marzman

Arcade Club is great, isn't it?  Its about an hour north of me but i've been 4 or 5 times over the years.  This new location is really good compared to where it started out...

Cheers guys... took it out for a blast today and it feels gooood!  I realised that you've got to be fairly heavy handed with it to get the most out of it... i was being super gentle on the day i got it, but its basically a tractor.... you have to slam the doors to get them to shut, and stamp on the pedals to get it to go/stop.  Once i'd figured that out things felt a lot more natural!

Im struggling a bit with the anxiety of wondering if it'll start each time I fire it up... it was only 2 degrees this morning here (but sunny), but it took me a good 5 mins to get it running comfortably.  The first 3 attempts to start it just refused to idle and died, so i kept my foot on the gas at about 2k revs for maybe 3 mins and then it was fine...  not ideal really... It has an auto choke which from what i've read can need constant tuning...  Seems to start on the button though once warmed up.

I sold my 2018 Mustang in June 2021 after 3.5 years of ownership.  Since then i've been scouring the internet every night looking for its replacement... i've kept an open mind as to what i would replace it with, but narrowed it down to either a classic Mustang or an AC Cobra replica. I'd been to see a few cars but nothing was really doing it for me...

...until now.

Yesterday i picked up this beauty - it's a 1968 289 4.7L V8 Coupe Automatic.  60k miles.

Restored in Texas in 2014 before being imported into the UK, it's been owned for the last few years by a retired mechanic who's done some fettling in the engine for reliability and mild performance improvements.

I've always dreamed of owning a 60's era Mustang - they have been number 1 on my bucket list of cars to own since i was about 12 - so i'm very happy with this.

Whilst it looks and sounds great (imho), it honestly drives like crap...!!  It has drum brakes all round which are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. I think itd be more effective if i Fred Flintstone'd my leg out the door tbh!  So first on the list will be a Wilwood dics/caliper conversion, although im in no rush - it'll only be driven very occasionally.

Anyway enough talking... here's the pics!

Out with the new...

In with the old...  (shame about the skip - i'm having a bathroom done...)

10 minutes ago, ilogikal1 said:

 

It's a similar story here with Amazon, Game, Argos and Very often selling out within minutes. I managed to bag mine through BT this week, just because they and EE are restricting sales to customers only via single use access codes - I'm not actually a BT customer, but their incompetence worked in my favour for once!  But even with those restrictions, the standalone console usually sells out pretty quickly leaving just the more expensive bundles available for any reasonable amount of time.

 

AS for GT7, just me refusing to £65(+) for it then?

I got it for £59.99 on Base.com.  To be fair i was happy to pay that for N64 games back in 1997 and they were only 32MB, not 97GB. 😂

14 minutes ago, DoogyRev said:

I hate you both…. Still trying to get a PS5…. Let alone any games for it 😂

I feel for you Jim... its pretty ridiculous really...

I managed to bag 2 on 21st December on Amazon at 6am - one for me and one for my Nephew.  But been looking constantly ever since to get one for my other Nephew. 

Anyone playing this yet?  My copy arrived in the post yesterday.... 97gb download though which was annoying.  Apparently if you disconnect from the internet it'll install 80gb from disc and only need to download a 17gb update.  Wish i'd have known that before waiting for the download...

First impressions... it makes you sit through a 10 minute intro video that you cant skip, and you still have to do 50 bloody licence tests... what a joke!  So frustrating.  But... handling, graphics, and sounds seem to be spot on.  Oh, and the SSD in the PS5 means there's no loading time between races which is a big improvement.

I was happily playing for nearly 3 hours tonight... got to the final stage of license tests (super special licence) and then a game breaking bug appeared...!  I use a Logitech G920 wheel and pedals, and randomly now throughout a race or licence test, the steering angle will reset itself and slam you straight into a wall!! Sometimes you can catch it, but end up completing the race with the wheel at 90 degrees just to stay straight, which makes changing gear a ballache!

Im sure this is just a small teething issue though which will get sorted soon.  Other than that... looks very promising.

My brother has one of these.  Arguably one of the best looking rear quarter views on a car in the last 20 years.

Wahey, finally!!  Jeez that's been a bit of a wait hasn't it!  

Any more mods planned for it?

Off topic, but what the hell is that tyre off thats on the floor...?  Looks like a 400 width!!

Agree with Dan - surely thats the mismatched wheels on there rather than the module...?

I cant remember the stock 350z tyre sizes but with 19's isn't is 245/40/19 and 275/35/19?  If so then this would be 0.52% rolling radius difference, vs 1.62% difference based on the sizes you're running.  Doesn't sound much, but could be enough to make the car throw a wobbler. 

https://alloywheels.com/tyreCalculator

The mk1 Mondeo rear lights always put me off a Noble... !

10 hours ago, HEADPHONES said:

Thanks Chris.

Hope you are all well and had a great Christmas.

Will always remember you as one of the first members to chat to me at a meet.

Where did the years go.

Must be nearly 15 years since you had your silver auto 350z import.

I've followed your motoring exploits and snippets of what you've been up to via the OC.

Been nice to read life is treating you well

Yet I'm still here in the same Zed getting excited over a couple of hoodies

I blame my cheap Xioami phone. Makes me think I'm a teenager again.

You can only disable the beauty filter with the rear camera.

When I use the selfie one.....I look TWELVE YEARS OLD

 

You sure you've not got the beauty filter on in these pics too?  You look younger than when i first met you. 🤣

Yep it was Nov '07 when i got my JDM  auto Zed so 15 years next year, first meet was spring '08. Sad to think where the time goes!

If i had your Zed, i'd be holding onto it indefinitely too. 😎👍

Merry Christmas all... i went for the full Grizzwold family Christmas this year with 11 guests... it was perfect, right down to my mums dog going through the bins and my dog 'yakin on a bone' under the table.  Only shame was my brother and sister (and families) all having Covid, so we were 6 down on numbers.

Hope you all had a great day.

Whoa, they're smart.  Love that second one! Merry Christmas Andy. 👍

I like aggressive overtaking... if your actions can get your opponent to yield, then happy days.  Its his extremely aggressive defending i can't stand.  Brazil turn 4 being the best example, and Silverstone as well.  He was beaten in both examples, but he chose to be too aggressive.  Silverstone he should have yielded, didnt, and ended up in hospital.  Brazil was just disgusting imho... entirely missed the corner himself 'defending' forcing his opponent off track. You just cant race against someone like that.

2 hours ago, Ebized said:

Have we really seen that in his character? Marko YES!  But with Max, still relatively young, he is surprisingly laid-back and saves his aggression for the track - no quarters given but does not resort to the out and out 'no-quarters given style' of what Michael Schumacher resorted to on track on occasions.

 

Max is not as dignified as Lewis in defeat but then Lewis has so much experience and knows racing is not just not how well you perform on track. For me, Max has brought an excitement back into F1 and has tamed his car to put on a show that is what top-level racing should be about, not relying on engine power alone to get the results. Rather like Alonso in his heyday.   

 

See, even Lewis agrees:

 

Max threatened to headbutt the next reporter who asked him about whatever the hot topic was at the time, in a press conference. 

I did feel a little sorry for Max 'winning' his first championship in this way but having just read his interview on the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59691827), i've changed my mind. Total lack of empathy, and Hamilton's first title was not anywhere near the same.

Verstappen pointed out that Hamilton himself had won a title in similar circumstances, when he deprived Ferrari's Felipe Massa on the last corner of the last lap of the last grand prix in 2008.

"I don't feel sorry [for him] but I can understand that it can be very painful but at the end of the day he also won a championship like that," the Dutchman said.

Shocking, embarrassing, unfair, and infuriating.

I'm a huge Lewis fan, but I have to admit that Max deserved to win the title this year, just not like this. Its a shame for him that this win will be tarnished with such controversy. Masi has been a liability all season and what he has done today is borderline criminal.  I have to think he got a call from the American owners of F1 to bend the rules to create the drama, and the subsequent publicity - it's guaranteed to get them more viewers (whilst pissing off the genuine fans).

How Lewis stayed calm in the aftermath i'll never know.  I'd have done a Days of Thunder and driven my car at full speed into the cars in Parc Ferme before setting fire to the race stewards building. W*****s.

Not car related but a good deal nontheless... I've just bagged one of those fashionable Ooni Koda gas pizza ovens tonight - they've got a 20% discount on their site.  I've been eyeing these up all year and this is a great deal... 😀 

7 hours ago, Stutopia said:

When we all know the most dangerous drivers all have poverty spec 2 litre diesel BMWs and Audis 😉

Nah, it's the oblivious ones doing 35 in a 60 in a Daewoo Matiz that force every other normal driver to risk an overtake when they really shouldn't.  These guys need locking up!!

9 hours ago, Stutopia said:

Please can you let us know below if you would be interested in purchasing a club calendar, so we can see if the demand is there to keep this tradition going. I expect pricing to be roughly the same as usual ~£20 for one, ~£30 for two.

 

Last years to whet your appetite.

 

 

 

Johnny Chimpo!

What did you make this video in, out of interest?

Cheers Andy, i'll check this out. 👍

Hi guys,

Since selling my Mustang I have, for the first time ever, managed to NOT let the money burn a hole in my pocket!

That said, I have been on eBay every night looking for inspiration of what to get next.  I've been to see a couple of classic 60's Mustangs but they've not been quite right.  Lately i've been leaning towards a Cobra kit car, but i don't know a great deal about them.  Has anyone got any experience?

I'm talking Pilgrim Sumo or Dax Cobra etc.  I want a ready built one, as new as possible.  The Pilgrim's are in the price range i'm hoping to spend (£20k-ish) and the Dax's are £30k-ish+.  Several different engine choices available (from Ford V6's to LS3 Corvette).  I don't really feel the need for a super fast one, but it would be a bonus of course!  I just want one that looks good and i can take it on a cruise in the summer months!

This one is £46k but looks so good 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313698441195?hash=item4909e257eb:g:eLIAAOSwoz5hWzT9

On 18/01/2021 at 22:03, marzman said:

On 18/01/2021 at 20:39, HEADPHONES said:

After all the snow it's good to be back in the Zed.

Looking lovely as always Andy... 

 

Handforth Dean?  In the below marked space?  

 

Ha, same spot as last time. 🤣

Maybe it works the other way round thinking about it.  I bought a car on a private plate once, and it flagged an alert that the plate had been on several other cars (and listed the make and models it had been on).

An HPI check will show previous plates, I think... or does it just show when the car has been on a different plate, rather than the actual plate, i cant remember.

Just now, Shunter8 said:

Standard practice, as he’s now made a claim against that policy it’s no longer an active policy. It’s to cover themselves as if he were then to use said policy to then borrow a car and drive third party using his own insurance and then have another accident they’d then potentially have multiple claims against one policy which doesn’t really work. It’s also to stop him now using the car I question too until it’s been assessed and either paid out or rejected as a claim. 

Got you, cheers. 👍