ShaunW

This thread will do..... I had a reminder today to get the Spitfire taxed or they'll squash it. They'd been lenient though, it ran out on June 30th! I thought I'd done it. I miss the paper tax discs. You can buy or make them but it's not the same.

Silicon based lube for rubber ? Like you use on window seals.

I hope you mean 'work'. I'm afraid some of us have to mention w*$k because the bank manager keeps mentioning m*^&y. I can't imagine the state pension will afford me the dotage I'm hoping for (cue picture of Hugh Hefner) so every payday I can squeeze in is welcome.

I used to wish retirement came sooner. But the closer it gets the further away I wish it was.

Doug's nailed it. I get the idea of a registration date, but like a child that's adopted, dob is key for me not the date a government bod decided it needed a piece of paper.

Surely it's right to call it a 1970. If the car had been put in a barn by the dealer and never sold, it wouldn't be a 2018.

No probs nick. I do a bit of fine woodwork myself. Don't doubt the accuracy. The smallest edge you can feel is about a fag paper and I think that's about 3 thou (I'll get that gauge out later). And don't forget, my 3 thou is 5 on a rainy day and 2 when it's dry. At least your ali stays still ? I try and leave my stuff about a year before I do the finishing, just so it's stopped moving a bit. Wood turnings are the worst cos the grain shrinks in one direction more than the other. And then the issue with your stuff is that it either fits or not, you can't just whack it in if you're a hair out, and you can't fill a gap with a dollop of shellac. We both have challenges, keeps us quiet and out of the way though eh.

I was just joking Nick. Because you said you were a precision guy but weren't going for 2.00001".

Just measured 3 of them. All 51.5 with a 3mm bezel. Old style gauges but std size.

Precision engineer? You could drive a bus through that allowance. ☺ 52 is OK. The bezel is usually about 3/16. Wood moves so a mil all round is sensible.

I'm tempted to go and see that sprint, and run off with those short dashpots.

Oops. I didn't mean to create any divisions. I think it all goes to show that whatever aspect of life you talk about, everyone has different ideas and needs and creating a happy balance is neigh on impossible. To be fair, and to pour a little oil on the water (a job eminently suited to be and my car) having heard all of your experiences and views it does appear that everyone can find a little something that suits them somewhere. Most people appear to have affiliations with more than one interest/social group and the historic racing crowd exemplify that. In these days of Facebook groups and social 'meeja' I don't think it's necessary or fair for a club to be expected to be responsible for everyone's social life as well as preserving and maintain a vast repository of knowledge and archive material. You could argue that the internet could do that too, but information is only useful if it's curated, physical items need to be stored. And that all requires some way of creating an income to fund that. Maybe though, the worst of the decline is over, hardcore fans who appreciate the work and knowledge aren't going anywhere, neither are those that like things the way they are. But it might be time to accept that numbers won't necessarily increase much either no matter what you do. Like shops, pubs and cinemas, they're not what they were in the good old days, but they'll never completely disappear. Keep calm and carry on? The club is dead, long live the club!

" Bmw... Bmw... Bmw...Bmw....Bmw...Bmw....Triumph...Bmw....Bmw....Bmw..... " Colin, you make it sound so cool. Turn up with 50 other Triumphs and you feel under-prepped and not so unique. But be the only one, and you're the best of it's type and the centre of attention. I like your thinking. Crack up the 8-Track and let's go crooozin' Joking aside, I bet you'd genuinely be more welcomed by them in your car, than if they turned up at one of 'our' events in theirs? Predudice is an old mans game, be it age of person or age of car. The convo has strayed from Clive's original and entirely innocent and harmless 'old fashioned' comment, sorry about that Clive. I just though the forum had been a bit quiet and worthy lately so I thought I'd whip things up a bit (excuse the pun.....your 'whip' is modern parlance for your car btw) by taking a controversial stance (another pun ...groan, see below). It seemed to follow on from an earlier one about how membership was dwindling because young people aren't so interested in cars apparently. ....They think they invented 'stance' cars with extreme camber? Just wait until they see some of the Spitfire's I've seen.

Good man Gully. ? I know I'm a sod for being devil's advocate but anyone who's in love with their car is fine by me. 18 and stupid, or 80 and stupid, we're all not so different really. Those kids doing donuts have a keen eye for lining up screw heads too btw! They're just us but younger, don't judge them too harshly.

Horses for courses. What you describe sounds great. Then again I'm only 53 and still like everything I did when I was 25, doughnuts, the smell of tyre smoke, new loud music and old fast cars. No need to fear the Bill if you're legal (not sure why that bothers you). I like sedate things too, but for me it's not an either or. Look I'm not saying everyone has to like that scene, we're all very different people and that's fine. It was more an observation that classic cars have a staid 'old fashioned' image in this country because car culture is more fragmented than it is in some other countries who are more inclusive and 'current'. County pubs are fine but are from the era of drink driving. They're also unwelcoming unless you're buying overpriced soft drinks all night. A coke costs what 1/2 gallon of petrol does, that's important if you're young. I don't think our weather helps the social scene much either, we need more public barbecue areas with guaranteed sunshine. Young people love retro stuff, shame we keep it such a secret.

True to form I'm going to question that, on a late evening cross country diversion recently (roadworks and sat nav) I ended up getting a McDonald's coffee. The car park was full of young guys who were crazy about fixing up cars and there was some really impressive stuff. Maybe the cars weren't quite as old as ours and maybe they weren't so reverential, but they had the spirit. They'd never even seen a Spit before and one said he liked the idea of getting one and making it a bit more trick. I hope he does. The hobby isn't old fashioned but I often get the feeling that most people who do it like it that way. Boys (big and small) and playing with cars will never be 'old-fashioned'. It's just a shame old cars don't get the promo here like they do in the US. For the future of our old cars we should be meeting in McDonald's car park on a Friday night or joining in with a 'run' instead of meeting a field on a Sunday morning armed with a travel rug and a flask.

But what's the sock for?

? Can you fill in some details. I've not heard of that before.

Most common cause of small fires is probably electrics, 80%? of which is under the dash, a small extinguisher tucked behind your seat is a sensible no hassle precaution. If there was smoke from under the bonnet I certainly wouldn't just stand and watch it personally. I had a car catch fire on the dyno once and it was just a small rupture in a fuel pipe squirting on the exhaust. It was out in 10 secs with a small powder extinguisher and defiantly better than standing and watching it burn to a shell. Nothing under the bonnet will suddenly explode except the battery under extreme circumstances. Anywhere near the petrol tank would be a different story.

I've never heard of a mechanic delivering an mot cert... and then back peddling about how much needs doing if he finds the buyer there. But it sounds like you know what you've got so that's neither here nor there I guess.

Was he a bit 'coy' about its faults? ? Good for you though. I hope it brings you many hours of head scratching, knuckle bashing, oily overalled fun. And it was a good idea not to wait until Christmas, just in case you haven't been a good enough boy to have a toy like that! (sorry about the first mention of the 'C' word)

Good stuff roly, I wasn't meaning to treat you like an idiot about not seeing it. We drove from Lincoln to Angelsey to get our spit. And I drove it back 180mls with the missus following. Boiling hot weather, hardtop on, weekend traffic, temp gauge doing gymnastics, and 7miles from home the rear bearings gave way and we had to get a flatbed home With hindsight I'd have taken a 4wheel trailer because me and the car arrived home absolutely jiggered.

I've been called wreckless on here before, during the boostergate debacle .. It looks like I'm actually the careful one afterall hehe.

It's funny how we all have different ideas of a no brainer. An extra 120 quid? ... For me that's a definite no way I'll do it myself. It probably comes down to how much £120 means to you. Also for me going to collect it would be half the adventure of getting it. Have you been to see the car? Or are you buying it on a strangers word? If I turned up in Devon and it was a pile of cr*p I could walk (drive) away rather than finding out when it's dumped on my driveway. Or at least I would negotiate a discount. Buying a car sight unseen by mail order seems to be asking for trouble. Who's paying the return trip if it's not as described, got a restamped vin or it's nothing but filler and bad welding? £120 in my pocket and peace of mind.... It's a no brainer

When to my first show with the car today, only to find out it had been cancelled last week, there were 4 of use who didn't know, stood in a field in the drizzle. Just a village charity show but there'd been about 30 there last year and it was quite nice, especially disappointing as my lad had picked this weekend to visit so he could go with me.