The evil diesel

[white exec]

Proof readers are sorely missed - the number of errors in print is very disheartening.

Sorry, Steve. Couldn't resist. First career was teaching...

[Paul-R]

Tin/lead solder isn't banned, it's still quite freely available for repair work. I bought some not so very long ago and it wasn't difficult to find. Toolstation in fact.

[Peter.N.]

Didn't know that but I think I have sufficient in stock to see me out.

Peter

[Mandrake]

Tin/lead solder isn't banned, it's still quite freely available for repair work. I bought some not so very long ago and it wasn't difficult to find. Toolstation in fact.

So it's just banned on manufacturing lines for new equipment but not in the repair/hobbyist arena ? Good to know.

I know it probably seems ironic that someone who is so pro EV, environment etc is preferring lead based solder. But in my defense I only do a very small amount of soldering these days as a hobby (I might have second thoughts if soldering was my day job...) and well, the lead free stuff is just awful and doesn't make good joints, as already discussed... If someone could invent an alternative that works as well as lead/tin solder, I'd be all for it.

Oh, and I also enjoy driving my polluting Xantia V6 for the remaining time that I have it, but I won't be buying another one when it finally kicks the bucket. Once that fun has been had I'll be moving on to other things that probably don't involve pistons...

[Hell Razor5543]

Oh, and I also enjoy driving my polluting Xantia V6 for the remaining time that I have it, but I won't be buying another one when it finally kicks the bucket. Once that fun has been had I'll be moving on to other things that probably don't involve pistons...

A Mazda RX8 then?

[Mandrake]

Oh, and I also enjoy driving my polluting Xantia V6 for the remaining time that I have it, but I won't be buying another one when it finally kicks the bucket. Once that fun has been had I'll be moving on to other things that probably don't involve pistons...

A Mazda RX8 then?

Nah, I think my next car will also be an EV...a larger and much longer range one, but we'll see. The Xantia will have to hang on for a good few years yet to make that economic for me.

[Michel]

Oh, and I also enjoy driving my polluting Xantia V6 for the remaining time that I have it, but I won't be buying another one when it finally kicks the bucket. Once that fun has been had I'll be moving on to other things that probably don't involve pistons...

A Mazda RX8 then?

He said he enjoys driving, not being rescued by roadside assistance!

[Mandrake]

Oh, and I also enjoy driving my polluting Xantia V6 for the remaining time that I have it, but I won't be buying another one when it finally kicks the bucket. Once that fun has been had I'll be moving on to other things that probably don't involve pistons...

A Mazda RX8 then?

He said he enjoys driving, not being rescued by roadside assistance!

It probably sounds like a cop out, but I'm now at a point in my life (especially with a young child taking up a lot of my time and money) where the appeal of 20+ years being an unpaid grease monkey is wearing off..

I've always owned old cars, always done my own repairs (first with my Dad's help, later on my own) and to a large extent enjoyed it and got satisfaction out of a job well done, and I still do, sort of...if I'm not having to do it all the time, and not in a hurry so I can get to work the following day with no other car available...

But the appeal has definitely been greatly lessened, and after owning many old, rusty, cranky Citroen's over the years something small, simple and theoretically (!) low maintenance like an EV is very appealing as the daily driver when I just want the damn car to work and not let me down, and it was one of the factors that made me buy the Ion as my daily driver, as well as running costs and wanting to "get in on" the EV thing at a low cost just as it was starting to take off...

Sure, I'm tinkering with the front brakes on it at the moment (largely due to someone screwing around with it I suspect) and plan to do discs/pads/droplinks soon, but any car is going to need those kind of jobs doing, and I rather enjoy that kind of "simple" work.

I don't enjoy anything exhaust related, automatic gearbox problems, radiators and heater matrix's springing a leak, wiring harness faults under the radiator, V6 thermostats that take several hours just to get access to the thermostat to change it, oil in spark plug wells, timing belt and water pump replacements (well overdue now) nor can I really be bothered with the drudgery of coolant and oil changes (not hard, just boring) etc...all these things are basically absent on the Ion. (It does have a radiator and heater matrix - but they only work at up to 60 degrees and are not air tight pressurised systems, so aren't under much strain...)

In short I'm in a "I just want to drive it" phase at the moment. I'm OK with doing the odd job on the Xantia to keep it going when it is effectively a 2nd car that is not essential, but it really was becoming a chore and a bit stressful to maintain even a reliable, 20 year old car as a daily driver and my only car when there are so many other demands on my time and money now.

Maybe in a few more years after they're gone I'll pine for a petrol car again, I don't know!

[uhn113x]

I think that a lot of problems are caused by some peoples unhealthy lifestyles making their immune systems less effective and everything being so sterile now has prevented children from eating enough dirt.

Peter

Very true, Peter. I'm sure that the reason many kids are now subject to umpteen allergies are due to everything having to be spotlessly clean. There's also the proliferation of junk food in supermarkets as many parents haven't the remotest idea how to cook a meal.

As for leaded solder, thank goodness you can still get it from places like CPC otherwise I'd have to give up doing things to vintage radios!

Mike.

[Mandrake]

I think that a lot of problems are caused by some peoples unhealthy lifestyles making their immune systems less effective and everything being so sterile now has prevented children from eating enough dirt.

Peter

Very true, Peter. I'm sure that the reason many kids are now subject to umpteen allergies are due to everything having to be spotlessly clean.

By that measure our 20 month old will turn out pretty robust and healthy. I've lost count of the number of times he's dropped something he was eating on the floor, picked it up and continued eating it as if that was perfectly normal. We try to keep the floors clean of course but beyond that I've long since given up worrying about it now or trying to stop him and in 20 months he has only been sick once, and that was just a mild cold with barely even a runny nose! Maybe there is something to be said for normal healthy exposure to pathogens instead of living in a bubble...

[Gibbo2286]

By that measure our 20 month old will turn out pretty robust and healthy. I've lost count of the number of times he's dropped something he was eating on the floor, picked it up and continued eating it as if that was perfectly normal. We try to keep the floors clean of course but beyond that I've long since given up worrying about it now or trying to stop him and in 20 months he has only been sick once, and that was just a mild cold with barely even a runny nose! Maybe there is something to be said for normal healthy exposure to pathogens instead of living in a bubble...

I suppose that's partly true but keep him off the fags they killed my younger brother in a very nasty manner at 58, yet here's me, born and brought up in a council house that although it was state of the art at the time (Built 1929 with advice from Cadburys) it had no hot water, heating by a single small coal fire, lead water pipes that froze up every winter, we played with lead soldiers and the house paint was all lead based, I worked on vehicles run on leaded petrol and basic diesel, blew asbestos dust out of brake drums and clutches with an airline, slopped about in old engine oil, soldered , brazed and welded with only eye protection, 82 fit and well and still able to fix up cars outside on the driveway.................................but slowing a little and hate the cold.

[Michel]

A Mazda RX8 then?

He said he enjoys driving, not being rescued by roadside assistance!

It probably sounds like a cop out, but I'm now at a point in my life (especially with a young child taking up a lot of my time and money) where the appeal of 20+ years being an unpaid grease monkey is wearing off..

I've always owned old cars, always done my own repairs (first with my Dad's help, later on my own) and to a large extent enjoyed it and got satisfaction out of a job well done, and I still do, sort of...if I'm not having to do it all the time

It comes to us all! Much like you I've always owned older cars, sometimes through financial necessity and sometimes because I'm too tight to spend money on a new one. My dad was the same, until he was about 42... as was I when I finally had enough of having to fix stuff immediately to keep mobile, and more than one of my car nut friends. It's a major pain in the arse if it's not simply a hobby! I like doing bits and pieces too, but not *now* because it's needed *tomorrow*.

[Michel]

Yes, absolutely agreed Peter - totally hopeless this modern solder - very little control over it and a bu**er to get it to stick to anything.

That's a very polite way of saying that it's total sh1te. I detest using it.

[Michel]

I think that a lot of problems are caused by some peoples unhealthy lifestyles making their immune systems less effective and everything being so sterile now has prevented children from eating enough dirt.

Peter

Dirt. Worms. Slugs (for a laugh) and all sorts were readily consumed by my friends and me when we were kids. It doesn't appear to have done us too much harm.

When I was a kid we lived in Hong Kong. Above us lived another expat family. They had two kids the same age as me and my brother. The mother was a clean freak. The kids were always ill! My mum wasn't a clean freak, my bro and I were often filthy and grubby from adventuring in the woods. We never got ill.

[Peter.N.]

I grew up with lead pipes, lead paint and leaded petrol, lead paint used to last a heck of a lot longer than the modern rubbish.

Our lad (now 48) grew up where we live now, in the middle of a farm and was into everything, my wife had a mania for sterilising his bottle but after he seeing him put his hand in the dogs mouth and then licking it she still did, but didn't worry so much.

Peter