I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Michael

On Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:55:19 -0700, michaeld121 wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits.

You just reminded me of them driving the Minis into the bus in the Italian
Job :-)

To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying to
find an accurate €˜tactile way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house.

If it's just for the one car, maybe buying one of those after-market
electronic parking sensors that fit to the car might be an idea? (might be
overkill, actually, because it sounds like you just need one sensor in the
middle of the bumper, rather than several front/rear)

cheers

Jules

wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Michael

Piece of string hanging from a hook on the wall - with a weight. Can be
fine enough to be barely visible to anyone who doesn't know it is there.
Slight nudge with car is obvious.

Or a plant - and see when a stalk moves.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

Strip of rubber sheet or carpet attached to wall and park by touch?

Rod wrote:
wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to
inch up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm
trying to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without
attaching something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never
quite seems to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd
thought of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle
onto the drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not
attractive, but not really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping
some bright spark's got a better way.

Michael

Piece of string hanging from a hook on the wall - with a weight. Can
be fine enough to be barely visible to anyone who doesn't know it is
there. Slight nudge with car is obvious.

Many years ago I used to visit the Ford plant at Dagenham. Can't recall
exactly why, but when the finished cars were driven off the end of the line
some of them had to stop for a few seconds in a certain place, then move on.

The engineers considered photo cells, limit switches etc. One of the
fitters solved the problem by hanging a tennis ball on a piece of string
above the spot. When the ball touched the windscreen the driver stopped.
Total cost about 20p!


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Rod wrote:
wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to
inch up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm
trying to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without
attaching something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never
quite seems to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd
thought of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle
onto the drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not
attractive, but not really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping
some bright spark's got a better way.

Michael
Piece of string hanging from a hook on the wall - with a weight. Can
be fine enough to be barely visible to anyone who doesn't know it is
there. Slight nudge with car is obvious.

Many years ago I used to visit the Ford plant at Dagenham. Can't recall
exactly why, but when the finished cars were driven off the end of the line
some of them had to stop for a few seconds in a certain place, then move on.

The engineers considered photo cells, limit switches etc. One of the
fitters solved the problem by hanging a tennis ball on a piece of string
above the spot. When the ball touched the windscreen the driver stopped.
Total cost about 20p!


Been there done that in a short garage. Not quite so suitable for a
driveway. Currently have a garden cane in narrow flowerbed between end
of drive and house.

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:21:58 +0100, Invisible Man wrote:

The engineers considered photo cells, limit switches etc. One of the
fitters solved the problem by hanging a tennis ball on a piece of string
above the spot. When the ball touched the windscreen the driver stopped.
Total cost about 20p!

Been there done that in a short garage. Not quite so suitable for a
driveway. Currently have a garden cane in narrow flowerbed between end
of drive and house.

Tennis ball would be blown about by the wind, so combine 2 suggestions:
hang the house brick...
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.

I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Michael

I'll park it for you.
--
Reg.

On Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:55:19 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I'd thought of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle
onto the drive for the front wheels to butt up to

A dip at the right place will do just as well. If it starts with a shallow
slope a foot or so short of the final position and has steeper back face
the car will just find it's place for you. The steep back face is to stop
the car rolling forward out and into the wall (hopefully...).

Or park lining up the nearside mirror with something a few feet away. That
can be surprisingly accurate.

--
Cheers
Dave.

wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house.

My grandad used to use a block of wood on the ground, with a pole
sticking up with a tennis ball on the end. When the tennis ball moved,
he stopped inching forward.

Pete

wrote in message
...

I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Michael

How about parking it where you want it, then kicking a housebrick in front
of a front wheel?
Next time, just inch up to the housebrick.

brass monkey wrote:
wrote in message
...

I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Michael

How about parking it where you want it, then kicking a housebrick in
front of a front wheel?
Next time, just inch up to the housebrick.

I would also suggest the house brick method is a good one and one I have
used myself for years.

HTH

Jonah formulated on Sunday :
I would also suggest the house brick method is a good one and one I have used
myself for years.

HTH

except loose objects tend to move or even be moved and could be a trip
hazard in the dark.

When parking in a really tight spot, so tight that I have to get out to
check space, I set myself a marker on the ground by the side of the
open drivers door - anything works, pen pebble, discarded cigarette
packet just as a reference point.

The same trick could be used to solve your problem...

Park in the correct spot, open your door, look down and find a point on
the door sill and make a temporary mark on the ground to line up with
it. Now make the temporary mark on the ground a more permanent one -
drill and fix a screw, chisel a mark, or mark it with an angle grinder.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Park in the correct spot, open your door, look down and find a point on
the door sill and make a temporary mark on the ground to line up with it.
Now make the temporary mark on the ground a more permanent one - drill and
fix a screw, chisel a mark, or mark it with an angle grinder.

I am disappointed that this thread attracted so many replies before an angle
grinder was suggested.

rrh wrote:
Park in the correct spot, open your door, look down and find
a point on the door sill and make a temporary mark on the
ground to line up with it. Now make the temporary mark on the
ground a more permanent one - drill and fix a screw, chisel a
mark, or mark it with an angle grinder.
I am disappointed that this thread attracted so many replies
before an angle grinder was suggested.

My thoughts also. And Saniflo's weren't even mentioned.

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
k...
Jonah formulated on Sunday :
I would also suggest the house brick method is a good one and one I have
used myself for years.

HTH

except loose objects tend to move or even be moved and could be a trip
hazard in the dark.

When parking in a really tight spot, so tight that I have to get out to
check space, I set myself a marker on the ground by the side of the open
drivers door - anything works, pen pebble, discarded cigarette packet just
as a reference point.

The same trick could be used to solve your problem...

Park in the correct spot, open your door, look down and find a point on
the door sill and make a temporary mark on the ground to line up with it.
Now make the temporary mark on the ground a more permanent one - drill and
fix a screw, chisel a mark, or mark it with an angle grinder.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Don't forget that you'll need a cranium bracket to minimise parallax errors.

i'll get me coat.

On Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:24:34 +0100, brass monkey wrote:
Don't forget that you'll need a cranium bracket to minimise parallax errors.

Simply glue a drawing pin upside-down to the end of your nose and use it
for aiming.

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:39:38 +0100, "Jonah" wrote:

brass monkey wrote:
wrote in message
...

I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate €˜tactile way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (€¦ not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Michael

How about parking it where you want it, then kicking a housebrick in
front of a front wheel?
Next time, just inch up to the housebrick.

I would also suggest the house brick method is a good one and one I have
used myself for years.


Got a 8ft of 2x4 on the hard standing. Just before the 18ins drop into
the yard

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:39:38 +0100, "Jonah" wrote:

brass monkey wrote:
wrote in message
...

I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate 'tactile' way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).



How about parking it where you want it, then kicking a housebrick in
front of a front wheel?
Next time, just inch up to the housebrick.

I would also suggest the house brick method is a good one and one I have
used myself for years.



Somebody somewhere must have found the flaw in that method when first
bringing home a shiny new car. And on waiting for the reassurance of
the parking block found the new car was longer than the old as it
rebounded off the wall.

G.Harman

Please confirm that you're extracting the urine ?

Thanks for all of the replies. There are several main ones:

1. Tennis ball / bit of string: I remember seeing that one in an old
‘How’ annual when I was a kid. Thing is - it's a drive, not a garage,
so there's nothing to attach a tennis ball to. The string would
(IIUC) would cause problems for anyone going into the house.

2. Using a visual marker. I've tried that, but small variations in
the way you approach the drive or how you're sitting in the seat mean
that it doesn't really work reliably.

3. Electronic sensor: I’d need it to be accurate to within an inch or
2. My understanding is that they’re not normally quite that
accurate. It’s also expensive.

4. The housebrick is one I'd thought of. 2 points - i) It would
move, unless attached ii) I might not always hit the brick (there’s
enough width on the drive to miss it).

I'm thinking that a variant of 4 is probably the best idea - namely a
thinish tree stake stuck (glued &/or screwed) to the drive.

Michael

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
wrote:

I'm thinking that a variant of 4 is probably the best idea - namely a
thinish tree stake stuck (glued &/or screwed) to the drive.


That's more or less what I do in my garage. My car needs to be positioned
fairly accurately so that the sectional door will close behind it while
still giving enough space to open the personnel door at the front end.

Rather than a wooden stake I have a length of 1" square steel tubing screwed
to the floor. It's not as long as the width of the car, but it's long enough
to ensure that it catches the front NS wheel if the car is a bit to the
right or left of its usual position (it's a double width garage).

As soon as I feel the tyre starting to climb up onto the tubing I stop -
bingo!
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 07:13:05 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:


Thanks for all of the replies. There are several main ones:

4. The housebrick is one I'd thought of. 2 points - i) It would
move, unless attached ii) I might not always hit the brick (there’s
enough width on the drive to miss it).


I use half an old paving slab. It's not that noticeable when the cars
not there and it's nice and wide so you can't miss it.
Also it doesn't seem to move when the car bumps it.

wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 07:13:05 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Thanks for all of the replies. There are several main ones:

4. The housebrick is one I'd thought of. 2 points - i) It would
move, unless attached ii) I might not always hit the brick (there’s
enough width on the drive to miss it).


I use half an old paving slab. It's not that noticeable when the cars
not there and it's nice and wide so you can't miss it.
Also it doesn't seem to move when the car bumps it.

Sounds like a camouflaged trip hazard waiting for an accident to happen.
Fine as long as the area is not accessible to any visitors etc.

wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Try reversing the car in and let your reversing sensors let you know how
far back you have gone.

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Try reversing the car in and let your reversing sensors let you know how
far back you have gone.

Dave

Develop spatial awareness and learn how big you car is - it may help in
other places - like when you are parking near to me.

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:16:43 +0100, John wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate ‘tactile’ way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (… not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Try reversing the car in and let your reversing sensors let you know how
far back you have gone.

Dave

Develop spatial awareness and learn how big you car is - it may help in
other places - like when you are parking near to me.

I once visited friends and they happened to be outside working on a car
when I arrived. I pulled up facing a wall and inched forward, so that the
back of the car wouldn't block the alleyway. I inched up a couple of times,
got out and was greeted by one friend saying to the other "Next time really
f**k him up, sellotape a piece of paper to the wall!" I just wish I could
do that every time!

SteveW

In message , John
writes

"Dave" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I've got a short drive & my new car just fits. To save having to inch
up to the front wall of the house without bumping the car I'm trying
to find an accurate €˜tactile way of marking it, without attaching
something to the front of the house. (A visual mark never quite seems
to work quickly).

The drive is made of drab crazy paving (to be replaced)). I'd thought
of something like trying to screw / stick a broom handle onto the
drive for the front wheels to butt up to (€¦ not attractive, but not
really visible when the cars there. I'm hoping some bright spark's
got a better way.

Try reversing the car in and let your reversing sensors let you know how
far back you have gone.

Dave

Develop spatial awareness and learn how big you car is - it may help in
other places - like when you are parking near to me.


Or in any situation behind the wheel

I avoided posting that answer



--
geoff