0bvious things you’ve only just realised (2019 edition)

[St_Eddie]

If only his mum made her presence known when she brought him that lovely big cup of tea.

Ahem...

Is that an actual cup of tea left on the bedside table?

[hummingofevil]

are those fleshlights, daddy?

The tragedy of a chronic condition that gives you a gigantic penis, a permanently open mouth and no ability to engage the two; no wonder he invented that pulley system pronto.

[hedgehog90]

Ahem...

I didn't see that.

Now I have 2 things in common with the wank corpse...

[hedgehog90]

...Because I'm also a massive fan of Das Boot.

[studpuppet]

Ours is a Renault 4

You have to remember the times in which certain cars were built - the Renault 4 and the 2CV were first and foremost utility vehicles for rural folk. As such they had to be quite robust and be able to burn any petrol readily to hand when needed, so they quite happily run on the equivalent of two star. Even my dad's 70s Volvo could run on it (I'm guessing because four star may have been difficult to source in rural Sweden as well). It's only your finicky hi-spec engined cars that really need the lead.

[NoSleep]

I remember when I was younger seeing on Newsround or something how they were introducing a different siren with crunches that sound like distorted static because it was apparently easier for drivers to be able to tell where the ambulance was if they couldn't see it. They then did introduce this siren. But I don't hear it any more.

Conspiracy?

Hey, gabrielconroy: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,61970.msg3795753.html#msg3795753

[Ferris]

Pikachu sounds the same as peekaboo

[Paul Calf]

Wrong thread

[paruses]

touchingcloth: where and when did you get your Renault 4? I have been looking at buying one but not quite plucked up the courage. Always wanted one as a youngster (had very low ambitions).

[Replies From View]

Pikachu sounds the same as peekaboo

Pikabu sounds the same as peekaboo, surely?

[buzby]

I had a 2CV and a Triumph 2000, and I used to empty a bottle of fuel additive (Redex?) into the tank one refill in every four.

Redex Lead Replacement additive (ordinary Redex is just an octane booster).The Tetraethyllead in petrol was as previously stated in there as an anti-knocking agent to allow higher compression ratios to be used for greater efficiency, and to act as a lubricant - it prevented the erosion of the valve guides and valve seats in the cylinder head (the lead prevented the surfaces micro-welding together under the heat of combustion).

To make an old engine compatible with unleaded you have to get the cylinder head machined and fitted with hardened valve guides and seats (the area where the head of the valve seals against the combustion chamber:

The iginition timing also needs to be advanced by a few degrees to cope with the lower octane value normal unleaded fuels compared to Four Star.

Ours is a Renault 4 (not for hipsterish reasons, but because we've moved to Portugal where the costs for both used cars and registering foreign ones are high, so certain old cars make economic sense), but the Internet seems divided on whether lead is actually needed. I might just fill up with a third each of 95, 98 and diesel, and maybe bung a Warhammer figurine in the tank in case the lead would help things at all.

On that note, what's the 98 petrol all about? I'm told it's supposed to increase mileage, but I've filled up with it in the past when the other ones have run dry and haven't noticed a lick of difference.

The old petrol raings were
One Star: = 89 Octane
Two Star  = 92 Octane
Three Star = 95 Octane
Four Star = 98 Octane
Five Star = 101 Octane (this is the equivalent of Avgas used in planes and was only used by very high performance or racing engines)

Most engines could run on any of the octane ratings, but the timing would need to be modified when changing from one to the other to prevent pinking or knocking (caused by pre-ignition, when combustion chamber temperature gets too hot and is beginning to damage the cylinder head and pistons). Later on when electronic injection and ignition systems came along in the late 80s they began to include a Knock Sensor on the cylinder head that allowed the ECU to 'listen' for knocking and adjust the iginition timing accordingly. This meant they could automatically adjust to different octane ratings of fuel.

Only Two and four Star were commonly found on forecourts. When the changeover to unle9aded happened, we got normal unleaded (95 Octane, the same as the old Three Star) and Super Unleaded (98 Octane, same as the old Four Star). Prior to the changeover most cars were  designed to run on Four Star, but when the engines were modified to run on unleaded the manufacturers standardised on normal Unleaded ,with the associated drop in performance. Using Super Unleaded only really makes a difference to high performance cars these days - it's not about better MPG, it's about producing more power due to the higher octane level.

Regarding the issue of whether or not your old Renault needs to be modified for unleaded, they were built to run on any fuel they could get hold of, but every fuel back then had tetraethyllead in it. To run on moderm fuels they should really either have additive added or have the heads rebuilt with hardened valve guides and seats. It's only really on long periods of high speed running (e.g. motorways) where the damage to the head and valves will happen.

[seepage]

Renault 4 used for park & ride at Cern had tillers instead of steering wheels - can you still get those?

[Sebastian Cobb]

My old Astra (first car) had a little plug type thing under the bonnet you could flip over to tell the ECU you'd put posh petrol in it and to adjust the injection accordingly.

I never did it though because it was about 10 years old and 1400cc so I doubt it would've made it any sprightlier.

[buzby]

My old Astra (first car) had a little plug type thing under the bonnet you could flip over to tell the ECU you'd put posh petrol in it and to adjust the injection accordingly.

I never did it though because it was about 10 years old and 1400cc so I doubt it would've made it any sprightlier.

Yes, Ford did that too. It was usually found on the cheaper, lower spec models that didn't get the all-singing-all dancing engine management systems (usually the ones with Single Point Fuel injection, i.e. one injector inside something that looked like a carb). It was cheaper to put a jumper plug in than fitting a knock sensor and the circuitry and software to monitor it.

[paruses]

Renault 4 used for park & ride at Cern had tillers instead of steering wheels - can you still get those?

Did it have suicide doors? I remember them as having suicide doors but all the pics I can find have ordinary ones*

*my understanding of suicide doors is the ones that open with the hinge on a plane with your shoulder rather than ankles.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yes, Ford did that too. It was usually found on the cheaper, lower spec models that didn't get the all-singing-all dancing engine management systems (usually the ones with Single Point Fuel injection, i.e. one injector inside something that looked like a carb). It was cheaper to put a jumper plug in than fitting a knock sensor and the circuitry and software to monitor it.

Mine was multipoint I think, it was the LS with electric windows and central locking. Almost posh when it rolled out the factory in 1994.

I paid £500 for it, the insurance was almost triple that.

[seepage]

Did it have suicide doors? I remember them as having suicide doors but all the pics I can find have ordinary ones*

*my understanding of suicide doors is the ones that open with the hinge on a plane with your shoulder rather than ankles.

Can't remember but as they were for driving only relatively short distances, they might have left the doors off altogether.

[touchingcloth]

touchingcloth: where and when did you get your Renault 4? I have been looking at buying one but not quite plucked up the courage. Always wanted one as a youngster (had very low ambitions).

Are you based in Portugal, too? We got it a week ago from a local private seller. We were all primed to go to a used car business (or "stand", as they call them here) because taxes make car prices very high and we didn't want to risk the kinds of issues the internet is replete with stories about - people registering their car as scrap before selling it on rather than junking it, or selling them on with fines attached (fines are assigned to vehicles rather than owners, so without checking you could be buying a car that has recently picked up speeding or parking tickets and need to clear them before you can tax and insure the thing).

Anyway, a few days back we went to meet a friend in a local cafe and cooed over a Renault 4 that was parked outside and said that we wanted one. She told us that a friend of hers was selling one, which turned out to be a good price and in good condition so we fucking bought it.

I think after Buzby's post we'll just run it on 95 petrol, as the only things we need it for locally are stop-start drives round relatively slow roads - perhaps hitting 60 for periods but not extended ones. We can shove some lead in it if we take it on the motorway anywhere.

[buzby]

I think after Buzby's post we'll just run it on 95 petrol, as the only things we need it for locally are stop-start drives round relatively slow roads - perhaps hitting 60 for periods but not extended ones. We can shove some lead in it if we take it on the motorway anywhere.

Note that the octane value of the petrol you run it on makes no difference to potential valve/head damage. It's the lack of tetraethyllead in unleaded that's the problem. You should be able to buy Redex or similar Lead Replacement additive over in Portugal though.

[shiftwork2]

If you tap on the little arrow to the right of 'simplemachines forum' you can hide your avatar and whatnot making work perusal of the forum that bit less indiscreet.

[touchingcloth]

Note that the octane value of the petrol you run it on makes no difference to potential valve/head damage. It's the lack of tetraethyllead in unleaded that's the problem. You should be able to buy Redex or similar Lead Replacement additive over in Portugal though.

Aye, but the lack of lead only becomes a problem with motorway type driving? Or will going down lanes and short A roads often enough cause issues?

[JesusAndYourBush]

If you tap on the little arrow to the right of 'simplemachines forum' you can hide your avatar and whatnot making work perusal of the forum that bit less indiscreet.

At the top right of the page?  I don't see any arrow.
EDIT: Ah, one of my browser addons was blocking it.  It only gets rid of my own avatar not everyone elses, which would be useful.

[georgetaylor]

At the top right of the page?  I don't see any arrow.
EDIT: Ah, one of my browser addons was blocking it.  It only gets rid of my own avatar not everyone elses, which would be useful.

Jesus you can definitely get rid of all the avatars, I haven't seen one for years, no idea what I did to turn them off though, something in profile settings.

[chocky909]

Modify Profile>Look And Layout>Don't Show Users' Avatars

[machotrouts]

A forum without avatars is terrifying. Just one giant amorphous mass gabbing to itself. It's like the ending of 'Society'

[Replies From View]

A forum without avatars is terrifying. Just one giant amorphous mass gabbing to itself. It's like the ending of 'Society'

But that is a wonderful ending?

[petril]

But that is a wonderful ending?

not after you've been a kid in the corner shop-cum-video club with the poster for it next to the Wall Of Crisps and been traumatised

[touchingcloth]

YOHR MUM

[buzby]

Aye, but the lack of lead only becomes a problem with motorway type driving? Or will going down lanes and short A roads often enough cause issues?

It will damage it whatever type of driving you do, but driving on motorways 'accelerates' the process (DYSWIDT?)

[touchingcloth]

IDSWYDTTYVMB

Having sat through a game of futebol earlier, it strikes me that extra time is a dark art which should be sacked off in favour of just stopping the clock when the play stops. Someone announced that there would be 4 mins of extra time, but the whistle didn't go until 95:37 or something. STOP THE GAME AT NINETY MJNUTES EXACTLY THANKS