PatB

Shouldn't that Tinsley shot be in the "When the real thing looks like a model" thread?

Dad and I used to scour autojumbles for NOS or reconditioned units, I don't think anything lasted more than about 1000 miles before the bonnet started going up and down again like the bows of a Biscay trawler in a gale. Edit: To be fair, it probably didn't help that, having found out that Which? magazine managed to ground the front crossmembers of their test Farinas when yumping them over hump-backed bridges, I made spirited but unsuccessful attempts to emulate the feat. God, the things you do when young, foolish and immortal.....

Possibly the only occasion, in 75 years, that "cute" and "Q1" have been used in the same sentence .

Only during therapy sessions decades later.

I wasn't really thinking of old cars in general, but particular models. I don't know about the rest of the country, but a huge percentage of Devon and Somerset's Mostin Oxbridge population ended their days on the cracked concrete of Smeatharpe Stadium. They formed the majority of the banger grids while I was visiting in the early 80s. Estates were particularly favoured because they were less prone than the saloons to lifting their inside rear wheel when cornered hard. Getting its low bonnet into the resulting gap and levering the Oxbridge onto its side was about the only way that the other weapon of choice, the Triumph 2000, could stop one without suffering mortal damage itself . As for the Oxford's driving dynamics being "vintage", I think that's being kind. I drove several, admittedly tired, examples as they were the B family's favoured transport in my youth and we tended to collect spares mules (if we got to them before the racers). They all had an uncomfortable combination of soft springs, ineffective lever-arm shock absorbers, heavy, low-greared, recirculating ball steering and a rather narrow track. My mother's Series VI automatic (GAD 452D, details still listed by DVLA in spite of having been scrapped in 1989) remains to this day the only vehicle I've inadvertently spun which, having owned both swing axle Beetles and a Triumph Spitfire, I regard as somewhat remarkable. All that said, though, a few years ago I very nearly bought a Wolseley 24/80 as a daily driver, the 24/80 being the same basic shell but with an Australia only 6-cylinder B-Series variant. The climate here being somewhat kinder to BMC mobile rust traps there were still quite a few around well into the 21st century.

I'm not convinced that a barrier that appears specifically designed to shear the lid off a car (like those first two are likely to do) and the top halves of its occupants, is really going to result in a net safety improvement.

I think the banger boys smashed them all to bits in the early 80s. I put this one's number into the DVLA search engine and it came up missing so presumably it died before getting a V5. It would have been effectively new in 1969, with its flash modern reflective plates.

Not one of them then. The pictures I've seen were very definitely of something with a unit pushrod twin lump. That must be it, although the linked photo and others I've found via Google don't quite gel stylingwise with what I remember. However I can't imagine more than one Italian manufacturer being daft enough to hitch their wagon to Meriden's star so I think the Italjet wins..

Couple of rarities in those last couple of shots. A Ford Taunus(?) in the graveyard and a VW Type 3 Karmann Ghia a few cars ahead of the Mini in the second pic.

How have you ttached the bolts or hinges to the boards? Do you incorporate wooden hard points or big doubler plates?

I think all Benelli 4-strokes of a certain era used Honda derived engine designs. IIRC there were 250, 350 and 500 variants of the SOHC four, and 750 and 900 sixes. The resemblance is so close that I assume there was some official cooperation rather than a case of piracy. Was it Benelli, too, who built an Italian flavoured Triumph unit 650 twin? I know one of the Italian manufacturers did but the old memory isn't what it was.

I'm getting ready to have a bit of a play with DCC++ and so I'm in need of a decoder or two. Because this is a strictly low-budget project I'm hoping someone on Rmweb has a couple of basic or obsolete units that they'd be prepared to stick in a jiffy bag for a nominal sum. I don't need anything fancy. Basic motor control is fine. Happy to pay a fair price, packaging and postage to Oz. Payment by PayPal probably easiest but can look at alternatives. Cheers. Pat

Ironically, having started this thread, I've just used part of the proceeds of a (non-modelling) Ebay sale to order an Arduino Mega and a motor shield in order to have a go with DCC++. A DCC system for <$20 has a certain tightwad appeal .

Ours burnt Phurnacite. Wouldn't work on anything else we could obtain. It was a horrible thing to light, filled it's flues up with sulphurous crud very quickly and was generally very finicky. When the flues clogged up it would fill the house with toxic gas. It did provide hot water for general use but nowhere near enough in one go for a decent bath. For solid fuel use, the Rayburns I've come across have seemed to be much more effective and user friendly. As noted, though, gas, electric or oil firing and a unit in better condition would change the picture significantly.

I sense a business opportunity .

I don't think saying that the failure was noisy and potentially very serious would really count as "confidential" given that it was fairly obvious from the very first pictures released that this would have been the case. Hearing it from someone who was only 20-30 feet from the flailing metal, though, does, I think, have a certain anecdotal interest/relevance in a thread like this.

Presumably, done right, the contraction of the weld on cooling will apply a considerable compressive force to the crack and create a better seal.

Very practical I agree. Indeed Chez B has a toilet opening off the front porch. When built, both toilet and bathroom were accessed only via the porch (which, given that Chez B dates from c1967 rather pours cold water on my previously stated beliefs, but this is another country ). A previous owner installed a bathroom (well, shower room really) in one of the bedrooms, turned the previous bathroom into a laundry/utility room and left the outside toilet in place. It is, indeed, very practical, if rather chilly in winter.

Fair enough. I'm well aware of outdoor toilets being retained in older properties. My brother lived in a c1900 terrace in a not too deprived area of Leicester which had an outside dunny, certainly up until about 1990 and probably much later. I've just always been under the impression that the 1920s push for better quality housing stock, particularly by local authorities whose builds seem to have been largely pretty well regarded, included "modern" sanitary arrangements. I'm fairly familiar with the c1930s Council House semi designs used in Bristol, for example, and I don't recall any that showed evidence of older arrangements. One lives and learns.

I'm intrigued that 1920s houses had outside lavatories. I've always assumed that indoor plumbing was pretty universal on new builds post WW1.

It does seem that agencies tasked with extracting money from you tend to be quite cagey about providing useful information about querying the charge in with the notice. Different country and situation admittedly, but 18 months or so ago I received, somewhat unexpectedly, notice of a very large traffic camera speeding fine and accompanying points. This was particularly surprising to me, given that the vehicle in the thoughtfully provided images bore no resemblance to mine, and that I was 1000 km away at the time of the offence. The notice only allowed three options for response, not one of which was "This is a spurious charge". No possibility of error seemed to be contemplated and no contact details were given to allow the accused (me) to speak to a human being to try and get things sorted out sensibly. It took the best part of an afternoon digging around on various government websites before I found a possible phone number buried in some small print. Fortunately it actually did work, and the bod on the other end was reasonably sympathetic and helpful. I did still need to compile evidence that the motorcycle in the photo wasn't mine, and that I was a long way away from the scene of the incident and submit it all with a formal letter to an address I was given over the phone. Ironically, part of the evidence that it couldn't have been me was the infringement notice (for a far more minor speeding offence) that I was issued on the other side of the state at about the same time. Sometimes the Road Gods offer a gift in disguise . Anyhow, after a few weeks I received a letter informing me that the camera infringement notice was being cancelled. Not a hint of an apology though. Anyhow, long story short, it seemed to have been deliberately made to be an excessively difficult and time consuming faff to simply say "excuse me but I think there's been a mistake", when there's clearly been one. Someone less familiar with government bureaucracy might well have ended up rather less unscathed.

Do please keep us posted as to how you get on.

I grew up with a solid fuel Aga. TBH, whilst it had nice aspects I wouldn't want another. Gas, electric or oil fired varieties are probably rather less temperamental.

I'm only familiar with the mathematical variety normally, but I still got the joke. Admittedly that was courtesy of an episode of Sorry almost 40 years ago, but I still got it.

Or they could just have tried making the stuff fit to drink, rather than useful only as slug traps.