The grumpy thread

[High Jetter]

Just now, mitsisigma01 said:

Drop her at the party , go out lazy car spotting, go for fish n chips on the beach or the cinema or anywhere more interesting than a crap party you don't want to be at , then kip in the car til she's ready to go . Result

I'm guessing you're not married? 

[mitsisigma01]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

I'm guessing you're not married? 

Doesn't make any difference, a piece of paper... Their usually miserable b...... if you go with them or not . 

[RoverFolkUs]

Just quoting this post from my thread in the modern section, because being a 1997 it's not modern so may deserve a spot in the main section...

What pisses me off is when manufacturers are not capable of doing logical things... Putting foam in an airbox after the air filter, what else do they expect to happen after X number of years other than for it to disintegrate and get sucked into the engine?! 

5 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Ok, here's another one. Not really modern, (1997) but who do you think is the best contending manufacturer to do something as utterly daft as this...! 

Correct guess wins a custard cream from your own biscuit tin... 

If you can't tell what's going on here, this is the air box, filled with foam, presumably for acoustic management... 

Except for the fact this is the TOP of the air box, AFTER the air filter, air from here goes straight into the intake manifold 😬

See that clean area? I hadn't hoovered it out, (yet) - that's all been sucked into the engine!

After 25 years it's all disintegrated, best way I can describe it is like Oasis flower foam! At the slightest touch it just collapsed into a pile of dust

Took a video... will try and upload it... 

 

[Fumbler]

3 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Just quoting this post from my thread in the modern section, because being a 1997 it's not modern so may deserve a spot in the main section...

What pisses me off is when manufacturers are not capable of doing logical things... Putting foam in an airbox after the air filter, what else do they expect to happen after X number of years other than for it to disintegrate and get sucked into the engine?! 

 

I'd presume they'd only make sure it lasts as long as the vehicle's design life. I can't imagine many engineers would be thinking about 20 years in the future when a car is designed to last 10 or 15.

[RoverFolkUs]

1 minute ago, Fumbler said:

I'd presume they'd only make sure it lasts as long as the vehicle's design life. I can't imagine many engineers would be thinking about 20 years in the future when a car is designed to last 10 or 15.

Thing is, it doesn't need to be in there at all. Absolutely pointless. 

Every last spec of it is in the hoover now..

[Fumbler]

1 minute ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Thing is, it doesn't need to be in there at all. Absolutely pointless. 

Every last spec of it is in the hoover now..

Like you said, it was probably an acoustic management thing which is why it's there. It could even be an afterthought. At least it's foam specs that are being sucked into the engine and nothing else like dust or sand.

[AnnoyingPentium]

12 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Just quoting this post from my thread in the modern section, because being a 1997 it's not modern so may deserve a spot in the main section...

What pisses me off is when manufacturers are not capable of doing logical things... Putting foam in an airbox after the air filter, what else do they expect to happen after X number of years other than for it to disintegrate and get sucked into the engine?! 

 

Not going to lie, I thought those were those Shreddies cereal things.

[RoverFolkUs]

3 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Like you said, it was probably an acoustic management thing which is why it's there. It could even be an afterthought. At least it's foam specs that are being sucked into the engine and nothing else like dust or sand.

Removing it certainly hasn't made any difference

Anyways, it's gone now!

[Back_For_More]

Just spent most of the day with the jetwash and soap etc.... because of a sodding thieving twat farmer........

I put the Lada, XJR and Triumph into storage - covered and dry barn type with other vehicles and caravans etc,,, - at a relatively local farm after a colleagues recommendation. Cue work madness and then pandemic lockdowns etc.... long time no see - but paid for of course.

I dropped in to the farm after 3+yrs as the GF is starting driving lessons so I was planning on re-commissioning the Lada for her to pootle around locally in. Cue a load of stalling and bullshit excuses as to why he couldn't find the key to the main lock for the hangar. something not right here...... 

Got around the side and wandered down looking for an open window or similar..... get to the back end et voila - lo and behold - all 3 cars (along with other punters caravans and motorhomes) are out back under the fucking trees out in the open. MOTHER FUCKER!

Lada now outside, XJR around the corner and Triumph should be here tomorrow..... I was so pissed off I stormed out before I lamped the thieving old fucker. Washing it today I've now noticed both the roof and boot have dents in them where something has obviously been dropped on them at some point.....

This was after I brushed the damn thing down with a soft broom -

 

It's cleaned up now - took bloody ages - proper lookover in the morning and get on with finishing cleaning the Jag and then the Triumph once it gets here......

That's the weekend sorted then I reckon.

 

[RoverFolkUs]

2 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Not going to lie, I thought those were those Shreddies cereal things.

Yep, I see that! 😅

[Metal Guru]

7 hours ago, cobblers said:

We're like pistonheads only without the big budget or the ability to comfortably make eye contact while talking to people

Nothing like Pistonheads. No one up their own arse telling you how many Lamborghinis they have or getting you banned when you disagree with their little cliques.

[Wack]

6 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Being an ex courier handler problem solver , what were the maximum dimensions and weight allowed for your price ..... Why not package it to the max , maybe shitloads more cardboard or even thin plywood strips , something to add rigidity. Yours I'm afraid to say would fail a drop test and be deemed to be insufficiently packaged .😕

It was plenty rigid , that's had a heavy box dropped on it , I didn't bother with a claim , you could drop that off a building and it wouldn't get bent like that 

[Rocket88]

On 6/9/2022 at 10:35 AM, Yoss said:

AA, RAC etc... 

After years, decades in fact, of being with one or the other their prices were getting stupid. Started looking around and  a lot of companies won't even cover cars more than 16 years old which is ridiculous, who has cars that new? Did a bit of rummaging online and found a company called Start Rescue. 

They obviously don't have their own fleet, they subcontract to local recovery people. I wasn't sure if cheap was going to mean cheap and cheerful or cheap and nasty but the reviews seemed OK so I thought I'd risk it. 

Hadn't needed a call out for years until recently when the Felicia FTP'd twice in two weeks with the same fault but for different reasons. You use the app to report your breakdown which gives your location. Got a reply within two minutes saying they were arranging things, then within five minutes to say I would be visited by Ravenscroft Motors, who are a local firm with a good reputation, and they'd arrive within two hours. First time was just over an hour, second time about twenty minutes with a phone call a few minutes beforehand to let me know.

But best of all both arrived with vehicles fitted with a T bar and after coming to the same conclusion as me hooked it up and took it home for me. The worst thing about the big companies is they'll send a Transit out fairly quickly but when they can't fix it they then have to order another vehicle even though I specifically said it will need recovery in the original phone call. Especially with the Triumph, if I can't fix it neither can they, I carry a boot full of spares and tools. This is just so they can say they have met their target of arriving within a certain time. It once took another four hours after the visit if the first bloke for a recovery truck to arrive. 

Even if you tell the AA that you have, say, a “ gearbox issue”( I.e. it’s physically fallen out of the car… ) they’ll still send a patrol to “ verify “….. then two hours later recovery truck will turn up

[Dobloseven]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:06 AM, Wack said:

This is how some railway track I posted with hermes arrived , I'd wrapped it in 3 layers of card 

good luck 48.28 kB · 0 downloads

 

That looks like its bent to fit in the drivers Audi TT! 

[bunglebus]

Invited two mates and their partners/kids over for a barbecue today. One's partner's kid wasn't well but didn't reply when I asked if he was coming with his own son, and the other has said he can't make it now. So just me and the Mrs plus my daughter. And lots of food we've bought...

[Yoss]

37 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Invited two mates and their partners/kids over for a barbecue today. One's partner's kid wasn't well but didn't reply when I asked if he was coming with his own son, and the other has said he can't make it now. So just me and the Mrs plus my daughter. And lots of food we've bought...

Where are you? You only have to say and I'm sure we can find some Shiters to help you finish it off. 

[tooSavvy]

23 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

F.F.S!! Several days ago, driving up the back lane, I spotted a 'snowdrift' of polystyrene pills lying near our rear yard door. Someone had gutted a beanny bag/duvet 🥺.

I put a 'fly tipping' email in to the council, helpfully *observing that a quick pass, with the street cleaner 'Vac Truck' could sort it 👍

NOW... A week later, my rear yard is like a Santa's grotto = inches deep in fake snow!

This morning I popped £30 for an eBay special 'garden vac' suckker upper >> that we might stop the evil white curse invading our kitchen everytime I take something out the back door. F.F.S!!

Give Me Strength

*.... Council, eh? F.F.S!!! 🤐

Short update...

GOOD = most have now blown away (... plenty left!)

BAD = F.F.S! Usually shower with VentAxia going but, this morning, opened window instead.. Bad Move 😱

Give Me Strength

[vulgalour]

Second attempt at the seat diaphragm was going well.  Used Tigerseal which bonded excellently with the Hessian and seemed to bond well with the rubber on testing.  Left it 48 hours before fitting the new diaphragm to the seat.  Tested it by sitting in the seat for a bit without fitting it, couldn't find any issues, so risked installing it.  Felt myself sinking just after I'd tightened up the last bolts and when I checked underneath the seat the diaphragm has come unglued.  The bond between the rubber webbing - which was thoroughly cleaned and given a key with a wire brush beforehand - and the tigerseal has failed.

I don't want to perforate the rubber webbing because I'm sure it'll tear if I do so glue is the only way to do it.  Alternatively, get some webbing to run the width of the seat between the wires that run front to back that isn't rubber/elastic.  At least I'm learning what doesn't work but it also means the car has been totally disabled while I try and find a solution to this problem because I don't have spare seats to install and I don't want to wreck these seats by sitting in them without any proper support.  I still have one original diaphragm I can use as a template so if need be I can always take that to an upholsterer and see if they know how to make good replicas.

[jamescarruthers]

Would something like 3M’s 1300L, a contact adhesive, but a rubber one, be any good or I’ve you already tried this?

[Three Speed]

Don’t know if this helps @vulgalourbut last weekend I re stuffed my seat cushion on my Traction Avant as all the horsehair had fallen out and the springs were making their presence felt in my bum. I got new hessian and foam from Woollies but forgot about the rubber webbing which had completely disappeared from the seats. Rather than wait and do the job properly I used tie wraps. I’ve done about 300 miles in the last week and it’s fine so far. Not sure how your seat is constructed - or how long this will last.

[vulgalour]

@jamescarruthers The 3m stuff sounds like the Everbond contact adhesive I used which is rubber based and supposed to bond to rubber and fabric.  It did bond, but not very well and as soon as any tension was put on the panel it just peeled off.  Disappointing stuff really.

@Three Speed my seat base is made different, if it were like the traction's seat base I could definitely use your method.  On mine, there's hooks that go into a rod that runs down the outer edge on the diaphragm on two sides.  The hooks then push into holes in the frame.  You can't run anything front-to-back without slicing holes in the seat cover, which I obviously don't want to do, because of how the seat cover is held to the frame.

In theory, I could replace the whole diaphragm with some webbing that runs side-to-side, I'd just lose the give of the rubber webbing which helps make the seat soft and works as the springs.  Cableties are probably going to just slice through the foam base since there's no real structure in the seat base, the support is entirely dependant on the diaphragm.  I've made mine the same way as the original except that I don't know how BL bonded the rubber webbing and hessian together, that's the bit that's tripping me up.  I suspect they bonded fabric and rubber together in one go when the diaphragms were made.

[wuvvum]

On 6/9/2022 at 2:57 PM, wuvvum said:

Mate's mum's tidy early Corsa B (some of you may remember it from FOTU last year) was broken into at the weekend - they smashed the nearside rear door window.  I've found another one on eBay (mate doesn't do online auction sites) and ordered it on his behalf.  Just checked the order details and it's being delivered by fucking Hermes.

Chances of it arriving in less than 1,000 pieces?

Well it's arrived and it appears to be in one piece.  It was pretty well packed to be fair.

[Surface Rust]

12 hours ago, vulgalour said:

@jamescarruthers The 3m stuff sounds like the Everbond contact adhesive I used which is rubber based and supposed to bond to rubber and fabric.  It did bond, but not very well and as soon as any tension was put on the panel it just peeled off.  Disappointing stuff really.

@Three Speed my seat base is made different, if it were like the traction's seat base I could definitely use your method.  On mine, there's hooks that go into a rod that runs down the outer edge on the diaphragm on two sides.  The hooks then push into holes in the frame.  You can't run anything front-to-back without slicing holes in the seat cover, which I obviously don't want to do, because of how the seat cover is held to the frame.

In theory, I could replace the whole diaphragm with some webbing that runs side-to-side, I'd just lose the give of the rubber webbing which helps make the seat soft and works as the springs.  Cableties are probably going to just slice through the foam base since there's no real structure in the seat base, the support is entirely dependant on the diaphragm.  I've made mine the same way as the original except that I don't know how BL bonded the rubber webbing and hessian together, that's the bit that's tripping me up.  I suspect they bonded fabric and rubber together in one go when the diaphragms were made.

Apologies if I'm covering old ground again, but would a diaphragm from a later mini fit? They seem very similar in style, though you might have to adjust the length of the hooks.

I recall one of these splitting on me and I ended up using cable ties to hold the two halves together. It reduced the 'bounce', though that's arguably a good thing in a mini.

[vulgalour]

It's theoretically sound except for one issue which is the width.  The retaining hooks would end up so long you'd not have much supporting the foam where they were and they'd end up cutting into the foam seat base.  You might be able to use a sheet of fabric to reduce this but it's not ideal and I'd have to make 20 hooks from scratch.  Cableties are the last resort option for me on this one, it's not a solution I want to pursue as I'd far rather the seats feel as close to original as possible, it's one of the things I really like about the Princess.

Other considerations are the zig-zag springs used in upholstery with the ends bent to go into the hook slots and a sheet of fabric to protect the foam, or non-rubber upholstery webbing that I can fold over and sew the ends of to hold the metal rods in place.  They're really just variations of the cabletie solution though, so they're not what I want to do.

I'm keeping an eye out for a spare Princess front seat so I can do some testing and try and find a solution since I would like to know how to DIY a seat diaphragm in case it's a job I need to do on a future project.

EDIT: on looking at spring options I found a listing for Parker Knoll style seat base springs.  I know these work for household upholstery and they work long term.  They do a 13 1/2" spring which is the correct length for what I need (diaphragm is 15", you need 1-2" shorter spring than the width to avoid sagginess) so I'm going to give those a try.  The loops on the end of the springs will hook straight onto the hooks that hold the diaphragm and I can use a sheet of vinyl glued to the base of the foam to prevent wear from the springs.  Also, the springs have a sheath so they don't pinch when going from stretched to compressed.  The seat won't feel exactly the same, but it could be an easy fix and a lot easier to install than the original diaphragm.

[Wack]

Fuckers 

[omegod]

Shirtless and wellingtons.....any travellers nearby ? 

[sdkrc]

13 minutes ago, Wack said:

Fuckers 

I saw the aftermath a similar event in Dublin donkeys ago. Lads got off at some stop with the emergency window breaker thing, as the train set off they'd whacked almost every window going past. 

[mitsisigma01]

Cycling twats dressed in black Lycra riding through heavily wooded dark roads with no fkin lights or hi Viz ... Thousands spent on their bikes but probably don't want to fit a couple of led lights because it will add about 2 ounces to their weight ....fkin retards , middle of the road , blind corners ,no fkin road sense and practically invisible and yet they'll blame the car driver 😡😡😡😡

[richardmorris]

18 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Cycling twats dressed in black Lycra riding through heavily wooded dark roads with no fkin lights or hi Viz ... Thousands spent on their bikes but probably don't want to fit a couple of led lights because it will add about 2 ounces to their weight ....fkin retards , middle of the road , blind corners ,no fkin road sense and practically invisible and yet they'll blame the car driver 😡😡😡😡

So you saw them then. In June heading towards the lightest day of the year.

[Wack]

1 hour ago, omegod said:

Shirtless and wellingtons.....any travellers nearby ? 

The amount of CCTV there is now you'd think there'd be no crime because people would be ID'd in hours but it seems if you want people found and identified it needs a good reason, a clear picture and a prominent facebook/ tiktok account.