been a while so an update -

car news

yep I still have the tubby and loving it although there have been a couple of moments where it wasn't so nice. Let me explain

Driving up to Inverary one day for a short break away from city life I was having fun driving on some real roads. Nothing daft like but having fun nevertheless. it started to rain so knowing how crap the roads are after a spot of rain during a dry spell, I was extra careful going round the corners.

Well the corner northbound at the bottom of the Rest and Be Thankful is a real git of a corner, long left hander off camber and slippy so I braked a lot for it and kinda tip toed into it. Not slow enough, heard that familar drumming noise from the tyres as the front was fighting to track round on the surface then it happened

the front gave a big slip and started understeering quite badly
the rear deciding it wanted to play gave a huge step sideways
I kinda slightly countersteer to correct the slide, caught it
tried steering round the corner half on my side half on the other side
made it round but needing a change of underwear

Clearly I had not slowed down enough but I really thought I had done. Physics however told me otherwise.

The rest of the holiday up north was grand. The weather varied from brilliant sunshine to heavy hail 2 or 3 times an hour and I didn't care one jot. Still had a fab time.

I drove to Oban on some sublime roads but again since it was raining / not raining I was driving like a real woss round the corners. Not point binning the car, it hurts too much.

Also on the car front I have returned my V5 to the DVLA to get the make of the car corrected. Now it has never been right since day one but I figured might as well get it sorted once and for all. It has gone in and hopefully will return in time for the road tax to get purchased / parking permit too. Oops might have mucked up there methinks.

Also on the car front the exhaust has been making some wonderful sounds. Absolutely barks when I nail it. Smooth ;-))

moffat -

yeah went for a run on Monday night with a mate as a passenger and John on his bike. Boring run to edinburgh but then a sublime run down to Moffat. Darned good.

The only problem is that round corners I cant see I stick to my side of the road alas one BMW didn't follow that line of thought and nearly hit me going south. Some 2 minutes later he nearly hit John, again Mr BMW was on the wrong side of the road. Some folk eh?

Good run down there and good run back up. I collected a HUGE number of bugs on the windscreen and headlights. Had to clean the car on Tuesday night, took me a while but the car was looking mighty fine.

A

so what's faster? mr2 turbo or CBR600RR....

it wasn't even a close fight.

Decided yesterday with the fine evening weather to go visit my parents at their caravan in Invarary. Thought John might like to head up there too so I sakde if he wanted to bring his bike for a run up the coast.

Well, apart from a stupid muppet in a white van not knowing the Highway code and various other road users not paying attention it was a fun run.

I may have a quick car but that aint no use when there is oncoming traffic and I'm stuck behind 6 cars doing 45mph in a 60 zone. A bike however can just breeze on by at 50 and have loads of space to make it comfortable. Which of course he did. Shame he had to keep stopping in laybys waiting for me to catch up. ho ho

Anyhow's, saw the parents, had a light non alcoholic refreshment and then we headed back down to sunny glasgow.

Of course, had to take some pics on the shores of Loch Lomond. Just had to be done

lovely weather -

took the car for a drive. Ah beautiful feeling, lovely car to drive. I think either the CAT or the exhaust itself is giving up cause the car has a lovely bark to it when gunning it. Maybe its been a while since I gunned like that but either way sounds great ;-)))

air con no more -

indeed the seal that was fixed would have appear to have failed under pressure. I will need to get the guy to check the car out with the UV light and goggles to check where the dye can can be found. More hassles.......

On the up side the car passed its service ok, the spark plugs were expensive but they are only changed every 45k miles so not such an issue I guess.

The car needs a darned good drive to get everything back to normal as it now spends most days doing nothing but sitting on the road. Hopefully some decent weather will allow me to have some fun in the coming weeks.

car goes for service -

nothing else to report. Haven't used the car in almost 2 weeks. Must give it a good thrap tomorrow night before the service on Thursday

ah - the joys of air con -

indeed while the typical scottish weather managed four seasons in one day I was happily sitting in my air conned bubble. Very nice indeed.

I also managed to leave my stereo in the dash since wednesday night and amazingly this this afternoon a full 4 days later it was still there. As was the side windows. What luck, something I have no intention of repeating. Have removed stereo now

air con -

indeed I now have functioning air con in the car. Nice to have it back. While doing a pressure check on the system the guy found a leak on the pipe going into the condensing radiator.

He had a look and it turned out the seal was dry and slightly corroding. Not having a std seal size, thanks Toyota, it was cleaned up and refitted and the pipe reattached. Pressure tested again and no more leaks, in that area at least.

Refilled the system, added the dye in and now it runs pretty good. We don't know how long it will last for but at least with the dye its gonna leave a mark where and when it does leak out.

air con re-fil time -

indeed I have decided now the better weather is coming in that I should get the air con refilled. Only taken me 8 months to get round to it. ho hum. Should be getting done on Wednesday eve.

No much been happening. I am still using the train to get to work and what a difference it makes. No more sitting in rush hour traffic at night on the way home, no more dealing with dozy fokkers pottling along the middle lane at 50mph and I get some exercise too!

Wonder why it took me over a year to decide to do that. I'm a dumpling ;-)

mmm nice weather -

not much been happening recently. I have started using the train to get to work so the car is parked up during the week. However this means I get to have fun at the weekend which leads nicely to today.

A sandwich, can of irn bru, full tank of gas its brilliant sunshine and I'm wearing shades - hit it. Heh heh.

Lovely drive, car felt awesome and sounded darned good as well. All this on a standard CAT exhaust and boost controller. Car was just amazing, a bit slidy through some of the corners but likely just me being rough with the steering as I corrected my line.

This is why I bought this car. Of course with a bike..........

great start to saturday eve -

been a while since I felt the roads were good enough for a wee blat. Well the weather this evening was very fine so I went out for a wee drive. Nothing heavy like, just good fun.

My goodness what fun. I'm sitting here and the rush and feeling after the drive is really really good. Damn I love the feeling that car gives when you drive it hard.

The brakes obviously needed a good duffing after a winter of pouncing around cause they got really really good after a bit of a beating.

In fact the wheels were still hot to the touch after I parked up, even after a 25 minute drive through toysville to get to the flat. Ho hum must check that tomorrow.

Damn that car handles real good on the road. Love the feeling as it digs into the bend and grips up and shots round the corner.

Bloody brill but as ever folks keep it safe

A

thanks a fuking lot ya to$$er -

indeed it would seem some fecking nobend bashed their door open against my passenger door and then left without so much as leaving a note with their details. Paint work is not broken but the door skin has a dent in it. Now I know why my car siren blipped when I turned the alarm off the other day when normally its silent

What is it with people just not caring?? Its my property and you should darned well respect it better than your own.

if I catch you I'm gonna give you a dent that no fecking band aid is gonna heal.

Rant over, have a good fecking day

warm weather + sunshine = T-tops off -

indeed. Went for a little drive yesterday as the sun was shining and it was perfect weather for taking the roof panels out. Shame the car hadn't been washed and was very dirty. Ooops

I have washed the car tonight and its looking right nice. Bliss

octane booster -

yes indeedy it does work rather well. Won't use it all the time but good for dynos or going for hot runs. Can't wait for summer

oil change done -

and darned cold it was too. Off to inspect my parents damaged car and then some rocket fuel testing. Could be an entertaining day after all.

oil change looms -

yes indeed I have a new sump plug and washer, fresh carton of oil and loads of enthusiasm to change the oil at the weekend. Might even wash the car, actually I need to wash the car as its totally filthy.

Oil filter??? well actually no but its getting serviced soon anyway so the filter will get changed then. It does need fresh oil though so its getting done this weekend even if I have to do it in the darned snow. prays quietly it will be fine

washed the car last thursday -

it looked fantastic. Reminds me why I keep the car to be honest.

On the way home somebody if a black curvy hatchback type thingy, you know the kind

loud stereo pumping out the latest tunes
blacked out windows though rolled down slightly to let the noise out
driver and passenger with baseball caps
engine being revved to make even more noise

Been a while thought I so lights changed and I went for it. 1st man to 30mph wins

I was first there then popped the car into 3rd gear and pottled up the road.

Sad - yes, stupid - could easily be described as that. Fun - it was actually

Be careful out there folks

its a sad time for us all -

for those of us that know our hearts are heavy with sadness and for those that don’t know they have their own problems to contend with.

Words are not enough but the effort we spend searching for the right words to convey our feelings are appreciated by those who need it most.

I don’t believe the coming loss will go quickly but neither will the memories nor the feelings nor the fondness. They will live on as long as we do.

In all of this turmoil it makes you realise that nothing is that important in life and yet at the same time everything is so important that we must try to find some happiness in every day and embrace every opportunity that we are presented with. To do anything else could be considered a lost opportunity as you may never get another chance.

My thoughts are with you bud, even if the words are sadly lacking

not much happening -

roads are pretty rubbish. Loads of grit has been put down which covers the road in little pebble like crap and makes driving kinda interesting.

However on the very few moments where the roads have offered some grip I have been reminded why I run the car instead of getting a bus or train pass.

Fantastic feeling as the car digs into the corner and then pulls through the other side. Wonderful, though sadly rare this time of year. Still spring will be here soon and then the fun will begin.

Keep it safe out there folks

so car change idea then? -

seems like the real world is going to make it difficult to do my prefered car change. Not only will I not get as much for mine as I had hoped but I will have to pay more for the mk1 s/c than first thought. Looks like I'll be keeping the same car for another year now.

Lucky I still like the car but, I still hanker after a mk1