Insert witty title here ...

[MULLEY]

Sandre, have you fitted your K&N yet? i was wondering what you thought if you had.

[Caffiend]

No, it had a new air filter in March so I'll wait until the next change

[Mickey taker]

Just for you Mike, here's a picture of my BALL JOINT protector:

and for the rest of you heres a picture of my ball and joint protector



extra large of course

[saintjamesy89]

Hooray for MOT passage darling! Just think, you'll have another year of BX related fun to look forward too

[TizzyD]

Well done

[Tim Leech]

So, I just had a call from Rob - the second of the day - my car has PASSED its MOT

The bad news is that the high pressure return pipe has decided to spring a leak - Rob did a temp fix to get it through the MOT, but it'll need replacing. Ah well, these things happen. O/S ball joint - as I suspected - is also on the way out, but will wait a few months (phew!).

HOORAH!!!

[Caffiend]

So, I have my green machine back, with ticket for the next 12 months - and NO advisories!

Officially anyway ... Rob has pointed out that the water hoses are all a bit hard (not surprising really after 21 years) so will need to keep an eye on those. And the dreaded tin worm has set in under the front wheelarches - bad enough that wire brushing would make a 'ole - it'll wait until next year, but welding will be required. If anyone with the gear fancies doing the work for me, for which I will of course pay for materials and cross your palm with a suitable number of pix of her maj, please drop me a PM and we'll talk.

I must say that it is running SO much better since the LHM filter and tank clean and now, new handbrake cables (so the n/s isn't locking on). Time to get the bumpers done ...

/wanders off muttering something about feckin' money pit.

[citsncycles]

I take it the rust in the front arches is under the LHM tank, plus the same spot the other side? Not a difficult job to do TBH, althoug you do sometimes find more to do when the liners are removed.

[Caffiend]

I take it the rust in the front arches is under the LHM tank, plus the same spot the other side? Not a difficult job to do TBH, althoug you do sometimes find more to do when the liners are removed.

Yeah, the usual places. It'll have to wait until spring, so just hope there ain't too much salt on the roads this winter.

[citsncycles]

May be worth trying to coat the rusty area with something, to slow down the rust until it can be dealt with.

[Caffiend]

I was wondering that - will make sure it's all clean and dry at least and give it a good blast with the Waxoyl (adds to shopping list) - thanks Mike

In other news, the job I got turned down for at end June is being re-advertised. If they will accept an application, that means that high commute mileage is once again on the horizon and will need to consider a daily driver, hmmm. Let's not cross bridges before they're hatched ... should find out next week if I have a shot.

[Tim Leech]

Sandre I would give it a going over with kurust after youve got the surafec off then waxoyl it. Ive used kurust for years and find it very good, its also much cheaper on EBay than Halfrauds.

[Caffiend]

I'm a bit concerned that that might leave holes though Tim - Rob recommended against wire brushing, so suspect that kurust/similar would have the same effect?

[citsncycles]

Kurust converts the top layer of the rust only, although if you don't wire brus it first it's not going to last long.

As it's going to be repaired properly soon I wouldn't worry too much about making holes. If it's that bad already it's hardy giving any strength to the structure, and you can cover any holes with either fibreglass or by bonding or riveting something over them to keep road spray out.

[Caffiend]

That's it, I'm officially ranting now.

I was signed off work for a month with stress. On my return, in order to manage my workload, I have switched the ringer off on my phone and answer voicemails and work e-mails once a day. So people who ring my boss and whine because I haven't responded instantly (how very dare I not offer them the favour they are ringing to ask for within 24 hours? - if I was a private sector consultant they'd be paying me several 100 quid for that data protection training instead of getting it for free from the NHS) can FUCK OFF*. I have a great boss, her sentiment is the same. Even so ... Gah.

*believe it or not, I'm actually a fairly good and patient trainer/facilitator. Honest!

In car-related news, I decided to get around to changing the holy headlights after the o/s glass finally gave up the ghost at Barry's last week. They had amazingly not been failed at MOT because it was a dry day - and this is why I get all nervous about doing stuff to my car: one of the sidelight connectors was so corroded that it took an excessive amount of bad language to disconnect and then the bloody thing broke off on the car-side connector. So I have no o/s/f sidelight atm - must get hold of a new connector. Now the headlights are worth protecting, the headlight protectors are now fitted and look rawther smart