Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

32416

General Discussion Area / Re: Non-alcoholic champagne

« on: 19 June 2007, 09:47:02 »

My Dad got I.D.'d there on holiday once. I think he was about 48 at the time. Made me laugh!

I was 2 weeks short of 21 and went out for an evening with a native friend from Uni. She was about 5'2 and built like a rake. She kept buying beers "for herself"and pouring them into my Coke beaker. The guys at the bar kept joking about how she could really hold her beer. The clearly weren't the sharpest tools in the box as all the explanation they needed was present in the slightly tipsy under age guy with her, whose Coke had lasted him all evening!

Kevin

32417

General Discussion Area / Re: ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS

« on: 15 June 2007, 23:04:54 »

as I said before, your next stop is to get in touch with the chairman of the governing body

Very true. And the governors are likely to be made up, at least in part, of concerned parents like yourself and not brainwashed to be PC like the staff.

Kevin

32418

General Discussion Area / Re: ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS

« on: 15 June 2007, 22:10:20 »

It all comes back to this patheitc "not letting there be any losers at sports day" cr@p if you ask me. They can't be seen to judge and therefore punish the one who was in the wrong but have to be even handed and dish out the same to both parties involved. We're in for a hell of a ride when this generation grow up and, perish the thought, some of them will be running the country, policing it and running the court system.

I really feel for your lad, Fin. I think you're right to make it as public as you can. That's the only way sane thinking people will hear about it and start to ask what the hell's going on.

 

Kevin

32419

General Discussion Area / Re: Z18XE engine - Cambelt and exhaust manifold

« on: 19 June 2007, 13:02:09 »

just done one of these

Ahh, OK. Penny dropped. The water pump will denfinately be on the list then  

Kevin

32420

General Discussion Area / Re: Z18XE engine - Cambelt and exhaust manifold

« on: 19 June 2007, 10:01:04 »

Thanks for your help guys.

Kevin

32421

General Discussion Area / Z18XE engine - Cambelt and exhaust manifold

« on: 18 June 2007, 17:49:44 »

A bit off topic on an Omega forum perhaps but my brother has got a 2001 Astra SXi with the Z18XE engine. It's about time the cam belt was changed and something around the exhaust manifold is blowing. Don't know if it's a cracked manifold or the gasket, broken studs, etc. yet because I haven't had the heatshields off. It quietens down completely when warmed up, sounds like a tractor when cold.

Just wondering if anyone's got any experience with this engine. In particular:

Any gotchas with the cam belt on this engine?
Does anyone have a cam locking kit they would be willing to loan?
Is a waterpump change advised with the cam belt? Does cam belt drive the waterpump?
What's the likely prognosis on the blowing exhaust manifold? As bad as the Omega? (cracked manifold, broken studs, etc?)

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

32422

General Discussion Area / Re: AR35 Futures

« on: 18 June 2007, 14:54:45 »

Its a route I think should be explored.....

Me too. I don't plan on needing a replacement for a while (touch wood) but when the time comes I'd rather put in one I have rebuilt and am confident in than one that came from a scrappy.

Whilst the supply of 2nd hand gearboxes might be safe for a while, the probability of a 2nd hand one being a good one will reduce in time.

OK, so we may lack the skills required to rebuild one now but we won't learn them until we jump in with both feet. I vote that someone donates a knackered AR35 to the cause next time we have a meet and we have a go at rebuilding it, taking plenty of pics and vids as we go.

Kevin

32423

General Discussion Area / Re: I've never seen one...

« on: 06 June 2007, 09:52:18 »

I must admit I think the 6 series is a seriously ugly car. Give me an old shape 635CSi any day of the week, or a 2002ti   BMW have lost their way big time.

I think it's ugly, and tacky inside, looks just like a cheap VW on that dash.......

Yep. Black plastic everywhere, punctuated only by the odd bit of fake carbon fibre!

70mph max country's limit... yes it would be fun, but at what cost?

yeah, 149 MPH will do me nicely for now! And at a fraction of the cost....

Kevin

32424

General Discussion Area / Re: '94 - '03 Workshop Manual

« on: 17 June 2007, 00:59:10 »

Many of these are pirated Vauxhall software so beware. They may not be legal and may not be ideal for a home mechanic in any case as they are designed for the trade.

Edited to clarify: No experience of this particular seller, but 9 times out of 10 workshop manuals offered on CD are the above.

Kevin

32425

General Discussion Area / Re: Scumbags

« on: 17 June 2007, 01:27:23 »

I was amazed to walk down the high street in the early evening one weekday a few weeks ago. A group of 3 teenage girls were hanging around outside the off licence smoking. A WPC walked over to one and politely asked if she could have a word. I have never heard language like that which she received in response. Totally unprovoked. She could have been asking for the time for all they knew.

When I was that age I had been taught to respect others, especially those in authority. I probably hadn't been on the planet long enough to have worked out for myself why that was right, but I knew that bad things would happen to me if I didn't and that worse things would happen if my parents found out.

I used to moan about how the country is run but that's irrelevant now. Nothing's going to be fixed by a change of government or policy. The country's rotten to the core and I think the only thing that's likely to fix it is a re-run of the battle of britain, to remind people that nothing is an absolute right in life, and that sometimes you have to make sacrifices for what you need, rather than expect it all on a plate, and raise hell if it's not to your liking.

 

Kevin

32426

General Discussion Area / Re: Mrs Markies New Car

« on: 15 June 2007, 23:46:12 »

That is truly hideous but it is surprising it's still on the road. I reckon the lights alone would write off the electrical system if you turned them all on at once.

Mate of mine bought a Reliant Robin for his wife as a present once. He was joking, of course. He had a 1967 Landy round the corner as backup.

He's now divorced.  

Kevin

32427

General Discussion Area / Re: Took delivery today

« on: 15 June 2007, 23:38:54 »

Excellent news! Sounds like a nice Omega you've got there!

A link was posted on here to download pdfs of the manual from Vauxhall somewhere. A quick search would bring it up I'm sure.

Climate is the only thing I don't love about mine. I'd be happier with manual heater controls, TBH, but not an option on the facelift.

Pressing AUTO and selecting a temperature means it will control fan speed, air distribution, heating, air con, etc. to maintain the selected temperature in the cabin. Selecting ECO disables air con completely so it won't cool the air.

You can override the fan speed and air distribution using the other buttons and by pressing one of the temperature controls you can go from one temperature for the whole car to separate left and right settings and vice versa.

Kevin

32428

General Discussion Area / Re: Aircon regassed

« on: 17 June 2007, 00:09:04 »

i asked about the the other stuff, they said nope only gass added

They hook it up to an automated machine that does everything, which is why they didn't have a clue..

OK if you're sure it only needs a re-gas but hopeless if you've got another problem as where an air con specialist will be able to fault find, Thick Fit will shrug their shoulders and give you a refund. Or in my case, send you packing with no refund and let you extract it from them by snotty letters.

Which Kwik Fit branch was that at, out of interest, meegaveesix?

Kevin

32429

General Discussion Area / Re: 3.0 engine and manual gearbox

« on: 14 June 2007, 14:17:20 »

.. and then you'll get attached to that car, so you'll have 2 Omegas and still be looking for an engine and gearbox!

 

Kevin

32430

General Discussion Area / Re: Lights and rain

« on: 15 June 2007, 11:13:22 »

I think it also requires you to put yourself in the position of the guy behind you. If there's no-one behind you and the visibility is sufficiently bad, the fog lights have to go on, in case someone comes up behind you and doesn't see you until too late. Once that person is safely foillowing you, close enough to see the tail lights, the more important issue becomes him responding to your brake lights so, IMO, the fog lights should go off.

So, I think Brucie's analogy with the main beams is spot on. They should be used dynamically as the need arises rather than turned on with the first patch of fog and off again in the spring  

Kevin