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1

General Discussion Area / 51st Highland Division

« on: 15 July 2018, 21:37:17 »

Just watched a very interesting C4 programme about them.Detached from the main BEF and stationed on the Maginot line,they were then left "stranded" when the Germans thrust through the Ardennes and pushed the allies back to Dunkirk.Ordered to fight on they were along with the French steadily forced back to St.Valerie where plans were made to evacuate them.Admiral James assembled a rescue flotilla just off the coast awaiting the opportunity to go in and pick them up.This could only be done under cover of darkness and despite Admiral James defying admiralty orders by staying put after they'd ordered him home the plans came to nought due at least in part by fog descending as nightfall did[on two consecutive nights]and the 51st could hold out no longer and surrendered into captivity.No real recognition for their brave fight was forthcoming and no campaign medals issued.Two of the survivors who featured in the programme passed away this year.

2

General Car Chat / Bonkers

« on: 12 July 2018, 19:56:18 »

Take 1 Toyota IQ and modify it a bit then shove a 4.7L n/a Aston Martin V8 up front and call it an Aston Martin Cygnet.A proper little pocket rocket but an undoubtedly expensive one!

3

General Car Chat / VW Passat

« on: 11 July 2018, 22:19:03 »

Looking at the front suspension it appears that these have two upper and two lower track control arms[as opposed to wishbones]Step daughter has been told that the upper front balljoint is worn and it's a bitch of a job to change the control arm,yet a very brief look seems to suggest it's a case of undoing balljoint pinch bolt and the inner pivot nut and bolt ok clearance at between the spring and nut seems a bit tight but that's not insurmountable.Can the procedure really be that simple or is there a heck of a lot more involved?Car is an early '03 reg Passat 1.9tdi estate.

4

General Discussion Area / Kids in cave

« on: 03 July 2018, 20:33:49 »

I see they've found the kids trapped in the cave in Thailand,all seem safe and well  especially considering it took 10days to find them.Food/water etc is being taken in to them with the apparent choices of teaching them to scuba dive and get them out that way or leave them there[and keep pumping the flood waters out]until after the monsoon season[due to last until September ]and walk them out.Hopefully whichever way they do it the outcome will be a happy one

5

General Discussion Area / Trumps tariffs

« on: 28 June 2018, 19:28:29 »

So Harley-Davidson have stated that they will build bikes outside of the USA to get round the idea of tariffs-I'm pretty sure that many years ago H-D had a tie in with an Italian company Aermacchi if I remember rightly and you could buy a 250cc built by them but badged as a Harley.Trump of course is not best pleased with this idea and apparently has said H-Ds should "never" be built outside the USA.I know a good few bikers who'd tell him H-Ds should "never" be built at all

6

General Discussion Area / Useless shower

« on: 28 June 2018, 07:51:35 »

Whether the high speed railway idea is a white elephant or not is debatable,however given that it's going ahead you'd think that we'd get a game plan going but no it seems the companies interested in this project are in such disarray that the front runners for taking it on are the Chinese.So yet again British investment in a British project[supposedly a prestigious one at that] is notable by its complete absence

7

General Discussion Area / Odd dates

« on: 27 June 2018, 21:24:36 »

Watched an old re-run of Pawn Stars where a customer took in a trophy/cup supposedly awarded for some sort of horse riding skill in WW1.A pop up box of facts that they sometimes show appeared which said WW1 was fought 1915 to 1919.To European eyes these dates of course don't tally,however from an American perspective it didn't start[officially at least]until 1915 after the sinking of the Lusitania[?] as for ending 1919 technically that is correct as although wars end is commemorated as November 1918 this is when the armistice came into force and the guns fell silent but the war didn't officially end until the peace was signed on June 21st 1919 up until which point the fighting could have re-started and the war continued.It was on this date that the crews of the High Seas Fleet scuttled all their vessels[including submarines]which they had sailed into Scapa Flow at the beginning of the armistice.

8

General Discussion Area / Got my invitation

« on: 27 June 2018, 19:01:15 »

Got home tonight to find a brown window envelope on the mat[I hate brown window envelopes] my first thought was "Oh,sugar" or words to that effect however on opening it I found it to be my "Invitation"[their wording] to apply for my state pension,so it wasn't as bad as I initially thought.

9

General Discussion Area / Moors fire

« on: 27 June 2018, 18:57:38 »

A large part of Saddleworth Moor[people of a certain age will know the notoriety of the place]has been-and still is on fire since the weekend.The smoke of the fire can be seen from space.A few people were evacuated from their homes nearby but some have now been allowed back as long as they give their details to the authorities in case the wind shifts and takes the fire back towards their houses and they need evacuating again.

10

Omega General Help / Following on...

« on: 27 June 2018, 08:07:43 »

….From Andy A posting about rear jacking/axle stand placement,where do you jack/place axle stands at the front? I'm going to finally tackle the oil cooler change this weekend and obviously need to be under the front[n/s side at least to remove oil filter and loosen oil cooler pipes]running the car up onto ramps to do this is not really an option as A] It would increase the "stretch" to work on top of engine and B] the bonnet wouldn't fully open as it would hit garage roof.So my thinking is jack/support do the necessary lower work and then drop car back onto its wheels to work under bonnet.

11

General Discussion Area / Shipwreck looters

« on: 23 June 2018, 15:37:00 »

Two men have been sentenced to 4yrs and 3 1/2yrs respectively for fraud and failing to report their haul to the receiver of wrecks after looting HMS Hermes which was sunk by U-Boat in the channel in 1914 with the loss of 44 lives.Apparently the artefacts they'd recovered and [some] sold has been valued at £150,000.

12

General Car Chat / OOOPS!!

« on: 23 June 2018, 08:00:52 »

Got home last night to find a letter from DVLA saying my direct debit for the V70's tax would not be renewed on 1st July if I didn't get an M.o.T. certificate for it,puzzled by this I looked up its paperwork to find that the M.o.T ran out 3 weeks ago It doesn't seem anything like a year ago it was tested,why oh why in this day and age of computerisation can no reminders be sent out for this?

13

General Car Chat / Rarities

« on: 20 June 2018, 20:40:19 »

On my way to/from work I pass what was until recently a bus garage,this has now been split down into different units.One chap has taken two of these and started doing business as a garage,fair play to him whenever I pass he always seems to be busy.Anyway some of the time he drives about in a Hillman Avenger-don't know what engine he's got in it[certainly not standard Rootes mechanicals judging by the sound ]and it's got a large bonnet bulge fitted,it does look at bit tatty it must be said.However his other car which appears to be an absolute minter is the Avengers slightly larger relative a Chrysler 2L resplendent in Gold with a Beige/Cream vynil roof.

14

General Discussion Area / Old name revival

« on: 20 June 2018, 20:28:15 »

In the next few days/weeks the East Coast Mainline-currently run under the Virgin Trains name will be changed[don't know whether it'll be same company running it or a different one]and it will then become LNER-hardly an original name but there you go.Of course whether the service will improve or not is an entirely different kettle of fish.

15

Omega General Help / Bolt size

« on: 20 June 2018, 20:02:42 »

I'll try again-typed this once and when I hit post site disappeared