What have you been doing today?

[Mottie]

Just when I thought I’d retired……I get a call from a mate, the clutch has gone on his transit. I don’t do clutches anymore but as he plastered my kitchen and wouldn’t take anything for doing it, I can’t say no to him, I wouldn’t anyway. He's currently waiting for the AA to pick him up from Harlow and bring him to my workshop so that could be any time from now to six in the morning knowing them. When he's on his way, I’ve got to go up to London and open up the workshop to get it in. Could be a late night.

 

[Mottie]

FFS. Should have taken me 25 minutes going into London this time of night. Left home at 6.30, got there just after 8.00. Traffic was terrible but that wasn’t the worse of it. He flattened the battery somehow so it was a non runner and trying to push a fully loaded builders van up a slope and into my workshop with no power steering took us best part of an hour! Ended up collaring three locals to give us a hand. Because of the layout, a long wheelbase van can’t get in in one go. No problem when they are running. We got it in, locked up and I dropped him home. Got in at a quarter past ten. He said no rush so we are taking the box out tomorrow and hopefully putting it all back in on Monday and oh, while it’s there, he says we might as well service it. Cheeky bugger.

 

[fillyboy]

FFS. Should have taken me 25 minutes going into London this time of night. Left home at 6.30, got there just after 8.00. Traffic was terrible but that wasn’t the worse of it. He flattened the battery somehow so it was a non runner and trying to push a fully loaded builders van up a slope and into my workshop with no power steering took us best part of an hour! Ended up collaring three locals to give us a hand. Because of the layout, a long wheelbase van can’t get in in one go. No problem when they are running. We got it in, locked up and I dropped him home. Got in at a quarter past ten. He said no rush so we are taking the box out tomorrow and hopefully putting it all back in on Monday and oh, while it’s there, he says we might as well service it. Cheeky bugger.

Well done.

 

[Mottie]

trying to push a fully loaded builders van up a slope and into my workshop with no power steering took us best part of an hour!

At the time, all I could think about was that scene in 'Ice cold in Alex'!

 

[Mottie]

Well done.

Thanks. At the time, all I could think about was that scene in 'Ice cold in Alex' and I didn’t want it to end the same way!

 

[securespark]

@Harry Bloomfield

Isn't there some ridiculous law that you can't use red for pennies etc any more?

 

[Brigadier]

@Harry Bloomfield

Isn't there some ridiculous law that you can't use red for pennies etc any more?

Wrong intended recipient, @securespark ?

 

[securespark]

Been over to my local aero club, to buy my first few litres of Jet A1, for the diesel heater I installed in my outdoor workshop. I had it running great on white diesel, but white is expensive. I was unable to find any red locally, kero/ heating oil at 60p per litre would have been OK, but the few suppliers I could find, where they had a pump, wanted more than the cost of white diesel per litre, plus the many miles to collect it.

Aero clubs Jet A1, is 94p per litre, so I collected 20L this morning, saving me 41.9p per litre on the cost of white. I had to fill a form in, at the flight desk, and dodge a few whirling props, on route to the bowser, but all good. Since then, I've had it running on test on the jet fuel, and it's indistinguishable from the white and perfectly legal to use for the purpose.

This was the post I was referring to. Why is it wrong?

 

[Brigadier]

On my computer, it was showing as "@Harry", not as "@HarryBloomfield"

(Strangely though, and after I had hit Reply", it appeared as HarryBloomfield within your quote)

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

@Harry Bloomfield

Isn't there some ridiculous law that you can't use red for pennies etc any more?

Reform of red diesel and other rebated fuels entitlement

www.gov.uk

It's legal to use red for heating of private premises, such as my workshop, but not for a commercial workshop or premises.

It reads as if it is OK to use to propel private canal boats, and their heating, but what I've heard, is that they are having to declare how much red they are using for heating, and how much for propulsion.

I used to have a separate tank in my car, for red diesel, just plumbed to the diesel heater, which I removed some years ago. Even that use, would seem to be illegal now.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

At the time, all I could think about was that scene in 'Ice cold in Alex'!

I have a similar slope, around 1 in 7, to get up my drive at home. Impossible to tow the caravan in and up, due to the narrow road in front of my drive. Before powered movers became a thing, what I did was - drilled a hole in my drive, a socket. Into the socket I dropped a short scaff pole, Flat plate welded on top, and mounted on top of the pole I had a cheap, hand cranked winch.

I still have the hole, well two actually in different positions, to give options on the pulling angle, covered by plastic caps. I also still have the winch on a pole. Kept as backup, just in case the mover fails. Then at least I can pull the caravan up of the road manually.

If I ever had the car broken down, at the end of my drive, it would work equally well to pull that up my drive.

I heard a whisper that you have a suitable scaff pole

 

[fillyboy]

I heard a whisper that you have a suitable scaff pole

 

[Mottie]

Been hoiking a gearbox out of my mates Transit today. Feck me, it was heavy! Going to be fun putting that back in!

 

[fillyboy]

Been hoiking a gearbox out of my mates Transit today. Feck me, it was heavy! Going to be fun putting that back in!

And from memories of many decades ago, one day they'd slip on 1st attempt, next it could be 2 hours, spline alignment an all that, the snap on aligning tool was quite good.
More recently, maybe 12 years ago, a customer (and by then, friend) had a TR4 which developed a gearbox fault, not many gearbox places in this neck of the woods and the few that were, he didn't feel comfortable leaving his car with them. So I said no worries mate, while I'm doing that shower room out the back, I'll whip the gearbox out, you can give me a hand, and you can take it to the gearbox people and we'll refit it after.
I'd done loads of Spitfire and Herald clutches, didn't realise the TR was a larger and heavier unit, plus it had an overdrive unit to add to the weight.
Found a couple of sheared bolts in the flywheel so had them drilled out and fitted a new clutch.
I couldn't do it now, you must be a tough cookie.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I couldn't do it now, you must be a tough cookie.

Can't be that difficult, with hoist, and a hydraulic transmission jack. I used to do them, with just the front end jacked up, laid on my back, on the road. Aligning the plate, either by eye, or with a socket. I certainly couldn't do it now, besides the job being so much more complex on a FWD.