flat envelopes, then it can go through mechanised sorting. DVDs and the like (especially from Amazon) are hand-sorted packets and shouldn't go astray.

[Spiny Norman]

I have very mixed feelings about the RM.

 

One the one hand I've had experience working in a sorting office and a couple of friends have been posties so I know the sort of shit the job sometimes entails and yes, the infrastructure that (usually) enables a letter or package to get from one end of the country to another in a day or two for a quid or so is impressive, but it's a real shame when all that counts for nowt when the end product of all that investment is a lazy, illiterate, thieving fucktard who regularly fails to put the fruits of all that effort through my letter box.

 

Fortunately our complaints seem to have had the desired effect and we now have a really good postie, but I was at the stage of getting important mail sent to a mate's house for a while.

[wuvvum]

I appear to have broken the LNA.

 

I went out in it earlier and managed to completely fuck up a change up from 3rd to 4th - I somehow managed to get the gear lever in between fourth and reverse, where it jammed up solid and I rolled to a halt. Lots of brute force and ignorance later I managed to get the lever unstuck, but it didn't seem interested in going into gear. I pissed about and eventually managed to find second, so nursed it the eight miles home at 40mph. Once I was within pushing distance of home I decided to investigate further and it appears that I have second, fourth and reverse but first and third are unavailable - from the position of the gear lever it appears I've bent either the lever or the linkage so the lever can't physically go far enough forward to engage first or third. Because of the setup in the LNA, with the engine over on its back and the gears in the sump, the linkage is all underneath and not really visible without getting under the car.

 

That's not the only problem though - the 'box is now making an unpleasant rattling whirring sound, which disappears when the clutch is depressed at a standstill but is still there when the car's rolling in gear with the clutch depressed. So it's something within the 'box itself that I've managed to bugger up rather than the clutch.

 

Cuntsticks.

[SambaS]

Slight ball ache without a 4 pillar ramp but you can get to the linkages with it on axel stands... when mine snapped I had 2nd I think and a very loose gear stick...

 

maybe one of the ball joins needs popping back on, you may be lucky

[SambaS]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13300&hilit=samba+thread&start=165

[wuvvum]

I think it's more likely to be something that's bent than popped off - the gear lever is no looser than it was before, it's just in the wrong place. I went back out to it a minute ago and I can just about get third if I hold the lever as far forward as it'll go - won't quite get first though, it just grinds.

 

To be honest I'm more worried about the noise than the linkage. It's not loud enough to suggest imminent gearbox implosion, but it's loud enough to be noticeable when driving and it definitely wasn't there before, which suggests to me that I've broken something inside the box as well as bending something outside.

[SambaS]

you handy with a spanner?

[wuvvum]

Not especially, but I've got a mate with a ramp who will take a look at it for me for a drink - problem is that with the gears being in the sump it's not as simple to do a 'box swap as it would be with a conventional end-on 'box so I might have to try and track down bits to replace whatever it is I've buggered - I'm hoping bits will be available on Frogbay as there's still quite a few 104s buzzing around over there.

 

Either that or track down a 1360cc engine from a 104 ZS / Samba GLS and drop it in - I'm sure the 135x13 tyres will love that...

[panhard65]

Re 104 gearbox I have just sold the 1360 lump out of my spare Renault 14 but the guy who is buying it is using it to replace a 1.1 so he might have his old unit to sell. I can find out for you if you want. I think it is a rather tired engine but might be good for gearbox parts

[wuvvum]

Cheers p65 - I'll see if I can get a diagnosis first as to exactly what is broken - if it is going to need a gearbox rebuild then I'll drop you a pm.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Blimey what a nightmare, hope you can sort it Wuvster. Those gearboxes look like a right tw&t to get involved with, hope its just the linkage.

[fotorabia]

Last friday I had a negative-borderline violent arrgument with my flatmate..i suffer from Post Traumatic Stress...and unbeknown to me I had been triggering for a couple of days..over emotive..been deeply moved by my environment..i moved everything into the Merc at 2am and moved out..at about 9am I parked in the middle of a huge park..but unfortunately i entered in a full blown seizure breakdown and ended up having a convulsive seizure..passing in and out of consciousness for 3 hrs until i was found.It becomes like epilepsy..your either hyperventilating or nor breathing at all and in a full bodily muscular spasm.I had to drive to hospital and admit myself and there it continued for another 2 or 3 hrs regardless to the fact i was sedated enough to control my breathing.On Monday it happened again but this time I admitted myself quicksmart and didnt suffer the seizure altho i was shaking like a leaf for the 7hrs they kept me in for observation...im now under the safe wings of the Kiwii= Mob..the Merc is being stashed to await some restoration...im off work...ive damaged my eyesight and have a speech impediment..but ill be ok..iL get better..im being well looked after.....and for always ive got Shite to read about here...and relax...

[SambaS]

Also this is parts only in Doncaster:

 

http://vehicles.motorhog.co.uk/breaking-vehicles/vehicle-details/talbot/samba/petrol/manual/15482

 

  panhard65 said:

Re 104 gearbox I have just sold the 1360 lump out of my spare Renault 14 but the guy who is buying it is using it to replace a 1.1 so he might have his old unit to sell. I can find out for you if you want. I think it is a rather tired engine but might be good for gearbox parts

 

fotorabia

 

Sorry i'm not skipping your post intentionally I'm just notoriously bad at saying anything when it comes to important stuff.

 

other than, you can achieve an awful lot with a positive attitude, which you seem to have.

 

I don't know an much about PTSD but my Stepdad is a Shiatsu practitioner and he's been hoping to work with ex forces folk as he believes Shiatsu can help as it's deeply relaxing.

 

Hope your well and fit soon

[vulgalour]

I second the well wishes, fotorabia, that does not sound like you're having a happy time of it.

[M'coli]

Get well soon, Rab. We love seeing those sunbleached motors you seem to find.

[trigger]

^ This, get well soon Rab.

[pompei]

Foto - sounds like some terrible burnout - get some rest in the first instance. Hope you feel better before too long

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Hope you recover soon, rab!

[Cavcraft]

All the best, Rab, get well soon fella.

[dollywobbler]

Take it easy Rab - sounds like you're in good hands.

 

Wuv - are you sure you're not just noticing the noisy-neutral now you're paranoid about damage? Not at all unusual for PSA stuff to do that. Both my 2CV and all BXs I've ever owned have some noise in neutral that disappears when the clutch goes down. Does sound like the linkage has gone askew - again, not that unusual (1905cc petrol BXs seem most prone to this - perhaps because people are changing hard when accelerating?)

[Cheggers]

Take care of yourself Rab, you'll come through this...

[wuvvum]

Rab - sounds scary. As others have said, hope you're feeling better soon.

 

Wobbler - don't think so, sadly. The noise is also present when driving in second gear - and I would defo have noticed it had it been there before as when I'm driving an unfamiliar old car halfway up the country I'm always hyper-sensitive to any unusual noises. As I say, it's not loud enough that I think the gearbox is going to implode imminently, but I'd be dubious about undertaking a long-distance trip with it as it is, so in the medium term it's going to need sorting.

[Albert Ross]

SambaS has located a complete Samba in a Doncaster scrapyard, 954cc 1981/2 reg, 19000 miles, for breaking only. It looks to have the mechanicals intact. You might want to try to get him to deal for the bits you need.....

[warren t claim]

R.I.P horror writer James Herbert. Anyone who name checked scabby Austin 1100s and fawn coloured Capris in his books is a hero for me.

[DodgyBastard]

I had just turned off a roundabout when this happened,

 

 

Lower ball joint separated causing the wheel to push up into the arch, damaging it and breaking the plastic trim.

 

 

Those were taken the next day, This is how fucked I was on the night it happened...

 

 

 

 

[Angrydicky]

  Tayne said:

 

*Have I said that right?

I often get into a terrible kerfuffle over such things as both of my shoes are the same colour and my trousers are belted around my waist and not half way down my bottom.

 

[SambaS]

Urrrrrrrr *clattter* beep beep beep (repeat x10) *muffled voices* *LAUGHTER* Urrrrrrrr *bang* beep beep beep - - silence - - Urrrrrrrr *clatter* beep beep beep (repeat x10)