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

[van ordinaire]

S'funny, another of my posts disappeared into the ether - but it was only a load of old tot about airlines, white leather in US rental cars & places there that are like filmsets (e.g. Tombestone, AZ) or genuinely surreal (Roswell, NM).

Used to be a Stollie parked in a mews within sight of London Bridge station, I often wondered why - & how!

[CitroJim]

Bit tricky to park though, they're a bit on the wide side.

Yes, about as wide as a modern SUV... Do as they do and park it across two spaces or in the mother and toddler spaces

After all, nobody'll argue with a Stollie

[Zelandeth]

Very true Jim.

Have to admit that I've found parking the Pathfinder to be far less awkward than I expected. It's far easier than the Explorer I was driving last time we were here (and just generally nicer in every way) despite being both longer and wider.

Though seeing cars parked half into adjacent spaces will soon be useful to me, as the half occupied space will probably still be perfectly usable for parking the Invacar...

[CitroJim]

In general, I've found, given decent mirrors, the larger the vehicle the easier it is to park/manoeuvre...

I found it was easier to reverse a larger caravan onto a pitch than it was a smaller one...

Did you find that to be the case with buses Zel?

Though seeing cars parked half into adjacent spaces will soon be useful to me, as the half occupied space will probably still be perfectly usable for parking the Invacar...

Indeed! Even the C1/107 I found could squeeze into places that would defeat a larger car..

[ekjdm14]

That’s one magic thing about an ex Citrojim car. Every bolt comes out easily, no fighting stuff. I wonder if I will eat my words when I come to the injectors on Gabby lol.

I never touched her injectors Davie... So don't blame me if they don't come out easily

Be aware they can be biblically tight and a special socket is needed - especially for the injector with the needle lift sensor - that one is easily damaged...

And bloody expensive to replace

Not sure if this trick works on the ones with the needle lift sensor, but I found a Range Rover/Disco alloy wheelnut socket with the plastic insert dug out was the perfect fit to remove the injectors on ours. bit late to the party again on this one but I'm catching up slowly!

[Zelandeth]

Decent mirrors are key to making anything easy to move I think.

That's definitely one of the things which I find makes some of the older buses harder to handle, the milk bottle tops that pass as mirrors on the old Daimler CVG6 I've driven a couple of times definitely gets points against it in that department...if it were mine a couple of larger ones that I could clip somewhere helpful when on the road would definitely be on my shopping list.

This thing has a 360 degree camera setup, which is really useful for the last couple of feet, especially driving on the wrong side of the car which messes up my reference points a bit.

[van ordinaire]

I often get asked about problems/difficulties driving abroad - or left-hookers at home & my answer is always the same, providing you've got a decent passenger side mirror it's really not an issue.

[Zelandeth]

I reckon that's why I hated the Explorer so much. Aside from it needing about 50% more power, and the ruddy touch sensitive heater/ventilation controls needing to be smashed over the head of whoever designed them, you just couldn't see out of the thing. The Pathfinder in contrast has much better visibility in general and a decent set of mirrors. Headlights are miles better than on the Ford too.

Been out in the boat again today, and have caught fish for the first time in my life. Sadly mine weren't edible (too small), though we did catch dinner.

So far we've got a bit of a running joke going in that the Scotsman is the only one out of the four of us who hasn't managed to get sunburned so far.

Not sure what will be coming up this week, though am now already looking forward to November as registration opened up for Scotiacon opened up yesterday evening, so we've got that all arranged. Will be the fourth year we've attended and are very much looking forward to it. Timing is good I think, as having that already lined up before we head home from here will help a lot to appease the post-holiday blues.

There's a late 70s Jeep Wagoneer in mint condition for sale a mile or so from here...it would totally have my name on if I had the money to buy and import it back home...

[van ordinaire]

Even XJ Wagoneers are starting to attract money, so yes, a "real" one would have a price comensurate with its size. Shipping shoudn't be any more than a regular car AND, 'cos of its age, it attracts very favourable tax & duty rates.

Actually, I was going to ask you about Cherokees, there are still an amazing number of them running around, especially in the Mid-West, Deep South & Canadian border states. They outnumber everything else of that vintage put together. An extraordinary testament to their popularity & longevity.

[Zelandeth]

Yep, they're all over the shop! Even though the ones up in Michigan seem to have some "interesting" rust in many cases given the amount of salt the roads see and the lack of any MOT!

Having said that, the same is true of most cars...pickups where the body holds the chassis together and it visibly flexes going down the road aren't unusual to see!

[CitroJim]

So far we've got a bit of a running joke going in that the Scotsman is the only one out of the four of us who hasn't managed to get sunburned so far.

I'm not Scottish Zel but I only have to look at the sun to get sunburned.... I can get sunburned in the middle of winter and it's happened when out riding a very sunny winter cycle sportive...

In the summer months I get through vast quantities of suntan lotion...

I've been very badly sunburned in the past and now try to avoid it at all costs... Skin cancer is a real risk with me, especially given my past burning history in foreign climes...

Carry on enjoying the holiday and keep fishing The very best fish you'll ever eat is that you catch yourself and cook as quickly as possible after catching... It's what I love about sea-fishing... Eat what you catch

[daviemck2006]

Now as an ex professional fisherman I found that fish were better after 24 hours. They were very difficult to fillet if they were too fresh and soft, and fell to bits while cooking. It possibly does depend on the species of fish, but for haddock that was the case for me anyway. Still far far better than you buy out of a shop. They, although being sold as fresh, could have been on a boat for 7 days, in a fish merchants for 2 days and in the shops fridge another 2 days, your own fridge 2 days so nearly 2 weeks old, and that makes a massive difference. I rarely eat fish of any description now, as I know it's not up to the standard I was used to many years ago.

[CitroJim]

The ones I most caught Davie, were Whiting with the occasional Dogfish...

True, they're not easy to fillet and delicate to cook but I always put that down to the nature and smallish size of the fish...

Could never keep them as they'd stink the caravan out and if left outside, even securely, the bloody seagulls would find them

The seagulls would even go for a bucket of lugworms we used as bait given half a chance!

[daviemck2006]

Seagulls, as far as I am concerned are flying rats! They use the estate I live on to nest and rear their young, and the noise and mess they leave is horrible. I would get a shotgun to them if I could, but they are a protected species. Don't know why.

[CitroJim]

Seagulls, as far as I am concerned are flying rats! They use the estate I live on to nest and rear their young, and the noise and mess they leave is horrible. I would get a shotgun to them if I could, but they are a protected species. Don't know why.

You're right about seagulls Davie.... I once accidentally 'caught' one when fishing once... Vicious and aggressive b****ds too...

Exactly the same problem we have with our version of flying rats down here. Urban (NOT Wood) Pigeons...

They really are a bloody menace and soon something will have to be done to cull them...

Once creature that seems to have no use whatever and are nothing but a filthy parasite...

Shoot the lot I say, it would be no loss...