ianphampton

So, Pingu the penguin was driving across Arizona in his Zed. As a penguin, he liked the Aircon on really COLD, as you'd imagine. The aircon packed up, and he couldn't face the drive in Arizona heat, so took the car in to the garage to get it fixed. The mechanic said "Leave it with me for an hour" so Pingu went out and walked in to town. It was really hot, and he got very uncomfortable, so went into Baskin Robins for an ice cream. He ordered a big bowl - but as a penguin he struggled with the long spoons, in the end, he just stuck his beak in and wiggled it round and sucked. He splashed quite a lot of it, again, as you'd expect. Suddenly realising how long he'd been, he rushed back to the garage, and ran to meet the mechanic. The mechanic turned to him and said "You've blown a seal" and . . . "What do you mean - it's only ice cream!" Sorry about that

+1

PM sent

In Edinburgh to pick up the 17" wheels for my winter tyres (from Greido) made a short break of it and stayed in Edinburgh for the weekend. We went to L'Escargot Bleu last night (19th November) and it was really, REALLY excellent. Food, atmosphere, service - all definitely 1st class. (and all thanks to the recommendation from here!)

That's really nice - I can think of two cars my Dad had which were special The first was an old Vauxhall 14, probably from the early 50s The second was a Saab 95 (that's the estate) which he had for years from the late 60s to early 70s. We loved that car - so much that both my brother and I bought Saabs back in the 70s - I had a Saab 96 which I had for years until we had our 3rd child and needed something bigger. It broke my heart when I sold her, too!

They did a simpler show on the face of Rouen Cathedral last year It was pretty colours and patterns without the animal life - I guess the cathedral didn't want to go OTT but there was a great atmosphere amongst the crowd watching, it was like a party

For those of us who drive abroad - it's a requirement in France, if you need glasses, you have to have to have a spare pair - so you need to get the 'free' pair as well (though I carry a spare pair from my last 'old' prescription) It might be a pain (in the wallet) but I actually think this makes sense and is a good policy Just like it's a requirement to carry a spare set of bulbs, that makes sense, too (Mind you, looking at some of the old cars on the road in rural France, not sure of the French abide by any of these regulations, whether they make sense or not)

Dead Easy to do it yourself - and the little fooling pins on the fronts come out dead easy too

I bought a Hilux last December, having had one a few years ago, great vehicle, gets 28mpg almost regardless of how I drive it, and really useful for towing trailers and caravans and so on. I bought mine new but you can definitely get them on eBay for your £3k budget - and every now and then you get finance company repos from dodgy builders at really knockdown money - I saw one a couple of months ago when a 58 Reg went for £4100. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :MEWAX:VRI Alternatively - my ex drives a Suzuki Jimny and although you might say Suziki's are not cool, it's performed really well in all weathers and she's got over 100k on it and it's still in pretty good nick. (Mind you, having had all my money when she changed from my missus to my ex I'm surprised she hasn't bought a new one and gold plated it just to spite me) Anyway - don't knock them, they're real 4x4s and cheap - and cheap to run, too.

Deal Agreed with Greido But thanks for the offer

Looks like they've done a nice job welding that up. However - if it fails again . . . . I have an OEM suspension available as I fitted BC Racing coilovers. They're just sitting under my caravan (all wrapped up!) so if you want them. . . I'm open to offers!

Ahah! I had already got this covered ! Toyota Hilux!

Greido Yes, I'm interested, please send more details My gf has family & friends in Edinburgh, I'll ask her if she wants a weekend away Cheers Ian

I'm looking at getting a set of winter tyres put on - anyone got a set of 17" JDM wheels they want to sell?

+1 Many Congratulations and Best Wishes for the future

You can download a free cut down version of SolidWorks eDrawings 2012, from Dassault Systemes or you can buy an Academic version for about £90 I think, if you can satisfy them that you're a student Depends on how advanced a package you need

Look very nice - what did you pay? If it's a trader in the US - can you post up his eBay shop link please?

Not sure about impact on a dead stock engine - I had mine Upreved and had a new Y pipe fitted at the same time to get the flow better and to make better gains. On the numbers front - this gave me 19.4 hp extra. On the feelings front, it made a much bigger difference. I can remember feeling on my way home after the remap "This is how she was supposed to be" as the response was just so much crisper. The improvement through the lower gears is very noticeable. I don't do much 'burning away at the lights' as that feels too boy-racer but coming off a roundabout in 2nd and giving her the throttle she just lights up under your foot and the thrust . . .ahem (Sorry, nurse says . . . .stop it, Ian, you know how it's bad for you when you get like that) Would I recommend it - Yes. I can't say anything about RS tuning - when I want my girl modified, I drive the 250 miles to Abbey as I've been very pleased with the way they do things and the work. (And the marmite on toast, too) viewtopic.php?f=25&t=44617 - my comments were about 7 down on page 1

On a run up the A1 about 3 months ago, the roadworks meant the traffic was all just plodding at 50mph She was quite happy in 6th at 50, provided you didn't want to accelerate much, and on that journey I got 32mpg I'm quite proud of that figure, but . . my God, it was tedious! If you want great mpg, I'd suggest getting a Fiat 500 twinair. I'd suggest you also get a full frontal lobotomy, otherwise you'll go completely mad. If you want to stay ALIVE, keep the Zed . . . and don't worry about the fuel consumption.

I bought a pair of 20mm and a pair of 25mm spacers from MWTech recently - supplied with the bolts in so just plug and play - I'd suggest you PM him

My gf is a nurse and when the bike goes by at a crazy speed she says "Oh good- somebody is going to get the kidney they've been waiting for today"

Life has got to be fun . . . and the car is part of that. When I first got married, we committed to the maximum mortgage we could to get the maximum house we could and progress up the property ladder, then we moved and did it again I spent 15 years being skint as all the money went into the mortgage and the house, we went on cheap holidays as it was all we could afford and so on. I couldn't afford a nice car. Keep the Zed, keep some sort of life and don't over commit to a mortgage. That way you have a life and some spare cash to enjoy life. Buy the house / flat later, perhaps with you and the gf together, but keep some disposable income so you're not on the treadmill giving your money away paying mortgages. As George Best said in response to the question "What did you do with all your money, Mr Best?" "I spent 75% on wine and women - and the rest I just wasted"

What do you call a guy with an axe in his head? Edward (Ed wood) What do you call a guy with 2 axes in his head? I don't know - but Edward would What do you call a guy with 4 axes in his head? I don't know - but Edward Woodward would. (You need to be old for this last one - remember "Willow man" or "Callan"?)

Best Mods - UpRev / Plenum / Berks / Aftermarket exhaust - added performance and tone as well. I did this in 2 sessions due to limits on depth-of-pocket and I remember thinking after the first Uprev remap with the Y pipe "This is how she's meant to be". Which is why I agree so much with Cowie's comment for my "Worst Mod" -

Alternatively - I have a pair of OEM Cats which I took off my Zed when I swapped to Berks. I'm looking for £125 plus carriage for these - I'd estimate £25 for the carriage, so they'd be £150 delivered. This way, you'd have them available for every MOT in the future as well . . . . They've done something around 30k or 35k miles, and they look OK. PM me if this helps you out.