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61

General Discussion Area / Re: That's Christmas done then.

« on: 26 December 2023, 21:27:37 »

Some ol' crap about 12th night, blah blah...

If the 12th night superstition is anything to go by, I’ll agree with you on this occasion. I’ve had enough shit luck the last couple of years so I’m happy for you not to tempt fate ….. leave them be. 

Yeah, I'll be equally glad to put 2023 behind me.  What a shitty year, although I'm thankful I've not even been near a hospital this year.  Probably just as well, as you've hogged the beds 

This time last year we hoped that 2023 would be better. But it started badly, and got worse.


Maybe 2024 will manage it, but the signs aren't good

62

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 19 December 2023, 19:02:33 »

Put a deposit down on the Zafira's successor 

Dacia Duster or CL500

Jogger is more likely than a Duster. Although either would suit me enough to get over the dirty feeling of having bought a Renault

63

General Discussion Area / Re: Leaking AA battery

« on: 19 December 2023, 10:48:50 »

Get a cree torch instead you will be astonished at the difference 👍

That.


I have a 6D-cell Maglite with the same battery problem. Before they failed, it's worse as a torch compared to a good quality single AA LED torch that fits in a trouser pocket. The only reason to still use a big Maglite is if you need want a weapon - it makes a much better club than a torch.


The real thing to consider for modern torches is which type of battery: rechargeable or not? If you're going to depend on it a lot, then a AA is better than a rechargeable simply because when it dies half way through a job at 03.37 in the middle of nowhere you can just swap to a new battery. Less usage makes a rechargeable preferable, but it needs to be charged using the same lead etc as everything else that you might carry. A USB connection on the torch is the best way, but the waterproof covers are universally shite. And it needs to be charged often.




I can thoroughly recommend Fenix torches as a good combination of usefulness, quality and price. I do wish that decent torches were available in brighter colours than black though.

64

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 17 December 2023, 15:54:36 »

Looks like a couple of minutes lathe work and a few pence worth of delrin to me....

65

General Car Chat / Re: Can I have....

« on: 16 December 2023, 18:59:41 »

I had a 1996 Rover 216D which I paid £500 for, had it for a couple of years, didn't do much to it, didn't need to either, and waved it off on the back of a scrappies truck.

For a cheap run a round it was great and I can't remember why I scrapped it now. 

The usual reason is the French engine not being used to living in a decent car, and dying early

66

General Car Chat / Re: Mondeo Running Rough

« on: 16 December 2023, 17:35:59 »

You missed the fourth stage: not working properly and causing expensive faults

67

General Car Chat / Re: Can I have....

« on: 16 December 2023, 15:11:06 »

………
the later Rover 200 shape ……

Oops, just remembered that they renamed this to Rover 25.   

Did it help?

They were pretty good cars, and the 25 lost most of the Honda complications that did nothing except cost more money. The MGs weren't an improvement due to the lack of suspension, shoddy and uncomfortable interiors(which also apply to 75 equivalents) and the silly body kit. A well kept, pensioner spec 25 is still a better place to be than a modern small hatch.

68

Omega General Help / Re: wet in boot

« on: 16 December 2023, 09:57:38 »

The bungs are there to plug holes used to position body jugs during assembly and crash repair. They don't have drain holes in them.

Sorry, wrong bungs 

But I doubt they use body jugs 

They're like jigs, only more mailable 

You want to post them??

69

General Car Chat / Re: Mondeo Running Rough

« on: 15 December 2023, 22:36:00 »

A rough running TDCi Mondeo ? I hope your wallet is full. Likely causes are injectors, fuel pump, turbo or internal engine faults due to not fixing the previous problems. And if it's a bit slow to start then the flywheel is failing, which can also make them run badly.

70

Omega General Help / Re: cambelt 3.2 elite gates

« on: 14 December 2023, 22:20:24 »

Because no tyre has ever dried rotted. Ever

Similarly, there's a reason why hot water bottles have expiry dates...

That.


Rubber and plastics are well known for deteriorating over time, without ever being used for their actual purpose. Dry, dark, constant temperature storage reduces, but doesn't remove the effects, so a cam belt that's been in a box on a shelf for twenty years isn't going to be quite as safe as one made last week. The same applies to hoses, seals and other plastic parts as mentioned in earlier posts.

71

General Discussion Area / Re: Kraft Beers ?

« on: 14 December 2023, 15:31:24 »

True but the American idea of beer is Budweiser, so pretty much anything is an improvement 

If you don't chill Budweiser, then you discover that it has lots of taste. The snag is that it tastes bloody horrible. US craft beers(nobody else calls them that, so the US is redundant) just go for even stronger, not better, or even different.

72

General Discussion Area / Re: Kraft Beers ?

« on: 14 December 2023, 14:25:21 »

The little club Im a Trustee of sells a Nethergate Ale (local brewery) which is very moreish.

As its just down the road from me, I've been known to pick up some lager-ish beers from Diddly Squat, its a grey label, buggered if I can remember what its called.  Its a very pleasant tipple in the garden after a day at work, but its easy to get stuck into and have far too many

My local is the Nelson Brewery, less than two miles away in the dockyard. Their beers are extremely drinkable, but are hard to find. Next is Goachers out the other side of Maidstone. It's much easier to find, but tastes like yesterday's dishwater strained through a farmer's socks

73

General Discussion Area / Re: Kraft Beers ?

« on: 14 December 2023, 14:22:20 »

The west coast of the US seems to be a craft beer utopia.

I've given up trying them, because every one conformed to the more is always better approach. Which leads to IPAs that are like drinking liquid desiccant, or that taste like they're a 50/50 mix of weak beer and concentrated ugly fruit syrup. While a good session beer is a very English idea, a good speciality beer still retains some subtlety and drinkability

74

General Car Chat / Re: Its That Time of Year Again - Breakdown Cover

« on: 13 December 2023, 15:27:54 »

You need to see their small print before you buy, because many of them have a very different idea of what constitutes a breakdown, recovery, potential repair, nearby garage or even just answering your phone call than you do. The less you pay p/a, the bigger that difference is. You can get an example of the actual service provided by the cheaper firms by smashing your head against the roughest brick wall you can find until you can't feel the pain.

But even the nastiest company is preferable than the bloody RAC

No, that's just a mild taster of what you can expect.

Methinks you are unaware of how bad the RAC has got.  They were crap before, but since being taken over, they are now pointless.

Methinks you're not taking into account the several hundred jobs I've done for the RAC. They're a long way from being the worst provider, whether you're a customer or working for them. They are very bad for sitting on their own jobs for so long that they have to farm them out when their own drivers go off shift.

18 hours.  18 bloody hours.

I think even the bad ones can beat that.

Compared to the bigger companies, they are consistently worse for every job. Of course there are always outliers. I'm shocked that you managed to be one. Shocked

75

General Car Chat / Re: Its That Time of Year Again - Breakdown Cover

« on: 12 December 2023, 22:49:09 »

You need to see their small print before you buy, because many of them have a very different idea of what constitutes a breakdown, recovery, potential repair, nearby garage or even just answering your phone call than you do. The less you pay p/a, the bigger that difference is. You can get an example of the actual service provided by the cheaper firms by smashing your head against the roughest brick wall you can find until you can't feel the pain.

But even the nastiest company is preferable than the bloody RAC

No, that's just a mild taster of what you can expect.

Methinks you are unaware of how bad the RAC has got.  They were crap before, but since being taken over, they are now pointless.

Methinks you're not taking into account the several hundred jobs I've done for the RAC. They're a long way from being the worst provider, whether you're a customer or working for them. They are very bad for sitting on their own jobs for so long that they have to farm them out when their own drivers go off shift.