Ta
Just cheap polyprop chopped with a hacky and un-threaded

Want to get some much fatter rope.....
Looking for some off the local beaches [for free]
OR some real rusty old chain.......

Found some fatter rope on the local beach.........
Latest pix

You crack me up.



It is not illegal to not have the numberplate horizontal?
What's going on with the apparently angle-ground front grill?

This is truly something strange that goes way over my head

Ropes or chains... looks like the Uno was tied down but has broken free... I wonder if this is derived from some bedroom fetish

-Alex

Ucof said:

It is not illegal to not have the numberplate horizontal?

Click to expand...

Well looking at the VOSPA regs it only states that the reg plate should be vertical or at close to vertical as the front panel of the car would allow, it says nothing about being horizontal
BUT a guy on RatLook got pulled the other week for a wonky plate.
The RoZZers don't like it because it means their ANPR does not work.
So once its not so cold outside I'm going to change it [again]

Ucof said:

What's going on with the apparently angle-ground front grill?

Click to expand...

its a temp . . . work-in-progress . . . can't make my mind up to have it in primer, matt black, body colour or white to suit the white bonnet going back on . . . .

alexGS said:

This is truly something strange that goes way over my head

Ropes or chains... looks like the Uno was tied down but has broken free... I wonder if this is derived from some bedroom fetish

Click to expand...

Well its kind of a joke about the car being so old+rubbish that it needs a tow, when actually it doesn't
Once the weather improves I'll be spray stencilling a 'TOW' arrow pointing to the towing eyes . . .
oh and a small CAMEL logo just in front of it......
Kinda like this JOKER

jo0lz said:

Well looking at the VOSPA regs it only states that the reg plate should be vertical or at close to vertical as the front panel of the car would allow, it says nothing about being horizontal

Click to expand...

What???

So you could have it at 90 degrees to the horizontal (vertical?)

I think you might have that confused a little.
You got a link?

I think the regulations are trying to say that the plate must be upright ("close to vertical"), not leaning forwards or backwards. e.g. having the plate stuck onto the bonnet surface (which actually happens, on something like a Jaguar E-type) is not "close to vertical".

-Alex

I knew that the reg plate needs to be vertical OR as close as possible to vertical for ANPR to work
But I was pretty sure that there was NO actual reg that said it HAD TO BE horizontal.....well until a fellow RaTLooK car driver got pulled last week

I found this
http://www.mottest.net/mot/registration-number-plates/
I know the MOT regs for numberplates have changed in the last 12 months as our Smart car failed its MOT this summer because we had a shadowed logo in the reflective background that is now no longer allowed
This had not been picked up for the previous 7 years those plates been on the vehicle.

I did a bit of googling and found The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001; on line here
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si2001/20010561.htm

Section 6 of that document just mentions the plate being vertical; see here
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si2001/20010561.htm#6

Though I would be the first to admit at the end of the document all the diagrams show the letters/numbers running horizontally
So it would not be suprising for me to get pulled over by overjealous FuZZ for having a wonky reg plate because it would avoid their use of ANPR
Or the FuZZ [like my Wife, Mother-in-Law, Father, Brother-in-Law and a number of drivers who have flashed me in recent weeks] could think the plate is loose and falling off
While it is actually very securely fixed with two stainless steel button head security bolts

Like I said previously I'm going to move it anyway...as bored with it like that now....all part of the RaTLooK think..try it...don't like it...change it...bored with it...change it again...and all done as cheaply as possible...

Got pulled by the RoZZeRs yesterday [Sat 16-01-10] just 1/2 a mile from home
RoZZeR
"I've stopped you for road safety reasons as you have bits falling off your car"
Jo0Lz
"OH! well this front number plate is solidly fixed with two bolts [grabs it and pulls it to show it is SOLID]"
"Well it is not straight"
"Well I know it needs to be vertical but I do not believe there actually is a road traffic regulation that says it MUST be horizontal""
"It MUST be straight"
"Oh! OK . . I can change it"
"PLEASE change it"
"OK . . I can change it when I get home"
"Why is that rope hanging there?"
"it is decoration"
"It is a road safety hazzard, what if it fell off? damaged your car? or the vehicle of another road user?"
"Oh! OK . . I can remove it"
"PLEASE remove it"

Then we had the usual . . .is the car registered to you?; what's your name?; what is your address?; is the car registered at that address?; please come and sit in our car; they checked the DVLA data base...came up clean as a whistle...so....no producer issued; no spot fine; NADA
"OK you are free to go . . . and PLEASE straighten that numberplate and loose the rope"

I managed to not **** myself laughing or smirk all the way through this....and turned the motor off as soon as I pulled over so he didn't hear the blowing exhaust

Got home and the MiSSuS is OVER THE MOON
She always hated the wonky reg plate.....didn't mind the rope so much..was kinda willing to put up with that

Anyway as we were off to a country pub later to meet the in-laws I immediately got to do a quick change just in case the same bored RoZZeR was still about and could use the plate/rope as an excuse to pull us over and one of us be unlucky enough to get caught out D'n'D
Bonus was that once the plate was straight the MiSSuS agreed to be Desi-Driver and drive the FIAT back from the pub

Anyway went to a mini-meet today [thru the RetroRides Forum] with some guys in Sale and here below are the latest pics of the FIAT.......

I'm giving a thumbs up to the missus for being the designated driver.

I don't see how a piece of rope would damage another drivers car though, unless it got sucked up underneath and wrapped itself round the rad fan and caused the engine to overheat?!?!

I assume now though that this means you will have to move to a different part of the country so you never bump into the same policeman?
Or will you be keeping the plate straight and ropes off?

HAhahaha
Yeah I've put the house up for sale this morning and we are moving....NOT!

To be honest it was all quite comical
I can't believe I managed not to smirk when he mentioned the ropes
I was cocky enough in my knowledge of the regs that the RoZZeR was on a sticky wicket....
But I know from many previous experiences of being repeated pulled in my 20's
[I drove shed-like-minis like a maniac back then]
that if you stay calm and be polite the RoZZeRs are usually soft as a very SQUISHY thing...
Get angry and they will BE HARD as nails

Anyway, the whole joy of the RaT-isH BanGeR that look I have adopted is that the mods [decoration] are done cheap as chips, or even free [the ropes were a beach find] and I get bored quickly, so having to change the look of the car around I actually see as a positive

Plus now I know that a horizontal plate means the MiSSuS is more willing to be DesiDriver.......that rego plate will just have to stay that way...though I might move it around a bit over time....but just keep it in the LEGAL orientation

As for the rope....
When I got home I was cracking up when taking it off
It was an absolute pig to get off...as I tied it on so darn well...
So PiGGy was WRONG to think it was a hazzard, no way would it FALL off!
But there would have been no point in arguing with PiG-HeaD and ending up with a £60 fixed penalty for my trouble
I was getting bored of it anyway
AND I have some big old rusty shackles attached to a marker bouy we found on the beach [more FREE decoration] that are sitting in our 'beach' themed garden....and they are just screaming out at me that they want to go on a road trip.....so they will be on the towing eyes next.....before I set out to Luton on Thursday to collect a complete -60mm suspension set up....

LOL!

Thanks for bringing entertainment to the forum!

One interesting way to end a day - reading about how you can get in trouble... fancy a rope being considered a dangerous addition - it's not like it's a sharp object... honestly! But at the end of the day, we have to remember that the policeman was just doing his job, and having made the decision to pull you over, he has to follow through. He probably deserves some slack - the next scene he attended could have been a multiple fatality... I'm pleased you did the right thing and complied with his request.

I like that striping effect on the roof - makes it look as though it's made of LEGO bricks - how do you think of these things?

'Area 52' - I don't know that one, but may I nominate 'District 9' - there are lots of Unos like yours in Jozi (Johannesburg) Then again, it would be about as politically-correct as putting a Swastika on a Volkswagen in the 50s. I'm sure most South Africans would rather forget the past and move on, and rightly so too. Since the movie was directed by a Kiwi (Peter Jackson), I went to see it and found it funny (and creepily familiar). It's a documentary-satire style.

A few weeks ago (OK, months ago) I made a late-night trip to the supermarket. I might even have mentioned this before, but anyway... I took my green 164 (now sold). I find the 164 to be an elevating experience to drive, even though the speedometer rarely gets more than a third of the way to the '260' maximum marking.

Cruising at about the urban speed limit, I approached a large roundabout and saw two shadowy figures walking across it. I decided to gun it across before they got to the side I was driving through - also factoring in the decision was another car approaching the roundabout on my right. The supreme torque of the Alfa's V6 was sufficient to squeak a tyre (in third gear) and about then, I noticed the shadowy figures were now illuminated in red and blue. The approaching vehicle was a police car

The police officer checked the Warrant of Fitness and registration details and tried to claim the vehicle was unlicensed because I wasn't displaying the current licence ticket (equivalent of a tax disc - ours are rectangular and slide into a plastic envelope stuck to the windscreen. This one had the opening at one end, and the G-forces through the roundabout were sufficient to eject the ticket from the envelope... whoops

Anyway, having given up on the unlicensed-vehicle crusade, and realising he couldn't write me a speeding ticket because I wasn't actually exceeding 50km/h, he just told me in no uncertain terms to SLOW DOWN. I think the moral here is that it's not so much the speed, it's the style that gives you away. If the shadowy figures had decided to run across, I could have killed them. So the police officer was right to be doing his job.

Funny, I drive through that roundabout slowly a hundred times a month...

-Alex

Stick on plates are no longer allowed, even when they were fitted from new, like the E-Type or certain classic Ferrari`s.

If I had one of those classics & was told the original plate wasnt legal anymore, I would be pretty bloody pissed...

alexGS said:

I think the regulations are trying to say that the plate must be upright ("close to vertical"), not leaning forwards or backwards. e.g. having the plate stuck onto the bonnet surface (which actually happens, on something like a Jaguar E-type) is not "close to vertical".

-Alex

Click to expand...

jo0lz said:

AND I have some big old rusty shackles attached to a marker bouy we found on the beach

Click to expand...

Weld them on - then you can convince the policeman that they'll never just "fall off"



As much as I do agree with the "don't argue with a policeman; they'll only harden up and take it out on you" - I do resent the fact that (I get the impression that) some policemen feel that they can use this public perception of them in order to bully people into what they want them to do.



If I got into an arguement with a policeman, I'd kill him, eat the body to destroy any evidence, then escape into the woods whereupon I'd live as a 'wildman', living off the land and shunning modern day society, in order to retain my freedom and stay at large. I'd grow a raggedy beard, have a coat made of a skinned badger and fashion a knife from some compressed moss and aged lichen.
Then again, living in a bush, eating sticks and getting rained on doesn't seem as much fun as I thought it was when I was 6 years old.

Whereas most animals seem to taste like chicken, I heard policemen taste like bacon.. and I know how much you like bacon Ucof...

It's true.
I love bacon.

HaHa
Well having heard Alex's tale
I have to admit I once got pulled by the police late at night after an incident at a roundabout . . .
It was about 1am . . . and I sounded my horn at a car that didn't indicate at a roundabout...[it just annoyed me!]
Turns out the car I tooted at was an un-marked cop car...DoH!!!

As for the whole PoliceMan attitude thing..
The worse case I personally ever had was a copper who pulled me over at 2am for driving the x1/9 with the roof off
He assumed it was knicked [?]
So I had to pull the bonnet for him to check the VIN number
Car and docs checked out A OK
SO then he smells alchohol on my breath
I honestly had had a couple of glasses of wine with a meal at a mates at 9pm
So FIVE hours later there was going to be NO WAY I was over the limit
Told all this to PiGGy
He insisted I blow into his machine
It came up AMBER [drink on breath... but not over the limit]
He then proceeded to get really shirty
Saying the machine was at fault
And promptly started to bash his breathalyzer machine on my bonnet
Obviously wanted me to "kick off" so he could nick me [GiT!]
SO I calmly blew into the machine again...with the same result..[HaHa!]
He then started to lecture me saying he knew I was drunk, but his machine was duff, I should leave the car there, I should walk home, another copper up the road could pull me over with a properly working machine and nick me for DUI......
I declined to take his advice
Said I knew I was under the limit and would take the risk and drive home
Got back in the car pulled away and drove away at exactly 30mph while he followed me for a mile before he got BoReD and turned off
Being younger and not so wise I didn't have the presence of mind to make a mental note of his number from his epaulette
Then again I'm sure any complaint would get NoWHeRe as they would always believe the PiG, even though I had Sarah with me as a witness.....

Having said all that the Traffic Cops who pulled me for doing 110mph on the motorway in the X1/9 were nice as pie...and we had a long chat about the motor while they wrote me out the ticket that resulted in a six months driving ban . . . .

Ouch

Thought I'd pic-whore a shot of my steering wheel


It came off an old rusty FiaT X1/9 that I broke up a few years ago
Had to get a momo boss to fit it to the Uno
That was £40! . . but used the £40 that I got for the 4 speed box and driveshafts out of the red5doorMk1Uno that I broke in the summer

ONLY just worked out what car it originally came from . . .
A FIAT 127 SPORT . . . that looks like this



I think it suits the UnoMk2 quite well . . . . .

GoT BoReD


With a RaT....LooK motor its never finished


So just updated the FucT.FiaT's GRiLLaGe

I realise a lot of you will HATE this
and you'll think I am mad for doing it
BUT it is reversible ...... when I get BoReD again
which I not doubt will........

fivers worth of glav garden square mesh from HomeBase
chalkboard paint on the white plastic grille I had already chopped about before



CHoPPeD the bumper out with a jig saw where the numberplate is designed to go
Washers and drywall screws I had in my spares box of bits to hold the galv garden mesh in place



Moved the reg plate....down to the scrapin' ZONE
BaD_BoY headlights simply using black insulation tape



A new more aggressive look in less than an hour...!