PhilJ W

The 2CV engine was intended to be a 2-stroke. This is why instead of 'one up, one down' the pistons are 'both up, both down'. Why it was decided to make it a 4-stroke I don't know.

Interesting fact about the Renault 4, the wheelbase on one side was 2 cm longer than on the other. This was because of the rear torsion bars being traversley mounted one in front of the other with the swing arms being fixed to the ends of the torsion bar.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Quite mild this morning if a bit grey but the seaweed twirlers predict that it will stay dry. I think the reason for my aversion to needles stems from when I was at school and the whole class was inocculated. When I was at school class sizes of up to 40 pupils was usual and when injections were required the went by the class register. At the time there was no such thing as throw away needles just one or two syringes each with about three interchangable needles that were changed after each injection and placed in a dish of alcohol. As I mentioned they used the school register as a guide and as my surname started with a W by the time my turn came about those needles were blunt.

Goodnight all.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Except for a short time this morning Facebook seems to be behaving itself so fingers crossed. You are a lawyer after all. I've got to have a blood test in the next week or so, to test that the BP medication isn't having any side effects. Not looking forward to it as I hate needles.

Having a separate chassis probably helped. The owner told me that he had a Ford 5 speed box that he intended to fit. It had been fitted with rack and pinion steering and disc brakes with modified rear suspension including anti-roll bar.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Another good nights sleep, probably because I've ceased the afternoon forty winks, been too busy doing sod all. The Facebook problem is still there but it seems to be OK in the late evenings/early morning. I've checked my modem security and everything looks OK so I still don't know the cause of the problem. PS just checked and it seems to be OK for now.

Goodnight all.

I saw an A40 Devon last year fitted with an 1800 cc MGB engine. The owner informed me that only a few tweaks* were needed and the engine and gearbox bolted straight in. *A new hole in the transmission tunnel for the gear lever was the main one. The biggest problem he said was upgrading the brakes and steering to match the extra power.

Afternoon from Estuary-Land. Virgin plugged the server back in about 12:30 and everything is back to normal, indeed it seems a bit faster. Facebook seems to be behaving itself as well but we'll find out over the next couple of days. On the subject of investments my mother invested a small inheritance in property bonds about forty years ago and when she cashed them in there was a tidy profit. What reminded me of that was Horsetan's figures for inflation compared to property value increases, in my case I've beaten inflation to the tune of £40-50K. Neil, your ankle looks like the work of Frankenstein's apprentice. Many years ago I received a similar injury to my wrist, it was decided that an operation wasn't neccessary, they'd just push everything back in place and plaster it up, when they removed the plaster a couple of weeks later my wrist was still black and blue. Of course I was much younger then and have had no problems with the wrist since.

Morning (again) from Estuary-Land. I found about an hour ago that someone had pulled the plug on the Virgin server, so no e-mails. Fortunately other sites and RMweb seem to be OK, except Facebook who started scattering my groups to all points of the compass again. I will go back to Facebook later to see if things are back to normal. Just checked my e-mails, still getting the 'server unreachable' notice but I can open and read e-mails.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bright and sunny this morning though the seaweed twirlers said it wouldn't be until later. Slept like a log again last night despite not getting to bed until after 2. Commiserations and congratulations where neccessary, be back later.

Goodnight all.

The wheels were matt finish but the interior is gloss finish. Testors do a colour called 'cherry red' which may be suitable. I've also taken the liberty of signing you up as a member of the Facebook model bus group were there is likely someone who can advise you.

Most Routemasters had maroon coloured interior panels, the stairs in particular. Unfortunately that colour is only available from a specialist paint maker Cherry/Precision ( # C162), the same colour is used for the wheels. All is not lost however as I've seen a very similar shade described in an American car magazine as 'cherry'. There is a group on Facebook called 'Kit built and scratchbuilt model buses' where you can ask for advice.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. My little wheeze with the foil hasn't worked after all, the problems back. I contacted Virgin and apparently its because of server problems and they are trying to sort it out. I had noticed a little orange tab keep popping up at the bottom of the screen but until recently its popped up and disappeared too quick to be read but recently its stayed just long enough to be read, it says 'Server not available' but it only appears for a second at the most and no apparent effect on my access.

I think I've found the cause of my problem with Facebook, and the cure. At the same time as the problem occured my internet slowed down. Also I noticed my wireless hub seemed to be working when my computer was switched off and my printer would go in to 'ready' mode without any input. This morning when I went into Facebook the problem was back so I took a piece of aluminium foil, about 21" by 6" and placed in turn each side and front and back of the hub. When I placed it behind the hub Facebook went back to normal, remove it and the problem recured. So now the piece of foil is permanently there. I can only assume either the hub is affected by a stray signal or someone else is using it. In the direction I have now 'blocked' is a privately rented house that seems to have a new tenant every few weeks, makes you wonder.

Another reason for a 'GROAN' button.

An elephant never forgets so perhaps it knew there was no train coming.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Slept like a log last night, woke up at 06:30 so just laid there for an hour. Those who survived the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster were very lucky to do so, if it hadn't capsized onto a sandbank the death toll would have been far higher. I got rid of my LP's many years ago, largely because many were played only a few times and then left in the cupboard. I still have my music centre, which as well as playing records played tapes and had a radio incorporated. It must be at least forty years old but AFAIK everything still works, I might try to sell it if I can find a record to play on it to test it out. Thats it for now, be back later.

Goodnight all.

The Facebook problem disappeared at 10:15 pm, everything working as normal, the same thing happened last night about the same time, strange? I'm something of a computer luddite, can anyone tell me what could cause this?

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just polished off a Lancashire hotpot with broccoli and green beans for dinner, delicious. Extra green veg as I had to use it up and anyway we are being told 5 a day is not enough and it should be double that. As I understand it its 7 a day in Germany and some other continental countries. My Facebook is driving me mad, as I mentioned it was re-distributing my groups into sh1t order which meant it sometimes took me three times as long to read any new posts. I thought I'd sorted it but its happening again at odd times. Sometimes it will correct itself and work normally but put the groups I have already looked at back at the bottom of the list. When it is working normally wichever group you open when closed goes to the top of the list, so I keep my groups in a specific order, start at the bottom of the list so that when I close that group the next one appears at the bottom. Normally every post when closed would go to the top but lately they've been scattered throughout the list. I'm wondering if it could be a virus, I've changed my password and cleared out the history and cookies to see if that will help.

I think Andy is refering to the father rather than the daughter.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I did do a bit more exercise than Coombe Martins dog this morning, I opened both eyelids, and at the same time. Hows the diet going GDB? you haven't mentioned it lately. The UK benifits from the gulf stream which brings warm water from the Carribean and drops it between Scotland and Norway. New Zealand catches the full force of the roaring forties hence the differing climates.