and today i have mostly been...

[steve_earwig]

Somebody's watching me...

[Doggy]

One of the rhubarb raiders?

[steve_earwig]

Oh yes. I'm trying to take a camera on my nightly forages (cat location & collection) but of course the only time I got a clear view I didn't have it on me. Dark brown/black with a white bib, it was relaxing on top of the wood and didn't seem to bothered by me shining a torch at it. I went for my camera but all I got was


I also spotted these two

I think one is ill and the other one is pushing it home? I often see the odd hedgehog while I about and about.

[PhillipM]

Not quite today but she's riding better after this:

[steve_earwig]

Fully rebuilt rear suspension? Nice! Love the mix 'n' match jack stands, and those blocks of wood

[PhillipM]

Ah they weren't mix 'n' match, the other stand with a big flat pad for the wood is in front of the left one there. Blocks are wedged up against the sills, the stand on the left there was just knocked in as well to make sure the wood didn't twist, needed to get the the back inners for welding work.

[Welly]

Soz for the delay in calling in here, hope everyone's ok?

Still off work and reliable rumours are spreading that the company I used to work for is in a horrendous mess and going bust, oopsie daisy now do you miss me??

Car-wise there's a fleet reshuffle going ahead at Welly Towers.

Mrs_Welly doesn't ever use the Hi and Die so that's going, and I never really did warm to the Infinides Benz to be quite honest so that's going too, bonus points in that both cars have increased in value since purchase - never thought I'd see this going on in my lifetime I had to cram 4 adult passengers in last week which through the spotlight on its shortcomings, and no-one seems to want to work on the car, and next Feb the Magic Gearbox requires its very expensive service and plug-in trickery, and I've just spent £287.00 on a new rear light cluster because the original kept steaming up

The successor has been narrowed down to a Kia Sportage!

The Renner Twingo is staying and doing a great job of 'sipping' pez as it takes in shopping duties and running about. The new Coil Pack failed at13 months old (yay!) and had been occasionally dropping Cylinder 1 from its Sparking Duties.......now I think the CAT is fubbar'd because the eggsauce smells funny - well it smells like a 1980's non-cat car, let's see what sort of mood the MOT man is in later this year

[Doggy]

Nice to hear from you, trust you're OK health-wise?

Things is to say the least quiet hereabouts.
2nd hand car prices are baffling, most have gone up but it seems inconsistently.

Regarding the extended doggy family fleet....
My bro's got his Merc back on the road after a lengthy spell sorting poor starting/rough running. (He fitted 4 new injectors, but unfortunately 5 sealing washers, plus had an intermittent lift pump). This took so long he bought a Passat estate to tide him over - always said he thought they looked OK, now hates it with a passion. Good news is he looks like making money on ridding himself of it.
Daughter No. 1's 307SW soldiers on faultlessly.
Her other half had an Insignia that seized it's engine 1 day out of warranty, followed it up with a Mazda CX7 2.3 petrol turbo which is now not worth fixing for an MOT. To my amazement he's landed on a nearly mint 318D that was worryingly cheap but seems really good.
Daughter No. 2's 107 just works, long may it continue.
Her partner's Frod Smax of now it's bust / now it's working again clutch fame, lingers on.
Son & DIL have his+hers Range Rovers for no reason that I can fathom.
The BMW has an occasional sulky missfire as N53's do, but I absolutely love it.

Good luck with the consolidation, Kia or whatever you settle for.
Remember to look out for No.1

[steve_earwig]

Hi guys, good to hear from you. We're doing ok ta, despite the heat. Mind you I hear you've got it worse there, with no shutters, tiny windows and no air con, yowser!

Cars, the yoyo seems to carry on regardless, I really can't complain. Bro seems happy with his dieselgate Pisshat but sis-in-law has a Lexus hybrid (A Prius in drag I suspect) which is dramatically proving why you don't want a hybrid if you only do short journeys Get.Rid.Of.It.

I'll probably be looking towards Hyundai/Kia when the yoyo finally falls to bits (although whoever designed the Spottage wins the Ugliest Grille Ever award, despite some stiff competition from Peugeot).

So anyway yes, last weekend I was with buddy Goran in Smiljan in Lika (birthplace of a certain Nikola Tesla) for an old timer vehicle meet, arranged by a chap who's got a business importing them (and presumably is trying to drum up some sales). We were meant to be going on bikes, Goran on the Matchless, me on my Yamaha but I got emotionally blackmailed out of riding the Yam by t'wife ("you're going to die!") ffs it's only about 100 miles And then the Matchless decided to shake a few bits off, including the adjuster that controls the oil feed to the head, so that's out of commission until I order a new one from the UK. SO it ended up Goran on his Moto Guzzi LeMans III ans me in the entirely inappropriate Toyotter

Cars there included a 1922 Ford Model T ( a bit overdone to my mind) and a couple of gorgeous Traction Avants












The black TA belongs to the organiser, while we were looking it over Goran noticed a rather iffy fuel line, he had a few spares for the Guzzi in the yoyo including a new fuel line so...


As a reward we were treated to a ride in it


Magnificent! Smooth, comfortable, loads of room, marvellous. Sadly I thought I'd filmed the entire ride but my mobile phone had other ideas

Apart from these there were various old timers, a few Beetles, Land Rovers and 2CV's (which I didn't bother to take pictures of ), an Ami 8




2 Autobianchis and a Fiat Spider


And this guy, which I felt duty bound to take pictures of for the club








This is our pitch

including Goran's Guzzi and my camp bed that wouldn't fit in his tent

Great bunch of guys there too

This is Goran, another Goran and the organiser Valentino and his dog, Smoki. I also met a guy with an SM which I've been promised a ride in once he's finished rebuilding the engine. I think I'll be taking the GoPro for that

[Welly]

Hi both!

Wife's are good at spoiling the thought of you going off and doing something fun for a change (i haz the t-shirts)

The Hyundai we have came with a 'personalised plate' the old giffer what drove it relinquished the plate as part of the sale.......I done haz had it valued and it's 'worth' £800.00 cor blimey.

Anyway I've pissed about for weeks not knowing how to get the Reg off the car and put back to something normal until this very morning I sat down properly and figured it out, 10 minutes later the DOOVLA had 'assigned' the old original plate back to the car, sent me a posh electronic certificate, I ordered new plates online, they come tomorrow, private plates have been un-stickypadded, Insewerance have been informed, and the stupid 'private plate' now belongs to me personally with a fancy 'retention cert' so I can go off and sell it - quite pleased with today, seems the opposite of what I normally achieve*

Great pics Steve - I like the Pug 204 the best.

Best, Welly

[Welly]

Son & DIL have his+hers Range Rovers for no reason that I can fathom.

Nice petrol bill each month, hope they're not engaging in neighbour 'upmanship - never ends well. There's a new housing estate near me and all the young couples seem to have 2021 BMW/Mercs etc - I don't understand the maths, I couldn't do it anyway, first 20 years of marriage I was driving sub £3k shitters.

Daughter & SIL have just mortgaged their first house, you'd think they'd tread carefully but in the first week SIL ordered the biggest TV I've ever seen in a room and guess who had to mount it on a dot-n-dab wall still, there's been no massive bangs in the middle of the night.... so far

[Doggy]

The younger generations' budgetting is kinda scary, (he said realising he's turned into his dad).

Still who am I to critise after shelling out for a new set of boots for the campervan yesterday.....




Good of you to bring your own jacks, sir.

Turns out 5 of the 6 were the originals and therefore 16+ years old
(I only managed to dicipher one date code when I checked after buying it, that was "1717", which I took to mean mid 2017 so wasn't unduly worried). However last October's MOT gave me a verbal advisory for one tyre, "more than 10 years old", which would be a fail on a commercial vehicle.

It's about to have it's first outing of the year, we're orft to Wales next week for some advanced brolly testing, I fear.

[steve_earwig]

I dunno, I don't think we were as bad, when I got my first flat it was all hand-me-downs, worn out furniture, mattress on the floor, my bro's old telly that I had to have a supply of shoes to throw at 'cos of all the dry joints inside... These days they want it NOW! So it's all on tick, new car, new furniture, new f*cking huge telly, pus stuff we never dreamed about like computers and mobile phones, it's all on credit. Instant gratification with no thought to what the future may hold, scary.

Impressive camper is impressive When I was a kid we used to camp in North Wales every year; me, my bro and dad in a tiny flappy tent in a field full of sheep in Llanberis Pass. It was ok when the weather was fine but, as is usually the case in North Wales, most of the time it was 3 or 4 days of rain, stuck in said tiny tent listening to a tiny transistor radio (you're lucky i didn't say wireless ). That camper would have been a palace to us...

It comes with its own jacks? That's bloody useful! I'll bet those hoops were pricy but it sounds as though you'll get your money's worth.

[DaiRees]

It's about to have it's first outing of the year, we're orft to Wales next week for some advanced brolly testing, I fear.

So it's your fault that it's raining here today! Where are you visiting Doggy?

The impressive camper is indeed very impressive, I often dream of having one, or maybe a boat. But life gets in the way doesn't it.

Good to hear that everyone is doing well

[Doggy]

Thanks gents,

It comes with its own jacks? That's bloody useful! I'll bet those hoops were pricy but it sounds as though you'll get your money's worth.

The jacks are meant to auto-level it, which they do on anything resembling flat ground or a gentle slope. Wasn't sure it could do this trick but it was worth a try. (2 x 3t axle stands under it just in case).

I resisted the recommended* Michelin Agilis Camper tyres at £200+ each and went for Hankook Vantras at £744 all in.
(better spec too 10-ply vs 8, load rating 121/120 vs 118/116).

So it's your fault that it's raining here today! Where are you visiting Doggy?

Booked a site just outside Fishguard, plus overnite pub stop near Avonmouth to split the trip down, (5 hours by car = at least 8 with van/trailer/car).