We used to have a pub with the back half of a Renault 16 attached half way up the wall out side as though it had missed the bend!
What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
- Thread starter dave
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What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Yep everytime I bend the car.... LOLIn the past I seen cars with accident damage and the wife's name painted beside it.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
It would never have m,anaged to hit the pub.... Understeer was FAR FAR worse than that. I had several. Really comfy and quite good at huge distances. Just a bit difficult to coax round corners and thirsty. You could watch the gauge moving down if you kept your foot down.We used to have a pub with the back half of a Renault 16 attached half way up the wall out side as though it had missed the bend!
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I recall in the late 70s our car salesman rang asking for me to bring the LandRover to his house for a tow, allegedly the brakes failed on the Renault 16 sales car he took home, causing it to go down the slope , through the open garage at his new house and punch out through the back wall, left hanging in space! Although my suspicions were he didn't miss the pub earlier
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Panda 4 added to the fleet. 1.2 Easy Late March 2017 so £35 tax. 24K and Full FIat service history. Has phone, seat height, parking sensors, red roof bars and mirror covers and 15" alloy wheels. £6400 which I think is an absolute steal as its immaculate outside and in with Panda carpet mats too. I dont think the boot, or back seat have ever been used If it is reliable it will be a real result. All I have to do is get to SOuthhampton to collect and remove the Seat. Its coming home to Norfolk for decomissioning. We all feel as if an old famoily friend is coming to the end.
Park the Seat on the lawn then you can stroke it every time you go past
I used to think if I had the space I would have kept all my cars, some may have been worth some money by now.
or just a pile of brown dust in the driveI used to think if I had the space I would have kept all my cars, some may have been worth some money by now.
Much more likely, but think of the pleasure winding up your neighbours
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
The home based daughter thinks it should become a garden shed. Im thinking maybe log storage. I may cut the back off and turn it into a tear drop caravan.Park the Seat on the lawn then you can stroke it every time you go past
I used to think if I had the space I would have kept all my cars, some may have been worth some money by now.
In some respects standing cars for a few decades probably means they are less exposed to road salt stone chips and god knows what else, and so they probably rust much slower on the drive.Much more likely, but think of the pleasure winding up your neighbours
My wife had an old fiesta when she went to university it sat unused from 2008 - 2020 not even started, it was a 90s model that by all rights being a Ford should have turned back into iron ore after that length of time but there was hardly any rust on it, not even around the sunroof !
Some lad from one of the local garages took it actually drove it away which is brave for a car that’s been standing for 12 or so years and it was back in regular use within a couple of weeks
A bit more on Thursday's ATV mishap.
Yesterday, I had Eli sit on the ATV and show me what happened. He said that the throttle was in the idle position when the ATV just took off and the brake would barely slow it down. I kind of blew that off. Shame on me.
Today, I was riding it from one driveway to the other when, JHC..., it went WOT on me and I wasn't touching the throttle. I guess if I was 11 years old, I'd have been scared shitless, too. I shut it down with the Big Red Button and followed the throttle cable back to the carb where I found that the ring that holds the slide in place had come off and the slide was trying to escape. Cause and effect. I got the ring back on and the little poop behaved the rest of the day.
I've dealt with these style carbs for 60 years and this was a first.
There was a bit more damage to the ATV than I first noticed. Steerer got bent forward and to the left. Something else to fix.
Yesterday, I had Eli sit on the ATV and show me what happened. He said that the throttle was in the idle position when the ATV just took off and the brake would barely slow it down. I kind of blew that off. Shame on me.
Today, I was riding it from one driveway to the other when, JHC..., it went WOT on me and I wasn't touching the throttle. I guess if I was 11 years old, I'd have been scared shitless, too. I shut it down with the Big Red Button and followed the throttle cable back to the carb where I found that the ring that holds the slide in place had come off and the slide was trying to escape. Cause and effect. I got the ring back on and the little poop behaved the rest of the day.
I've dealt with these style carbs for 60 years and this was a first.
There was a bit more damage to the ATV than I first noticed. Steerer got bent forward and to the left. Something else to fix.
Chinese carburettor?A bit more on Thursday's ATV mishap.
Yesterday, I had Eli sit on the ATV and show me what happened. He said that the throttle was in the idle position when the ATV just took off and the brake would barely slow it down. I kind of blew that off. Shame on me.
Today, I was riding it from one driveway to the other when, JHC..., it went WOT on me and I wasn't touching the throttle. I guess if I was 11 years old, I'd have been scared shitless, too. I shut it down with the Big Red Button and followed the throttle cable back to the carb where I found that the ring that holds the slide in place had come off and the slide was trying to escape. Cause and effect. I got the ring back on and the little poop behaved the rest of the day.
I've dealt with these style carbs for 60 years and this was a first.
There was a bit more damage to the ATV than I first noticed. Steerer got bent forward and to the left. Something else to fix.
Yup.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Oh deers.......
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Ruby is in for cam belt and brake fluid change. £350 down the chute. Clutch slave sqeaking again so i have that to do and baffles are now loose in the back box so I shall do that too. I have to collect Peanut2 from Southampton on Saturday so more expense....
Caught up with some more of the carnage from last week.
The Honda is fixed. The replacement fender does not have as nice of a finish as the other one had, but it isn't bent, either. The grab bar may have been tweeked because it fought me getting it back together.
I also got both of the Ural fog light brackets repaired. I got to use the new to me Clarke MIG welder on those. I practiced welding safety; helmet, gloves, jacket, do-rag, shorts, sneakers.
The bicycle and the ATV steerer are on a very back burner for now. Breakfast t with my old boss and a former coworker tomorrow.
The Honda is fixed. The replacement fender does not have as nice of a finish as the other one had, but it isn't bent, either. The grab bar may have been tweeked because it fought me getting it back together.
I also got both of the Ural fog light brackets repaired. I got to use the new to me Clarke MIG welder on those. I practiced welding safety; helmet, gloves, jacket, do-rag, shorts, sneakers.
The bicycle and the ATV steerer are on a very back burner for now. Breakfast t with my old boss and a former coworker tomorrow.
Last summer I decided to refresh the front suspension on my punto 
The GP 199 Platform has an annoying feature of the Bearings at the top of the Strut getting effected by moisture, the rusty surfaces getting "sticky", and the Spring loading and unloading with a loud BOING
After several changes of road spring due to UK potholes damage
I decided to go for new Dampers, Springs and Bearings
The car has seen little use all winter..
On a 200 mile road trip yesterday, every low speed manoeuvre resulted in an annoying BOING sound..
Car itself was great, comfy quiet and good mpg
But the Bearings..
I am wondering if I can employ some 1950's technology to my 2000's FIAT..
People of a certain age will remember the routine of Motorcycle chain maintenance
Remove chain from machine, wash thoroughly, let it dry
Then lower it into a heated pan of special grease (like a chip pan /deep fat fryer) that is at @60 / 80 'c
Then suspend the chain above the pan and all the excess grease will drip off
I have a brand new pan.. So PURE.. No grit
I am wondering if I buy MORE brand new bearings, will this be the most effective method of "lubed for life" application
(the bearings come as a set,
'clipped together'.. So you cannot see the inner races to add grease)
The bearings typically are "just oiled", to stop them rusting on the shelf
But damp weather and inactivity will generate minor rust
Our old panda ones went notchy, but would free off with use
The GP platform seems especially prone to this issue, nothing else seems to be like this.. and I want a long-term fix
The GP 199 Platform has an annoying feature of the Bearings at the top of the Strut getting effected by moisture, the rusty surfaces getting "sticky", and the Spring loading and unloading with a loud BOING
After several changes of road spring due to UK potholes damage
I decided to go for new Dampers, Springs and Bearings
The car has seen little use all winter..
On a 200 mile road trip yesterday, every low speed manoeuvre resulted in an annoying BOING sound..
Car itself was great, comfy quiet and good mpg
But the Bearings..
I am wondering if I can employ some 1950's technology to my 2000's FIAT..
People of a certain age will remember the routine of Motorcycle chain maintenance
Remove chain from machine, wash thoroughly, let it dry
Then lower it into a heated pan of special grease (like a chip pan /deep fat fryer) that is at @60 / 80 'c
Then suspend the chain above the pan and all the excess grease will drip off
I have a brand new pan.. So PURE.. No grit
I am wondering if I buy MORE brand new bearings, will this be the most effective method of "lubed for life" application
(the bearings come as a set,
'clipped together'.. So you cannot see the inner races to add grease)
The bearings typically are "just oiled", to stop them rusting on the shelf
But damp weather and inactivity will generate minor rust
Our old panda ones went notchy, but would free off with use
The GP platform seems especially prone to this issue, nothing else seems to be like this.. and I want a long-term fix
If the bearings do not contain anything with a lower melting point than the grease, this could be very effective. I still have such a pan in the garage, despite not having a motorcycle since Dec '03. Always a very messy business, I remember.Last summer I decided to refresh the front suspension on my punto
The GP 199 Platform has an annoying feature of the Bearings at the top of the Strut getting effected by moisture, the rusty surfaces getting "sticky", and the Spring loading and unloading with a loud BOING
After several changes of road spring due to UK potholes damage
I decided to go for new Dampers, Springs and Bearings
The car has seen little use all winter..
On a 200 mile road trip yesterday, every low speed manoeuvre resulted in an annoying BOING sound..
Car itself was great, comfy quiet and good mpg
But the Bearings..
I am wondering if I can employ some 1950's technology to my 2000's FIAT..
People of a certain age will remember the routine of Motorcycle chain maintenance
Remove chain from machine, wash thoroughly, let it dry
Then lower it into a heated pan of special grease (like a chip pan /deep fat fryer) that is at @60 / 80 'c
Then suspend the chain above the pan and all the excess grease will drip off
I have a brand new pan.. So PURE.. No grit
I am wondering if I buy MORE brand new bearings, will this be the most effective method of "lubed for life" application
(the bearings come as a set,
'clipped together'.. So you cannot see the inner races to add grease)
The bearings typically are "just oiled", to stop them rusting on the shelf
But damp weather and inactivity will generate minor rust
Our old panda ones went notchy, but would free off with use
The GP platform seems especially prone to this issue, nothing else seems to be like this.. and I want a long-term fix
The older of my two Solexes cooked its headlight bulb. The replacement is a 6v 1a bulb with an e10 screw base. NLA on this side of the pond. I decided, what the hell, I'll convert to LED.
First issue is the little poop is positive ground, most LEDs are negative ground. As the output for the lights is a lighting coil and not a stator, it doesn't care one way or the other.
Second is the output is AC. LEDs are DC.
Lastly, the output is unregulated. What my oldest European ancestors did is run a 14.4v bulb for the taillight and the 6v bulb for the headlight. This came back to bite me.
What I need to do is make up a regulator/rectifier. I've done these before and they are relatively easy to build; a bridge rectifier to change the output from AC to DC, a few caps to smooth out the voltage spikes and a 7805 VR to bring the output to 5vdc(using 6v LEDs). I built it last night and bench tested it with a DC power supply, bypassing the AC legs of the bridge rectifier. It held a steady 5vdc output up to 14vdc. Which is where I stopped testing.
I did a test run of the unit on the Solex today. It started out well, until the 470uf 25v electrolytic cap went 'POP' and let its smoke out. I double checked that I had the polarity correct before I tested it and after I freed the smoke. All I can surmise is that the 25v rating (14.4 + 6 = 20.4, not counting spikes) was too low and there was a voltage spike that far exceeded the rated 25v. Soooo...I've ordered some 470uf 200v caps. I looked at the components on the board and they're all rated 100v to 1000v. The cap was the weak link.
First issue is the little poop is positive ground, most LEDs are negative ground. As the output for the lights is a lighting coil and not a stator, it doesn't care one way or the other.
Second is the output is AC. LEDs are DC.
Lastly, the output is unregulated. What my oldest European ancestors did is run a 14.4v bulb for the taillight and the 6v bulb for the headlight. This came back to bite me.
What I need to do is make up a regulator/rectifier. I've done these before and they are relatively easy to build; a bridge rectifier to change the output from AC to DC, a few caps to smooth out the voltage spikes and a 7805 VR to bring the output to 5vdc(using 6v LEDs). I built it last night and bench tested it with a DC power supply, bypassing the AC legs of the bridge rectifier. It held a steady 5vdc output up to 14vdc. Which is where I stopped testing.
I did a test run of the unit on the Solex today. It started out well, until the 470uf 25v electrolytic cap went 'POP' and let its smoke out. I double checked that I had the polarity correct before I tested it and after I freed the smoke. All I can surmise is that the 25v rating (14.4 + 6 = 20.4, not counting spikes) was too low and there was a voltage spike that far exceeded the rated 25v. Soooo...I've ordered some 470uf 200v caps. I looked at the components on the board and they're all rated 100v to 1000v. The cap was the weak link.
It may have been the current and not voltage on the cap, they usually have a bit of extra on the voltage side, but would need a scope of it so to see what the true voltage was.
Or something like a chunky transorb to suppress the spikes and protect the cap.
Or something like a chunky transorb to suppress the spikes and protect the cap.
