Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Mine had 136,000 on the clock when I got it, done roughly 40k since then, but the last couple of years have been ~3,600/year.

Can you spot when I stopped having to drive to meetings?

^^ nice one. I've only done 45,000 in 13 years!

That's crazy money. I know someone with a 'few' of these in his garage, I'm sure he'll be pleased!

Does he have a perm?

Mate of mine had an S2. Drove it up and down an industrial estate once. Amazing car. Sadly he encountered someone driving on the wrong side of the road. She'd just come back from a week in France and forgot what country she was in. Fractured spine in both neck and lower back, broken pelvis, ruptured spleen. Was in Stanmore spinal injuries unit for months.

When I'm next on a computer and not an Apple device I'll post a before and after pic. Of the car, not him.

I've been out in the Panzerwagen this weekend, 300 miles or more up to Staffordshire and back. So nice to get it out of the city and up a motorway, drive it like it should be driven. It's the first real drive I've had since I had the service and suspension work done and giving it some serious beans for hundreds of miles has done it the power of good. I love the effortless way it just swallows miles. It's just so smooth, fast and comfortable, fuel consumption continues to improve (got 22 mpg from the last half a tank) and the engine is now so refined that I stopped at a traffic light in Archway and I thought I had stalled it cos the engine was literally silent at idle from inside the car! Not bad for a 208,000 mile motor.
Best £800 ever!

Shheeeeiiiitttt

I cast off the shackles of cycle ownership this weekend and went for a drive all day Sunday. Roof down from 09:00 until I got home at 20:00. I drove to Glastonbury on the M3/A303 to pick up a new carbon fibre seat, then just drove aimlessly around Somerset, Wiltshire, and then a bit of Berkshire before returning home on the M4/A406.

It was lovely. The A361 and subsequently the A4 were a hoot and populated by a surprisingly low volume of Sunday traffic, and the A4 is really wide which makes overtaking a doddle when necessary.

Cream Tea in Marlborough was basically the feather on the hat, or the jam on the cream on the scone if you prefer.

It's days like yesterday that make me re-evaluate my desire for more power, it's just about right for A and B roads, it's no lazy V8, but the safe power the 'charger is making it means you don't have to wring it's neck to make progress. I'm also glad I've got the adjustable dampers set to 2/8, it's all well and good having it nice and tight on track but it was so comfortable out on the roads yesterday, yes there's some slack when you're making quick changes of direction but it's easy to allow for it, it's not like it's a boat on that setting.

All in all a good day and you should all be jealous.

Perfect driving day yesterday.

Would have got stuck for hours. :o$

Biek a better option in Surrey divenyena!

Jelly

I cast off the shackles of cycle ownership this weekend and went for a drive all day Sunday. Roof down from 09:00 until I got home at 20:00. I drove to Glastonbury on the M3/A303 to pick up a new carbon fibre seat, then just drove aimlessly around Somerset, Wiltshire, and then a bit of Berkshire before returning home on the M4/A406.

It was lovely. The A361 and subsequently the A4 were a hoot and populated by a surprisingly low volume of Sunday traffic, and the A4 is really wide which makes overtaking a doddle when necessary.

Cream Tea in Marlborough was basically the feather on the hat, or the jam on the cream on the scone if you prefer.

It's days like yesterday that make me re-evaluate my desire for more power, it's just about right for A and B roads, it's no lazy V8, but the safe power the 'charger is making it means you don't have to wring it's neck to make progress. I'm also glad I've got the adjustable dampers set to 2/8, it's all well and good having it nice and tight on track but it was so comfortable out on the roads yesterday, yes there's some slack when you're making quick changes of direction but it's easy to allow for it, it's not like it's a boat on that setting.

All in all a good day and you should all be jealous.

I had a top down blast out to Brands on Saturday, after sorting the new harnesses at Dammit's. I have a little 'circuit' around the BH complex which is great fun and is about an hour all in. You come down in your little girls car* for a Sunday blast.

In other news: Silverstone GP circuit on Monday - woot!

• :)
  

Ooh that sounds good. I should be free next Sunday if you fancy it?

next sunday might be tight.

Im up for a B road blast on a sunday

Yep, the exhaust is covered in a ceramic coating. Part of an effort to keep the temperatures down in the engine bay, I think

As for the windscreen, like Hefty said it's partially aero so that the car is faster, particularly on very light cars with not that much power, but it's also a matter of personal preference. I prefer having an aeroscreen rather than a windscreen. And Cycliste and I certainly don't always wear a helmet. When we're touring, we generally just wear a cap (tied onto a piece of string tied to the roll cage) and sunglasses. Like this:

Never had any problems with insects or stones - OK, they sting a bit sometimes but nothing serious - and rain is fine, but hail is bloody painful. And it can get a bit mucky sometimes:

The car I'd been following for most of the day was running stinky rich, hence the grime. All good fun though.

Does the coating drop the temp of the silencer as I cut up an eminox stack cover to stop me burning my legs on getting out.

Also general road detritus hitting my face really annoys me, have scratched a cornea once and don't fancy ever doing that again. At what speeds does the aero screen actually get the wind going over?

I need to get a die set, does anyone have an affordable one that they can recommend?

At a guess metric?

Are you cleaning threads, repairing them or making them?

For cleaning metric threads up http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cht203-16-pce-tap-die-set cheap and decent quality. Buy other dies and taps as needed. If you are cleaning rusty threads use cutting fluid or oil and use the correct technique.

Metric, yes, but for cutting new threads in brass rod.

Not sure how much they are but the Draper one I have has lasted quite a few years, has a good selection of sizes.

Very early days but I think I've convinced myself that I need a van/camper IF (a big if) I can get insurance for under £1000. Comparison sites aren't making this look possible but I'm sure I could get significantly better prices if I call a few places up.

So far I've got my heart set on a Mitsubishi Delica, I'm reading the Owners Club forums and trying to learn a bit about them but thought I'd ask here if anyone has other recommendations for similar Mad Max style campers/vans.

Hopefully this pipe dream becomes reality before summer

a mate at school had a replica of the mad max panny. I rocked up the big stuff with another friend's sister in the back of it.

Very early days but I think I've convinced myself that I need a van/camper IF (a big if) I can get insurance for under £1000. Comparison sites aren't making this look possible but I'm sure I could get significantly better prices if I call a few places up.

So far I've got my heart set on a Mitsubishi Delica, I'm reading the Owners Club forums and trying to learn a bit about them but thought I'd ask here if anyone has other recommendations for similar Mad Max style campers/vans.

Hopefully this pipe dream becomes reality before summer

I love them! they look ace with bullbars on them and big chunky tyres.

We were going to do the same thing, but got sidetracked into a fuel economy debate (they can be pretty thirsty) and then inherited a (horrible) car instead.

I'd also look at toyota town-aces, Hi-aces and nissan Urvans.

Highly recommend camper vans - I've used mine loads. Just need to get a bike platform for the back and it'll be perfect.

Right rear blowout in the fast lane of the motorway a couple of weeks back not withstanding....

Metric, yes, but for cutting new threads in brass rod.

Then the kit I mentioned isn't right for the job. You need a split die, like the ones here http://www.axminster.co.uk/28-piece-metric-tap-die-set that way you can start with a larger thread, so remove less material till you get the right size thread and easier to get the thread square to the rod.

Here is a handy vid Cutting an External Thread using Die & Die Stock - YouTube
he states that the split die is to help the a worn die, if that were so the thread would be the wrong depth.

So far I've got my heart set on a Mitsubishi Delica, I'm reading the Owners Club forums and trying to learn a bit about them but thought I'd ask here if anyone has other recommendations for similar Mad Max style campers/vans.

I do like a Delica. A friend living in Spain where the local tracks are brutal had a couple of them but eventually went back to running disposable cars as the fuel costs were just getting too much. The 2.8td engine is nice. Manual boxes are very hard to find. They handle very oddly on twisties in 2WD for some reason.

Like Neil I'd look at Nissan/Toyota van types too... or an older Hi-Lux with a box on the back would look ace.

Or there's the Bongo route... but not very Mad Max.

A bit of a jump OT from the delica convo, but there was some chat on here a few weeks back about halfords socket sets. I just spotted that they are back on half price again if anyone's still looking? At least in my local store anyway

Metric, yes, but for cutting new threads in brass rod.

I've got the bog standard Clarke ones from Machine Mart. They're easily up to cutting threads in brass. They struggle with stainless, but even then they manage.