THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[wuvvum]

  trigger said:

Getting packed for Billing by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

That is one stylish hat. I can see it going perfectly with the Christmas jumper.

[Guest]

  Shep Shepherd said:

£60-worth of spray heads for £15!

 

I hate to sound mercenary, but I'd be lobbing those on eBay for a tenner a pop plus P&P. But that's 'cos I need the money. People take retailers for far more, trust me. I'd make good on their mistake.

[trigger]

  wuvvum said:

That is one stylish hat. I can see it going perfectly with the Christmas jumper.

 

 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Hat will mark you out as a pro camper.

 

Here's an odd thing which has been puzzling me. Came home in my car, put it on the drive and left it idling while I opened the garage. When I went back to the car, the door was locked. How the hell had it locked itself? The keys were still in the ignition! Car was still running! Door properly locked too. There is no way to lock the door without the key - the interior handle can't lock it.

 

Fortunately the window was open, so I could open the door from inside. But seriously what the hell?

[barefoot]

  Shep Shepherd said:

  r.welfare said:

 

 

GR9 for high-visibility perimeter patrols

 

 

 

Back in the day when I worked at UPS, our ramp car was a 2.3D Sierra.

It had about half a million miles on the clock, but also an engine 'hours' meter.

It was literally never switched off.

 

Handovers used to be entertaining - the fun was in 'handbraking' the car.

Where the parking brake was applied with much gusto.

 

I remember turning up one day to see one of the weight & balance blokes head

sticking up through the sunroof.

He was stood on both front seats having to use both hands & as much strength as the little bloke could manage,

just to get the handbrake off!

[scaryoldcortina]

  Peter said:

Here's an odd thing which has been puzzling me. Came home in my car, put it on the drive and left it idling while I opened the garage. When I went back to the car, the door was locked. How the hell had it locked itself? The keys were still in the ignition! Car was still running! Door properly locked too. There is no way to lock the door without the key - the interior handle can't lock it.

 

Fortunately the window was open, so I could open the door from inside. But seriously what the hell?

 

The central locking is usually worked by a microswitch in the driver's door. When these go faulty they can cause random locking/unlocking as the door is closed (or kicked from outside...) I'd investigate and change it now.

 

PS, have you ever wondered why some chavs go down a line of cars booting the driver's door?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

  scaryoldcortina said:

  Peter said:

Here's an odd thing which has been puzzling me. Came home in my car, put it on the drive and left it idling while I opened the garage. When I went back to the car, the door was locked. How the hell had it locked itself? The keys were still in the ignition! Car was still running! Door properly locked too. There is no way to lock the door without the key - the interior handle can't lock it.

 

Fortunately the window was open, so I could open the door from inside. But seriously what the hell?

 

The central locking is usually worked by a microswitch in the driver's door. When these go faulty they can cause random locking/unlocking as the door is closed (or kicked from outside...) I'd investigate and change it now.

 

PS, have you ever wondered why some chavs go down a line of cars booting the driver's door?

 

No central locking though. Very worn locks, but I couldn't replicate the effect when I tried. Even tried half locking it then slamming the door, but nothing. I think this one has to be marked down as ghosts.

 

Incidentally I retro fitted central locking to my old Fiesta, I did such a good job that if you put any pressure on the lower B post trim (where a ball of wiring was concealed) the doors would lock and unlock frantically.

[trigger]

Fixed the electric window in the Golf tonight!, Yippee!!, Ended up stripping the old motor down and rebuilding the new one with the parts and fitting the old regulator back in, after a lot of adjustments it now works a treat!.

[scaryoldcortina]

Peter - yes, ghosts then. I hadn't considered it being a non central locking car! FWIW, my dog managed to lock me out of a montego estate once - I nipped to the shop and forgot to take the keys with me, she frantically bounced from door to door popping all the buttons down! It's lucky montegos are easy to break into.

[cms206]

Proton's gone in for MOT... just home the exhaust bodgeup'll make it through, some parts seem to be made of pure unobtainium...

[CreepingJesus]

Meg's going over the bridge...mot fail. Not on much, but £400 of cat and exhaust has sealed her fate. Never really liked the leaky rotbox anyway! Time for a spot of shite hunting methinks.

[Pete-M]

Bloody Golf has popped its radiator. Jesus fucking wept, will it ever end?

[HillmanImp]

Saab passed its retest. Yay! The small bit of welding was in a right awkward place.

 

 

Ended up having to cut out some good metal just so that I could get the tip in it. Angling the grinder in to cut out the rot was impossible too and took about an hour as I could not get in to cut it, I had to grind it back bit by bit.

 

 

So it lives for another year.

 

Volksy kindly sorted out the brakes for me, so mutcho reshpekt to him. Glad he did as its a weird set up at the back on these compared to my experience with brakes. I would never have figured it out.

 

On another note I spotted this down the pub. Was lovely.

 

 

and one for Cavette. This was outside the same pub. They dont normally come down AFAIK. There was a mix of old and new mopeds. I also saw 3 BSA's when over in Rothwell, I dont know if there was somesort of meet on.

 

 

Think the oil leak on the DAF is sorted too. Finally got round to sorting out that washer I had left off about 2 months ago and it seems to be holding. But there its not turning over so I am going to hopefully track this down over the weekend. I think it might be something to do with the coil but will see what I can figure out with a bit of trial and error.

[M'coli]

I'm chuffed for you with the Saab. Hit it with the waxoyl and let it last a bit longer!

[HillmanImp]

  M said:

I'm chuffed for you with the Saab. Hit it with the waxoyl and let it last a bit longer!

 

Yeah, its needs hitting with something all over. There is a fair bit of exposed metal beginning to flake away. I am going to attack it with a wire brush and some Hydrate 80 at some point before winter.

 

The bottom of one of the rear doors in seriously rotten. Been plugged up with fibre glass at some point which is now all hanging out. Think I might buy a new door. Maybe in red to really please the neighbours

[ashmicro]

My new daily:

 

 

 

GR8 4 BEIN A SMALLER PETE-M.

[The Moog]

Took saab fuel pump apart again and worked out that the pick up slot was wrong way. Rotated it and fitted it again. Also crimped on the connectors rather than just loose wire. Went to start it up .. .flat battery. Got jump pack out ... that was flat as well. Put both on charge but will be 24 hours before can I do anything. Bugger..

[Cavcraft]

Mopeds, Mr Imp, mopeds? How bloody dare you, 197ccs of 'high performance' Vespa engine and you call them mopeds?

Good news on the Saab though, not a bad result that chief.

 

Ash: looks quite swich that Jag, nice to drive I take it?

 

Right, my lad's 106 continued to display the RLOD despite a new thermostat and more bleeding. Took a look at it the other night and discovered the radiator was leaking. Never mind, internet auction site to the rescue and only about £38 inc. postage for a brand spanker. This was duly fitted by my lad, bled again and all seems well. Just the (blowing) exhaust and smashed fog lamp to replace and all should be well.

[wuvvum]

The engine management light has come back on on the Accord. This time it also appears to have dropped the rev limiter down to 4,000rpm. And I can't find the OBD port anywhere - I know where it's supposed to be, but it ain't there. The clutch has also recently started juddering like fuck on pull-away. At this rate I have a feeling the old girl is going to be going over the bridge when the tax runs out.

 

In other news, I R officially on the dole as of yesterday. Only for a few days, though, new job starts on Monday morning. Was a bit emotional yesterday though - out of all those who were leaving, I was by far the youngest, having only been at the company for just over eight years - one woman had been there since September 1969. We all went out for a final fling last night, and it turned out that the boss had decided the company would pick up the tab. Let's just say I was not a well man this morning. I also discovered that it is in fact impossible to be drunk enough to make Jack Daniels taste good.

[r.welfare]

No OBD port on these - you'll need to pull the kickpanel off beneath the glovebox, pull out the 2-pin connector and bridge the pins with a paperclip. The engine light will then flash a number of times with the ignition on, let me know the results and I can check the factory workshop CD-ROM to tell you what's up with it.

 

Shame about the old job, but if you're back in to a new one on Monday then that's eight years' worth of statutory redundancy (plus whatever company topup was the policy) to splash on new shite, no?

[Pete-M]

  ashmicro said:

My new daily:

 

GR8 4 BEIN A SMALLER PETE-M.

 

4wd or Satanic?

[wuvvum]

  r.welfare said:

that's eight years' worth of statutory redundancy (plus whatever company topup was the policy) to splash on new shite, no?

Well I do have quite a few debts to pay off, and a few things that need replacing (camera for one), plus I need to keep a bit aside to pay for my HGV license. But I'm sure there'll still be a bit left in the kitty for a shite-related purchase or so.

[RoadworkUK]

After spending a day stuck in various traffic jams in the home counties, I returned to work to find my car locked in behind the automatic barriers of the industrial estate behind the dealership. Barriers closed at 18:00, I got in at 18:06. Nobody about. Balls.

 

So. I nicked an old part-ex from work. The only one with a valid tax disc was an '04 S320 CDI. Loooong wheelbase. What a barge! £76k new.

 

Thing is, the thing is riddled with problems. Apart from 123,000 miles of shabbiness, the OMG SRS system warning is shouting its head off, various differently pitched bongs sound every now and again, there's a loud scream that sounds like a vacuum leak whenever you put your foot down, it needs a major (3 spanners on the screen....) service, the airmatic suspension works when it wants to and the rear screen is cracked.

 

And I love it. But it's easy to understand why old ones are so cheap. Fortunately, this one isn't rusty, yet. But I well understand why early T plate ones get sent over the bridge.

[ashmicro]

  Pete-M said:

  ashmicro said:

My new daily:

 

GR8 4 BEIN A SMALLER PETE-M.

 

4wd or Satanic?

 

2.5 V6 SE AWD Auto, looks like someone threw the entire options list at it too. I've blocked off the resonator so he sounds GRRRR!

[The Moog]

After a trip to sunny south Wales I have beige in my life .. and the numberplate almost reads arse!

 

[RoadworkUK]

That's jolly nice. I'll buy you a pint if you leave it as is and don't go all scene on us.

[Lankytim]

The Audi survived Cornwall and back without missing a beat! Oh, and I have bought a Volvo 240 estate.

[Lord Sterling]

  RoadworkUK said:

After spending a day stuck in various traffic jams in the home counties, I returned to work to find my car locked in behind the automatic barriers of the industrial estate behind the dealership. Barriers closed at 18:00, I got in at 18:06. Nobody about. Balls.

 

Lol, this happend to me once. I was teaching a mate of mine to drive and took him around an industrial estate and pulled into one of the roads where there was more space, as we went to go out of the road I'd noticed the gates had been locked. Thanksfully, despite being young, I actually had some 'credit' on my phone and phoned up the security company, lady onthe other line warned me that it would usually cost me something like £5 to have the gates opened, but the lady gave me the old on this occasion....

 

  RoadworkUK said:

So. I nicked an old part-ex from work. The only one with a valid tax disc was an '04 S320 CDI. Loooong wheelbase. What a barge! £76k new.

 

Thing is, the thing is riddled with problems. Apart from 123,000 miles of shabbiness, the OMG SRS system warning is shouting its head off, various differently pitched bongs sound every now and again, there's a loud scream that sounds like a vacuum leak whenever you put your foot down, it needs a major (3 spanners on the screen....) service, the airmatic suspension works when it wants to and the rear screen is cracked.

 

And I love it. But it's easy to understand why old ones are so cheap. Fortunately, this one isn't rusty, yet. But I well understand why early T plate ones get sent over the bridge.

 

I recently drove an 01' S320L, it had something in the region of 238k on the clock but still drove pretty well, though some interior trim was starting to come off and was pretty shabby. I also drove a 01' S600L a few weeks back. Very nice, very powerful, very smooth. It had all the touches that I like in luxury barges.

 

I take it the PXs are to be repaired and sold on or will they be just shoved through the auction?

[The Moog]

  RoadworkUK said:

That's jolly nice. I'll buy you a pint if you leave it as is and don't go all scene on us.

 

Will do for the moment. My gf has got designs on turning it into full on camper but that doesn't really do it for me. She wants a Bernard Mark2 (Bedford from DW) and even wants to paint this already.

 

List of jobs to do

 

Sort gear linkage (bit of a lucky dip including no first)

New rear tyres

Get Speedo working

Sort Temo gauge

Fit electric windows properly

service it

decide what to do about bits of rust

 

Bloke chucked in a Sub woofer and an Amp as well. Not sure I am ever going to use them so will have to find a way to flog em on ..

[M'coli]

  The Moog said:

After a trip to sunny south Wales I have beige in my life .. and the numberplate almost reads arse!

That just needs something like this creatively placed on it!