The grumpy thread

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Impossible task of the day - describe steel wool to a bloke from Bangladesh who has English as a second language. Still, his grasp of my language was better than my grasp of his

 

Virgin Brillo

[overrun]

"I could care less." Stupid Americans.

 

Well if you could care less, then clearly you hardly care. So why get so worked up?

 

"It's a big ask."

[Spiny Norman]

Something minor that's been boiling my piss for a few years..... It's a marketing thing, designed to save time (and therefore money) but.... TV or radio advert goes like this. "Buy this revolting green and orange 3 piece lounge suite for just 9-9-5"  No mention of the word "Pounds",  It's devaluing the currency. Surely it would be better to actually say "Nine hundred and ninety five pounds" to make certain the price was clearly communicated? Ah well.

 

See if they'll take Rupees.....

[RedSparrow]

"I could care less." Stupid Americans.

 

Well if you could care less, then clearly you hardly care. So why get so worked up?

 

"It's a big ask."

 

[ShiteRider]

Fucking technology, laptop is playing up wso i'm useing my phone. Checked my email and managed to trash the last months mail. No probs thought i, i'll shove them back over, fat fingers here emptied the trash instead which seems to be impossible to retrieve from yahoo. So there goes my car insurance docs and the appointment time for tomorrows VIC check.

[Cavcraft]

'Talent' show entrants:

 

NO-NE FUCKING CARES ABOUT WHAT A HARD LIFE YOU'VE HAD LIVING WITH YOUR 5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND NOT BEING ABLE TO SMOKE ENOUGH WEED TO GET BY.  Please, please PLEASE stop making a twat of yourself on telly, have you no shame?

Actually, you've already proved you haven't.

[RedSparrow]

I hate that. They put the sad music on and it goes all 'well my grandad died when he was 82 and I broke my wrist once...'.

Also I used to feel bad for the people who get mocked on these shows but then I realised they volunteered for it!

[chaseracer]

'Popular television' is now the opiate of the masses.

[Cavcraft]

I hate that. They put the sad music on and it goes all 'well my grandad died when he was 82 and I broke my wrist once...'.

Also I used to feel bad for the people who get mocked on these shows but then I realised they volunteered for it!

 

And why is nearly always angry looking young Cockney birds with stupid accents? You took drugs and you were a slag, people ain't going to vote for you because you have more tears than talent.

[Partridge]

I don't really watch TV. Haven't done since 2010 or so. I'm blissfully unaware of the horrors of Britains Got Degenerates. I watch 80's Top Gear clips and Touring Car races on YouTube instead of telly.

[hairnet]

^ that am i sadder than soap and bgt etc watchers

[Partridge]

Iz u disrespecting mah YouTub, bro?

[overrun]

I don't really watch TV. Haven't done since 2010 or so. I'm blissfully unaware of the horrors of Britains Got Degenerates. I watch 80's Top Gear clips and Touring Car races on YouTube instead of telly.

"I'm going for first, says John Cleland!"

[Partridge]

I had that screenshot as my facebook cover for ages

[vulgalour]

This is a long-standing grump, it's one that'll likely never change.  "I'm not repairing that, the car aint worth enough".  Excuse me?  You are able to repair the panel and I am able to pay you but you won't because the car itself isn't worth enough money in your opinion to warrant spending the money on the repair.

 

How does this even make any sense?  The number of places that won't do the door repairs on the Princess because it's a Princess is pretty depressing.  So far I've only found one place that will even entertain looking at the car, I've found several that have been very polite discussing the cost of the repairs right up until the point they find out what the car is and then become quite rude.

 

I do understand the desire to only work on a particular kind of car and I can see why the Princess might not fit into that.  Fair enough, but at least have the good grace to tell me that's the reason you don't want to do it.

 

What I don't get most of all is that if it had a different badge there'd be no hesitation.  If this were any number of truly rotten 'popular classics' then I'd just be given a very large number to pay.  It's stuff like this that makes you realise how much harm a bad reputation can do for a car and its survival, if I'm struggling to find someone to even talk about the repairs it's no wonder nobody else bothers.

[PhilA]

What I don't get most of all is that if it had a different badge there'd be no hesitation.  If this were any number of truly rotten 'popular classics' then I'd just be given a very large number to pay.  It's stuff like this that makes you realise how much harm a bad reputation can do for a car and its survival, if I'm struggling to find someone to even talk about the repairs it's no wonder nobody else bothers.

 

Remove door, trimmings, handles etc and bring in. Claim it's from a Maserati Biturbo. They're about the same profile. The rust won't be questioned either.

 

--Phil

[Richard]

[Volksy]

H.Imp and I had a similar issue when looking at getting the Lancia's front wings sorted. I don't think it's badge snobbery, its more that sorting rust out is now pretty much unheard of. Most body shops these days are just fitters and painters. Look at what gets written off and for what these days.... Scrape on the bumper of your '03 plate Fiesta? That'll be a CAT D then Sir, take it away, we can't be arsed.....

 

Chatting to one place, he wasn't willing to repair the wings, as he said "You'll only be back in year when they start bubbling up again - and I don't want the hassle."

Despite reassurances that we wouldn't, he said that he can make more money doing the general car park dings and scrapes in the same time that it would take to sort ours. Economic sense I guess. 

 

The same goes for a lot of mechanics, My mate wouldn't touch H.Imps Audi Coup' as it needs a front wheel bearing. If we bring the suspension leg down off the car he's happy to fit one, but as he's a small operation with only one ramp, he knows that if something goes wrong with the job and it's stuck on the ramp for a day, he's lost out on maybe the time to do two services. Which is easy money for him. Sadly seems to be the way of the times. I'm not slating the guy, as he's one of my oldest friends and a proper old school mechanic but needs must i guess.

[Angrydicky]

This is a long-standing grump, it's one that'll likely never change.  "I'm not repairing that, the car aint worth enough".  Excuse me?  You are able to repair the panel and I am able to pay you but you won't because the car itself isn't worth enough money in your opinion to warrant spending the money on the repair.

 

How does this even make any sense?  The number of places that won't do the door repairs on the Princess because it's a Princess is pretty depressing.  So far I've only found one place that will even entertain looking at the car, I've found several that have been very polite discussing the cost of the repairs right up until the point they find out what the car is and then become quite rude.

 

I do understand the desire to only work on a particular kind of car and I can see why the Princess might not fit into that.  Fair enough, but at least have the good grace to tell me that's the reason you don't want to do it.

 

What I don't get most of all is that if it had a different badge there'd be no hesitation.  If this were any number of truly rotten 'popular classics' then I'd just be given a very large number to pay.  It's stuff like this that makes you realise how much harm a bad reputation can do for a car and its survival, if I'm struggling to find someone to even talk about the repairs it's no wonder nobody else bothers.

Talk to Sam Skelton, see if he can recommend any local bodyshops. Several members of the Maestro & Montego Club have had this problem, finding places to take their cars seriously. But there have been some absolutely flawless results gained, so there are good places out there.

[vulgalour]

I do have a contact Sam gave me, but I've been holding off getting a quote since splurging all my pocket money on that breaker, I like to at least have some money available if I'm getting quotes for stuff.  I completely understand a garage/bodyshop not wanting to do rust repairs, that's fine, but when they tell you they're happy to do a rust repair and then change their mind when the hear what the car is that smacks of badge snobbery to me and that's what I'm encountering more often than not.

[Cavcraft]

To be fair I expect a lot of the places get bombarded with requests to paint the wing and door on a 25 year old car, then the car owner starts calling them robbers because if the costs involved, or just promise to come back then never return.

[RedSparrow]

I can confirm this. My dad runs a garage and has a lot of love for old rotters, owning several himself, but he will often not want to get involved in fixing customers classics. That said he has a few regulars with classics who have been going there for years.

[trigger]

To paint a door or wing your looking around £150 a panel, when you turn up in a tatty Princess and being quite young i suspect it's hard for a garage to take you too seriously without thinking time waster with no money.

[overrun]

Or due to the nature of the car in question, it starts bubbling up again.

People ask who done the job, an unfair reputation for shonky work could be gained...

 

I can see both sides of this tbh. Hope you get it sorted though.

[RedSparrow]

Are there any locals you know with classics? They'll probably know a of more helpful garage.

[Partridge]

I think this ought to have a thread of it's own-I'm sure others can help.

[vulgalour]

It is a moot point at present, but I'd certainly like to get some localised repair work done on both cars.  I'd also like to brush up my own welding abilities so Dad muttering about getting a MIG welder may pose a solution.

[Angrydicky]

I must admit I hate repairing door skins. So easy to distort the panel while welding.

[chaseracer]

Where are you, Vulg? I know a bloke who's mobile.

 

And he repairs 2CV bodywork without twitching...

[vulgalour]

warped door skins?  No problem.

 

 

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