and today i have mostly been...

[lozz]

You have some nice animals there Steve.
The cat wiv one eye looks like he's the boss..

[OllieNZ]

You have some nice animals there Steve.
The cat wiv one eye looks like he's the boss..

+1
If the cat's anything like his namesake he will view the world in a clear but rather unique way and also be completely and utterly psychopathic prone to random outbursts of violence and murder.

[highlander]

You have some nice animals there Steve.
The cat wiv one eye looks like he's the boss..

+1
If the cat's anything like his namesake he will view the world in a clear but rather unique way and also be completely and utterly psychopathic prone to random outbursts of violence and murder.

He'll be less likely to kill you on a whim if you pronounce his name "Tey-ah-tim-eh"

[steve_earwig]

He's presently lying on my lap, purring. Most of the time he's Teatime, I only pronounce it properly when he's looking especially evil.

He is a nice cat though, he has his moments like any cat but he's 100 times friendlier than Srećko anyway. He also loves Camilla, which I guess is a hangover from before they were neutered, it's lovely to see him washing her.

[steve_earwig]

Just some various pickchewers...

Charlie in the hibiscus:


Ollie rolling about on the lawn








Camilla pretending to be a squirrel:


Teatime not wanting his picture taken:



I've finished all the sanding I think I'm ever going to do for the remainder of my life. Miloš was here this morning measuring up for the plasterboards to go in between the beams and I think he'll be here later this week. Also the window guy turned up to fit the new windows to the bathroom and back bedroom. The bathroom one probably looks a bit odd but I was concerned that there'd be no alterations to the façade;

Bathroom:


Bedroom:


They both open and tip. The frames are oak - Why? As usual I only get to pay for these things but t'wife tells me they're high up facing east, so they'll need to be tough (but the old window was fine!) And they're varnished, unlike every other damn window in the place

Finally, we've had a few downpours over the last couple of days and I was in the garden earlier surveying the damage and I spotted this guy sunning himself by he beans:


I think this is probably a slow worm (pardon my ignorance but I try not to have anything do with snakes etc. as a rule) which principally eat slugs, cool!

[lozz]

Lovely dog ' he looks very happy.

[Welly]

I like Charlie Cat, he looks clever

[OllieNZ]

Had a busy week this week. With the improving* weather
(Hope the video works)

Decided to treat the 307 to some tlc.

Found 2 leaking injector seals, cleaned out the turbo oil feed pipe and de - gauzed the banjo bolt

(if I ever meet the person responsible for the idea they're in for a swift kick to the bollocks).
Desludged the sump (pointless exercise) and ultrasonically cleaned the injectors while they were out.

[steve_earwig]

I'm sure you don't really need to video rain...

This morning the heating has been requested The garden shows signs of floods, I can see where rivers have been running off my raised beds, I can't walk on it without gorwing gigantic heavy feet and the weeds and slugs are going berserk. Enough I say!

Did de-sludging the sump involve removing it? Is that the infamous oil screen that blocks and leads to turbo failure and consequent engine death? Best off in the bin I reckon.

I didn't realise ultrasonic cleaning was a DIY proposition Wow, 64 quid plus P+P, any good?

This morning I have been (amongst other activities) investigating replacing my Bosch angle grinder. I've pretty much killed it so it needs new bearings, plus the pinion is chipped (although strangely the crownwheel is fine). I reckon it'll need about 50 quid spent, so I'm wondering if it's worth it as I can buy one of these for about 80 http://alatimilic.hr/shop/Bosch-kutna-b ... gws-7-115E Or am I going to find it's another case of "they don't make 'em like they used to"? Answers on a postcard....

[OllieNZ]

Did de-sludging the sump involve removing it? Is that the infamous oil screen that blocks and leads to turbo failure and consequent engine death? Best off in the bin I reckon.

I didn't realise ultrasonic cleaning was a DIY proposition Wow, 64 quid plus P+P, any good?

Yeah, had to pull the sump off. Not sure what they stick it on with but I was doing chin ups on it and it wouldn't budge, ended prying it off with a variety of levers/screwdrivers. Also had to beat the flange around the pan flat again before refitting.
That is indeed the infamous screen. Apparently it's now an official mod to remove it. Unfortunately the only way to access it is by removing the cat/dpf assy and associated heat shielding and to remove that(easily) you need to pull out all the inlet pipe work. Why they didn't just put on the bolt at the turbo end (that takes less than 10 secs to remove) I've no idea.
We use the ultrasonic cleaners on all the aircraft injectors at work so I figured it wouldn't hurt. Cleaned in a detergent type stuff called Turco and then soaked/rinsed in acetone after.

[Welly]

Bumhats I thought the oil filter mesh was in the uppermost bolt, was going to have a crack at it on the C4 but removing all that other sh*t is a pain.

I understood its only a problem if you follow the 20K service intervals, ours* will be having 6-monthly (5K miles) changes so apparently that'll save the trubot from harm.

[steve_earwig]

I watched Krešo the mechanic take the sump off a DV6 in a C2 (I think it was), the usual "let's save a few centimes and make our dipsticks out of plastic!" shenanigans The sealant appeared to be some sort of mastic and even up on a ramp it looked quite a struggle. I was wondering if the sump would ever seal again.

This morning I have mostly been trying to stop the upstairs balcony doors sticking. The smaller door on the right is dropping but there's no adjustment on the hinge. It's the usual held on* with wires nonsense and the frame is sagging on the top hinge. It does have holes in the frame for screwing it into the wall but they've not been used because of the stupid pottery building blocks they use here.

Attempt 1: drill hole into masonry, fit masonry screw.
Screw screws into nothing and is stuck there. Ruin good chisel screwdriver by hammering it into the torx head in the screw to remove it.

Attempt 2: Pack loads of bits of kebab stick (there's loads in the cupboard here for some reason) until no more can go in. Fit screw.
Screw starts to tighten but then just spins. Ruin another good chisel screwdriver hammering it into the torx head to remove screw.

Attempt 3: Hammer even more broken kebab sticks into the hole, with the same result. Leave screw in there. Screw it.

Attempt 4: Reach for sharp chisel...

I do wish they sold Rawl bolts here, sadly there's not even anything similar for sale, it's masonry screws or nothing.

[Welly]

My mechanic showed me a good fix for loose/spinning wall plugs in masonry: get an electrical tie-wrap cut it to length required and fold it length-ways with pliers so you get a plastic 'V' shape wedge....wang it in the hole and it'll grip/catch the screw/old plug and form a new fixing.

[steve_earwig]

I get the idea but I've had more success with wood, I made all the fixings for the pantry out of wood after the rawl plugs I bought turned out to be completely useless for the ceramic blocks, which basically shatter the moment you try to put any load on them. Unfortunately the only way I can get anything substantial behind this frame would be to remove the lot. Nothankyouverymuchta.

Get a ceramic flowerpot, smash it with a hammer - now you're getting it.

[OllieNZ]

Can you get chemset Steve? Glue in suitable diameter threaded rod and away you go.