RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 17 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17 I was driving on a dual carriageway at 70 mph and overtaking a line of cars when a BMW came up behind me and started flashing his lights. I saw a gap in the line of cars to my left, signalled and pulled into it. As he sped past me he gave me the finger and nearly lost control whilst doing so. It gave me great satisfaction to see the same car in a ditch further down the road. 4 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 I miss driving during lockdown, there was still a few prats out on the road, but the ordinary school/commute run drivers were not there. My 25 minute commute was about 15 minutes, loads of room on the roads and the times I was out during the ordinary working day I found it tended to be either professional drivers or people who took driving a bit more seriously. As soon as lock down ended, all the knob heads came crawling out from under their rock, added 10 minutes ot my commute and proceeded to drive like its an incovenience to them. Lockdowns were overally not a great thing, but certain aspects were much better than they are now/before. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnofwessex Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 28 minutes ago, PhilJ W said: I was driving on a dual carriageway at 70 mph and overtaking a line of cars when a BMW came up behind me and started flashing his lights. I saw a gap in the line of cars to my left, signalled and pulled into it. As he sped past me he gave me the finger and nearly lost control whilst doing so. It gave me great satisfaction to see the same car in a ditch further down the road. I was driving through Dean on the A361 near Shepton Mallett. It was dark and raining heavily. There is a 40mph limit and double white lines as well as a sharp bend. As I went round the bend I was passed by a BMW He accelerated up the hill and I then saw the tail lights weave all over the road as he lost control. Sadly he then regained control 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 17 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17 1 hour ago, johnofwessex said: I was driving through Dean on the A361 near Shepton Mallett. It was dark and raining heavily. There is a 40mph limit and double white lines as well as a sharp bend. As I went round the bend I was passed by a BMW He accelerated up the hill and I then saw the tail lights weave all over the road as he lost control. Sadly he then regained control With any luck he needed clean underwear.😁 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 18 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18 22 hours ago, johnofwessex said: Sadly he then regained control Of his bowels? Mike. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnofwessex Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68008117 Now it has been pointed out that there is a significant discrepancy between the penalties for carrying a knife - 4 years max and dangerous driving 2 years. It seems to me that there is also a significant difference between how a 'fail to stop' is treated compared with someone on the run with a knife/gun. Now I realise that there are all sorts of operational difficulties but why isnt there a more 'robust' approach to Failure to Stop in terms of the resources deployed and force used with the primary purpose being to protect both the public and Police Officers? Similarly in how the offender is treated when caught ie no bail and longer in jail. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 41 minutes ago, johnofwessex said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68008117 Now it has been pointed out that there is a significant discrepancy between the penalties for carrying a knife - 4 years max and dangerous driving 2 years. It seems to me that there is also a significant difference between how a 'fail to stop' is treated compared with someone on the run with a knife/gun. Now I realise that there are all sorts of operational difficulties but why isnt there a more 'robust' approach to Failure to Stop in terms of the resources deployed and force used with the primary purpose being to protect both the public and Police Officers? Similarly in how the offender is treated when caught ie no bail and longer in jail. Car thief will probably get three months suspended for the TWOC, a caution for possession of a class B substance and an eighteen months ban on a driving licence he's never had. That's if the CPS are feeling particularly vindictive.. It seems that the boy hit by the police car had only minor injuries and thankfully made a full recovery. Investigation into the collision will no doubt drag on for months at great expense to the taxpayer and great distress to the officer involved. If he doesn't resign, he'll probably be taken off pursuits and stuck back in a panda car... Of course, before that happens, the perp will have stolen another car whilst off his nut, got into a chase, crashed and legged it, leaving a fourteen year old girl dead in the passenger seat. There will then be a public outcry about gung ho police tactics etc etc etc.... 2 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Been getting a lot of ice INSIDE my car the past few days and noted how it'll start causing electrical problems if I don't figure out what's going on. Emptied the boot, took everything out of the wheel well to find an icy puddle had collected at the bottom. Probably one source of moisture, so spent about half hour yesterday soaking up the water with towels. Then took it for a late night blast for about 1.5 hours to both give it a good run and properly let the A/C try to sort the humidity. Checked this morning and thankfully so far the ice is now OUTSIDE the car only. Hopefully its just where wet coats and shoes have slowly evapourated and collected and its not a leak as far as I can see. Though to compound issues, the speedo decided to not play ball and its resting state decided to change to 30mph. So 40mph actual speed indicated at 70mph! Didn't realise the speedo was buggered for about half hour and wondered why the drive felt slow! Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery when I got home corrected it. I think I also need to change the cabin air filter to help resolve the humidity, which I should be able to do myself. Its just not a 'January' kind of job lol. Edited January 19 by Coldgunner 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 1 hour ago, Coldgunner said: I think I also need to change the cabin air filter to help resolve the humidity, which I should be able to do myself. Its just not a 'January' kind of job lol. The filter in the Smart was a pain to put in. So much so that whoever had serviced it last just rammed it in there so that the rectangular filter was a figure eight shape and doing naff all filtering... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 In my golf, the cabin filter is behind the glovebox, which requires somehow sitting upside down to see it. Its a job for springtime. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 2 hours ago, Coldgunner said: In my golf, the cabin filter is behind the glovebox, which requires somehow sitting upside down to see it. Its a job for springtime. I once owned a Morris Marina. It wasn't overwhelmened with good points, but you could just open the bonnet and unbolt stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 I was at a friend's house recently and was asked if I could change a broken fan belt on a Volvo. You could just about see two of the pulleys, one of which was the jockey pulley. That was seized solid because the bearing is "sealed for life" . Add £70 to the £16 for the belt. It was a four hour garage job, working from underneath, remove engine guard, etc etc. Absolutely stupid for a routine service item. One bolt and ten minutes to change the fan belt on the Triumph Herald. Cost about £6. 6 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 19 minutes ago, MrWolf said: I was at a friend's house recently and was asked if I could change a broken fan belt on a Volvo. You could just about see two of the pulleys, one of which was the jockey pulley. That was seized solid because the bearing is "sealed for life" . Add £70 to the £16 for the belt. It was a four hour garage job, working from underneath, remove engine guard, etc etc. Idly watching a YouTube mechanic the other day diagnosing an engine noise that turned out to be an alternator bearing. When doing the quote he was trying to figure out if he could get the alternator out without having to de-gas the air conditioning. Think the quote came to $600 or something. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted January 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 19 35 minutes ago, 30801 said: Idly watching a YouTube mechanic the other day diagnosing an engine noise that turned out to be an alternator bearing. When doing the quote he was trying to figure out if he could get the alternator out without having to de-gas the air conditioning. Think the quote came to $600 or something. Rainman Ray? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 34 minutes ago, 30801 said: Idly watching a YouTube mechanic the other day diagnosing an engine noise that turned out to be an alternator bearing. When doing the quote he was trying to figure out if he could get the alternator out without having to de-gas the air conditioning. Think the quote came to $600 or something. delivered anew altenator to one of my garages on monday for a maybach requested did he have the old unit off for exchange to be informed that it will be wednesday before that happens as its an engine out job ! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted January 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 19 4 hours ago, Coldgunner said: In my golf, the cabin filter is behind the glovebox, which requires somehow sitting upside down to see it. Its a job for springtime. My car has that filter behind the glovebox and is relatively easy to change. HOWEVER, there is a twig or something wrapped around the fan, located underneath, it makes a racket when the fan is more than half speed. Yet to find a way to access the fan to remove the twig! I haven't looked too hard so far, but my other half complains, because I haven't refitted the screws holding the glovebox secure! Guess how the twig got there - yep when I pulled out the filter to check it, the twig went in AND the filter didn't need changing! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 1 hour ago, kevinlms said: Rainman Ray? Doobley deebly doo! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Some of you might find this video rather depressing! 2 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Hroth Posted January 19 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19 48 minutes ago, MrWolf said: Some of you might find this video rather depressing! Not so much depressing as insanity laid bare. 1 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
black and decker boy Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 6 hours ago, 30801 said: I once owned a Morris Marina. It wasn't overwhelmened with good points, but you could just open the bonnet and unbolt stuff. My first car was a 1984 mini (bought 1991). Never a need to unbolt stuff as most parts seemed to work loose frequently, the engine block itself wasn’t bolted into the chassis!! Ran sweetly though except when the Distributor Cap worked loose. unknown when I bought it, it had no carburettor connected, first big hill saw me doing 5mph flat out….. Quick fix from local scrap yard. great car, had loads of fun with it. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted January 20 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20 My mini used to in clamp it's distributor too, . Most difficult thing to change was the little rubber tube on the back between cylinder head and block carrying cooling water. Mine let go driving between Norwich and Weston super mare. Had to keep stopping to top up with water, on a cold snowy day / night. Luckily there was an aftermarket tube that was compressible and much easier to fit. More recently, like last night... Followed a pickup truck carrying tins of paint on its flat bed.... Then I realised something, I could see the tins of paint because the rear door was down... I dropped back somewhat at that.. Wonder how many tins he'd lost on the way... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeps Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 17 minutes ago, TheQ said: My mini used to in clamp it's distributor too, . Most difficult thing to change was the little rubber tube on the back between cylinder head and block carrying cooling water. Mine let go driving between Norwich and Weston super mare. Had to keep stopping to top up with water, on a cold snowy day / night. Luckily there was an aftermarket tube that was compressible and much easier to fit. More recently, like last night... Followed a pickup truck carrying tins of paint on its flat bed.... Then I realised something, I could see the tins of paint because the rear door was down... I dropped back somewhat at that.. Wonder how many tins he'd lost on the way... I well remember when the ‘bypass hose’ went on my old clubman estate. I managed to force a standard replacement into place but was unaware of a compressible alternative. The carburettor was problematic in winter; at the start of a journey the idle struggled to keep the engine running but half an hour later it would idle too fast. I tried all the usual tricks to get it to behave but without success, I even contemplated making a hole in the bulkhead so I could reach through and adjust the tick over manually during a journey! One of the best cars I ever had was a 1.8 litre, naturally aspirated, Ford Orion diesel. It would happily cruise at 70 on the motorways and I could get from Scotland to Cornwall on a single tank of fuel. The only problem I had was when the heater matrix sprang a leak, on a journey back to Scotland in winter. It became evident when I noticed an inch of water in the footwell. For some reason I thought that not having the heater ‘on’ it might slow the leakage rate so I endured the freezing temperatures for most of the trip, stopping at every services en route to top up the radiator and mop out the footwell. Reference your experience with the pickup truck, I had a similar one following a scrap metal lorry with bits of aluminium randomly flying off. My solution then, as with tailgaters etc. now, is to pull over til the idiot is out of sight. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium fulton Posted January 20 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20 Not all old cars were easy to work on, I remember in order to remove the starter motor from my MK2 Jaguar, the drivers seat had to come out, to gain access to a panel on the transmission tunnel, then to get it out of the engine bay the carbs also had to come off. Just watched a clip on the BBC, New York state, heavy snow, car overtaking a lorry, hits snowplough going the other way. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 2 hours ago, Deeps said: I well remember when the ‘bypass hose’ went on my old clubman estate. I managed to force a standard replacement into place but was unaware of a compressible alternative. Changing the steering rack on my Mk1 Mini was a pig of a job. Finally got it together only to discover the shiny reconditioned rack was in fact junk. Out it came and back to the shop. It turned out that was the last Mk1 rack to be had. Later types were a different length so I had to fit one of those after a trip to the scrappies to for a later set of steering arms to match it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I had the same fun and games with a 1966 Wolseley Hornet that I picked up for £150 years ago as what would now be called a "barn find" (and suitably overpriced on eBay!) the previous owner had abandoned it in a shed because it had failed the MOT on the rack and didn't fancy paying to have it fixed. It took two of us a day to sort out and about a month's worth of tea, cigarettes and swear box contributions. By comparison, unseizing the rear suspension and handbrake quadrants was a pleasure. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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