Rob Morley wrote:

I once had a car in which it was not possible to turn the heater off
- we got by just fine with the windows open when needed, it never
seemed such a big issue that I had to bite the bullet and sort it out
(it was one of those jobs that you just knew you'd regret starting
before it was finished).

Memories of my first car, a VW Beetle, come flooding back.

I picked this up at trade. It had been imported from South
Africa, and was a bit behind the European model changes. IIRC
the greasing interval was 1500 miles. It was OK as a first car,
but not after driving anything else. Motorway trips in a cross
wind were very interesting, as the steering, even with new king
pins, was incredibly soggy.

M62 eastbound was fun. If I didn't get a good run at it I had to
change down before the summit.

A fun job was changing the spark plugs - on the 1500 engine
you needed a plug spanner that would take the tommy bar at 45
degrees.

Then there was the heater designed so that, if it was going to
stick, it would do so fully on. As it was a waterless system, the
air could get pretty hot, and a passenger once had a pair of
shoes ruined. It was just some flaps and a lever, but once it had
seized you had to get underneath to free it off.

It had an interesting screenwash system. The water reservoir was
connected to, and pressurised by, the spare wheel. You simply
pushed the control and water squirted.

Only when it eventually stopped working did it become clear that
there was a pressure limiter to make sure that you didn't run the
tyre flat.

My only success was once getting an exhaust fitted free - almost
all the free fit exhaust firms wouldn't touch it without an extra
charge. They took all day and had to change a stud.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.