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34201

General Discussion Area / Re: I'm an LPG numpty

« on: 06 October 2007, 00:06:54 »

The winches at the gliding club use a chevy 502ci V8 on LPG (mixer) only. No petrol for starting.

I used to fly with a group of guys from dawn on Saturday mornings throughout the winter and very quickly learnt that when it's sub-zero, you need to get the winch running before you take it out of the (gently heated) hangar otherwise it's a real struggle!

I also learnt that when unscrewing the filler hose you need your gloves on if you don't want to weld your hands to it with ice!

Kevin

34202

General Discussion Area / Re: Battery booster pack

« on: 04 October 2007, 22:34:29 »

No. I don't think it would be any good in that application. To charge a battery you need to apply a higher voltage than the battery's terminal voltage. This is why an alternator typically has an output of around 14-14.5 volts. Connecting a 12 volt battery (in the booster) wouldn't charge it significantly.

In addition, the batteries in a booster are so much smaller in capacity than a car battery they wouldn't be able to fully charge it in any case.

Kevin

34203

General Discussion Area / Re: Britains worst drivers.

« on: 03 October 2007, 18:25:07 »

And plus dark colored huge size WW vans.

Funny you should say that. There's a black Transporter that I meet coming the other way every morning who gives no mercy whatsoever. I always just pull into a passing space when I see him. Total 'rsehole.

Hmm. Thinking about it, I'll be in a courtesy car tomorrow (not mine). Maybe I'll stand my ground.

 

Kevin

34204

General Discussion Area / Re: Britains worst drivers.

« on: 03 October 2007, 16:52:17 »

Oh, and regarding Audi drivers I have the feeling they are wannabe BMW drivers who have got the hump because their managers wouldn't sign off a BMW.

 

The diesel ones don't half smoke, too. It's fun to let them pull away from you until you can see by the fumes that they are really trying, then kick down and scream past

Kevin

34205

General Discussion Area / Re: Britains worst drivers.

« on: 03 October 2007, 16:44:41 »

That's got to be about right. I'd also add van drivers to that. I'm very cautious of drivers of tatty / white vans. The vehicle is either not theirs or they don't give a monkeys about its' condition so why would they drive it courteously? You like your car more then that so you'll give way, won't you?

I really don't understand the 4x4 / pickup truck thing. Buy a big, thirsty, agricultural chunk of iron with the aerodynamics of a sub post office and then hurl it up the motorway at 90+, bullying everyone else out of the way. Presumably all the wind and tyre noise, not to mention the fuel consumption, makes them bad tempered. Should have bought an Omega, mate!

Kevin

34206

General Discussion Area / Re: Were back

« on: 03 October 2007, 23:34:37 »

Our line at work failed for a week earlier this year. Couldn't get it to re-sync. BT guy eventually came out, hooked up his lap top, connected first time

Then tried our router again, connected first time.

He said sometimes something at the exchange gets a stale connection and connecting different hardware resets it :-/

Glad you're back. It's not a nice place to be to be disconnected

Kevin

34207

General Discussion Area / Re: Omega sump

« on: 03 October 2007, 09:51:00 »

I'd say a C20XE is a more often trodden path and that engine will make more power than the Omega lump. Finding a good one is getting less easy now though.

You can always keep it simple using a conventional distributor and a pair of 45DCOEs with the C20XE. Should still be good for 160-170 BHP.

I would guess that you need to use some form of engine management with the Ecotec due to the lack of a distributor, not that that's too hard to sort out these days. I would probably go for an aftermarket injection setup (probably a Megasquirt, knowing me ) and independant throttle bodies rather than try to get the Omega's engine management to work in the Manta.

Sounds like a fun project, though. Keep us updated and good luck

Kevin

34208

General Discussion Area / Re: Martin being evasive

« on: 03 October 2007, 23:48:54 »

Really sorry to hear this Martin but it sounds like he's in good hands and re're all thinking about him.

Kevin

34209

General Discussion Area / Re: Economical cruising speed?

« on: 03 October 2007, 13:41:02 »

Aerodynamic drag increases with speed squared so, once that becomes the dominant factor in the equation, your fuel consumption increases with the square of the speed in order to overcome the drag.

However, at low speeds other factors take over. Rolling resistance and efficiency of engine and drivetrain start to become more important. Clearly the "slower is better" rule falls over when you have to change down a gear because the engine is now spinning faster with respect to your forward speed, and is therefore less efficient.

The 56 MPH speed for best consumption was always a myth, but a slightly self-fulfilling one in that 56 MPH was the speed at which the old style government figures for cruising MPG were measured, so, as a manufacturer, if you were going to tune your car for fuel consumption, you made sure it was good at 56.

Personally I think you'll get the best MPG at the lowest speed at which you can comfortably cruise in top gear, with the torque converter locked if an auto, without labouring the engine. Say about 2000 RPM in a V6 and maybe 2500 in a 4 pot. Pretty close to the mythical 56 MPH figure, then.

Kevin

34210

General Discussion Area / Re: Economical cruising speed?

« on: 03 October 2007, 12:37:12 »

It's difficult to get a good idea from the instantaneous figure. I find mine generally gets more thirsty the faster I go. Give it a good run at a constant speed after resetting the average and repeat at a few speeds.

Mine does about 33 MPG at 70, down to about 30MPG at 80, 26 MPG at 90, 22 MPG at 100 . All verified during my recent holiday, officer!

Did a run back from Bristol on the M4 the other day, in no hurry, and at 60-65 it averaged 40 MPG over nearly 100 miles.

All figures from the MID, which seems to be optimistic perhaps to the tune of 1MPG so not far from the truth.

So, slower is generally better although an auto box will suddenly get very uneconomical when you can't maintain sufficient speed to keep the torque converter locked up in 4th. About 50 MPH in my case.

Kevin

34211

General Discussion Area / Re: Whoo hoo good news...

« on: 29 September 2007, 01:01:02 »

Good news Well done.

Bide your time and look forward to the day when you're in a position to tell them to **** themselves.

Kevin

34212

General Discussion Area / Re: Wish i'd listened.

« on: 03 October 2007, 18:30:25 »

I was wondering that, too. Mine creaks a little and I have been meaning to pick up a new bush to do it but haven't with any urgency. Unless it seizes solid (maybe it does) I can't see how it would do any damage.

Kevin

34213

General Discussion Area / Re: ASDA

« on: 03 October 2007, 18:16:55 »

The Lidl near us has extra long conveyor belts for some reason.  If everything doesn't work in sync you can get some interesting pileups

Our one has extra short ones (downstream of the till) so if you don't pack it up quickly enough it gets pushed onto the floor by the next bloke's shopping coming through and hard luck if it's breakable.

Seems they aren't allowed to let up in the slightest. If the till doesn't go "bip" a couple of times a second they probably get marched out into the car park and shot for losing money.

our local tesco has a few fit little things working there..

My mother in law works in Sainsburys

Kevin

34214

General Discussion Area / Re: ASDA

« on: 03 October 2007, 15:09:39 »

You want to try Aldi or Lidl   Scary!

I failed to pack my carrier bag as fast as the stuff was flying through the till at the weekend. Thought I was done for! Then I tried to pay with a credit card. Fancy that!

Kevin

34215

General Discussion Area / Re: Vectra Blown Engine Advice...

« on: 03 October 2007, 15:55:40 »

Any car is liable to go bang at any time without warning. Problems do occur. If it happens just after you've bought a car as seen with no warranty it's annoying but a risk you take. In this case, you had warned him of a problem, which is more than some sellers would. I think you have a clear conscience.

If he contacts you again be firm and point out that the car was sold as seen, that it was described to the best of your knowledge, in particular that a known problem existed, and that you can't really comment further because the main problem developed after it left your hands.

Kevin