The grumpy thread

[vulgalour]

Maybe you're actually a Timelord undergoing a really slow regeneration?  *fingers crossed*

[Urko]

Trouble with Disco 3 its no better with the manual, the effin clutch lasts 5 minutes cos the car won't pull till the turbos spool up so every poor sod is inadvertantly slipping the clutch.

Doesn't help that they saddle a 2.6 ton motor with an underpowered engine (again) and too friggin high first and reverse gears.

 

He'd be better of shifting that sod on and cutting his losses.

The best of the lot were standard Chinese export spec IMO, standard auto or manual, steel springs, sensible wheels tyres, V8 NA petrol engine, carried them down to Felixstowe by the hundred, cracking bloody motors without all the fiddly bollocks that goes wrong, quick LPG conversion and you have the vehicle it should always have been here.

I think they can be had here on springs - super poverty spec.

 

I bought mine cheap but from ex gf so I knew its history. It has already had one clutch, and has never had towing stuff fitted - a lot of 'em seem to have a hard life lugging horseboxes or plant trailers about all day every day.

 

Anorak factoid - manual trans is cheaper tax at the age of mine (2005) than auto

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I bought some black leather-soled brogues last summer, cost £100, the soles have worn right out now which doesnt seem very long for what I consider an expensive pair of shoes. Anyway, took em to Timpsons, fuggin £54 to re-sole them!!! Maybe shoes are one of these areas where even a shiter should embrace the cost reduction and reliability benefits of 'modern technology'. Anyway i agreed to pay the £50 rather than chuck the shoes, cos I like them.

[Barry Cade]

Eh??

 

You paid the price of an MOT'd Laguna for new shoe bottoms? This place ain't what it used to be.

 

[gordonbennet]

Jesus wept, presumably that's a new stitched on leather sole?

 

For shoes and non work boots, prefer boots, i always buy leather soles but then get a rubber sole put on to keep 'em as new...last sole i had put on was about £20 and me Sargeants Dundees in their roughly 15th year and good as new are due for another about now so i'm looking, but won't be paying 50 smackers.

 

There was a cobbler in the back streets of Kettering who i used about 5 or so years ago who did a good job at better prices but have a feeling he's retired now, isn't there a shiter cobbler about we could use, maybe by post?

[Tamworthbay]

Jesus wept, presumably that's a new stitched on leather sole?

 

For shoes and non work boots, prefer boots, i always buy leather soles but then get a rubber sole put on to keep 'em as new...last sole i had put on was about £20 and me Sargeants Dundees in their roughly 15th year and good as new are due for another about now so i'm looking, but won't be paying 50 smackers.

 

There was a cobbler in the back streets of Kettering who i used about 5 or so years ago who did a good job at better prices but have a feeling he's retired now, isn't there a shiter cobbler about we could use, maybe by post?

My mum still has my grand pops old last, I sense a career change coming on if I can charge £50 for half hours work.

[gordonbennet]

Funnily enough he was talking about selling his business last time i saw him and i did wonder about buying it together with a short concentrated apprenticeship..frig me thats more like 10 years ago now, bloody time flies when you're an old bugger.

 

Trouble is how many people buy good shoes worth repairing any more, people buy shit and sling it.

[Timewaster]

Timpson really are the Rhinos of the key cut/ shoe repair sector.

[DVee8]

Came in from work and decided to wash the X-Trail.

 

Washed then as i am drying it off i get to the offside rear door,there is a set of around 12 scratched were a bumper has hit it, also slight damage to the plastic wheelarch cover. It isn't very bad and it may polish out.

In the 4 years i have had this car this is the 3rd time someone has hit it and left.

So in the last 5 months the Astra has been hit and now the X-trail.

[gordonbennet]

Hmm update, that cobbler i was on about is called Munns, there's a phone number so will give the number a try tomorrow.

[Jazoli]

Jet washed the Focus at the weekend, just noticed today that I've jet washed quite a lot of the lacquer off the front bumper and wing, Bah! 

[dugong]

Jet washed the Focus at the weekend, just noticed today that I've jet washed quite a lot of the lacquer off the front bumper and wing, Bah!

I snapped a rusty overrider off the Amazon before it was restored doing that. It pinged off down the road and hit a bus.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Had to charge the battery on my sister in laws camper today just up the road. Decided to just put the charger in the engine after disconnecting it first.

 

Sodding nuts were 8mm I'd only taken a 10. Walk home get more tools.

All plugged in, extension lead wouldn't work, walk home get my extension.

 

OK all done, now go check that Ka in the garage I need to sell. Padlock jammed, walk home get fake wd-40. Fuck cars really damp and going moldy..

 

Must be nice to have a big garage or loads of land for all this crap

[D Spares & Tyres]

No it just means you end up with far more crap than you need. 15 cars in different grades of brokeness

 

I met and shook hands with bub over Xmas. Nice chap but his luck seems to have transferred. Has so many old car issues this year I nearly bought something newish the other week

[xtriple]

Being currently afflicted with ill health and being severely cold at all times, it was with some dismay that I discovered that once again, the BLOODY DOG HAS TURNED THE STORAGE HEATERS OFF!

[cobblers]

I've got a pair of Loakes that our lass bought me for insane amounts of money, but I daren't wear that often cos the soles are wearing so fast and they were the most expensive pair of shoes I'd ever owned by a factor of about 4 until she bought me some more for my 30th. It's not exactly in your neck of the woods SeX_ballcocks, but there's a cracking cobblers (!) in Nottingham where our lass used to work - Peter Bullocks. He might give you a discount if you claim you're related. Our lass always tries it in Wilkos.

 

 

Anyway last night I write out a for sale advert for my Ibiza Cupra. I've not posted it anywhere yet but writing the advert is the first step, I bloody love that car but it needs to go.

Today it realises it's days are numbered and decides to seize a rear caliper and set fire to my fairly new brake pads. What a wanker! I can buy a normal caliper from eBay for like £40 but since it's a Cupra it comes with red ones from the factory. Those are £80. I'm not really a fan of red calipers or owt but I'm sad enough that it would bug me fitting an odd one. But on the other hand I'm not about to start painting them so I might as well just bite the bullet and accept that I am a tosspot with bright red calipers and that is one of the reasons I'm selling the car anyway.

[Cavcraft]

I got some £6.99 shoes from ShoeWorld (or whatever it's called) when my old pair crashed on me one Sat late afternoon. My mate LOL'd and said they'd never last. I have had four years and counting out of them. 

Then again, I mostly only wear shoes on Saturday nights so I'd expect another 3 years out of the bastards yet.

[chaseracer]

I once repaired* Dollywobbler's shoes with gaffer tape during a Midlands Massiv spanner sesh at Catsinthwelder's place. Not sure how long that lasted.

[cros]

Jesus wept, presumably that's a new stitched on leather sole?

 

For shoes and non work boots, prefer boots, i always buy leather soles but then get a rubber sole put on to keep 'em as new...last sole i had put on was about £20 and me Sargeants Dundees in their roughly 15th year and good as new are due for another about now so i'm looking, but won't be paying 50 smackers.

 

There was a cobbler in the back streets of Kettering who i used about 5 or so years ago who did a good job at better prices but have a feeling he's retired now, isn't there a shiter cobbler about we could use, maybe by post?[/qu

 

If there are no cobblers left in Kettering the rest of the country has got no chance.

[cros]

I went into the Corby Halfords today for some sae 90 or similar. Wouldn't normally go near them, but I needed to grab a litre quickly. The useless bumwipes had no gearbox oil whatsoever. I can't see any point in their continued existence.

[cobblers]

Halfords are run by "Normal retail" bosses nowadays who see anything car related that isn't £12 ciggy lighter Y splitters and £6 air fresheners as a nuisance. Expect them to get much much worse. I predict within 5 years they won't stock any more car parts than Asda.

 

Amusingly there is still a brand at head office which tries to push Halfords "Trade parts" business where they try and compete with the likes of Andrew Pages, ECP, GSF and stuff by having NOTHING AT ALL in stock, a completely useless parts database and just ordering everything from Andy Pages anyway.

Honestly it's a right laugh, they even have bonuses for the stores with the best trade accounts sales. I don't know how they manage to get any at all but one store used to do 5k a month, they must have had a scam going IMO.

How it works is a garage can send someone to Halfords to order a part. The kid behind the desk will have no idea what they are ordering, and then the system will send a fax off to the local motor factors, who will deliver the part, usually the following day. Some kid at halfords will eventually get around to ringing the bloke who ordered the part about 3 hours after it arrived, and then they'll then have to come back to collect it and pay cash at 200-250% the normal trade price.

 

Alternatively, a small business could just deal direct with one of dozens of local motor factors, and ring up to order the part then get it delivered to their garage within an hour or two, pay half the price and have 30 - 60 day terms.

[DeeJay]

Being currently afflicted with ill health and being severely cold at all times, it was with some dismay that I discovered that once again, the BLOODY DOG HAS TURNED THE STORAGE HEATERS OFF!

Is he a Corgi?

[HH-R]

Aww, poor pooch is just trying to save you some money!

[Station]

Bought Nike Air Max for gym use, they lasted two months before the soles disintegrated.

God damn it they are comfy though.

[dave21478]

Jet washed the Focus at the weekend, just noticed today that I've jet washed quite a lot of the lacquer off the front bumper and wing, Bah! 

 

 

I snapped a rusty overrider off the Amazon before it was restored doing that. It pinged off down the road and hit a bus.

 

I jetwashed the Metro a while back and when I first pulled the trigger it fired the end of the lance off and put a big ding in the front of the bonnet.

Brilliant.

[dave21478]

The price of shoes here gives me the shits. Its either 14.99 toss that falls apart in minutes or 150 sheets for designer stuff that I am too grubby to ever wear.

I just buy Karrimor lightweight walking shoes/trainers from SportsDirect.com as they are waterproof and ideal for dossing about at work.

[garbaldy]

Karrimor are alright for the price but I am lucky if I can squeeze six months out of a pair,

[Danblez]

I bought some black leather-soled brogues last summer, cost £100, the soles have worn right out now which doesnt seem very long for what I consider an expensive pair of shoes. Anyway, took em to Timpsons, fuggin £54 to re-sole them!!! Maybe shoes are one of these areas where even a shiter should embrace the cost reduction and reliability benefits of 'modern technology'. Anyway i agreed to pay the £50 rather than chuck the shoes, cos I like them.

Bloody Timpsons, bit like main dealers of the shoe world. Have you no real cobblers about?

[gordonbennet]

Bugger me, Northants the home of the boot and shoe trade and can't find a real non chain cobblers, phone number for the little Kettering chap Munn is unobtainable.

 

I've had soles and heels done by the little chap in the corner shop cobblers near Evan Halshaw Citroen Stoke on Trent (used to deliver there at least twice a week), but that was 8 years ago at least and i bet he's bloody gone too now, not as i go past there either any more.

 

Can see this becoming a DIY crusade, am not buying shit shoes and chucking 'em when the sole's through.

 

Like most other things i'll bet they can be found in Northern or other areas where people don't think money grows on bloody trees.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hmm I feel like a dick now for going to the 'main dealers' of shoe repairs. Its taking 3 weeks to do them as well, and thinking about it I did get a load of sucking of teeth and umming and ahhing etc when I asked about getting em done so that's pretty much all the main dealer boxes ticked