and this is progress?

Yes - but being non reinforced an even shorter life. ;-)

I wish the government would ban festoon bulbs, then we might get some innovative and effective interior lighting in cars.

Welcome to the Grumpy Old Man club!

For a while (a decade or more ago?), some things started getting better when, in spite of the reducing space, Ford and others started designing to minimise routine servicing times because, I believe, of pressure from the fleet car market on "total ownership cost" including labour. Has this market dried up because of the tax pressure on "company cars"?

That's mostly it. Things are densely packed, and made to go together quickly and easily on a production line. It's one reason Torx fasteners have become so common.

Both of those though would be a pain compared to some modern cars: drum brakes to adjust, tappets to adjust, points to adjust, grease nipples- all every 6k miles or less.

Why does Hewlett-Packard make over 200 different print cartridges?

I've wondered this. Perhaps you go to Poundland and buy 'a set of spare bulbs' to satisfy plod (oops, they don't fit, silly me), and when you breakdown call the AA (or whatever) to actually get it fixed?

Theo

Put them *back* that way, yes. ;-)

I considered that at the time and may well have 'dressed' the end of the bolts to suit (it was a long time ago now). ;-)

Understood.

Understood.

In the same way *I* was more than willing / happy to jack the trunion back into place and then bind the damper and torsion arms together with rope, tightening them with a Spanish windlass (and tying the screwdriver off as well) and then driving home on it but wouldn't have suggested anyone else should. ;-)

50 mpg and 70 mph (on a good day) and on just a set of points. I wonder what the difference in pollution was between that (ignoring the lead etc) and something more complex (in it's creation and ongoing maintenance)?

Cheers, T i m

ssh, you are not allowed to mention such things.

[...]

So they can sell lots of printers for less than they cost to make?

Chris

[...]

So they can sell lots of printers for less than they cost to make?

Chris

But not at the same time. ;-)

My father, who sold trucks for a living, had the very first OHV Minor in Scotland - it was the Scottish motor show display one. The 803cc one. Over the three years he had it averaged 53 mpg. (He kept a careful log of all fuel used, etc) Of course traffic was a lot lighter in those days.

I do remember what grip on a wet day was like with crossply tyres - and the generally terrible brakes.

Ah, ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Probably not. That said, most of the trip from Nth Lundin to Crewe to see my then girlfriend was done mostly at those speeds and I'm sure still wasn't far off that figure.

As were the vehicles themselves. Mine were both 1098 jobbies. (I originally bought my first one for 25 quid in local private carpark (it was the delivery van for a HiFi / TV shop) but had to fit a new gearbox there before I could drive it home. A fiver for a good box and luckily it had first and reverse so I was able to drive it up the ramps. It had to be raining of course ...

I only used them for a while before fitting radials. I can remember driving a way from the tyre place and the ride felt like it was a Rolls Royce by comparison!

I suppose they were terrible by comparison with a typical car of 'today' but I can't remember getting into any trouble because of them? Maybe we drove differently then (and as you say, there was a bit less traffic those days). The only time I had any issue breaking was when driving with a fair load and in a bit of a hurry and when pulling away from some traffic lights in the wet, the cars in front all got a bit caught up behind some cars turning right and stopped quickly. I locked up the front wheels and caressed the car in front up the rear. ;-(

The next day I went to the scrappy and bought two wings, grill, bonnet and rad for 25 quid and it was all back and tidy the same day (just not all the same colour). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Possibly. But they could do the same if all the printers used just one vastly overpriced cartridge.

Oh yes, the rapid learning curve of where the fecking bonnet was.

Exactly that. Lose the nuts on the road, the bolts are captive. Probably not thought through to that extent by the factory, it being more a simple procedural item that the m/c was fitted before the torsion bar and nobody gave the slightest thought to the safety aspect or later replacement hassle.

For the shittest tyres in the wet, step forward the Pirelli Cinturato.

Nothing wrong with them if you kept them properly adjusted. Not to say a disc conversion wasn't a step forward, but the drums on the M1000 vans and Traveller were fine. Not sure if the saloon used smaller drums or not.

Once learned, never forgotten.