Next week, you paint them green. Then over the next few years, you try out many paints, until recommending the only one that sticks to a milk carton. Then the milk carton industry will change the material. (Sorry Jock, having a silly moment)
What's made you smile today?
- Thread starter angel
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What's made you smile today?
Oh yes, sounds like just the sort of thing I'd do.
Did you notice the shed is actually a standard 8x6 ft with an "extension" scratch built onto the side? I built that extension some 35 years ago to house all my Hillman Imp spares but it indirectly cost me a fortune. At first Mrs J thought it was funny when speaking to the neighbours to mention that while they all had converted garages and conservatories on the back, we had an extension on our shed! Didn't take her too long to realize she could use that as a lever "well, if you've got an extension to your shed then I don't see why I can't have a conservatory". Of course, wimp that I am and lover of a peaceful life, it didn't take too long for her to get her way. The conservatory was relatively cheaply built from a kit of standard sized panels bought from my local double glazing factory and, unfortunately, screwed together in a weekend by a right load of cowboys. Didn't cost me an arm and a leg in labour though but the snagging list is still ongoing and the "cowboys" road off into the sunset long ago. Been trying to locate a small leak in the roof for nearly two years now as it only drips slightly in heavy rain with the wind blowing into the back of the house. Wish I wasn't such a "tight" idiot. Always attracted by a "bargain" though, that's me! Have to admit though, it's nice to sit in there on a summers day or a rainy winter evening and read a book - I love the sound of the rain on the roof, reminds me of the many happy camping holidays with the kids before they got older and stroppy!
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Now you'll have to wrestle your way through / round the milk carton when the padlock seizes up. LOL You must report on how it works. I am quite good at keepimg locks oiled so havnt had a problem.... yet.
Just started cleaning the double glazed windows and doors. All frames cleaned, reveals cleaned, hinges cleaned oiled and slides cleaned and greased, silicon on all seals, glass out and galzing cleaned. I used to do it every year but have only just got up and running, wel, crawling really, after my surgery, But!! Im now off. Had the patio door off and added blocks on the antil ifting blocks to remove all clearance today and fixed a part of the exterior trim that was adrift where the doors close. This door is just 12 years old and its clear teh sun and weather are going to see ot off before it hets too much older.
I had to add a long slim wedge to our conservatory (back porch) door a few weeks back its till looking sound soi like you well pleased with a small job. I think this must be a sympton of getting old. But its a good feeling anyway.
I've been having a "Fun" day today. Mrs J decided to do some shopping and then swimming - she swims like a fish and it's her way of keeping fit, think I've mentioned before she averages 70 to 80 lengths per session!
Anyway that left me free to do whatever I liked. Next door bought new garden chairs recently and were going to chuck the old ones but I said they looked far to good to simply chuck away whereupon he said, "well, why don't you take them, it'll save me a trip to the recycling" They've been behind his shed for a few months, unfortunately they've been lying on their sides so are have earth, spiders webs, and other detritus detracting from their looks. He's also painted them at some time, looks like fence paint, which is now flaking off. Aha, I thought, a job for the water gun! (I don't have a power washer). Some of you may remember this tool as I've mentioned it before:
It uses compressed air and water from a garden hose and works rather like a paint spray gun.
I've experimented with it to find the best performance so I can tell you it needs a reasonably "meaty" compressor. Mine is a 3hp beltdrive rated at 14 cfm so probably actually outputing around 10, maybe 10.5 CFM free air. It keeps up with it pretty well. Waterwise unless you've got good mains pressure I'd forget it. I've tried it with reduced supply and letting it suck out of a drum (like if you were using rain water) It works but is no "ball of fire" Connect it up to a good mains supply with some decent pressure behind it and the story is very different. It's not far off what a domestic power washer can do.
What do I mean by a good mains supply? Well, I think mine is probably around 4 bar? with very good volume of flow from my outside garden tap. What does this look like? well here's my garden hose by way of comparison:
if your's looks something like this then this tool will work well for you - If, of course, you happen to have a powerful enough compressor. So it's not going to be for everyone but if you don't have a power washer but do have good water pressure and a decently "meaty" compressor then it's a very cheap way to get some serious cleaning power in your hands.
Here's one of the slabs in my driveway:
and here it is being "attacked" by the water gun:
and here's the result:
Perhaps not quite as good as a power washer but not far off? However I wouldn't advise using it to clean large areas as the poor old compressor has to work pretty hard to keep up with it. What it does work well on is something like cleaning up those chairs:
A rare and unflattering view of the "lesser spotted Jock" in his home environment folks! what exquisite dress style he exhibits! Note also the right hand pinky finger position, sheer class!
Anyway, it made a very good job of not only cleaning them up but also removed all the flaky paint. Once properly dry a quick rub over with some sand paper and they'll be ready for a finish coat. Haven't made my mind up whether to go with garden furniture oil or a paint finish yet.
Just as I was finishing the third, and last, chair Mrs J arrived home and made a nice cup of tea. she brought one out to me with an Almond finger too. Yum Yum! because I was cleaning the chairs on my driveway (and the pavement - oops?) She couldn't put Becky back min her usual place on the slabs at the front of the house. So she parked her alongside the drop kerb behind Bluey (the Scala) which let me "admire" her - Becky - whilst siting on my front door step and munching that delicious Almond finger. With the recent post about suspension height elsewhere I found myself admiring the way the car is sitting absolutely level and the front and rear wheels just nicely fill the wheel arches. No sign of "front end droop" as she had when I bought her - which I rectified by rebuilding the front suspension. A wee distraction I allow myself when driving around town and stuck in traffic jams (of which there are quite a few what with the Festival being in full swing and the multiple road works springing up almost daily at present) is to observe front suspension height on Pandas. Mine was definitely "nose down" when I bought her and I found out that what causes this is front springs aging and strut top mount rubbers degrading. It's very interesting to see how many 169 models in particular don't sit level but are visibly "down at the nose". 500 models seem to "suffer" the same. At this very minute there's a twin air sitting in the layby opposite which is significantly "down by the head" and a 1.2 just to the right of my driveway which is almost completely level. There's also often a black one which belongs to someone in the flats opposite which is about half way between the two.
How do you like this:
It's a bit of bent copper pipe with holes drilled in the side. Ok, so what? Well, because we are blessed with good water pressure it makes a very effective chassis spray.
Ok Maybe I should tidy up now, put everything away and stick Becky back in front of the house. Mre J however has a "wee job" for me. "I think the time has come to put the baby buggy in the loft - I think the kids (our offspring) have completed their families now so it's not needed any more" she said. Trouble is it's absolutely clarty (Scottish word meaning dirty, sticky, disgusting) so can you clean it up before we put it in the loft _ what's with the "we"? It's me who's doing it! Anyway, sprayed it with Elbow Grease, scrubbed it with my mechanics stiff nailbrush and hit it with the water gun:
can't believe it's the same buggy! Want to bet, now we're putting it in the loft another grandchild puts in an appearance?
And, just to round the day off, after I've got everything tidied away and I'm going in the back door there's an explosion of flying ants from under the back door step!
I've been seeing ants around here for a wee while. Must be a bigger nest than I thought. Now where's that container of white ant killer powder?
Anyway that left me free to do whatever I liked. Next door bought new garden chairs recently and were going to chuck the old ones but I said they looked far to good to simply chuck away whereupon he said, "well, why don't you take them, it'll save me a trip to the recycling" They've been behind his shed for a few months, unfortunately they've been lying on their sides so are have earth, spiders webs, and other detritus detracting from their looks. He's also painted them at some time, looks like fence paint, which is now flaking off. Aha, I thought, a job for the water gun! (I don't have a power washer). Some of you may remember this tool as I've mentioned it before:
It uses compressed air and water from a garden hose and works rather like a paint spray gun.
I've experimented with it to find the best performance so I can tell you it needs a reasonably "meaty" compressor. Mine is a 3hp beltdrive rated at 14 cfm so probably actually outputing around 10, maybe 10.5 CFM free air. It keeps up with it pretty well. Waterwise unless you've got good mains pressure I'd forget it. I've tried it with reduced supply and letting it suck out of a drum (like if you were using rain water) It works but is no "ball of fire" Connect it up to a good mains supply with some decent pressure behind it and the story is very different. It's not far off what a domestic power washer can do.
What do I mean by a good mains supply? Well, I think mine is probably around 4 bar? with very good volume of flow from my outside garden tap. What does this look like? well here's my garden hose by way of comparison:
if your's looks something like this then this tool will work well for you - If, of course, you happen to have a powerful enough compressor. So it's not going to be for everyone but if you don't have a power washer but do have good water pressure and a decently "meaty" compressor then it's a very cheap way to get some serious cleaning power in your hands.
Here's one of the slabs in my driveway:
and here it is being "attacked" by the water gun:
and here's the result:
Perhaps not quite as good as a power washer but not far off? However I wouldn't advise using it to clean large areas as the poor old compressor has to work pretty hard to keep up with it. What it does work well on is something like cleaning up those chairs:
A rare and unflattering view of the "lesser spotted Jock" in his home environment folks! what exquisite dress style he exhibits! Note also the right hand pinky finger position, sheer class!
Anyway, it made a very good job of not only cleaning them up but also removed all the flaky paint. Once properly dry a quick rub over with some sand paper and they'll be ready for a finish coat. Haven't made my mind up whether to go with garden furniture oil or a paint finish yet.
Just as I was finishing the third, and last, chair Mrs J arrived home and made a nice cup of tea. she brought one out to me with an Almond finger too. Yum Yum! because I was cleaning the chairs on my driveway (and the pavement - oops?) She couldn't put Becky back min her usual place on the slabs at the front of the house. So she parked her alongside the drop kerb behind Bluey (the Scala) which let me "admire" her - Becky - whilst siting on my front door step and munching that delicious Almond finger. With the recent post about suspension height elsewhere I found myself admiring the way the car is sitting absolutely level and the front and rear wheels just nicely fill the wheel arches. No sign of "front end droop" as she had when I bought her - which I rectified by rebuilding the front suspension. A wee distraction I allow myself when driving around town and stuck in traffic jams (of which there are quite a few what with the Festival being in full swing and the multiple road works springing up almost daily at present) is to observe front suspension height on Pandas. Mine was definitely "nose down" when I bought her and I found out that what causes this is front springs aging and strut top mount rubbers degrading. It's very interesting to see how many 169 models in particular don't sit level but are visibly "down at the nose". 500 models seem to "suffer" the same. At this very minute there's a twin air sitting in the layby opposite which is significantly "down by the head" and a 1.2 just to the right of my driveway which is almost completely level. There's also often a black one which belongs to someone in the flats opposite which is about half way between the two.
How do you like this:
It's a bit of bent copper pipe with holes drilled in the side. Ok, so what? Well, because we are blessed with good water pressure it makes a very effective chassis spray.
Ok Maybe I should tidy up now, put everything away and stick Becky back in front of the house. Mre J however has a "wee job" for me. "I think the time has come to put the baby buggy in the loft - I think the kids (our offspring) have completed their families now so it's not needed any more" she said. Trouble is it's absolutely clarty (Scottish word meaning dirty, sticky, disgusting) so can you clean it up before we put it in the loft _ what's with the "we"? It's me who's doing it! Anyway, sprayed it with Elbow Grease, scrubbed it with my mechanics stiff nailbrush and hit it with the water gun:
can't believe it's the same buggy! Want to bet, now we're putting it in the loft another grandchild puts in an appearance?
And, just to round the day off, after I've got everything tidied away and I'm going in the back door there's an explosion of flying ants from under the back door step!
I've been seeing ants around here for a wee while. Must be a bigger nest than I thought. Now where's that container of white ant killer powder?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
They will all be gone inside 24 hours if you just leave them. A real nuisance though. I like your cleaning solution it seems to work really well and no power washer is one less thing to have to find a space for. I now have two as the old one came back to life with a bit more TLC. SO one up at the house and one in the garage. As we have a very long thin plot it saves a lot of hauling. Anyway look after the Ants it took me years to get shot of them. Your turn now. Ha ha.
Yup gone already. Problem is the main nest will still be there and I'm not going to dismantle the back steps to find it. The powder has worked in the past though in other places so I'll just give it a good skoosh in all the cracks and hope for the best.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I get some stuff from Mr Plastic which is meant for glueing steel rods into brickwork. It dries to look like mortar and comes in tubes like mastic. Its somewhat like plastic padding with sand and cement. Its excellent for sealing the cracks in brickwork where ants hang out. I am going to get some more soon and will add the details when I do. Mind you move the ants out of their current home and they can sometimes go somewhere worse!
In our last house we had no end of ants in our small back garden, they tracked up the outside of the waste pipes and started appearing out of the wall behind the shower, it made getting rid of them very difficult as every time you killed them off, next years ants would find their way back in.
I'd be especially interested in that stuff as I've got a small problem with blockwork cracking. The house is constructed of block on the inside and brick on the outside and the problem is on the longest wall in the house, which runs the whole depth of the house. My daughter is a structural engineer and tells me the wall is just long enough it should have included an expansion joint because the blockwork expands and contracts with the seasons at a different rate to the outer brickwork (not a sign of a crack anywhere in the brickwork by the way) She tells me current guidance is that if blockwork is to be used in this way, because it's known to often develope small cracks like mine, it should be dry lined with plasterboard or similar. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about it when I redecorate but one of the things she suggested I might want to try is to rake the cracks out well and use something like your anchor mortar to fill them up. Anyway, I'd be interested to know what this stuff is.
Incidentally, she tells me not to worry about the cracks, they're not affecting the strength or integrity of the building - phew!
I've not had to deal with ants in horizontal cracks.
When they are in vertical cracks, like concrete, or in the lawn, the queen is, I've found, about a foot down.
My method. Boil a full kettle. The moment it boils, take it outside and pour the whole lot down the ant hole. This has worked for me every time, so far.
Often, the boiled ants flow to the surface. Leave them, and head back indoors promptly, and watch the birds eat them. The blackbirds seem to especially like them.
When they are in vertical cracks, like concrete, or in the lawn, the queen is, I've found, about a foot down.
My method. Boil a full kettle. The moment it boils, take it outside and pour the whole lot down the ant hole. This has worked for me every time, so far.
Often, the boiled ants flow to the surface. Leave them, and head back indoors promptly, and watch the birds eat them. The blackbirds seem to especially like them.
Thanks Nigel. great idea but, as you say, not going to work under the back door step slab. I bought some of the white powder stuff yesterday nad, if the rain stays off, I'll try squirting some of that into the cracks today.
Small excitement for me today, The fireman chap who lives 3 houses up the street, has asked me if I'll help him get the right battery for his wife's Kia and then help him fit it (which I think means will I fit it for him) I've never really touched a Kia before (older boy's is still under warranty) so does anyone know if a 2009 Kia Rio needs a code saver connected, or an aux power supply, to keep it's systems powered up while I change the battery? or can I just meerily disconnect the terminals, like on our Pandas, and everything - like radio, comes back to life automatically when the new battery is connected up?
I just buy antstop, they go in, pick some bait up and take it back to the nest and done.
It's about 8 quid for 2 but they were literally queuing up to take it back to the nest and off themselves.
Just open it and stick it where you usually see them.
It's about 8 quid for 2 but they were literally queuing up to take it back to the nest and off themselves.
Just open it and stick it where you usually see them.
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Aye Mike. The old pump - at least it looks like a pump to me? is right up my street. Looks pretty old too (dynamo is a dead giveaway) I don't immediately recognize the engine though? The Dizzy cap is quite distinctive too, but it's not ringing any bells.One for you @Pugglt Auld Jock ? I always like this sign at bottom.
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I absolutely love the sign. I've seen similar rougher examples, but that one is just so professional looking. I just had a thought. My youngest boy's a signwriter, He could make one up for me!
Come on
Coventry Climax, aka Hillman Imps big brother fire pump. I though they were 1100cc but some suggest 1500cc , it would have been fun in an Imp, what was the Imp 875cc?Re the sign , if I could have got that hourly rate I could have sat down and told someone else how to do the job. The signs are a cheap chinese copy I think.
My dad has that exact sign hanging upOne for you @Pugglt Auld Jock ? I always like this sign at bottom.
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Yup, there wasn’t a Cclimax of one cc, I always thought so but my landlords father in law said they came in several cc which meant getting the right gasket for a short stroke or long stroke fire pump was a gamble…he was a firefighter so kinda knew what he was talking about…but I only ever came across 1100cc…Come on
Re the sign , if I could have got that hourly rate I could have sat down and told someone else how to do the job. The signs are a cheap chinese copy I think.
Relatiting that to Fiat, they said the same about Simca engines, again, I don’t know how true that is because I’m struggling with a Hotchkiss 6.4
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I came across that engine in an Allett cylinder mower 60inches wide! It too used to eat head gaskets.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Nothing. Im a miserable s** also has a scan for a developing gall bladder cyst. on Tuesday. zCCcnow off for MRI scan as large unexplained mass found near my 1 remaining kidney. I reckon its the large cyst they told me about 18 months ago. It probably ruptured when I took my fall a few weeks back. Hey ho. Everyone is panicking apart from me. Panda 4x4 going cheap......
Little Scarlett is now home on the drive having a little rest after clocking up around 600 miles since Sunday as she went to Festival Italia & then on Tuesday I went up to family just outside Liverpool then come back today & all without missing a beat
only thing is ever since I've owned her she's always had a very slight noisy fuel pump which has now become a bit more noticeable since that journey, so I'm going to order a new one & fit it before I go to MITCAR next month but other than that it all went smoothly
