Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[RichardW]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sureweld-Mono ... SwSlBYvnOp

[CitroJim]

Zel, I have a set of impact drivers here if you ever want to get that door off... So far, they, along with a 4 lb club hammer, have yet to be beaten!

Back in the days when I ran Japanese motorcycles a set of impact drivers were essential!

[demag]

Remember those days Jim. However did they do them up so tight?!

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[CitroJim]

Remember those days Jim. However did they do them up so tight?!

I think it was all down to a bit of dis-similar metal corrosion taking place Dave...

Many swapped them for Allen head bolts back in the day but I never felt the need.. I could impact them and you'd never know they'd been disturbed...

[demag]

Yes i did the old Allen head swap. Easier on the nerves.

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[Zelandeth]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sureweld-Mono ... SwSlBYvnOp

Cheers for the heads up. Have stuck a bid in there. In fairness to the old torch on this one, it lasted a good 15 years or so of use and abuse, and was pretty nice to use. It allowed the gas only option as well, useful for getting a bit of a pool before starting the weld if it was a bit breezy too - as it frequently is in Aberdeenshire!

Actually quite looking forward to getting it going...Have always meant to put some proper time into learning the art, but always using borrowed equipment meant it was usually just a mad scramble to get a vaguely acceptable repair done.

Once it's up and going of course any of you lot in the vicinity are welcome to the resources if it's helpful to your ends.

Funny thing isn't it. Earlier today I was thinking "I'll need to buy a clamp for the fuel pump for the Lada soon..." But that sentence now starts "I bet I could make..."

It's a slippery slope this one...

[Zelandeth]

Well won that torch assembly for a tenner, so hopefully the welder will be back up and running again soon. Getting the door sorted once that's going should be pretty easy really.

New inlet manifold and throttle body assembly gaskets arrived today, so I officially think I now have everything I need. Until I find the next missing item anyway! If time permits, I should actually be able to make a start whenever time permits now.

Next step will be to examine the fuel system on the car, then make a list of which bits I will and will not be retaining.

Meant to get some stuff done on the car today, but got sidetracked. Instead got the dog garden cleaned up, mowed, sorted out the 31 year old gas leak in the purple room (was a faff to get the joint done up straight because of tension on the pipe) which was sorted as soon as the nut on the fitting was done up straight, and got the organ moved into the corner where it will probably live from now on. That sucker is heavy...Really hope never to have to move it again! Will need to at least drop it onto the front at some point, because I need to address the one non-functional pedal though, which appears to have lost a little felt pad.

Didn't leave much time left for messing with cars really!

[Hell Razor5543]

It might be worth calling into Poundland. Sometimes they do felt pads for heavy items on wood floors, both to protect the floor and help move the item. IIRC you get 60 different size/shape of pads.

[Zelandeth]

Good call there, though I do have a box with various things like that (our house has mostly wood floors, so no stranger to fitting them to furniture!), so should be okay. In fact, given that the pedal worked when I got the organ, my money is that the pad is still there, it's just fallen out of place. The fact that that pedal goes "clack" when you press it, while the rest are silent is a clue.

It seems to have survived its move unscathed (more than my back can say), and sounds a heck of a lot louder in a smaller room...Forgot that I also attacked the stool that goes with it with a screwdriver, wrench and a pack of panel pins. Tightening up the various fasteners resolved the wobbly leg issue, and a few extra pins has stopped the bottom panel of the storage compartment under the seat from hanging off.

Now I just need to find time to relearn what I used to know of playing it and actually learn something beyond being able to mess around improvising vaguely tunefully.

[myglaren]

[CitroJim]

Cracking bit of music there Steve Enjoying it immensely at 04:33 this morning!

[Zelandeth]

Got sidetracked again today...

Ended up building privacy panels for the lower half of the rat cage (half to give them some privacy, half to keep the dog's nose out - and somewhat also to stop them chucking everything out of the cage every night as an added incidental bonus...).

Then had a sudden moment of realisation that I still had a mostly untested B&O Beocenter 4600 upstairs. I'd got as far as attaching a plug and plugging in headphones and proving it made noise...But that was it.

So I took it downstairs and plugged it into actual speakers (after checking for presence of no untoward DC on the speaker terminals of course...Decent speakers don't grow on trees) and gave it a proper test run.

Tape deck needs some help. It runs fine but the left channel is way too low in volume...Will investigate that later, especially once I have a line in connector handy (uses a DIN connector, I don't have one handy) to test with. Other than that though, once I set the tracking force on the stylus to the correct level, everything seemed perfectly happy.

Had several records on through the afternoon at "adequate volume" and it seems happy. Can't honestly hear any difference to the Pioneer amp and Sanyo turntable really...Maybe the bass response is slightly better...But then again, the B&O does have a brand new stylus to its name...So should maybe treat the Sanyo the same and do a proper side by side test!

If there's no real difference, I will probably keep the B&O downstairs. Having a radio and tape deck as well as the turntable in the one unit is handy, and it's nice that the auto function on this turntable doesn't throw a fit when presented with either highly glossy or light coloured vinyl. That trips the Sanyo up every time...And placing the stylus manually is something I tend to avoid other than on really crusty old records on account of having quite shaky hands. Yes, I know... That's what the cue button is for, and I use it 99.9 percent of the time when I have to.

It looks quite the part too, will especially do so once I get a proper table set up for it and some suitable shelves for the records to live in. Especially as the collection keeps growing it seems. At least vinyl takes up less space than cars...

[CitroJim]

Excellent Zel

Happy to report the Pioneer turntable that was once yours is doing sterling service here on my system I'm really well back into vinyl now!

[Zelandeth]

All right, let's re-try the little update I was trying to write yesterday evening when our internet connection decided to go down.

Firstly for those of us who appreciate old, well made bits of tech...here's the hi-fi that's just been put into service downstairs here.

These were made from 1977-1980 apparently, and in this case was rescued from the E-waste bin in a recycling centre. Seriously, who throws a piece of B&O equipment in the bin? It's like trading in a Rolls-Royce against a Daewoo Matiz...it's just wrong...

Imagine its service may well cease when this stylus wears out though, given the absolutely stratospheric prices that seem to be charged for replacements! I think I have one good spare though so should be set for a while.

In other news, the welder has had a little overhaul.

New secondhand torch, hose and sleeve assembly from eBay fitted, and everything given a clean up. There *is* meant to be a sort of smoked clear cover on the side to protect the reel and wire feed assembly, though I've not the foggiest idea where that's ended up beyond "somewhere in the garage." It'll surface at some point when I'm looking for something else in there.

For those of you who are curious, here's what's in the very heavy yellow box.

Now that's what I call a transformer! No wonder it's heavy. Surprised there's no fan installed to be honest, though we've never had any issues with it overheating so guess it's not really needed.

The one thing about it that really annoys me? This!

The fact that the power switch is green, yet is equipped with a normal orange NE-2H lamp...The temptation to pull that apart and stick an NE-2G in there is seriously strong...Honestly, I don't have OCD, nope...I'm perfectly fine...

I've been outside and done a few test welds on a couple of bits of scrap exhaust I've got laying around, and immediately got better beads of weld than I think I ever have in the past with a supposedly decent welder even before fine-tuning the controls...even though it was windy as heck...so there's a lot to be said for just giving things a good old clean (including the take up wheels for the wire feed) and check over. So hopefully I'll be able to get the door on the Lada sorted out soon.

Today's "...?" moment in the Lada was finding this in the driver's footwell.

Don't I need that for something? Probably...though I have no idea what the "something" is, as I've not the foggiest idea where it's come from. First thought was from the seat mechanism, though I've taken them apart enough times to recognise it as not involved there. Second guess was return spring for either clutch or brake pedals...but no, A: they're all black, and B: they all appear present...so I've not a clue where it's come from!

It looks "important" though, so I'll keep my eyes open for a point or origin...

[CitroJim]

That B&O is just gorgeous I remember them well when they were brand-new and eyewateringly expensive...

I'm shocked someone just chucked it as they are still so good looking - they have not aged by a second and would not look out of place in the most modern of settings but then again, who has a traditional decent audio system nowadays apart from the likes of ourselves? Most I know have these tiny little things little bigger than a CD in footprint and if they play vinyl at all, one of those hideous Crossley Cruiser (AKA GPO) type USB decks... They are truly rubbish... Few now appreciate quality reproduction

Did you see Aldi are now flogging a Dansette record player lookalike for £60? They use the same awful deck as the Crossleys...

So how much is the stylus? I recently got a new one for the Pioneer PL110 and that set me back £12...

However much it costs, I'd say it'll be worth it...

The fact that the power switch is green, yet is equipped with a normal orange NE-2H lamp...The temptation to pull that apart and stick an NE-2G in there is seriously strong...Honestly, I don't have OCD, nope...I'm perfectly fine...

Welcome to the club That would irritate the heck out of me too

I do have OCD, I'm happy with the fact and I'm perfectly fine too... OCD has it's benefits...

That spring that's just turned up is rather curious...

You'll find out what it's for when looking at something else totally unrelated Not good for OCD though is it? Not knowing... I understand...