[OT] Prius bashing
 

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Probly needs a decoke and a shade of ignition advance..that keeps the
valves cooler. Set the gap correctly, and then loosen the distrubutoir and
rotate while idling until it start to slow down, then set it as far
advanced as possible without slowing..a shade of over-rich also helps keep
the valves cool.

Running rich helps the petrochemical smog too.
They all need scraping or at least banning from urban areas along with other
heavy polluters (not CO2) like buses.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"dennis@home" wrote in message
...

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Probly needs a decoke and a shade of ignition advance..that keeps the
valves cooler. Set the gap correctly, and then loosen the distrubutoir
and rotate while idling until it start to slow down, then set it as far
advanced as possible without slowing..a shade of over-rich also helps
keep the valves cool.

Running rich helps the petrochemical smog too.
They all need scraping or at least banning from urban areas along with
other heavy polluters (not CO2) like buses.

Most buses can be hybrids, which is an ideal setup for their usage with
brake regen, etc. In the 1950s the Germans used flywheels in some buses to
clawback kinetic energy. Or buses can be just electric, which some are.

Yep, older engines pollute like crazy. The secret is eliminating the piston
internal combustion engine. It can only ever be dogs ear, no matter what
they do to it.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 08:48:11 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Probly needs a decoke and a shade of ignition advance..that keeps the
valves cooler. Set the gap correctly, and then loosen the distrubutoir and
rotate while idling until it start to slow down, then set it as far
advanced as possible without slowing..a shade of over-rich also helps keep
the valves cool.

Running rich helps the petrochemical smog too.
They all need scraping or at least banning from urban areas along with other
heavy polluters (not CO2) like buses.

I think that buses should be banned, period.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-05 08:48:11 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Probly needs a decoke and a shade of ignition advance..that keeps the
valves cooler. Set the gap correctly, and then loosen the distrubutoir
and
rotate while idling until it start to slow down, then set it as far
advanced as possible without slowing..a shade of over-rich also helps
keep
the valves cool.

Running rich helps the petrochemical smog too.
They all need scraping or at least banning from urban areas along with
other
heavy polluters (not CO2) like buses.

I think that buses should be banned, period.

How about banning roads and working class as well.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 09:30:19 +0100, "Doctor Drivel" said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message ...
On 2007-07-05 08:48:11 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Probly needs a decoke and a shade of ignition advance..that keeps the
valves cooler. Set the gap correctly, and then loosen the distrubutoir and
rotate while idling until it start to slow down, then set it as far
advanced as possible without slowing..a shade of over-rich also helps keep
the valves cool.

Running rich helps the petrochemical smog too.
They all need scraping or at least banning from urban areas along with other
heavy polluters (not CO2) like buses.

I think that buses should be banned, period.

How about banning roads and working class as well.

Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities. There's no such thing as the working class.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
I did ask on the Morris Minor Owners' Club forum (they were equally
scathing about the 'magic catalyst' !) and the general consensus
seemed to be mixture or timing first, with a de-coke next...

Practical Classics did a test on these, using an A Series engine as
they're known as being more sensitive than most to valve problems with
unleaded due to the siamesed exhaust ports on cylinders 2&3 making the
valves run very hot. And started out with a new head therefore no lead
coating from previous leaded fuel. It very soon showed signs of valve seat
regression running purely on unleaded.

Carbonflow is one of the names these devices goes under and IIRC they've
been prosecuted under the advertising laws. But keep on popping up under
'new' ownership, etc.

There are petrol additives designed to replace the lead as a lubricant.
Some better than others. But a converted cylinder head is not that
expensive - and often come up on Ebay, etc. You could do a search on one,
store that search and get Ebay's computer to contact you when one comes up.

To convert the cylinder head means machining the valve seats and pressing
in hardened steel inserts. The valves are also replaced with harder steel
items. Later cars - like the Mini - had this conversion done at the
factory after leaded became the only petrol. I'd guess a cylinder head
from one could be made to fit, but may not be a totally satisfactory
conversion on its own.

If you do intend doing major works a good thing is to fit a 1275 engine
complete from an Ital or Marina.

--
*When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-05 09:30:19 +0100, "Doctor Drivel" said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-05 08:48:11 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Probly needs a decoke and a shade of ignition advance..that keeps the
valves cooler. Set the gap correctly, and then loosen the distrubutoir
and
rotate while idling until it start to slow down, then set it as far
advanced as possible without slowing..a shade of over-rich also helps
keep
the valves cool.

Running rich helps the petrochemical smog too.
They all need scraping or at least banning from urban areas along with
other
heavy polluters (not CO2) like buses.

I think that buses should be banned, period.

How about banning roads and working class as well.

Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

I suppose the working class could build them and get them out of cars.
Disgusting indeed, all these council house dwellers in cars.

There's no such thing as the working class.

Been down the local sink estate? Not many of them go to Eton.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ews.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
Most buses can be hybrids, which is an ideal setup for their usage with
brake regen, etc. In the 1950s the Germans used flywheels in some buses
to clawback kinetic energy. Or buses can be just electric, which some
are.

Yep, older engines pollute like crazy. The secret is eliminating the
piston internal combustion engine. It can only ever be dogs ear, no
matter what they do to it.

That will be why the Prius doesn't have a internal combustion engine?

--
*Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost would
be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that would
appeal to you. ;-)

--
*The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ews.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
There's no such thing as the working class.

Been down the local sink estate? Not many of them go to Eton.

Or work.

--
*Happiness is seeing your mother-in-law on a milk carton

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

There's no such thing as the working class.

There is, but only in the sense of the sector of the population that
work for a living or have worked and now subsists on a pension. Below
them are the shirking classes. On the one hand those who get by largely
on benefits on on the other those who get by on inherited wealth. :-)

--
Roger Chapman

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 10:03:31 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost would
be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that would
appeal to you. ;-)

Well I don't know.

I read somewhere that somebody had done the sums for the Paddington
main line (4 tracks essentially) and worked out that with train
occupancy and spacing between trains because of signalling, it would be
possible to substantially increase throughput of people by tarmacing
the route and having car use.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ews.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
Most buses can be hybrids, which is an ideal setup for their usage with
brake regen, etc. In the 1950s the Germans used flywheels in some buses
to clawback kinetic energy. Or buses can be just electric, which some
are.

Yep, older engines pollute like crazy. The secret is eliminating the
piston internal combustion engine. It can only ever be dogs ear, no
matter what they do to it.

That

Please eff off as you are a worthless idiot troll.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-05 10:03:31 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost would
be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that would
appeal to you. ;-)

Well I don't know.

I read somewhere that somebody had done the sums for the Paddington main
line (4 tracks essentially) and worked out that with train occupancy and
spacing between trains because of signalling, it would be possible to
substantially increase throughput of people by tarmacing the route and
having car use.

Who did that survey? The road transport lobby?

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 10:24:54 +0100, "Doctor Drivel" said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message ...
On 2007-07-05 10:03:31 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost would
be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that would
appeal to you. ;-)

Well I don't know.

I read somewhere that somebody had done the sums for the Paddington
main line (4 tracks essentially) and worked out that with train
occupancy and spacing between trains because of signalling, it would be
possible to substantially increase throughput of people by tarmacing
the route and having car use.

Who did that survey? The road transport lobby?

Nope. One of the train users groups as part of a complaint to Notwork Rail.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 10:16:53 +0100, Roger said:

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

There's no such thing as the working class.

There is, but only in the sense of the sector of the population that
work for a living or have worked and now subsists on a pension. Below
them are the shirking classes. On the one hand those who get by largely
on benefits on on the other those who get by on inherited wealth. :-)

Same thing - just different benefactors

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-07-05 10:03:31 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost
would be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that
would appeal to you. ;-)

Well I don't know.

I read somewhere that somebody had done the sums for the Paddington
main line (4 tracks essentially) and worked out that with train
occupancy and spacing between trains because of signalling, it would be
possible to substantially increase throughput of people by tarmacing
the route and having car use.

And just where do the cars go after Paddington? At least trains tend to go
back from whence they've come pretty promptly.

The problem with cars and cities isn't getting the cars into the city -
but getting them to their destination and parking them.

--
*When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
To convert the cylinder head means machining the valve seats and pressing
in hardened steel inserts. The valves are also replaced with harder steel
items.

http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/unlead01.htm
--
Dave Baker
Resistance is useless (The Daleks)
Resistance is futile (The Borg)
Resistance is volts divided by amps (Georg Ohm)

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
HI Dave

I did ask on the Morris Minor Owners' Club forum (they were equally
scathing about the 'magic catalyst' !)

Yep, it's all horse **** and snake oil of the strongest kind. Tin pellets,
magnets, Brocket fuel catalysts etc etc - all designed to appeal to the hard
of thinking, and all totally worthless.

Go to the ASA website and click on adjudications (IIRC) you'll find what
they have to say about these products.

Julian.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 10:48:53 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-07-05 10:03:31 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost
would be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that
would appeal to you. ;-)

Well I don't know.

I read somewhere that somebody had done the sums for the Paddington
main line (4 tracks essentially) and worked out that with train
occupancy and spacing between trains because of signalling, it would be
possible to substantially increase throughput of people by tarmacing
the route and having car use.

And just where do the cars go after Paddington?

Therein is the challenge

I was just somewhat surprised to read that the trains didn't have a
better throughput of people, not that I'm looking for there to be more
overcrowding. The issue appears to be number of trains per amount of
time able to use the track.


At least trains tend to go
back from whence they've come pretty promptly.

The problem with cars and cities isn't getting the cars into the city -
but getting them to their destination and parking them.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-05 10:16:53 +0100, Roger said:

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

There's no such thing as the working class.

There is, but only in the sense of the sector of the population that
work for a living or have worked and now subsists on a pension. Below
them are the shirking classes. On the one hand those who get by largely
on benefits on on the other those who get by on inherited wealth. :-)

Same thing - just different benefactors

Not quite. The inherited wealth bunch have connections in corridors of
power. That is why the land issue is suppressed.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2007-07-05 10:48:53 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-07-05 10:03:31 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Converting railways into roads would make good sense, especially into
major towns and cities.

Most railways are far too narrow to 'convert' into roads - the cost
would be horrendous. Would make decent cycle tracks, but I doubt that
would appeal to you. ;-)

Well I don't know.

I read somewhere that somebody had done the sums for the Paddington
main line (4 tracks essentially) and worked out that with train
occupancy and spacing between trains because of signalling, it would be
possible to substantially increase throughput of people by tarmacing
the route and having car use.

And just where do the cars go after Paddington?

Therein is the challenge

I was just somewhat surprised to read that the trains didn't have a better
throughput of people, not that I'm looking for there to be more
overcrowding. The issue appears to be number of trains per amount of
time able to use the track.

AFAICR one of the problems on throughput to Paddington is that the service
is primarily 125 trains. These are designed as is, with a fixed number of
units, and carriages can't be added (easily) to increase the size of the
train. Thus, not only is throughput not maximised but people are put in the
iniquitous position of buying a season ticket at great expense from, say,
Didcot or Reading in full prior knowledge (shared by them and the operator)
that they won't actually get a seat on their way to work (ever, more or
less). The lack of investment in new trains and infrastructure (even double
deckers) is hampering the optimal usage of the railway system we have got.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

[OT] Prius bashing
 

HI Dave

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:38:41 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
I did ask on the Morris Minor Owners' Club forum (they were equally
scathing about the 'magic catalyst' !) and the general consensus
seemed to be mixture or timing first, with a de-coke next...

Practical Classics did a test on these, using an A Series engine as
they're known as being more sensitive than most to valve problems with
unleaded due to the siamesed exhaust ports on cylinders 2&3 making the
valves run very hot. And started out with a new head therefore no lead
coating from previous leaded fuel. It very soon showed signs of valve seat
regression running purely on unleaded.

Carbonflow is one of the names these devices goes under and IIRC they've
been prosecuted under the advertising laws. But keep on popping up under
'new' ownership, etc.

This one's called 'System 4' - and seems to be sold by one of the Mini
specialist parts suppliers also...


There are petrol additives designed to replace the lead as a lubricant.
Some better than others.

Any recommendations ? -
Might it be a useful precaution to use something like this ??

But a converted cylinder head is not that
expensive - and often come up on Ebay, etc. You could do a search on one,
store that search and get Ebay's computer to contact you when one comes up.

Yes - that's a possibility.
I do have a good friend who's a bit of a Moggie expert, I'm sure he
could locate and modify a head for me.


To convert the cylinder head means machining the valve seats and pressing
in hardened steel inserts. The valves are also replaced with harder steel
items. Later cars - like the Mini - had this conversion done at the
factory after leaded became the only petrol. I'd guess a cylinder head
from one could be made to fit, but may not be a totally satisfactory
conversion on its own.

If you do intend doing major works a good thing is to fit a 1275 engine
complete from an Ital or Marina.

It becomes one of those 'where do you stop' type of exercises, doesn't
it ?

Uprated engine, discs all round, brake servo, new gearbox......
and so it goes on.
Don't really want to start down that particular slippery slope ! g

Thanks for the comments
Adrian

[OT] Prius bashing
 

HI Julian

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:59:48 GMT, "Julian" wrote:


"Adrian" wrote in message
.. .
HI Dave

I did ask on the Morris Minor Owners' Club forum (they were equally
scathing about the 'magic catalyst' !)

Yep, it's all horse **** and snake oil of the strongest kind. Tin pellets,
magnets, Brocket fuel catalysts etc etc - all designed to appeal to the hard
of thinking, and all totally worthless.

Interesting....
I wonder why the dealer would promote the fitting / use of these
devices - as I say, he's very well known and (presumably) has a good
reputation to preserve.

Ah well !

Thanks
Adrian

[OT] Prius bashing
 

Adrian ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

I did ask on the Morris Minor Owners' Club forum (they were equally
scathing about the 'magic catalyst' !)

Yep, it's all horse **** and snake oil of the strongest kind. Tin
pellets, magnets, Brocket fuel catalysts etc etc - all designed to
appeal to the hard of thinking, and all totally worthless.

Interesting....
I wonder why the dealer would promote the fitting / use of these
devices - as I say, he's very well known and (presumably) has a good
reputation to preserve.

Well, they don't actually *hurt* anything...

.... and they're *very* profitable...

[OT] Prius bashing
 

Adrian wrote:
HI Dave

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:38:41 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
I did ask on the Morris Minor Owners' Club forum (they were equally
scathing about the 'magic catalyst' !) and the general consensus
seemed to be mixture or timing first, with a de-coke next...
Practical Classics did a test on these, using an A Series engine as
they're known as being more sensitive than most to valve problems with
unleaded due to the siamesed exhaust ports on cylinders 2&3 making the
valves run very hot. And started out with a new head therefore no lead
coating from previous leaded fuel. It very soon showed signs of valve seat
regression running purely on unleaded.

Carbonflow is one of the names these devices goes under and IIRC they've
been prosecuted under the advertising laws. But keep on popping up under
'new' ownership, etc.

This one's called 'System 4' - and seems to be sold by one of the Mini
specialist parts suppliers also...

There are petrol additives designed to replace the lead as a lubricant.
Some better than others.

Any recommendations ? -
Might it be a useful precaution to use something like this ??

But a converted cylinder head is not that
expensive - and often come up on Ebay, etc. You could do a search on one,
store that search and get Ebay's computer to contact you when one comes up.

Yes - that's a possibility.
I do have a good friend who's a bit of a Moggie expert, I'm sure he
could locate and modify a head for me.

To convert the cylinder head means machining the valve seats and pressing
in hardened steel inserts. The valves are also replaced with harder steel
items. Later cars - like the Mini - had this conversion done at the
factory after leaded became the only petrol. I'd guess a cylinder head
from one could be made to fit, but may not be a totally satisfactory
conversion on its own.

If you do intend doing major works a good thing is to fit a 1275 engine
complete from an Ital or Marina.

It becomes one of those 'where do you stop' type of exercises, doesn't
it ?

Uprated engine, discs all round, brake servo, new gearbox......
and so it goes on.
Don't really want to start down that particular slippery slope ! g


Oh I dunno. Ive got a 115bhp spitfire in the garage..not much of thee
original 3-4 donor cars is left untouched. My dream was to nick the
engine and transmission from a Nissan 200sx for it..

Thanks for the comments
Adrian

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...


AFAICR one of the problems on throughput to Paddington is that the service
is primarily 125 trains. These are designed as is, with a fixed number of
units, and carriages can't be added (easily) to increase the size of the
train. Thus, not only is throughput not maximised but people are put in
the iniquitous position of buying a season ticket at great expense from,
say, Didcot or Reading in full prior knowledge (shared by them and the
operator) that they won't actually get a seat on their way to work (ever,
more or less). The lack of investment in new trains and infrastructure
(even double deckers) is hampering the optimal usage of the railway system
we have got.

Safety hampers train throughput.
If you accept the same death rate as cars you could double the number of
trains.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Adrian" wrote in message
...

It becomes one of those 'where do you stop' type of exercises, doesn't
it ?

Uprated engine, discs all round, brake servo, new gearbox......
and so it goes on.
Don't really want to start down that particular slippery slope ! g

Quite right! Leave it the way nature intended, they're far too nice to turn
into a rice burner. Do all the above items and you haven't got a Minor
anymore, You would also hurt its value.

Julian.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
Yep, it's all horse **** and snake oil of the strongest kind. Tin
pellets, magnets, Brocket fuel catalysts etc etc - all designed to
appeal to the hard of thinking, and all totally worthless.

Interesting....
I wonder why the dealer would promote the fitting / use of these
devices - as I say, he's very well known and (presumably) has a good
reputation to preserve.

Because the profit is large and it's difficult to prove they don't work.
But given the enormous amount of publicity over the years about these
devices I'd guess he's either an idiot or charlatan. ;-)

--
*He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, dead.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Julian wrote:

"Adrian" wrote in message
...

It becomes one of those 'where do you stop' type of exercises, doesn't
it ?

Uprated engine, discs all round, brake servo, new gearbox......
and so it goes on.
Don't really want to start down that particular slippery slope ! g

Quite right! Leave it the way nature intended, they're far too nice to
turn into a rice burner. Do all the above items and you haven't got a
Minor anymore, You would also hurt its value.

Not so - apart from some very rare versions. Sensible updating - like a
slightly more powerful and efficient engine combined with gearing more
suited to motorway use and decent brakes will increase the value of a
common version. This isn't turning it into some type of hotrod - just the
sort of things that would have been done if the Minor had continued in
production. The later Marina was really still a Minor in many ways and
most of the mechanical bits from that can be fitted easily.

--
*The most wasted day of all is one in which we have not laughed.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Huge wrote:
On 2007-07-05, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ews.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
Most buses can be hybrids, which is an ideal setup for their usage
with brake regen, etc. In the 1950s the Germans used flywheels in
some buses to clawback kinetic energy. Or buses can be just
electric, which some are.

Yep, older engines pollute like crazy. The secret is eliminating the
piston internal combustion engine. It can only ever be dogs ear, no
matter what they do to it.

That will be why the Prius doesn't have a internal combustion engine?

Huh?

Rhetorical question for our Prius lover. Who's probably only ever had a
demo drive - if indeed that.

Of course he claims it hasn't got a CVT gearbox, so probably also claims
the engine isn't an internal combustion one...

--
*Being healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

HI Huge

On 5 Jul 2007 12:07:34 GMT, Huge wrote:

On 2007-07-05, Adrian wrote:

Uprated engine, discs all round, brake servo, new gearbox......
and so it goes on.

Until you end up with these ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUu5eJPEigw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6OBHu02MKU


Don't think so - somehow.... g

BTW, Adrian, check the timing. My Moggie used to creep out of adjustment
all the time and needed it setting about once a month. The static
timing is dead easy to set on a Moggie.

Right - I'll do that.
Still not the right sort of day for outdoor car maintenance -
the rain's stopped but it's blowing a gale now....


(My present [petrol] car doesn't even have a distributor!)

Yes - that's the kind of 'fixed by the dealer only' deal I'm trying to
get away from.

Still smarting from the grief and aggravation caused by the failure of
a £5 fuel sensor on my old Merc A-class. Because the sensor decided to
fail, the ECU shut 'everything' down - at 8;30 am in the outside lane
of the M25 just before the big bridge - en-route for a transatlantic
flight. No 'ah well - we'll just let you limp to the hard shoulder' -
just 'off'. Not good....

There's something to be said for the 'low-tech' approach !

Regards
Adrian

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
(My present [petrol] car doesn't even have a distributor!)

Yes - that's the kind of 'fixed by the dealer only' deal I'm trying to
get away from.

Still smarting from the grief and aggravation caused by the failure of
a £5 fuel sensor on my old Merc A-class. Because the sensor decided to
fail, the ECU shut 'everything' down - at 8;30 am in the outside lane
of the M25 just before the big bridge - en-route for a transatlantic
flight. No 'ah well - we'll just let you limp to the hard shoulder' -
just 'off'. Not good....

There's something to be said for the 'low-tech' approach !

Rose tinted specs, I'm afraid. The chances of a Minor breaking down are
much greater than a modern car. Only thing is it may be easier to fix.
However, most would replace the points with an electronic system - to
prevent the thing going constantly off tune. It's easy to 'convert' back
to points if you feel the need to carry spares.

--
*Learn from your parents' mistakes - use birth control

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
(My present [petrol] car doesn't even have a distributor!)

Yes - that's the kind of 'fixed by the dealer only' deal I'm trying to
get away from.

Still smarting from the grief and aggravation caused by the failure of
a £5 fuel sensor on my old Merc A-class. Because the sensor decided to
fail, the ECU shut 'everything' down - at 8;30 am in the outside lane
of the M25 just before the big bridge - en-route for a transatlantic
flight. No 'ah well - we'll just let you limp to the hard shoulder' -
just 'off'. Not good....

There's something to be said for the 'low-tech' approach !

I think low tech cars are just as capable of doing that, maybe more so. I
had an old A reg 1.1 VW Polo briefly as a stop-gap car a few years ago and
it was fine for a hundred miles or so and then began conking out abruptly on
an ever more frequent basis. Usually at speed and therefore usually on a
dual carriageway or motorway in the least convenient place possible. I
remember one time in the outside lane of the M40 in rush hour traffic
leaving me to dart through the other two lanes at 70 mph onto the hard
shoulder with a stone dead engine. 5 minutes later it would start straight
up as if to say "What, me??" and then it would conk again a few miles later.

I spent weeks working through every bit of the electrics and carbs to no
avail. The one thing I didn't look at was the fuel filter because the
previous guy had just put a new one on it. Turned out the petrol tank had so
much rust in it the new filter was already blocked and that was all the
problem was. Let it sit for a few minutes and the crap fell back to the
bottom of the filter and it would start and then as all the crap got stirred
up again when you were driving it would block it back up. I bought a couple
of cheap plastic filters for a quid apiece, changed them over a few times
and cleaned the used one out each time until all the rust had been caught
and it was actually quite a nice little car from then on. Hardly a fireball
but 50 mpg was a considerable compensation.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

On 2007-07-05 11:30:36 +0100, "Doctor Drivel" said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message ...
On 2007-07-05 10:16:53 +0100, Roger said:

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

There's no such thing as the working class.

There is, but only in the sense of the sector of the population that
work for a living or have worked and now subsists on a pension. Below
them are the shirking classes. On the one hand those who get by largely
on benefits on on the other those who get by on inherited wealth. :-)

Same thing - just different benefactors

Not quite. The inherited wealth bunch have connections in corridors of power.

Great, isn't it....


That is why the land issue is suppressed.

That's because it's a non issue.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Adrian wrote:
(My present [petrol] car doesn't even have a distributor!)

Yes - that's the kind of 'fixed by the dealer only' deal I'm trying to
get away from.

Still smarting from the grief and aggravation caused by the failure of
a £5 fuel sensor on my old Merc A-class. Because the sensor decided to
fail, the ECU shut 'everything' down - at 8;30 am in the outside lane
of the M25 just before the big bridge - en-route for a transatlantic
flight. No 'ah well - we'll just let you limp to the hard shoulder' -
just 'off'. Not good....

There's something to be said for the 'low-tech' approach !

Rose tinted specs, I'm afraid. The chances of a Minor breaking down are
much greater than a modern car. Only thing is it may be easier to fix.
However, most would replace the points with an electronic system - to
prevent the thing going constantly off tune. It's easy to 'convert' back
to points if you feel the need to carry spares.


The thing is you simply carried a screwdriver and a set of feeler gauges
with you in the glove box..and a spare set of points usually. Less than
3 minutes at the roadside usually.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

Huge wrote:

and TVRs aren't renowned for reliability.

Well they are.... just not in a good way! ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

[OT] Prius bashing
 

HI Dave

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:47:18 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
(My present [petrol] car doesn't even have a distributor!)

Yes - that's the kind of 'fixed by the dealer only' deal I'm trying to
get away from.

Still smarting from the grief and aggravation caused by the failure of
a £5 fuel sensor on my old Merc A-class. Because the sensor decided to
fail, the ECU shut 'everything' down - at 8;30 am in the outside lane
of the M25 just before the big bridge - en-route for a transatlantic
flight. No 'ah well - we'll just let you limp to the hard shoulder' -
just 'off'. Not good....

There's something to be said for the 'low-tech' approach !

Rose tinted specs, I'm afraid. The chances of a Minor breaking down are
much greater than a modern car. Only thing is it may be easier to fix.

That's the key, as far as I'm concerned.
Don't like having techonology around that I can't understand / fix.
The Merc (and the RAV4) both fall into that category.

I'm hoping that the Minor is sufficiently like my old Spridget that I
can find my way round the basic servicing - and my expert friend up
near Killarney has promised to help with all the other stuff...

However, most would replace the points with an electronic system - to
prevent the thing going constantly off tune. It's easy to 'convert' back
to points if you feel the need to carry spares.

Yes - I was thinking about that.
Did the conversion to electronic on an old Lada (don't laugh - when
you get a redundancy payment of £600 and they take the company car
away there aren't too many options open !) - and it made a great
difference to the starting / running. Didn't stop the body from
rotting - - but I guess that's asking too much g

'Twould certainly save the readjustment of the timing on such a
regular basis...

Opinion seems divided on the Owners Club forum - seems to think that
cold starting isn't that big an issue with the Moggie - and I guess
that you just include a timing check with the other routine 'oiling
and greasing' tasks...

Regards
Adrian

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Rose tinted specs, I'm afraid. The chances of a Minor breaking down
are much greater than a modern car. Only thing is it may be easier to
fix. However, most would replace the points with an electronic system
- to prevent the thing going constantly off tune. It's easy to
'convert' back to points if you feel the need to carry spares.


The thing is you simply carried a screwdriver and a set of feeler gauges
with you in the glove box..and a spare set of points usually. Less than
3 minutes at the roadside usually.

On my P6 3500 which was the last car I had with points, it was a once a
week job setting the dwell angle if you wanted to keep it at peak
performance. Fitted a Luminition kit and gave myself some more time for
the Sunday papers...

--
*Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[OT] Prius bashing
 

In article ,
Huge wrote:
Yep, older engines pollute like crazy. The secret is eliminating
the piston internal combustion engine. It can only ever be dogs
ear, no matter what they do to it.

That will be why the Prius doesn't have a internal combustion
engine?

Huh?

Rhetorical question for our Prius lover.

Phew. I thought one of us was going bonkers.

That might be a difficult choice.

--
*For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.