Main Menu

Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 09:00:20 AM

Login with username, password and session length

CaB Drivers

Started by Fambo Number Mive, January 13, 2021, 02:36:26 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Sebastian Cobb

Heh, I know a bloke who was in their 40's when they passed after their 5th attempt. Then went straight into a massive piece of shit DAF van. I'm not sure if it was him or the van but it barely went in a straight line, probably both, given the dashboard nearly shook itself apart as he tried to climb a steep hill at about 20 miles an hour in 4th.

The fuel gauge was fucked, and rather than keeping the tank brimmed he worked on the principle of 'the man said it does 40 miles on a tenner of fuel' so ran out of fuel a good few times.

One night he was driving home from his parents quite late at night and the police seeing a slow van wobbling over the duel carriageway assumed he was pissed so tried to pull him over. He figured the lights weren't for him as he wasn't speeding and carried on until they threw a stinger out in front of him at the end of the dual carriageway. The police were really unhappy with him but calmed down after the breathalyser, he got charged with dangerous driving but the judge must've took minor pity on him as they gave him 5 points rather than 6 which would've pushed him over the 6 point limit on a new licence's probationary period.

Thomas

*Sebastian Cobb quickly checks he's replaced all the first-person pronouns before clicking post*

markburgle

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 14, 2021, 12:17:15 PM
Heh, I know a bloke who was in their 40's when they passed after their 5th attempt. Then went straight into a massive piece of shit DAF van. I'm not sure if it was him or the van but it barely went in a straight line, probably both, given the dashboard nearly shook itself apart as he tried to climb a steep hill at about 20 miles an hour in 4th.

The fuel gauge was fucked, and rather than keeping the tank brimmed he worked on the principle of 'the man said it does 40 miles on a tenner of fuel' so ran out of fuel a good few times.

One night he was driving home from his parents quite late at night and the police seeing a slow van wobbling over the duel carriageway assumed he was pissed so tried to pull him over. He figured the lights weren't for him as he wasn't speeding and carried on until they threw a stinger out in front of him at the end of the dual carriageway. The police were really unhappy with him but calmed down after the breathalyser, he got charged with dangerous driving but the judge must've took minor pity on him as they gave him 5 points rather than 6 which would've pushed him over the 6 point limit on a new licence's probationary period.

My van is absolute shite on hills. Going down to 35 mph on a motorway really makes you hope other drivers have their wits about them.

Apparently I can get an extra 17hp if I fit an intercooler, but it's hard to find the parts and clear instructions for the procedure as its 22 years old

Quote from: Dex Sawash on January 14, 2021, 12:40:59 AM
More or less in order, didn't bother trying to list hulks I only kept a few weeks, the kid's cars or wife's cars.


1978 Jeep CJ5 (304ci) silver
1955 Chevrolet short bed pickup (327ci) blue
1972 Ford F100 (360ci v8) blue
1972 Chevrolet Vega (2.3l i4) silver
1973 Chevrolet Vega (350ci v8) orange
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass (350ci) bronze
1976 Honda Civic (1200cc) blue
1976 Volvo 242 (2.1l) beige
1980 Volvo 242 (2.1l) blue
1981 Volvo 242 TURBO (2.1l) RED
1983 JEEP Grand Wagoneer white with wood
1980 Volvo 244 GL (2.4l diesel) blue
1968 Volvo 123 wagon (2l) blue
19xx VW tube frame sand rail (1836cc)
1973 Ford F100 (390ci) orange
1967 Dodge D100 (260ci) red
1985 Volvo 740 turbodiesel silver
1985 Peugeot 505 GL (2.2l) white
1987 Peugeot 505 Liberté (2.2l) red
1991 Peugeot 505 SW8 Turbo RED!
1983 Saab 900t red
1987 Saab 900s green
1987 Saab 9000s red
1990 Jeep Cherokee XJ blue
1989 Saab 9000T red
1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager silver
1999 Saab 9-5 white
1999 Saab 9-5 red
1999 Ford Expedition blue
2006 Volvo XC90 red
















1978 Jeep CJ5 (304ci) silver
1955 Chevrolet short bed pickup (327ci) blue
1972 Ford F100 (360ci v8) blue
1972 Chevrolet Vega (2.3l i4) silver
1973 Chevrolet Vega (350ci v8) orange
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass (350ci) bronze
1976 Honda Civic (1200cc) blue
1976 Volvo 242 (2.1l) beige
1980 Volvo 242 (2.1l) blue
1981 Volvo 242 TURBO (2.1l) RED
1983 JEEP Grand Wagoneer white with wood
1980 Volvo 244 GL (2.4l diesel) blue
1968 Volvo 123 wagon (2l) blue
19xx VW tube frame sand rail (1836cc)
1973 Ford F100 (390ci) orange
1967 Dodge D100 (260ci) red
1985 Volvo 740 turbodiesel silver
1985 Peugeot 505 GL (2.2l) white
1987 Peugeot 505 Liberté (2.2l) red
1991 Peugeot 505 SW8 Turbo RED!
1983 Saab 900t red
1987 Saab 900s green
1987 Saab 9000s red
1990 Jeep Cherokee XJ blue
1989 Saab 9000T red
1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager silver
1999 Saab 9-5 white
1999 Saab 9-5 red
1999 Ford Expedition blue
2006 Volvo XC90 red

I heard you the first time.

Blumf

Quote from: buzby on January 13, 2021, 10:26:49 PM
Not really. I occasionally post about things I've found that might be useful to others on the Ginetta Owner's Club forum. My garage is barely big enough to fit the tiny G15 and me in it, never mind taking photos.

Booo!

Quote
It's basically a full race 998cc Imp engine that was fitted in it's previous life as a a track car. It's got a big valve cylinder head (modified by Andy Chesman, one of the gurus of Imp tuning), a race-spec cam, twin Weber 40mm DCOE carbs, a large-bore 4-into-1 exhaust, Lumenition electronic ignition and a close-ratio gearbox.

Unfortunately like most old race cars it's been bodged a lot in the past. As well as a full mechanical refresh iIm rewiring it to modern standards (the factory wiring loom has 3 fuses and the only relay is for the indicators) I'm also assembling the parts to convert it to EFI using Suzuki GSXR throttle bodies and probably a speeduino ECU, which shoudl hopefully make the lumpy race engine a bit easier to drive on the road.

Is it really that straight forward to add in injection? Not much machining?

I presume the power will go up too, I'm guess it was somewhere north of 65bhp to start with, so you'd be looking at 140bhp/ton+ when done. Which will be nice.

studpuppet

Quote from: buzby on January 14, 2021, 01:27:03 AM
They looked OK, but part of the process for shipping them off was to permanently render them unusable, primarily by cutting out the VIN plate and chassis number so it could never be re-registered. Parts could be sold off by the scrap dealers they eventually went to, but the shell itself had to be crushed.

I was on a tour of the Hamburg Port area a couple of years back, and the captain/tour guide of the boat (admittedly a gnarly old 'Spirit of 1968' hippie) pointed out a whole quayside full of used Mercedes Sprinter vans. He told us that Germany was diligently removing diesels from the road by offloading all of their vans to African nations, where their pollution could be another country's problem...

Marner and Me

Quote from: studpuppet on January 14, 2021, 02:02:14 PM
I was on a tour of the Hamburg Port area a couple of years back, and the captain/tour guide of the boat (admittedly a gnarly old 'Spirit of 1968' hippie) pointed out a whole quayside full of used Mercedes Sprinter vans. He told us that Germany was diligently removing diesels from the road by offloading all of their vans to African nations, where their pollution could be another country's problem...
Probably true tbf.

buzby

Quote from: Blumf on January 14, 2021, 01:49:22 PM
Booo!
Sorry!
Quote
Is it really that straight forward to add in injection? Not much machining?

I presume the power will go up too, I'm guess it was somewhere north of 65bhp to start with, so you'd be looking at 140bhp/ton+ when done. Which will be nice.
The 2001-2003 Suzuki GSXR600 ran 4 individual 38mm Mikuni throttle bodies, which can be respaced to fit on the twin DCOE manifold fairly easily. You usually need adaptor stubs making up to attach them to the Weber bolt pattern on the inlet flange, but I found some Mikuni rubber mounting flanges that are ideal for the job (intended to mount Mikuni carbs onto Harley Davidsons - I had to import them from the US though). Apart from that, you need a Lambda sensor boss welding into the exhaust manifold, a trigger wheel on the crankshaft pulley (which probably will need some machining) a high pressure fuel pump (I'm going to use the GSXR one as it doesn't need a return line, but it's going to need some TIG welding on the fuel tank) and if you want to go to sequential injection a modified distributor to provide the cam position sensor.

I got a dyno printout from the previous owner of the last time it was set up that shows it was developing 73bhp at 7000rpm and still climbing, but the owner bottled out of going further.

Quote from: studpuppet on January 14, 2021, 02:02:14 PM
I was on a tour of the Hamburg Port area a couple of years back, and the captain/tour guide of the boat (admittedly a gnarly old 'Spirit of 1968' hippie) pointed out a whole quayside full of used Mercedes Sprinter vans. He told us that Germany was diligently removing diesels from the road by offloading all of their vans to African nations, where their pollution could be another country's problem...
The UK and Ireland did the same thing 10-15 years ago with Japanese secondhand cars that had become to costly to keep on the road due to their taxation structure. The US is the current target, as a lot of classic Japanese cars have now reached 25 years old which makes them eligible to personal import into the US without having to pass emissions tests. Some of the most popular imports are the 'Kei' mini trucks like the Suzuki Carry and Daihatsu Hijet, particualrly the 4WD versions.

JaDanketies

We're driving my dead dad's Mini Cooper at the moment, which is a cool car. 18 years old now and it's starting to require repairs too frequently. Since Jan 1st, we've been walking our son to nursery and back again, and the only use we've had for the car is taking him to his grandma's since we both work at home and got shopping delivered cos of COVID. So it's pretty fucking expensive per-day considering that we never even drive it, now I think about it. But with a kid you feel like you need a car. It'd be nice if his mum and I didn't work full-time and had the opportunity to wait for buses and spend hours travelling.

Before the Mini Cooper, I rode a foot-powered scooter to work and used public transport.

Before that, I had a diesel Toyota Aygo that I gave to my uncle. Lovely little motor, that. Not cool at all though. My dad used to warn me that it was a 'toy car' and that it can't cope with more than 70mph on the motorway. Insurance and road tax was cheap as fuck compared to the Mini.

We're going to get another car though. Something with five doors. It's a ballache with a kid and a three-door hatchback. Gf's workplace does some new car buyback thing and she keeps pushing for it, she says we can get a hybrid or some eco-friendly car. But I know that the carbon footprint of manufacturing a car is a huge chunk of its lifetime emissions, and also know that buying a new car is the shittiest fucking financial decision anyone could make, even if your workplace is encouraging you to buy one.

Shit Good Nose

#99
Been driving since I was 16 and passed my test first time at 17.

I'm no petrolhead and have never had an interest in cars in that respect, and never been a speed freak (my manager keeps going on about the top speed of his Skoda Octavia and how quick it is from 0-60, to which I always say "yeah, great that we've got all those autobahns with no speed limits here in the UK"), so I've always had sensible and economical cars, much to the amusement of some of my friends who were into Mazdas, Ford Sierra Cosworths and the obligatory suped up Novas and Corsas.  I had the last laugh as they always cost a small fortune to run and a big fortune to fix when they went wrong.

I'm currently driving a 2017 1.2 Fiesta (5 door).  It's a tad sluggish going up hill, but otherwise I'm very happy with it.

Can't see me ditching a car any time soon as I do a lot of site visits in the Bath, North Somerset, Bristol, South Glos and Wiltshire areas, and a lot of them out in the wilds where there is only one or two buses a day if there are any at all(*), so it's fairly essential, but I figure my next car (which is years in the future) will likely be a hybrid, if not full electric (or hydrogen if those are a thing by then).

* - I remember some years ago discussing with a colleague, who was very right on with everything, a site meeting we were both going to at a secondary school in a small rural village.  She berated me for not taking a bus when I asked her if she wanted a lift, and I had to tell her there were only two buses a day to that area, and the second bus left long before the site meeting was due to finish, so if we were going by bus we'd have to book rooms in a nearby pub for an overnight stay.  So then she said she'd cycle, at which point I showed her the route on Google maps which projected would take about 2 and a half hours each way (about 20mins in the car) as it took in a lot of very steep hills.  In the end she said she'd take a taxi.  She was very late to the meeting and very late getting home, and the total taxi bill was something like £100, which her boss had a go at her about when she put through the receipt to claim it back.  She never did live in the real world.

JaDanketies

Oh yeah I passed on either my third or fourth attempt when I was 21. I was tootling around my tiny university city and they said I was ready for the test, and then I went back to my home city and a test centre that is one of the hardest in the country, and they said I was far from ready. So it's surprising that there are people who pass their tests in towns with one crossroad and five cars, and they are just as free to go and drive around Cheetham Hill as anyone else.

And then I didn't drive for about 5 years until my dad got me the Aygo because it was taking me several hours to get to and from work every day. Those long public transport journeys also were a fine excuse to be an alcoholic.

Icehaven

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on January 14, 2021, 02:54:07 PM

* - I remember some years ago discussing with a colleague, who was very right on with everything, a site meeting we were both going to at a secondary school in a small rural village.  She berated me for not taking a bus when I asked her if she wanted a lift, and I had to tell her there were only two buses a day to that area, and the second bus left long before the site meeting was due to finish, so if we were going by bus we'd have to book rooms in a nearby pub for an overnight stay.  So then she said she'd cycle, at which point I showed her the route on Google maps which projected would take about 2 and a half hours each way (about 20mins in the car) as it took in a lot of very steep hills.  In the end she said she'd take a taxi.  She was very late to the meeting and very late getting home, and the total taxi bill was something like £100, which her boss had a go at her about when she put through the receipt to claim it back.  She never did live in the real world.

Ages ago the venue for a regional meeting I was supposed to go to was changed with only a few weeks notice from Birmingham city centre to somewhere on the very outskirts of Wolverhampton which is similarly very difficult to get to and only has a few buses a day and no nearby train station. Within a day or so of the change the meeting was suddenly cancelled as the organiser, having blithely assumed most people were driving, realised they weren't and that nearly everyone attending (including me) were sending apologies as they now couldn't get there. There were people coming from across the country who had already bought train tickets to New Street, so I should imagine they weren't best pleased.
I really hate this assumption some people have that everyone drives. A few months back my employer was encouraging staff to go to the lateral flow testing centre in the NIA, preferably every 3-4 days, and all the instructions on how to get there were about roads, parking etc. Not a jot about public transport, and not a thought that those using public transport were exposing themselves to much higher risk by making bus or train journeys they otherwise wouldn't need to make.

Sebastian Cobb

I borrowed one of those Aygo's to go to a wedding in the middle of nowhere, it was alright, I felt a bit small on the dual carriageways but not massively so. I nearly got caught out by the small fuel tank though and that was stressful driving back trying to find an open petrol station.

Totally my fault really for jumping in a car and going "half tank, that's plenty!" rather than filling up, doubly so given the car share service includes a fuel card and charges by the mile for non-electric cars.

Blue Jam

Grew up in a small village, the kind of place where not having a car makes life very difficult, was told we couldn't afford a car (although I now know we probably could have). Since leaving home I have lived in London, Tokyo and Edinburgh and have never needed a car. Until now of course.

Been cycling to werk since June, getting the bus when the weather has been particularly bad, but now I don't want to go anywhere near a bus for the foreseeable. Got myself some new lights, a hi-vis backpack and an extremely hi-vis rave jacket and have just ordered some studded tyres for the black ice, plus a few things to keep me warm.

The only times I wish I could drive now are when I'm thinking about holidays and how nice it would be to be able to hire a car for some places like Iceland, the Outer Hebrides, Sicily, lots of places in the US etc. I've hired bikes on holiday before but I wouldn't fancy riding through the Nevada desert into Vegas.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: icehaven on January 14, 2021, 03:16:52 PM
Ages ago the venue for a regional meeting I was supposed to go to was changed with only a few weeks notice from Birmingham city centre to somewhere on the very outskirts of Wolverhampton which is similarly very difficult to get to and only has a few buses a day and no nearby train station. Within a day or so of the change the meeting was suddenly cancelled as the organiser, having blithely assumed most people were driving, realised they weren't and that nearly everyone attending (including me) were sending apologies as they now couldn't get there. There were people coming from across the country who had already bought train tickets to New Street, so I should imagine they weren't best pleased.
I really hate this assumption some people have that everyone drives. A few months back my employer was encouraging staff to go to the lateral flow testing centre in the NIA, preferably every 3-4 days, and all the instructions on how to get there were about roads, parking etc. Not a jot about public transport, and not a thought that those using public transport were exposing themselves to much higher risk by making bus or train journeys they otherwise wouldn't need to make.

Oh yeah, I totally agree - assumptions the other way are just as bad, and if you live in a city close to your job (as well as any amenities you could ever possibly need) and don't need a car for anything else, then it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to have one.

Mr_Simnock

Currently driving a BMW 225xe which is basically a very complex go cart. Due to working at home, COVID situation and the ability to charge it's batteries at home I'm down to filling up with petrol about once a month which feels great.

Sherringford Hovis

Among my many automotive peccadilloes, I considered buying Jimmy Savile's Range Rover.

Quote from: Sherringford Hovis on October 09, 2012, 12:26:42 AM
Shopping for a restoration project a few months ago, I nearly bought this rust-bucket:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jimmy-Sir-Jimmy-Savilles-1978-Carawagon-Range-Rover-/320647137505?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4aa80f08e1

Question is, had I splurged my wad upon it, following all this brouhaharape, would it now be worth more or less?

Blinder Data

learnt to drive at 25, passed second time. my advice to non-drivers is learn when you are ready to learn, don't feel forced into it. i don't think i missed out on much by not getting my licence as soon as I could, but now i'm not living in a city and have a kid i couldn't imagine not being able to drive. i still hate driving in cities and parking though.

my current and only car is a 2005 vauxhall agila which I inherited from my family in 2016. no electric windows, no central locking, no aircon, no cruise control, no CD player, not even a flipping rev counter! i'm quite sure all of these things existed in 2005 so I'm assuming my grandad didn't want to pay over the odds for "extras" when he bought it - which is fair enough as he died just a couple of years after getting it.

I know nuffink about how it functions except that it goes from A to B and does it fine. it looks like a rustbucket but has only done 36k miles so i'm always receiving compliments from surprised mechanics about its condition after services/MOTs. i've barely paid for anything beyond the necessary stuff - i feel charmed. the fold down passenger seats and height makes it excellent for moving stuff too.

i'm sure there are people who are bemused that i drive a sun-damaged Postman Pat van usually reserved for the elderly when i could afford something more fashionable, but more fool them. it is extremely valuable to me as a vehicle even though is worth zilch in monetary terms. i live in fear that one day someone will bump into the back of me or some essential fix will be required and the few hundred pounds it would cost will mean it needs to be scrapped. until then keep on truckin', little guy!

Marner and Me

Quote from: markburgle on January 14, 2021, 01:22:01 PM
My van is absolute shite on hills. Going down to 35 mph on a motorway really makes you hope other drivers have their wits about them.

Apparently I can get an extra 17hp if I fit an intercooler, but it's hard to find the parts and clear instructions for the procedure as its 22 years old
Surprised you've not been pulled for that. If someone is doing 70mph in the left hand lane, it could take them a while to realise you're going a lot slower than what you should be doing.

Emma Raducanu

My car is 13 years old now and done over 140k. For the past 5 years it has failed it's MOT with a list of things. My mechanic called me asking if I really wanted to pay the £800 to get it through. I just had to pay it because I commute and couldn't even think of how to buy a new car so quickly. I'm probably going to have to buy a new car this year but apart from fuel economy/reliability I don't really care. So much cannot be arsed spending £15000 on a car but I'm gonna do another 100k in 4 years so need a newish one.

derek stitt

I like to pull up in remote country lay byes and eat reduced in price Cornish pasties. Would never have experienced this level of nirvana without a car. Also, am fond of exploring ancient village churches, ones with Sheela na gigs on. Almost never ever drive in cities or at clocking off time, far too anxiety inducing.  Can only drive an automatic which actually helps. The strangest thing I ever felt after passing my test (4th attempt) was that people seemed to treat you with more respect, why?

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 14, 2021, 12:17:15 PM
DAF van

It's amazing that daf gets the time to make all those vans, when you think of his prolific posting of forgotten novelty singles in the 'Alternative History of Pop Music' thread.

markburgle

Quote from: Marner and Me on January 14, 2021, 06:31:58 PM
Surprised you've not been pulled for that. If someone is doing 70mph in the left hand lane, it could take them a while to realise you're going a lot slower than what you should be doing.

I've not had it long, that's only happened on one trip. Might have to put the hazards on if I get in that situation again. I was asking about it on the owners forum and they're saying there's probs nothing wrong with it, they were just really under-powered vans