station cat Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 No I still remember someome trying to weld his Citroen GS front end with the anti rust foam still in, a bucket of water from a more knowledgable person stopped him from gasing us all. Did the water go over him or the the object of his attentions? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2014 Did the water go over him or the the object of his attentions? Over the metal and foam the gas given off is a form of cyanide like heating superglue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 Morning all Cloudy and threatening in places - but blue sky on the distant horizon. Like life, really. We had a mega Summer storm about 5 yesterday, with loadsa rain, thunder, violent gusts etc. More promised for this afternoon, maybe all day tomorrow. Interested to note SM Mike has a Peugeot 409. Peugeot may be interested to know that, too. Washer bottles? Having had at least half an hour's notice that Richard and daughter were en route to inspect the Skoda with a view to buying, I though I'd better top up the screen wash. So, as the stuff is only now sold as pre-mix, I grabbed a bottle and started to tip. It was at this point, when I saw the liquid was between dark grey and black, that I realised this was old engine oil from the lawn-tractor! Bum'oles! Not much had gone in, and so I added as much of the "real thing" as the reservoir would hold, did a lot of screen-washing, topped it up again etc. Never been mentioned by the delighted purchasers! As for access to various parts of a car's anatomy, Paul found out the hard way that to replace the battery on a Ferrari Mondial you need to take one of the wheels off.... A Facebook friend - schoolmate's widow, and former stable-colleague of Deb's - had booked a holiday in Canada. Arrived at the airport in plenty of time, but the meet-and-park person didn't appear for an hour, and she was then denied access to the plane. Back home in despair. Other people's lives can be worse than your own. Hope your day goes well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 Mike, We're those the good old days? Kind regards, Jock. Not really Jock - I'd moved on from a Ford Popular that did about 30+mpg on petrol and about 1 pint per 35 miles on sump oil (however once I got hold of some BR Hymek sump oil the latter figure went up to about 80-90 miles, good stuff that SAE 90 ). Or the the Triumph Vitesse which was great fun to drive (especially the way I had it shod) but had a nasty habit of cutting out at just the wrong moment, some guys in a Newport back street car servicing place tried everything electronic in existence in 1974 on it and couldn't find the fault then when I went to collect it the thing cut out, they did some instant checking and found the distributor drive shaft had split vertically (near enough) and every now and then it lifted and the points lost contact - very odd. But one thing about the Vitesse and its predecessor Herald convertible was that at least you could sit down on a front wheel while you were adjusting the tappets (which was just as well with the Herald as they never stayed adjusted for some unknown reason and I think the welder I sold it to had the same problem). Oh so different nowadays when they just plug in an even more electronic gizmo - which still can't find faults! Ah well various things to sort today before departure westwards (and rainwards according to the Exeter seaweed) tomorrow. Have a good day one and all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 My Grandfather had a Vitesse 6 - it was a wonderful car. Not the best handling by today's standards, but access to the engine bay is unrivalled on any car. Don't get me started on modern cars. All the confounded sensors and gizmos just mean more to go wrong. A few years ago, I had a Vectra which kept cutting out. The garage replaced the cambelt sensor twice before I suggested it might be a good idea to check and see if the cambelt was actually Ok. The garage said it would be ok, but the sensors were "always failing". Turns out, the previous owner had the cambelt replaced, but didn't change the tension roller. The belt was wagging around like a lambs tail. So much for sensors - but you have to trust what they are telling you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 A Facebook friend - schoolmate's widow, and former stable-colleague of Deb's - had booked a holiday in Canada. Arrived at the airport in plenty of time, but the meet-and-park person didn't appear for an hour, and she was then denied access to the plane. Back home in despair. Other people's lives can be worse than your own. That's terrible! I can imagine how her feelings went from excitement to misery in that short time. Now the problems of dealing with it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Morning all, Sunny here again today but a rude early awakening as Joanna and Nursie daughter have decided to decorate the front bedroom with a view to us moving in to it when complete. I awoke when Nursie arrived at 6.45am to start! I might add that none of this was my idea. We have cleared all the useful stuff (known as junk to Joanna!) and the two storey bed we used to keep for all the grandchildren was sold on 'flea-bay' a few months ago. I suppose, as Joanna would like to sell and downsize next year, a re-decorate isn't a bad thing. Strange how useless you feel when you would have done it all yourself in the past! The kids make me feel better by pointing out that I used to do it all for them years ago. Think I'll disappear to the garage and get on with the patio set, leaving them to get on with it! Mike(SM), I hope the weather improves and that your journey westwards is safe and uneventful - the A30 can be a great place for standing water in a downpour and often catches out the unwary with aquaplaning but I suppose you know that! I agree on your last comment about the electronic gizmos - it is often forgotten, by mechanics as well, that if the information doesn't reach the computer due to an 'old fashioned' electrical fault, it can't help you!! As a point of interest, the Herald used an over-bored and up-rated Standard 10 engine which was pretty ancient (It was also the basis of the Triumph Spitfire engine!)! Won't bore you with the large list of tales about the dramas caused by driving old bangers, although some of them are very funny indeed - perhaps I could feed the odd one in now and then! Ian, agree with the confusion that asking for help with a '409' would cause a Peugeot dealer! When I was in 'the trade', one of our frequent problems arose from people putting their screen wash mix into the wrong receptacle, ie the coolant bottle and, in a couple of extreme cases, the oil filler cap! Not many days before the sun shines daily for you - hope Sherry has an uneventful journey across La Manche. Hope you all get over the hump without incident, Kind regards, Jock. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 . Arrived at the airport in plenty of time, but the meet-and-park person didn't appear for an hour, and she was then denied access to the plane. Back home in despair. Other people's lives can be worse than your own. Hope your day goes well. Ian, Seriously, what is a "Meet and Park Person”? Which Airport? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Morning all, Sunny here again today but a rude early awakening as Joanna and Nursie daughter have decided to decorate the front bedroom with a view to us moving in to it when complete. I awoke when Nursie arrived at 6.45am to start! I might add that none of this was my idea. We have cleared all the useful stuff (known as junk to Joanna!) and the two storey bed we used to keep for all the grandchildren was sold on 'flea-bay' a few months ago. I suppose, as Joanna would like to sell and downsize next year, a re-decorate isn't a bad thing. Strange how useless you feel when you would have done it all yourself in the past! The kids make me feel better by pointing out that I used to do it all for them years ago. Think I'll disappear to the garage and get on with the patio set, leaving them to get on with it! Mike(SM), I hope the weather improves and that your journey westwards is safe and uneventful - the A30 can be a great place for standing water in a downpour and often catches out the unwary with aquaplaning but I suppose you know that! I agree on your last comment about the electronic gizmos - it is often forgotten, by mechanics as well, that if the information doesn't reach the computer due to an 'old fashioned' electrical fault, it can't help you!! As a point of interest, the Herald used an over-bored and up-rated Standard 10 engine which was pretty ancient (It was also the basis of the Triumph Spitfire engine!)! Won't bore you with the large list of tales about the dramas caused by driving old bangers, although some of them are very funny indeed - perhaps I could feed the odd one in now and then! Ian, agree with the confusion that asking for help with a '409' would cause a Peugeot dealer! When I was in 'the trade', one of our frequent problems arose from people putting their screen wash mix into the wrong receptacle, ie the coolant bottle and, in a couple of extreme cases, the oil filler cap! Not many days before the sun shines daily for you - hope Sherry has an uneventful journey across La Manche. Hope you all get over the hump without incident, Kind regards, Jock. Learnt an even more amusing (for some) thing about 'customers getting it wrong' during our washing machine purchasing expedition yesterday. As explained we had lots of to'ing and fro'ing on the 'phone to check site dimensions, several times over. The very pleasant young sales lady in Heelas John Lewis said you simply wouldn't believe the number of new washing machines etc which go out for delivery and come straight back when the delivery/installation guys find that they won't fit into the space they were purchased to go into. Our fingers remain crossed for next Wednesday. Edited August 13, 2014 by The Stationmaster 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Was about to type 'morning all' and it's actually a minute past mid-day... foiled yet again! It never ceases to amaze me just how fast ER posts seem to move on, playing catch up when first dipping in often means missing entire pages while you read the previous 24 hours worth of stuff! Anyway, hope all's well whichever bit of land mass you're currently residing on. First cuppa of the day successfully downed so it's time for brekkie... I'm going to fry some home grown cherry tomatoes in a mo, I had some yesterday and by 'eck the taste is wonderful - makes a lot of shop bought tommies seem utterley bland in comparison. Might bung in some onions too then dump the lot onto some toast. With Wuzzashire sauce, naturally. Talking of working on or servicing modern cars, since I bought the Alfa Giulietta at Christmas I've been getting to know what's what under its svelt Italianate bonnet, it looks a lot less 'hermetically sealed' or complicated than some contempary cars and topping everything up and checking the levels is a simple pleasure. It's only a four pot oil burner but goes really well, considering the look of the car it's in though, the engine ought to sound better, but it's given me a taste for having another Alfa... I still hanker after a V6 Brera deep down and may get one soon. Not everyone's cup of tea these, the bulbous rear end doesn't quite match the front's aggressive beauty and the relatively short wheelbase can look odd from some angles, but having driven one they do feel 'special' in a way you can't quite put your finger on, which when it comes down to it is the essence of all good Alfas. An older classic 105 series Giulia coupe would be even nicer but the values are rising rapidly! Time to fire up the fried tommies methinks... Edited August 13, 2014 by Rugd1022 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Hey, It’s only 7:20 am here................... We’re not all “UKcentric". Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Well you can't have everything Pete... ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 Ian, Seriously, what is a "Meet and Park Person”? Which Airport? Best, Pete. "This was gatwick, a meet and greet service. Bet I don't get anywhere with compensation" Poor Vanessa! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 "This was gatwick, a meet and greet service. Bet I don't get anywhere with compensation" Poor Vanessa! We got stung like that at Luton a few years ago by booking a service to collect your car at the airport. We waited so long for the guy, I had to keep driving around and around as there was a maximum 10 minutes waiting (I think) where we were supposed to be met. After going thru' security as quickly as humanly possible, we just made the gate. Never again. Daughter was only young at the time and the combined stress of it all meant I was absolutely legless in the pool bar within an hour of arriving at the hotel... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 "This was gatwick, a meet and greet service. Bet I don't get anywhere with compensation" Poor Vanessa! Unfortunately Vanessa learned an important lesson. If I’m not being driven to Gatwick I book a night at a Airport Hotel, in return most (do check) allow free parking until your return from overseas plus free transport to check in. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Total change of subject. I relish my cup of coffee after every meal. Mike never has coffee after a dessert. He wants to savour the dessert after taste. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 All this talk of Triumph Heralds and Vitesse reminds me of our "spell" with them in the late 60's and early 70's.. I passed my driving test in our Herald 12/50 in 1968. Elizabeth had been the sole driver up to that point and taught me to drive in it.We couldn't afford driving lessons,so we started the drill on the old Fradley aerodrome by doing gentle circuits.The Heralds and derivatives like the Vitesse had phenomenal turning circles and the 12/50 had a fabric pull back sunshine roof....lovely in hot weather. We then progressed to the 13/60 on the day that Harold Wilson devalued the pound. By 1972,we needed a second vehicle and boy racer in me wanted a Vitesse,which was duly sourced second hand at a dealer in Hatton. home to the Claytons of much notoriety. He is now long gone but his successor trades in high end exotica like Aston Martin It was a1600cc 6 cylinder but it needed a pair of replacement carbs to improve on the worn out Solex twin.A Stromberg conversion was duly sourced and fitted.It ran like a dream for a couple of years....the sound of that purr was music.......until it and I had an epiphany one afternoon on my homeward journey. A grinding and chafing sound from the front near side occurred,which steadily worsened as the miles rolled on.I reached Burton Station Bridge....that testament of Midland Railway grandeur.In configuration it is a hump which carries the main road into the town over the mass of the station and its tracks..At the apex of the bridge,there was a final shearing ,a crack ,followed by a bump and the noise of metal grinding on tarmac.The Vitesse nose tilted to the kerb,and with the dreadful sound of the front underbelly of the car scraping the road surface,gradually came to rest at the top of the townside downslope....all,of course,except for one component....the front nearside wheel....or what remained of it still attached to the tyre.For a surreal moment I watched its course onwards down the slope,hands immobilised on the by now useless steering wheel.It obeyed the Highway Code and stayed neatly on its correct side. At the bottom of the slope,the rod executes a right hand bend and there is a row of shop fronts with a large expanse of plate glass on the left side.......which was immediately in the path of the runaway. ...as was a strategically sited Royal Mail postbox which miraculously brought an abrupt and safe end to its solo excursion.The four bolts and the jagged fractured remains of the wheel were still attached to the car.....metal fatigue...who knows? The car sadly was not worth repairing.It had a last but exciting journey. Embarrassing...but not quite as embarrassing as an Alfa 147 with a seized clutch giving up the ghost in the middle of Cambridge blocking a bus lane...that was a tow away job...all the way to Derby. Alfas are great cars but they sometimes have nasty habits. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontal Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) 'Just came across this, and it absolutely broke my heart :-( BTW, if you don't like to hear swearing, may I suggest that you turn your speakers down! The person who was using threatening behaviour towards the man on a stick at Crewe is widely known, and is 'allegedly' someone who likes to be known as 'William Hill', but who's real name is 'William Grassby'. Apparently, he comes from Sheffield, and is 'well known' in South Yorkshire. The footage of this assault has now been passed to the BTP, and I sincerely hope that this 'Mr Grassby' (if indeed that is his name) has been charged with using threatening behaviour in a public place, and will be dealt with by the courts accordingly - We can well do without people like this either on our stations or in our hobby! - So, if you ever come across this person, and unless you are well prepared for a challenge, may I suggest that you give him a very wide berth! Edited August 13, 2014 by Horizontal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2014 Dominik - what are the shelving units etc that you use to display your models? These tubes are produced and sold by http://shop.train-safe.de/en/home/ . They also sell matching wall rails and hangers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Abel Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 ...As for access to various parts of a car's anatomy, Paul found out the hard way that to replace the battery on a Ferrari Mondial you need to take one of the wheels off.... Unfortunately this is not just the case for exotica, I also found out the "hard way" that our pretty pedestrian Chrysler Concorde has the same "feature" <sigh> On the subject of cars, broken variety - you lot just HAD to start talking about broken cars yesterday, didn't you!!! So I head in to the office yesterday to have lunch with some out-of-town colleagues and my manager, we then do a "happy hour" around 5:30 and I finally drive myself and three others to a local restaurant for a late dinner. Around 10:15PM we're headed back to their hotel in downtown St. Paul, and as I pull up to a traffic light to make a left turn I hear a mild "tappet-type" noise coming from the front of the car - a new feature!!! Coming to a complete stop at the light, the car dies, and refuses to start no matter what, justs spins over, no sign of life... Wait almost an hour for the AAA (US equivalent of AA/RAC) and get the car towed to my local garage, then drop me home, now after midnight <sigh> Still waiting to hear what the problem is/might be, I'm not confident it's a cheap problem for some reason Here's hoping I'm wrong... Mrs took the day off yesterday with some severe back and hip pain and seems only a little better this morning, so she's staying home again... It's 16 and pleasant outside, sunny but supposed to become more humid later. HUMP day, and my car has given me the hump, but in fairness it has served us well up to now, carpe diem everyone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) 'Just came across this, and it absolutely broke my heart :-( BTW, if you don't like to hear swearing, may I suggest that you turn your speakers down! The person who was using threatening behaviour towards the man on a stick at Crewe is widely known, and is 'allegedly' someone who likes to be known as 'William Hill', but who's real name is 'William Grassby'. Apparently, he comes from Sheffield, and is 'well known' in South Yorkshire. The footage of this assault has now been passed to the BTP, and I sincerely hope that this 'Mr Grassby' (if indeed that is his name) has been charged with using threatening behaviour in a public place, and will be dealt with by the courts accordingly - We can well do without people like this either on our stations or in our hobby! - So, if you ever come across this person, and unless you are well prepared for a challenge, may I suggest that you give him a very wide berth! There is already a thread running about this appalling incident (including an earlier appeal to provide information to BT Police). Edited August 13, 2014 by The Stationmaster Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontal Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 There is already a thread running about this appalling incident (including an earlier appeal to provide information to BT Police). Can you point me in its direction please? :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2014 Afternoon All Day has been a strange mix of sunshine and very heavy showers. I've fully caught up, and taken on board the various illnesses, grumps, groans, and good news (no necessarily in that order) of my fellow ERs. Still got our visitor, 30747's niece, who has now decided that jetlag notwithstanding she'd like a day trip to Edinburgh - no doubt she will be even more jetlagged when she gets back. These youngsters seem to have stamina (I think I remember what that is, as I used to have some). Oddly, the postie delivered two postcards from her today, one from Vancouver and one from Seattle, which arrived two days after she did! Off to mend the hoover now as the belt's come off - no doubt it's stretched and a new one will be needed (now where did I put that spare that I got when I had to buy a pack of two?). Regards to All Stewart 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) ..........remember that many a lost battle is made out to be a victory by the losing side. So my last attempt at building a baseboard was, in fact, a victory. That is good news. Edited August 13, 2014 by BoD 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon G Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) We got stung like that at Luton a few years ago by booking a service to collect your car at the airport. We waited so long for the guy, I had to keep driving around and around as there was a maximum 10 minutes waiting (I think) where we were supposed to be met. After going thru' security as quickly as humanly possible, we just made the gate. Never again. Daughter was only young at the time and the combined stress of it all meant I was absolutely legless in the pool bar within an hour of arriving at the hotel... I have used a Meet & Greet at Manchester a few times and they have always been very quick, as long as you call them when you are about 5 to 10 minutes away. For me it is worth that little extra for the reduced stress at the airport. Edited August 13, 2014 by Simon G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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