Early Risers.

[enz]

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

You'll change your mind the minute you are being chased by baddies..

Still dreaming of Mad Max as a Utopia, are you?  (Being pursued by a bunch of Bikies and Kundalini who wants his hand back).

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, enz said:

Still dreaming of Mad Max as a Utopia, are you?  (Being pursued by a bunch of Bikies and Kundalini who wants his hand back).

 

[monkeysarefun]

42 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

One reboot that, to my eyes, did work was the Jaguar S type (1998-2007) - very close n style to the original Jaguar S (1963-1968), which in turn was based on the famous Jaguar Mk Ii (a beautiful car).

 

It was like the moon-landing here when the rebirthed Monaro was unveiled at the Melbourne motorshow in 2001. The original Monaro had died along with the Kingswood in 1978, but in the late '90's some Holden designers got together and secretly designed a 2 door sports version of the Commodore, working completely without the knowledge of Holden management, much of it done on butchers paper pinned to the walls of  their garages or loungerooms.

 

  Their work was eventually revealed to the Holden bosses who agreed to produce a concept car in secret, and kept it  totally undercover until it was unveiled at the Melbourne Motor Show to complete surprise, rapture  and national fits of the vapours.

 

Probably the UK equivalent would have been if someone brought Horatio Nelson back to life.

Edited February 6 by monkeysarefun

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Well, the weather hasn’t changed in the week I’ve been missing, it’s raining here and has been on and off all night, but with no plans to go out today, it doesn’t really matter. Today I’ll make a start on some jobs that have been left unattended to, namely domestic tasks that Sheila still isn’t allowed to do yet, although this could change after her visit to the yet hospital on Thursday. Whilst I’ve been recuperating I busied myself with a jigsaw puzzle I got late last year. 
 

 

I finished it yesterday afternoon, having started it late Saturday afternoon, so not too bad really. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[jjb1970]

I'm off to Tokyo by way of Ho Chi Minh City for a few days, coming back via Seoul, be good y'all! 

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

Looking at cars built when Ford had the Mk1 Cortina  shows they were all pretty poorly made around then.. Vauxhall HA Viva anyone?

Baz

Almost any car at the time suffered from rot, even the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow was not immune. Neither were the Japanese imports as Japan did not salt their roads in winter. But the Japanese soon realised where the problem lay and set about doing something about it.

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Fiat seems to have gotten things right with the Fiat 500 reboot (although there have been mixed reviews about build quality, reliability etc), much more so than VW’s reboot of the VW Beetle or, indeed, the horrendous “Mini”

 

One reboot that, to my eyes, did work was the Jaguar S type (1998-2007) - very close n style to the original Jaguar S (1963-1968), which in turn was based on the famous Jaguar Mk Ii (a beautiful car). The modern S-type was replaced by the Jaguar XF, which - apart from the badge - is almost indistinguishable from countless other “executive luxury sport sedan”

 

Original Jaguar Mark IIs and original Jaguar S-types are now nearly unobtainable and certainly mostly unaffordable, however, a modern S type can still be found at reasonable prices. I am tempted to buy one as a second car

I agree entirely re. the Jaguar 'S' type. What went against it was it was thought of as a Ford Mercury in drag whereas it only used the Ford Mercury platform, all the rest was Jaguar. There are several companies converting Mk. II Jags to convertibles, not so much the original S type as its more complicated. I heard of someone who had both a Mk. II and an S type, the Mk. II was made a convertible and the roof removed from it was used to make the S type an estate

Edited February 6 by PhilJ W

[tigerburnie]

2300 bhp may seem a tad excessive and I may never actually drive it at over 250mph, but I still want one, 0-70 in under 2 seconds is motor bike pace.....................................

 

Edited February 6 by tigerburnie

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bad night last night, bladder control kept pressing the button then Arthur Itis joined in the fun for good measure. Another shock this morning I received a letter from the insurance company re. the new car that seemed excessive but then I realised that the monthly payments included payments on the old car which I paid on instalment. However I had my house insured through the same broker but I shopped around when they wanted to up the rate by 60% and got a better deal with no charges for paying monthly so when the car insurance becomes due in June I'll shop around again. The accident shouldn't have affected payments as I have NCB protection.

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The accident shouldn't have affected payments as I have NCB protection.

I retained my 75% NCB discount but it was 75% off the higher premium having claimed for accident repairs. (Returned to car park to find damage to car, no witnesses). 

[monkeysarefun]

 

 

Personally I prefer the sneaky sleeper concept to supercar ostentation because everyone here would reckon you were either a drug dealer or were up yourself, both of which are Un-Australian.

 

The perfect sleeper is the "Lebanese Lamborghini" , the 1986 VL Commodore which came optioned with  the Nissan RB30ET  3 litre Turbo 6 motor.

 

. Beloved of our local Middle Eastern Community who enjoy tinkering with it in their backyards to produce infinite power , ending up with a car that  looks like something your nanna would drive to the shops in  but with the equivalent of 2 and a bit  Aston Martin Valkyries under the hood.  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 6 by monkeysarefun

[Tony_S]

49 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

ending up with a car that  looks like something your nanna would drive to the shops in 

Before Covid we used to regularly have the lecturers for Aditi’s French language group stay overnight with us. After one lecture as the chap was getting out of Aditi’s car and I thought he looked a bit shaky and asked if he felt unwell. Nervous passenger apparently. I said I couldn’t believe Aditi had been speeding. He said it wasn’t the speed, it was how quickly she got up to speed.

Edited February 6 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

how quickly she got up to speed.

Aditi has been too busy in the past to go out looking for cars so she often delegated the task to me. She was very happy with the Ford Escort (even though it was beige) to replace the dead Chevette. I was not involved in the replacement of the Escort with the vile Volvo (parental gift) but did select the pretty blue Renault Clio RXE (Volvo replacement) with the 1.6engine. When it was time to bid that farewell I found a nice Fiesta but with the 1.4 engine. She was concerned it wouldn’t accelerate as well but was soon reassured. 
The Chevette was a gift from her Mum too, but it was riddled with rust and needed much engine work to clear the waterways from loads of Radseal stuff. Also needed a new gearbox and propshaft repairs after FiL had delayed clutch replacement. It helped my DIY car maintenance skills a lot. 
Why Aditi allowed herself to accept  the Volvo I don’t know. I would have preferred to keep the Escort going. I did persuade her that no matter how short of money we were not to accept the Mitsubishi Colt (cracked sump), Volvo 440 (just horrible) or the Volvo S40 (brake and bodywork issues). All the cars had been main dealer serviced (or certainly billed for). I may sound ungrateful but all these gifts cost us such a lot. When we got the Volvo 340GLE I wanted to sell it immediately, but she thought her parents might be offended. I don’t actually believe in stuff like haunting but I am quite convinced we had had three near nasty incidents due to that car’s ability to cease to move at awkward moments. 

[Erichill16]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

We might pass in the airport, I am on tonight's flight to Ho Chi Minh City, what time are you there?

Just arrived now 9:30. Knackered. Waiting for taxi downstairs. Enjoy your flight and have a successful trip. Robert

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Maybe we could try this...

[Tony_S]

25 minutes ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Maybe we could try this...

From the London Transport booklet issued to drivers

Quote

“You know that oil fuel in large quantities has to be used for the purpose of winning the war quickly, and gas-producer buses are being run not because we like them but because they do enable us to make a substantial contribution towards the great effort in which we are all engaged”

 

[DaveF]

 

Claire has been and repaired the boiler by fitting a new ignition electrode and replacing the circuit board with a spare from their secondhand stock, total cost £75-60.

 

The old circuit board had a few very dull pieces of solder and at least two discoloured components so it is as well I got it done before it failed completely.

 

I have my fingers crossed that it will now be OK for some time to come.  It is certainly firing up much better than it did.

 

David

Edited February 6 by DaveF

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Fiat seems to have gotten things right with the Fiat 500 reboot

It would not surprise me to see that the Fiat 500L is the same size as the Mini Countryman.

 

Like the Countryman, it is substantially bigger than the original reintroduced model.

 

Edited February 6 by Ozexpatriate

[Erichill16]

15 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Original Jaguar Mark IIs and original Jaguar S-types are now nearly unobtainable and certainly mostly unaffordable, however, a modern S type can still be found at reasonable prices. I am tempted to buy one as a second car

It used to be said the Daimler 250 was a much better buy, same car, different badge. Agreed though beautiful car.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimler_250

Edited February 7 by Erichill16
Spelling

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

It was like the moon-landing here when the rebirthed Monaro was unveiled at the Melbourne motorshow in 2001.

Sold as a Pontiac here. One of the few (only?) Australian designs to be sold in the US.

 

Didn't help Pontiac much. GM killed off the Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn labels in one fell swoop.

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, Ozexpatriate said:

is substantially bigger than the reintroduced model.

My neighbour once had 6 Fiat 500 original version in his garage. They were double stacked for storage though. They have gone now and there is only one car (not a Fiat) in the garage. A condition of its insurance was it had to be garaged not left on a drive overnight. My garage is full of trains and slot cars. When the weather warms up I will have a good tidy. 
I had an email from the people who installed our solar energy system. They think,we would benefit from an extra battery in our garage. We do too, but when we previously enquired they were not working in Essex. They are again, so we will go ahead. There is still space for,the battery in the racking system supplied (looks like a19” rack, is that still a standard?)

[TheQ]

And the mini countryman is just a half inch shorter and 14 inches wider!!!  And..... my landrover 110, weighs less than a fully kitted out mini!!!

 

Afternoon Awl,

Came back from the radar museum somewhat easier than going there as the wind was behind me.

Sanded and Painted the Type 85 model, did a few quick cover up paint jobs on scratches on other models.

Put up several pictures and a clock.

Modelled 1/1000 HR200 aerial's.

Shopped on the way back.

 

Need a snooze, good afternoon Awl,

Edited February 6 by TheQ

[DaveF]

During the morning I went out for a short ride and called at Lidl for a couple of things and had a short walk.  When I got home I found an e mail to tell that some of my Swiss photos have been used in a video on You Tube about a loco class (Ge4/4i) of the Rhätische Bahn.  I had been asked if it was OK some time ago and had almost forgotten.  I enjoyed watching it while I had my coffee.

 

Then I updated some documents and have started to put my files of papers in a sensible order so they can easily be found if (I should say when) anything ever happens to me.  I've also updated a letter which two friends have copies of telling them who to inform when the time comes.  It has nothing to do with the forthcoming surgery, I have been sorting paperwork out for some time.

 

This afternoon I've been working on more photos for the web.  This evening I will watch Maigret if I can stay awake, I will also listen to music - but as yet I haven't decided what and will also read a bit.

 

Tomorrow I must post some birthday cards on behalf of friends who are away at the moment.  I meant to do it today but forgot.

 

David

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, BSW01 said:

I finished it yesterday afternoon, having started it late Saturday afternoon

Which is about as long as it takes the current operator to get a train up to Waterloo, it seems.

 

 

[Ian Abel]

Chooseday.

 

Yay!!! Inspection for the rental property went extremely well, and license approved, bingo. Just need a renter now.

Later yesterday Jemma came over to spend time cooking goulash (the Mrs grandmothers' recipe, long standing special) and we enjoyed some of it for dinner.

 

Today, working and Mrs off to a lunch with friends, nothing else planned.

 

2c partly cloudy first thing, 10c the expected high.

 

Carry on.

[tigerburnie]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Personally I prefer the sneaky sleeper concept to supercar ostentation because everyone here would reckon you were either a drug dealer or were up yourself, both of which are Un-Australian.

 

The perfect sleeper is the "Lebanese Lamborghini" , the 1986 VL Commodore which came optioned with  the Nissan RB30ET  3 litre Turbo 6 motor.

 

. Beloved of our local Middle Eastern Community who enjoy tinkering with it in their backyards to produce infinite power , ending up with a car that  looks like something your nanna would drive to the shops in  but with the equivalent of 2 and a bit  Aston Martin Valkyries under the hood.  

 

 

 

 

2750 nm of torque? it ain't the bhp that gives you the oomfffffffffffffffffffff