Kickstart

To be honest, I was just easily distracted with the locks and figured out how easy they were to take to pieces. Further there are only 4 different wafers used so quite a limited number of combinations. The later Aprilias, Triumphs, etc, use a more modern Zadi key. These are a bit different to strip down. Ignition is more difficult but fuel cap, etc, easier, as once the lock barrel is out, prise off the cap from the top (crimped on) then there is a pin head visible - withdraw this and the wafers drop out. A lot of caravans use very similar locks, and a large lock set for a caravan it cheap. Might be a way to get a load of wafers spare to sort out a few more bikes to have matching keys for all their locks (one Aprilia I have has a different key for the seat, fuel cap and ignition - would be nice to have all match). I remember stories of cars being able to be opened by doing something to one of the front indicators. And another which would be started by taking out the light switch and connecting it the other way round. Flash fried trout! All the best Katy

Next job, take all your car and bike locks apart and sort them so they all use a matching key! A couple of months ago I took a load of old Zadi locks to pieces to get the wafers. Will sort out the seat and petrol caps to match on a couple if bikes (ignition switch is a rather heftier lock) All the best Katy

Think some of these systems work by comparing the resistance through the circuits. And 2 different makes of bulb can have enough difference in resistance to confuse things (does make me wonder whether the bulb warning system would ignore both bulbs being out!). When we had the BMW 3 series, I expected this to be the problem when the bulb warning light came on for the tail lights when they were working. Turned out instead to be a rather under specced and crunchy earth wire to one of the tail lights (terminal in the connector had melted). Bypassed the connector for the earth (which someone had already had to do on the other side) and the problem was resolved. My guess is that the max current is over that for the connector when everything is on (eg, someone sitting with the lights on, brakes on, fog lights on and indicator on). All the best Katy

Not an ECU, but a Triumph motorcycle we had a few years back went though several cdi units. When car hunting, instrument clusters having been changed (and not on the sly to hide the mileage) were not that uncommon - and I expect hideously expensive out of warranty. All the best Katy

Probably not, but also I wouldn't be happy if the model loco would only work with spare parts pre coded to that particular example of that model. Unfortunately while an individual component might fail rarely, there are a lot of items that can fail expensively so the chances for the vehicle add up. Probably back then easier to grab an engine and swap it in, than do the same for an ECU now (let alone seat control modules, body control modules, clocks, etc - some of which are delicate electronics then mounted in a low position at risk of water from a blocked sunroof drain or the like) Not claiming either is better, just that relatively easily things could be a LOT better now. All the best Katy

Battery retainer is a single M6 bolt on the clamp. Pain to get at. Biggest problem is finding a battery that fits (not a common size, plus the lip it hooks under on one side is low, so some batteries of the right code will not fit). Been tempted to change the battery leads to swap the terminals around, as they would be easier to get. Also, battery terminals are very close to the bonnet! Problem isn’t so much unreliability overall, rather that a single electronic unit can fail at hideous cost. A colleagues Audi had the control unit for the DSG gearbox fail - not service related (plenty of service related gearbox failures it could have had!). Easily for a car with, say, a couple of years life to suddenly become uneconomic to repair. Older cars might have been less reliable (sometimes substantially), but most bits easily repaired, or or replaced with a cheaply sourced 2nd hand part All the best Katy

Hence why I no longer use that card except as an emergency back up. £5 a month as in effect a saving scheme I don't care about too much. It is how it was set up back in 1987 when I got this card (was branded Access back then). Not sure when it changed. Found it out about a decade ago wondering why I had been hit for interest despite clearing the card when the bill arrived. Took the phone banking bods quite a while to figure out why, so might well not be that common. But yes, charged in the same way as a cash withdrawal (most of the use was for petrol). All the best Katy

Had this card decades. Min payment was given as a percentage of balance or £5, whichever is most. No annual fee. I gave up using it regularly when I found the T&Cs had changed to charge interest from the date or purchase (at a guess they had changed the T&Cs like that to try and push on an annual fee) - keep it now as a "just in case" card. All the best Katy

Min payment applies on any card I have had however much is due - even if the card is in credit. £5 on this card. After a few months it builds up and use it for a book or something. All the best Katy

I still have the card but barely use it. Min payment into it and buy a book with it occasionally. It is a card in credit! All the best Katy

Not always. Found my Lloyds card had changed their T&Cs at some point to charge interest from the date of purchase, not then bill date ir a few weeks later. All the best Katy

Access, your flexible friend! I avoid using a debit card for online use (and for most daily use). Buyer protection is legally enforced for credit card use, but not so for debit cards (although there is likely some claimed equivalent protection from the debit card supplier). I pretty much never use Amazon. Think twice in the last 2 years, once for something I couldn't find elsewhere and once to spend a token. Having had friends who worked for them and how they were treated, plus how they avoid taxes I have no wish to give them any money. All the best Katy

Scare yourself looking at the wiring diagram with the lack of fuses! All the best Katy

The S1 didn't have opening windows. They were introduced for the S2. Finding the windscreen trim is difficult. All the best Katy

To me they look like a a bad sci fi impression of a future Rolls Royce. All the best Katy

Used that service quite a lot. I didn't mind it, but certainly did make a lot of people ill. However sailings tended to be cancelled whenever it was too rough. It was always freezing cold though! Worst crossing was one where I got on early, found a seat under a heater vent to get a tiny bit of warm air and waited. A large family got on and sat close by, with grandma putting her head in a sick bag immediatly waiting to need it! Ooh, gee, thanks! All the best Katy

Used that service quite a lot. I didn't mind it, but certainly did make a lot of people ill. However sailings tended to be cancelled whenever it was too rough. It was always freezing cold though! Worst crossing was one where I got on early, found a seat under a heater vent to get a tiny bit of warm air and waited. A large family got on and sat close by, with grandma putting her head in a sick bag immediatly waiting to need it! Ooh, gee, thanks! All the best Katy

Reasonable with those tyres. TRX ones unfortunately are a nightmare. Horrendously expensive when an occasional batch is made, and no other tyres will fit the rims (both from the size of the wheel and the profile of the bead). At £300+ for each tyre for a very obsolete design, when exactly the same style of wheel was also fitted to that car with conventional 14" tyres then TRX wheels won't get a look in. All the best Katy

Maybe, but outclassed by conventional tyres decades ago - and a new set of TRX tyres for (say) an Alfa 33 will cost far more than that a set of new imperial wheels and tyres (let alone a good set of 2nd hand imperial original Alfa wheels with tyres) All the best Katy

Not only wheels, but tyres. Especially those 1980s cars with Metric wheels / tyres. All the best Katy

That might be OK for an average life (including write offs), but not what can be expected. For me 8 years old is quite young, and don't think I have ever got rid of a car younger than that. Add to that, the UK already appears to have a very low expectation of how long a car will last. As to battery life, Tesla have an 8 year warranty (oldest ones on Autotrader are only 7 years old) but they are only covered if range is reduced below 70% which is a massive loss of useability. All the best Katy

Think FSO used quite a variety of engines. Presume with the K series being engineered for use in Caterhams and Scimitars , a rwd saloon was a pretty easy swap in. All the best Katy

A load were imported in the mid 1990s, but fitted with Rover K series engines I think. Saw a few locally as the importer was based in Stafford. Think those small Volvos had quite a revival in value as a cheap and basic RWD car that become popular with those into drifting. All the best Katy

We have limited electric supplies, and already changes going in to limit electric car charging when supplies are under stress. Not sure increasing the electricity demand greatly replacing gas / oil fired heating with electricity is going to be workable in the near future. All the best Katy

I have an interesting book on the German use of captured T34s.They recovered enough to seriously considered a standardised upgrade package to bring them more into line with German requirements All the best Katy