Slugster

Got myself another Gen 7 after 2 years in the wilderness..... Pics to follow as soon as remember how to post images Here.

As title says. I may well be coming back again. Having had 18 months or so in the wilderness without my Gen7 and running and maintaining a Mondeo ST220, I've seen the light and I'm hoping to go back to a Gen7 again. Don't get me wrong the Mondeo is a great car, very fast and handles a dream, it's the little niggles that it may go 'tit's up' anytime and cost a small fortune to repair. Also, sub 20mpg is not fun to live with. I'll admit to missing you guys (well, some of you anyway!) and have seen many new names on here and a few non posters who were one regulars. So be warned the Slug may coming back again soon armed with a nice Blue gen7, obtained as a swap with cash my way for the 220.... See you all again soon, if all goes to plan.

I'm 59, ex BT and MOD comms techie, now semi retired and getting pensions from both. Had car nearly 6 years now and still love it. I'm now working as a driver for a large SE motor factors (Not ECP!) and having fun tearing the arse out of my 'cost price - staff discount' on new parts for it whenever possible.

Looking forward to it, only 3 Celicas this year - 2 gen 7's (mine and Lee's) and your Gen 4 amongst all the MR2's .....

I got mine hand delivered by Michael on Sunday eve at the KCC meet, see ya at 'sparrow fart' on Monday mate. Mines a coffee, white no sugar.

Thanks for the recommendation dubs, but I don't do caps, just the bits to stick on them.... I'd have had a text by now if Derren thought I could help him out. :rolleyes:

As Wifey went into hospital today, the celica was my chosen patient transport. I've been to and fro 3 times today at 30 miles each way. The first trip was a gentle drive at 06.00 with the patient on board - the other 150 miles were a bit less gentle taking local 'fun to drive' countryside back roads that I know well. Only one trip planned for tomorrow, so I'm going to take her Cooper S and try that out and use some of her fuel.

Me - delightful woo hoo.... I'll pass that comment on to Wifey and see what she reckons. I wasn't 'delightful' in her eyes today when she got home from work and found I'd done some weeding in the garden and had pulled up most of her newly planted young seedlings thinking they were weeds.... No flowers or eatable things growing on them, how the hell was I to know they were wanted.... women!

I've got 215/40/17's (Goodyear F1 GSD3 directionals) on my 140. Fantastic tyres in the wet and take standing water in their stride and great in the dry, but I find them very bumpy owing to the low sidewalls. In hindsight I should have gone for 45's, as the 40's look a bit lost in the arches. I do find they are very sensitive to pressures tho and even 1 or 2 PSI difference on a corner (I've found 31 psi all round is good) can make it feel 'wrong'.

I have this on my bike, it don't have a rev counter so guessing engine speed is a black art and I usually change gear when double vision sets in . When giving it a few revs using light throttle in neutral the noise is reasonable, but when under load it can be (and is) a different thing altogether, depending on what gear you're in. In fact I have often set off car alarms in residential streets. The bike is UK spec and this is a factory fitted system. Mind you, my Son has a full race spec set-up (marked 'for race use only') on his bike and he's a copper.

Here ya go Mr daytona. These things can be a pain in the arse to to get a decent picture as they reflect light, but this should show what you got.

A debit card receipt for £612 worth of heating oil... I wish we had gas out here.

Down here by the seaside we get Seagulls using cars as a lavvy, they make one hell of a mess and as a bonus it usually stinks of fish, I'd imagine a Heron is the same. I had a bird shit on my bonnet once ...... I never took her out again.

In my opinion, stainless nut and bolts should only be used on toilet cisterns or marine craft. If you are using it as a nut and bolt its ok but only if you use the same grade stainless nut There are so many types of stainless that can be used for fixings that trying to find the right one is almost impossible. Some of them are no better than the stainless used to make knives and forks, it won't corrode but look how easy it is to bend a fork. Another issue with stainless is that with only small amounts of dirt in the threads it can gaul up and be impossible to undo. If the bolt if subjected to heat there is almost no way to get them undone so don't fit stainless exhaust studs and nuts. I don't know why it happens but if you screw stainless into mild steel once they get tight they sometimes weld themselves together and you will sheer it before you undo it again.

Not mine, but e-mailed to me by my Nephew.

Have a look at - http://www.thevinylcorporation.co.uk/ or http://www.starvinyl.co.uk/ for good idea on varying makes types and prices. I use them both. My favourite vinyls are Oracle and Avery, but that is just personal preference.

All my postman bought me today was a debit card receipt for 1000 litres of heating oil at..... £609.50. Oh the joys of rural living, being miles from a gas main. Mind you I love it out here and wouldn't go back to being a 'towny' again for anything. I keep thinking about getting a log burner, but the thought of ripping the exiting open fire out and redecorating to Wifeys spec puts me off. Maybe next year. We do have a plentiful supply of free logs in the local woods, plus I have a chainsaw in the shed so it's a deff maybe on the 'to do' list.

Oh yes I remember that trick well (well not the steam stuff). When I was an apprentice with BR in the 70's, part of the mundane jobs we got given was prepping the loco's for 'special' trains. One in particular comes to mind.... The last ever Golden Arrow on 30th Sept 1972. I gave the loco a real 'Bull' job over 2 days, inc a thorough wash with loco cleaner (mild acid) and full shine up with a special; 50/50 diesel/sump oil mixture to gloss up the usual semi matt BR Blue and yellow, I even went as far as painting the oleo buffer heads silver with a splodge of graphite grease and a lot of the other dirty external bits got hit with bullshit paint as well. She looked pretty. My depot foreman was so pleased with the result he let me have a cab pass for the very last up trip from Dover Marine to London Victoria with a seat up front with the driver. I was only 18 at the time and my car was a 997 Ford Anglia Deluxe. I can be seen on the LH side of the pic, along with shoulder length hair and it's very likely I was wearing flares as well. :rolleyes: The loco is E5013 a class 71 electric locomotive (2700 hp) all bulled and ready for the name board and flags. Pic taken at Folkestone Central on route to Dover. Back on topic.... Nah, dont use parafin or diesel, it makes your hands stink and attracts dust! Stick to real polish.

It was not a 'good feeling' at all . I reckon Jap motorcycle parts are dearer than gold if you work it out by weight. Fireblade valve stem seals are/were about £12 each for a wee bit of rubber with a 6mm hole in the middle and weighed next to nothing.... happy days.

I would have a laugh at your stupidity but..... A few years back I somehow managed to lose a couple of hundred pounds worth of Fireblade top end parts during a workshop clear out and putting the wrong box in the wheely bin (on collection night) by being in a hurry to keep the work bench clear after being called in for dinner....

I'm a cheapskate - I made my own using the original cap.