Chat thread

[BDA]

Maybe this is why they don't allow self service gas pumps in New Jersey! After all that, I hope he got the spider! He probably didn't though. It was probably too smart for him!

[4129R]

Local genius! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkUVx2sHQt8

An ideal candidate for the Darwin Awards.

How could you be so stupid, and have lived to be old enough to own and drive a car?

[4129R]

I heard a lovely story about Chunky this morning at my local garage, from an ex-Lotus employee.

During 1963, he had run out of credit with Ford, but needed about 10 Cortina bodyshells, so he trundled off to Dagenham with some large employees and car trailers, blagged his way in, and helped himself to 10 bodyshells.

He then took them to his factory, made them into Lotus Cortinas, sold them, and paid Ford for the bodyshells. 

It seems running out of credit with parts suppliers goes right back to very early Lotus days, and is still a huge problem today.

I heard of one potential supplier who was asked to supply specialist bearings, and said he would gladly do so it he were paid before delivery. Needless to say, he did not get the contract.

[BDA]

I guess some things never change. It seems as though Lotus is always on the edge of bankruptcy. The F1 team has the same disease even though it's pretty much Lotus in name only.

[4129R]

I spent the weekend cleaning up a stripped down block, 8 pistons and conrods, and a crank that came in the container from Louisiana. All the pistons were standard bore.

Some of the piston rings had seized in the grooves. My attempts to get the oil scraper rings out resulted in several broken rings.

Standard bore pistons may not be available to buy, so replacement means a + .020 rebore and new pistons, the wrong side of £600 ($1,000).

QED Engineering say they can supply new 4 piece oil rings for the original standard Hepolite pistons. I hope so as that will save me £500+ for new pistons, and a +.020 rebore cost.

The crank needed polishing on the mains and + .010 on the big ends. There were a few bits missing on the dismantled engine #2 in the container. Jack shaft was the main one. QED are ordering one for me.

One of the sets of pistons had raised compression high crowns, and lots of ribs all the way down the skirts. Not original. Does anyone know of ribbed pistons? Luckily the rings were all cleanable, so no search there for replacements.

Every week during my engine rebuilds (3 on-going), QED get a list of parts required on a Monday (shims, gaskets etc). The parts are usually delivered by the Wednesday. Now there is service for you. 

[blasterdad]

That time of year again!!!
51 times around the sun.

[BDA]

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Europa!
Happy birthday to you!!!

 

How does it feel to be young? 

[blasterdad]

 

How does it feel to be young? 

It feels pretty good, although it could be sugar from the coffee, cake, & ice cream...

[BDA]

So who is older? You or Europa?

[blasterdad]

So who is older? You or Europa?

Me, I began "production" in '64 & left the "factory" in '65,
The Lotus wasn't "born" until '71. 

[BDA]

I should have known that Europa could not have been "born" in 1965!

Then I should have sung Happy Birthday to you! You're going to want to close your ears here. Once is enough for anybody!

Ready?...

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Blasterdad!
Happy Birthday to you!

Ok, now you can take your fingers out of your ears! 

[blasterdad]

Thank you very much BDA,  that didn't sound that bad at all...
Although, I am half deaf. 

[BDA]

As long as you listened with your deaf ear, you'd be all right! 

[blasterdad]

Over the weekend we had a tragedy unfold in our community, a gunman randomly shot and killed 6 people & critically wounded 2 others.
Saturday night alerts went out that there was a killer on the loose, & by Sunday morning he was in custody.
Kalamazoo & it's surrounding communities is a pretty big city, but not so big that people don't know each other in some way, & to me the aftermath of what happened proves this.
Sunday Morning my wife went to McDonalds to get the kids & their friends breakfast & returned home in tears.
She told me when she got to the window to pay for the food the cashier handed her a receipt, informing her that the lady in front of her had payed for her meals, ($23+). Well, the lady in front of her had to pull forward & wait for her order, so when my wife got her order she parked & went over to her & tried pay her. She refused to take it, stating that if she had wanted her money she wouldn't have done it in the first place. It was just something she likes to do.
She told me they talked for a while about what had happened, then parted ways.
I noticed today too that just about everyone I've seen has smiled, said hello, held open doors, motioned to go ahead at stop signs, ect. ect.
I'm not trying to start some big deal internet response to this, just my observations of the past couple days.
We can't stop people from doing evil things, but from what I've seen, their deeds just make the good in all of us stronger.
Stay safe. Bdad.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kalamazoo-shootings-6-dead-3-wounded-after-random-shootings-michigan-n522946   
 

[BDA]

How wonderful that your wife was the recipient of a random act of kindness especially when it could have been a random gunshot! I  had heard about that guy. Obviously, it's all over the national news. I hope and pray that those who were impacted by this person's evil/insanity are able to find the comfort they need. With stories like yours, there is some hope of that.

Stay safe and stay positive!