Tommy's A-series Misery - Resuming normal programming

[tooSavvy]

Would a suitable length of pipe.... and a doubled over length of strimmer string = make a noose?

[camryv6]

14 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

Would a suitable length of pipe.... and a doubled over length of strimmer string = make a noose?

I know it is bad but no need to kill himself !!

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, tooSavvy said:

Would a suitable length of pipe.... and a doubled over length of strimmer string = make a noose?

Good idea. Might try that later! Although I do have one of those little grabber claw tools on the way.

I've read a few cases of this happening on the VW forums (It's a Golf/Scirocco gearbox). A lot of people leave them in there and let the gearbox mulch it as it's 100% plastic and change the oil after a few thousand miles. I'd like to try and pull it out if possible but I've ordered a replacement gear anyway for a whole £4.50. If it is all plastic I suspect that the cable peg has chewed up the slot in the gear anyway so it'll be replaced regardless of if I can actually remove it.

[Tommyboy12]

The right tool for the job definitely helps!

Theres a snapped piece of the Speedo cable jammed inside and the nub at the end is meant to be smooth and round so I think we can definitely say a replacement is needed.

[Tommyboy12]

Finally got the new Speedo drive in the post. Definitely needed replacing based on the wear. I only dropped the new one into the depths of the gearbox three times trying to fit it and the new cable... Lucky I bought a claw tool!

Two litres of fresh SAE 80 hypoid gear oil. I even went for the good stuff!

Also fitted a cigarette lighter so I can charge my phone on the long trip. Wiring it straight to the battery is fine right?

Found a grim hand wipe in the back of the glovebox...

 

[Liggle]

Are you doing some sort of rally in this @Tommyboy12?

[Tommyboy12]

Just now, Liggle said:

Are you doing some sort of rally in this @Tommyboy12?

@sharley17194and I are doing Lands End to John O'Groats next week!

I've driven this a grand total of 20 miles and I'm about to do 2,500+ miles in a car that's not had an MOT for 11 years 😅

[Rod/b]

What, as they say, could possibly go wrong? 

[High Jetter]

Shh, don't tell him - it'll be a nice* surprise!

Seriously though, good for you @Tommyboy12 - is it for chaidee? Hope you'll have time to do a live thread on the journey.

[JMotor]

Nice work! 

Plus those claw tools are WELL worth the money! 

[Tommyboy12]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Shh, don't tell him - it'll be a nice* surprise!

Seriously though, good for you @Tommyboy12 - is it for chaidee? Hope you'll have time to do a live thread on the journey.

No charity. Just something we wanted to do. Doing it right in the middle of this mess with petrol stations seems wise...

[High Jetter]

Perfect* timing! Proper AS.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

6 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

@sharley17194and I are doing Lands End to John O'Groats next week!

I've driven this a grand total of 20 miles and I'm about to do 2,500+ miles in a car that's not had an MOT for 11 years 😅

Hopefully you'll actually be able to obtain enough petrol.....

[binhoker668]

What a stunner!  Great thread too.  Following avidly.  Cheers and good luck boyo!!  

[tooSavvy]

7 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Hopefully you'll actually be able to obtain enough petrol.....

Aye.... SuziQ is on 50% and I'm not going anywhere.... Might be 'oh! did I miss something?' next time I need a top-up.

Thank Fuc# 😱

[Tommyboy12]

Well I took the Montego to the shops this morning for food (past all the petrol station queues). Montego has about £30 in it which is now the main mode of transport as my daily is dry and no fuel around here now.

Speedo repair lasted all of 1 or 2 miles before it died again. Once I got home I took the Speedo cable out again. There were bits of Speedo gear floating in the oil... The cable was seized so clearly it was the fault of the Speedo itself.

Stripped down the Speedo.

I love this design. It's just so retro.

Took the Speedo unit out. It was very stiff on the drive input.

Found a new unit on eBay for a tenner which I've ordered but in the interim I drowned it in wd40. Worked it loose by hand. Then stuck the Speedo in a drill and drowned it in more wd40 while I spun it round. It now is loose and still works! However it ticks which it didn't do before... I suspect I'll be changing it for the new one I bought at some point.

 

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

As @Zelandeth found with his BX, WD40 is probably the worst thing you can lubricate* an instrument display with.....

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

As @Zelandeth found with his BX, WD40 is probably the worst thing you can lubricate* an instrument display with.....

It'll do in the interim until the new Speedo arrives!

[tooSavvy]

2 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

As @Zelandeth found with his BX, WD40 is probably the worst thing you can lubricate* an instrument display with.....

3-in-1 is ABSOLUTELY not to be put in Sturmey Archer bike gear mech!!

I murmured possibility my SA may be a bit graunchy (bike had been in back of a garage for years...) and I got 'flamed' for NOT SAYING what I would use >> noob error 3-in-1 presumed by cog*nicete 😱

My own "hello everyone" new thread then got PosterBombed, by a couple of foreskin pullers, arguing the merit/demerits of WD-40.... as a lubricant/not. I hadn't mentioned it in any words of mine...

*FWIW .... I bought a lovely 'pipper-dropper' of sewing machine oil, to administer ONLY THREE drops, every couple of months use 😵.

F...F...S... @CycleChat

 

 

[Rab]

We pulled this off Skye in 2018...it was crustier than toast..

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 minute ago, Rab said:

We pulled this off Skye in 2018...its was crustier than toast..

Skye. Believe in better*

[Tommyboy12]

Well I managed an actual proper drive in the Montego today to the BL rally at Milton Keynes Museum. A whole 101 miles without incident!

Met a few fellow shiters at the show too. @quicksilver @Slowsilver @Six-cylinder It was nice too meet you all!

It was definitely a conversation piece with people doing a double take at the engine bay 😂

Im now slightly more confident about lands end on Wednesday!

[High Jetter]

1 minute ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Im now slightly more confident about lands end on Wednesday!

I think you can be very confident about Lands End being where you expect it to be on Wednesday, I just hope the same can be said of your fine steed.

[sharley17194]

We will get to lands end on Wednesday. I  have confidence...

[Noel Tidybeard]

maybe you could put some kind of itinerary on here for us to come out in droves to "cheer you along"

[Tommyboy12]

45 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

maybe you could put some kind of itinerary on here for us to come out in droves to "cheer you along"

By all means!

WEDNESDAY - LANDS END

9am - Leave Peterborough via A1

10am - Meet @sharley17194 at M1 Northampton services

11am - Meet @Six-cylinder at Cherwell Valley services on the M40 to drop off his Allegro wing.

4pm(ish) - Lands End via M40/M4

6pm - Overnight stop at Launceston

THURSDAY - LANDS END TO TELFORD

8.30-9am - Leave Launceston and take the coast roads north

9.30am - Boscastle

12pm - Combe Martin

2pm - Bridgewater

3pm - Bristol via M4

5-6pm - Telford via M4/A442

FRIDAY - TELFORD TO PLOCKTON

8am - Leave overnight stop

10am - Pass Preston on M6

1pm - Pass Glasgow on M6

4pm - Fort William past Loch Lomond

6pm - Overnight stop at Plockton

SATURDAY - NC500 PT1

8am - Leave Plockton

9.30am - Applecross Pass and hopefully not death

2pm - Ullapool

3pm - Kylesku Bridge

4pm - Durness

6pm - Overnight stop at Skail

SUNDAY - NC500 PT2 & CAIRNGORMS

8am - Leave Skail

9.30am - John O Groats (Fingers crossed!)

12pm - Inverness via A9

2.30pm - Braemar through the lanes of the Cairngorms

4pm - Perth via Cairngorms

5.30pm - Edinburgh centre for our overnight stop. I hope that theres still some light as I'd like to try and get some shots with the castle.

MONDAY - EDINBURGH TO PETERBOROUGH

10am - Lazy start

12pm - Newcastle

1.30pm - Wetherby

2.30pm - Doncaster

3pm - @sharley17194 breaks off for Nottingham

4.30pm - Peterborough and home!

 

[tooSavvy]

NOON..... ?

Photo opportunity 'crossing the *toon bridge'?

*Tyne (as seen on GNR, the other day)

🎥

[Tommyboy12]

19 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

NOON..... ?

Photo opportunity 'crossing the *toon bridge'?

*Tyne (as seen on GNR, the other day)

🎥

Dipping into Newcastle could be an option!

[quicksilver]

I had the great pleasure of seeing this fine beast in the flesh today and it really is pure autoshite through and through. It reminds me so much of how many old Montegos looked when I was at school in the late nineties and my favourite bit is the 1.3 badge on the back, a completely unnecessary detail but whoever did the transplant clearly wanted to show off that he had downgraded his Montego to a puny little engine!

[sharley17194]

You missed Manchester.....we are collecting a bonnet! 

14 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

By all means!

WEDNESDAY - LANDS END

9am - Leave Peterborough via A1

10am - Meet @sharley17194 at M1 Northampton services

11am - Meet @Six-cylinder at Cherwell Valley services on the M40 to drop off his Allegro wing.

4pm(ish) - Lands End via M40/M4

6pm - Overnight stop at Launceston

THURSDAY - LANDS END TO TELFORD

8.30-9am - Leave Launceston and take the coast roads north

9.30am - Boscastle

12pm - Combe Martin

2pm - Bridgewater

3pm - Bristol via M4

5-6pm - Telford via M4/A442

FRIDAY - TELFORD TO PLOCKTON

8am - Leave overnight stop

10am - Pass Preston on M6

1pm - Pass Glasgow on M6

4pm - Fort William past Loch Lomond

6pm - Overnight stop at Plockton

SATURDAY - NC500 PT1

8am - Leave Plockton

9.30am - Applecross Pass and hopefully not death

2pm - Ullapool

3pm - Kylesku Bridge

4pm - Durness

6pm - Overnight stop at Skail

SUNDAY - NC500 PT2 & CAIRNGORMS

8am - Leave Skail

9.30am - John O Groats (Fingers crossed!)

12pm - Inverness via A9

2.30pm - Braemar through the lanes of the Cairngorms

4pm - Perth via Cairngorms

5.30pm - Edinburgh centre for our overnight stop. I hope that theres still some light as I'd like to try and get some shots with the castle.

MONDAY - EDINBURGH TO PETERBOROUGH

10am - Lazy start

12pm - Newcastle

1.30pm - Wetherby

2.30pm - Doncaster

3pm - @sharley17194 breaks off for Nottingham

4.30pm - Peterborough and home!