Swan Jnr

graham you're a genius. connected up an earth wire and the guage started moving alright! only thing is it shot straight up to 140 degrees. which i'm guessing still isnt correct. i think the sender may not be right. as i'm an electronic idiot (and in most other fields come to think of it!) this says to me that there is too much current now going through the correctly earthed cable and i need some way of reducing this. i had thought about a variable resistor which i think i might be able to use to match the current to the dial/actual temperature? does this make sense or is it all mad? off to look at maplins website

the guage is made by these guys. http://www.caigauge.com/Caerbont_Automotive_Instruments.htm but i'm not sure about the sensor. wil try speaking to caernbont tomorrowand see what they think.

hello, i've got a set of electric programmable dials. i managed to sort the rev counter out by adjusting the settings on the back of the dial, so that works ok. the temperature guage is another matter. when you turn the key the temp guage rises a little but never really gets above 40 degree even when the engine is really hot so its clearly not right but i dlonmt know what to do about it. is it most likely to be a fault sender or unit? or simply something else i dont know about? Paul

After several long running sagas, VOSA not wanting to SVA it ever, DVLA being unable to process it post SVA, two SVA fails, an engine that was running then rebuilt then refused to run, and a gearbox with shot bearings which meant engine and box came back out again the vindicator is now finally at home. Went over to the factory last night to pick it up, and pretty much doubled its mileage in an hour and a half. even at the last moment it nearly had another sting in its tail. we got it out of the garage and went to fire it up and it wouldnt start. in fact it wouldnt even think about starting. all the guys were in a panic, and couldnt understand it. its always fired first time ever since the rebuild. in the end we discovered that its only just had the air filters put on, and that this meant that the mixture was too rich. 5 minutes with the screwdriver, the filters were back on and it was happy again. no problems with it on the way back. pottered back home at about 65 soaking up the late sunshine and nice clear roads at 7 pm. i didnt even do too badly for petrol. with a tiny tank and no guage i'll have to sort that at some point though. a bit windier than either the series 2 or the 2b, due to the fact that the windscreen sides are more angled. but felt really solid, and easy to drive. happy boy. just a pain to be at work really. its still pretty tatty, as it would be having sat unloved in a garage for 10 years, and periodically being hacked about, but by the time i got home i had a grin so big i wouldnt fit through the front door. with bad stuff going on all over the world and general doom and gloom it makes me realise that you just have to take your chances to have a bit of fun whenever and wherever you can.

i know this one says it increases mpg moderate;y as well as performance but is there an aftermarket add on that sacrifices a bit of performance just for economy? i'm not really fussed about going quick in the tin top, but if i could get some serious mpg gains that would be quite welcome at present!

naaah i like the folk at trent.

Interestingly thats Martin Poliakoff, brother of the playwright Steven. thats a pretty smart family then!

it still makes me smile to know that i get to work at a place that doesnt some really amazing stuff. i agree with the earlier comment, if chemistry was taught like this more kids would do it. the chemistry dept have run a lecture called thunder and lightning for the past 70 years which aims to do just that. lots of explosions etc, including someone firing a musket! Peter Licence the guy who looks a bit like dom jolly runs it now. (its in its third acadmic) http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/shared/shared_...ay08_p12_14.pdf

Just got an email to tell me about a series of videos that the University of Nottingham have put together about the periodic table. yeh i know it doesnt sound that exciting but its actually really very good. heres a quote from the email: brilliant performances in the Periodic Table of Videos have taken the web by storm, made it to the front page of today's Telegraph.co.uk (below) ...and the site is now being blogged and recommended worldwide by Richard Dawkins, Nobel Laureate Sir Harry Kroto, and other prominent scientists. It has topped the YouTube science and education chart and was yesterday's 'staff video of the day' at Google headquarters in California. Periodic Videos site thought it might pass a few minutes!

hello Peter, there are a couple of Park and rides, but if you are coming through west bridgford the best bet is probably to park up there and get the bus from there straight into town. because 5 or so bus routes drive through it the most you'll have to wait for a bus into town is about 3 minutes. is it for graduation? if so the car parks in the city may be very busy. There is a euro car park very close to the RC http://www.city-visitor.com/nottingham/carparks.html but as i say that may be a bit hectic. if you get stuck you can always park in our car park as a visitor and i'll give you a lift in! we're only five mins away (i work at the Uni anyway:-)) also if your heading up from the south you'll be hitting the a453 straight off the m1 which can be very slow into the city at that time. keep one ear out for problems when you get within radio distance of the exit. if it sounds bad, stay on until junction 25 and get off the m1 there, and take the a52 to nottingham. it only adds about 5 minutes to the normal journey and will save time if the a453 is playing up. give us a shout if you need a lift/parking. paul paul

thats what is so maddening. how they can be government department and run according to their own rules baffles me. that and the fact that the lovely admin staff seemed to have no adequate filing system (they repeatedly lost all my documents, only to mysteriously find them when pushed) and no adequate knowledge of their own systems and processes. (asking me for documents that their own system requires them to have taken off me at a previous stage) ah well.... all i need to do now i tell them i've ditched the pinto and put a V8 in it! bring it on!

Finally after more than 8 weeks since the built up inspection, and four applications to the DVLA they have finally found all my paperwork, brushed up on their own procedures and have thankfully sent me a task disk and a registration number. Took the car out for 5 minutes yesterday (still a few bits to sort; no seats, windscreen, brakes etc) and the power of the V8 really did put a massive smile on my face. Got to about three thousand revs before I got scared! Cant wait till its back in my garage and I can play with it properly. Paul

it might be worth considering that the new IVA (replacement for sva) wont offer an exemption for vehicles not having a reverse gear. have a look over on locost builders http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread...ribmessage=none might be a problem if it takes a whilw to build the kit.

congratulations!

brilliant. buy your own tear gas, knuckle dusters, grenades...... my favourite though is the stun gun that looks like a mobile phone. i want me one of them!

i'm sure swan snr had to grind a pair of circlip pliers as salty suggests. a nightmare of a job. getting it back in was even harder and in the end we put together a slightly over engineered heath robinson fix rather than re fit the circlip.

there was a comparison in last months practical classics, of everything from a 15 pound job to a 300 quid one. it may be worth getting. newsagents may still have a copy as i havent seen the new one yet, if not i can copy it for you, providing i can find it. paul

my in laws had a similarly unimpressive encounter with the AA. came down to visit us in Nottingham from york and on the way back broke down about 10 miles from home. called the AA at about half 11 at night told them that they were stuck in the middle of no where and were cold, and it took them until 4am the next morning to finally get towed home. it would have been quicker for them to ring us and for us to go an rescue them from nottingham rubbish service.

congratualtions. glad you made it in spite of the dvla!

sounds like a good idea. count me in, and i'm sure swan snr will do as wel. do you think the kids might like to see a few cars too?

might it be an idea to involve the factory at this point? they might see this as a new add on product here most of the development has alredy been done ?

i agree nigel, its all your fault. congrats on the sva dave, hopefully see the car at newark?

its not a kit, its a nice 2003 focus. been let down by a couple of people who said they'd buy it and now we just want rid. hassle free. i;m with you on thr ebay ads though!

Does anyone have any experience of selling a car through a company like webuyanycar.com ? tried them out and got a valuation that ws pretty much what i had the car listed for. does anyone know what to look out for with this kind of thing? the place they've asked me to take it for a viewig is carcraft in sheffield so i guess they are a partner or part of them. just wondered if anyone knew anything about these sorts of people Paul

what i love so much about this lovely system is that VOSA and DVLA have no idea what each other does despite being in a related field. Our SVA man had never heard of the BUI and assumed cars went straight on the road after he'd passed them. my initial application for a V5 for the sprint (which had then passed sva and BUI) was rejected on 6 points. i drove over to discuss this with them, and they had crossed out 5 of them within about 10 seconds with a "oh dont worry about that" or after i'd explained that no the car didnt need and MOT as it was a kit car, and no it didnt need info on its import as yes you guessed its, a kit car. the best of all was because it took them 15 days to read the letter, the insurance cover note (two weeks) had expired so they added ("doesnt have insurance cover") to the list. Once this car is on the road i'm going to stalk my MP to do something about this. it makes my blood boil that they can get away with being so inconsistant and clueless. as another example a member on here posted that they'd passed the sva in birmingham walked across the road to the dvla and got their licence plates on the way home. thats exactly the way it should be, but when i go to the same office, they tell me i cant do it, and that it will take at least 2 weeks to process, despite the fact it was their cluelessness that caused the rejection in the first place. ahh the joy of dealing with a huge incompetant faceless government body