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kevin the chicken

RHOCaR Member
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Everything posted by kevin the chicken

  1. I need to paint my shed floor and was wondering if some sort of tiles were an option perhaps just in the area that I work in not the whole thing as it is 7 x 10 metres. Its not the painting thats putting me off, just moving all the stuff out. I can get floor paint fairly cheap as there is a community paint recycling centre nearby which sells part tins off cheap and all I have to do is get the same sort and colour and mix the tins. But somehow the thought of shifting a six ton aircraft tug, two cars, a landrover and trailer etc makes me think the tile option may better if the price is right
  2. Flames licking around your backside would probably refresh your memory!
  3. Sounds like a good price. I had a good look around and it certainly looks as if they are your best option. I think I will probably use 15 inch if I can find a suitable combination. The rims on it at the moment are too narrow for that width of tyre so I am really being forced to change. I've been looking at every car I've walked past to see if its wearing some suitable alloys. I think I'll take a tape measure with me next week to see what combination will work.
  4. Tuesday at the earliest then! How much did they set you back? I have decided to replace my rims to get a better choice. My friend who works for a company that tunes and repairs Toyotas reckons they are a good tyre
  5. Powder does make a hell of a mess. Fit a cut off switch to kill all the circuits, its no good trying to put out an electrical fire if the powers still on. Tried putting out a fire in a big chip shop fryer once, used four co2 extinguishers without any luck before resorting to powder which did work. So much for trying not to make a mess. Fish was off that night.
  6. Thats what my friend said. He asked if the tyres looked like they were ballooned , I had a proper look at them and they do stick out a bit but they dont look terrible. Another reason for changing the rims though.
  7. Mine came with 13 inch 6j with 195/60/14 with an offset of 32, ancient compomotive alloys. That is about all that will fit width ways. I am currently looking for an alternative size wheel as there seems to be very little available quality tyre wise in this size. What is available seems to be quite pricey too so I am hoping that a more popular size will give me a better price and choice. I am hoping to win the lottery too! I havent checked to see if less of an offset will allow a larger tyre on the rear, the cycle wings on the front certainly wont accomodate any more width.
  8. My series 7 is stable at motorway speeds although I have the cycle wings. However I have always felt the front end to be to hard, although the rear seems fine. I don't know what springs are fitted. I would be interested in the tie bar conversion if it improves things too, maybe a mod for when the weather improves.
  9. Checked my car tyres to make sure that I had the right size before ordering and found that I had obviously been thinking of the wrong car. They are in fact 195/60/14 which means that the selection available is terrible. 888's are not available in this size, which is what I was leaning towards on the recommendation of a friend who runs a sprint car. The rear arches would probably accomodate a slightly wider tyre which would be ok but the current tyres fill the front cycle wings so I am at a loss as to what to do. I definitely wanted to fit a dry weather biased tyre but now it looks as if I may have to go for some sort of compromise tyre. Anybody got any suggestions?
  10. 888's not recommended for cold weather use. The list gets smaller and smaller. Wear rate isn't really an issue for me as I don't do that many miles but I do want to be able to go out on those sunny, crisp clear winter days.
  11. I'm in the market for a full set of tyres so was interested in this thread. I looked at a review for the A021R on the demon tweeks website and they say that they were primarily designed to perform best in the wet which is not what I want. I want something that sticks like the proverbial used food to a blanket in the dry but with a passable performance in the wet so that I get home safely if the weather turns while I am out. I too need them in 13 inch which rules out the pilot sport 3. Anybody got any other ideas?
  12. I run a merc too, nice to know there are other discerning owners out there. Mind you it is a unimog but it still does 15mpg! I suppose that's not bad for 5.7 litres although it lacks a little on the performance front
  13. Sounds like a rolling road session might be a good idea. I was doubtful about the accuracy of my speedo so I downloaded a gps speedo on to my smart phone (a bit hi-tech for me!) It was free and it worked ok. If you dont have a smart phone then take someone who has one for a drive, that might be easier to check anyway. The Dellortos are a low tech solution to making the car go quickly without all the injectors and ecu's etc but the simplicity has its price in fuel used. Me, I love low tech, blow the fuel consumption. kevin
  14. Now that I have taken my rose tinted specs off (V8 grand cherokee) I remembered that I had gone to cornwall and back from cambridgeshire in one day (650 odd miles) in my wifes daily driver with a heavy flatbed trailer to pick up a sylva leader kit car with no issues at all. It is a Honda CRV diesel, does about 40mpg in normal use and has a massive boot. With a lighter weight trailer it would be just the job. I told her I was just nipping to Tesco's.
  15. Go for an automatic if available it takes a lot of the hassle out of towing. Most diesel turbo engines apart from really new ones suffer from turbo lag, much less noticeable with an auto. Or go for a jeep grand Cherokee v8 as we did for a couple of years until it became unreliable. It had an lpg conversion and would return an equivalent of about 30mpg pricewise.nicest car we ever had
  16. Hi, personally I would go for a thicker single gasket as that leaves less joins for leaks! I have used a cork/rubber composite that comes in a large roll and is easy to cut with a craft knife of scissors, its available in varying thicknesses. As for a sealant just don't use silicone as that dissolves in to a sticky mess and ends up causing masses of problems gumming things up. Somebody on here will be able to suggest the best thing to use. Kevin
  17. The cream eggs were on sale in our local garage well before xmas, I nearly bought the wife one as a present but decided that would only help to perpetuate stupid early marketing of seasonal goods. At work (Royal mail) we had spring/summer clothing catalogues well before xmas and we usually get Studio cards xmas catalogue in june or july. It makes no difference to me when we have to deal with them but it is completely ridiculous that it all comes so early. Anyway I must finish writing these christmas cards
  18. Oi! I ask the daft questions around here. Seriously though you are in the right place to get your questions answered, there's a wealth of knowledge on this forum, it will save you a shed load of time and money. Welcome Kevin
  19. Food for thought. Two of mine are almost worn out but the rears looked ok. As the car was last taxed in 2008 before I bought it I will be purchasing a set of four with my xmas bonus without even bothering to look at the dates on them. I am surprised at how little grip they give, especially under acceleration maybe they have gone hard.
  20. Somebody from one of the kit car parts supply companies told me that although exhaust paste is ok he uses silicone sealant. When I said no way he said yes, ordinary bathroom sealant. He said the best stuff to use is RTV if its available. Haven't dared try it though. Thinking about it though my wife has some silicone cake and bun trays.
  21. Been out in one with 600 odd miles on it tonight, waiting for a collection with my feet and hands nowhere near the pedals or the wheel and it just decided to start up on its own. Disaster waiting to happen. The yard at our nearest collection depot is full of them, I can just imagine them all charging around at night on their own playing dodgems
  22. If you havent changed anything recently and the engine is ok and not boiling up or losing fluid, I would start with the stat. Easy to get at and to check. Just put it in a pyrex jug and fill up with boiling water to see if it opens fully. They do go wrong as I have had two or three fail over the years. If theres any doubt replace as they are cheap enough. Kevin
  23. My employer Royal Mail in their wisdom leased or bought a lot (talking hundreds or thousands here) of Fiat Doblo vans. Every week the engine management warning light comes on because the particulate filter has blocked in ours. You then have to go through a set procedure of pedal pressing and key turning to get the engine to rev to about 2000rpm for about 12 minutes at the side of the road with the bonnet up to clear the filter. If you dont do this promptly then another warning light comes on and it has to go back to the workshops for them to put a laptop on. I presume this all happens because the vans are not suitable for stop start motoring. Like we do all the time! I had a puncture and couldnt release the spare wheel carrier because it had rusted solid, not good for a 13 plate van. And dont get me started on the eco stop start system, not available half the time meaning you have to turn the key back to off and then on again even though the damn thing had decided to stop itself. Mind you it makes up for it by starting itself when you are not even in it sometimes. The RAC chap who came to fix it once said that if Fiat can make something for a pound then they only although 99p for it! Here endeth my review
  24. I would agree with all that has been said so far except that I did buy the first car I saw, it was cheap so that helped and I have had great fun (and some hair pulling times) putting it back together. I have learned a lot, much of it through advice given on this forum and met some great people too. It's true that its not a Caterham or a Westfield but does offer reasonable performance with 150 plus horsepower in a car that weighs approx 3/4 ton, it would certainly have beaten my Civic type R to 60mph and that was no slouch. Just look for something that you can cope with if its not road ready. Anything that you think will be done in a week will probably take you a month if you are like me. There are a lot of unfinished projects out there, you dont want your purchase to end up on ebay as one of these. Welcome and good luck with your search, keep us posted. Regards Kevin
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