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"Man, stupid nationalism is dead..."

Ignoramous.

Actually no, that's not quite correct is it; you're something of a contradictory ignoramous.

Oh come on, it's also growing a producer of synthetic drugs and cannabis; transit point for US-bound ecstasy; source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for cocaine, heroin, hashish, and marijuana entering Western Europe; despite a strengthening of legislation, the country remains vulnerable to money laundering related to narcotics, automobiles, alcohol, and tobacco; significant domestic consumption of ecstasy (according to the CIA world factbook)

Sounds about right - gotta pay for all those Porsches somehow, after all.

Sorry Tom, I used to like you before reading this thread, but that's just such a low shot. How do you know JackH doesn't have a few kids whos Christmas you're wishing to be ruined? Wishing things like that on people is just cruel.

(Don't forget to mock my terminal illness in your reply...)

Just ignore it because twattish, based on vitriol rather than fact, comments along these lines don't bother me, not least because he's showing his true class and clutching at straws... :-)

I've two kids who will be having a perfectly good Xmas, not least because Mrs JackH holds the purse strings to the account we use for stashing money for holidays and Xmas... which is probably a good thing with my track record of buying things on a whim.

After all, you can't have too many Nova saloons, can you... ;-)

No, my chances of buying the Passat salvage back will be potentially ruined unless the bike sells (1)... far worse than having no money for Xmas, I'm sure you'll agree. ;-)

(1) Although I've got a back up plan sorted for that if I do decide I can be arsed with it.

See you don't get caught on the ferry home then :-)

Not long ago the port of Ostend had special pass-throughs for Brits doing nothing else that hop off the ferry, plunder (but pay for) a cigarette-shop and get on the same boat home again. Funny and sad at the same time.

Won't go far bashing the UK, actually I quite like the country and some of its people (that number seems to be going down). Hell: I've even got family there. So no mentioning that google "UK financial crisis" throws up 4.600.000 hits while you'd better not google "Pound crashes" or 12 UKP per liter of engine oil might become reality!

This being uk.rec.cars.modifications no guessing where Marcos, TVR, Rover, British Leyland, Bentley, Roll Royce etc etc went. Why not? Because they are bankrupt or bought by China, Germany or some wierd bloke from Russia (who went bust too). The Marcos factory I visited: now they are back to their roots... shedlike, maybe waiting for some economy revival. Too bad. Sure hope Williams F1 GP Engineering avoids that siren call.

Cheer up! Ultima Cars form Hinckley is doing good, Mr Marlow keeps his feets on the ground and produces one of the best cars, bang for bucks, on the market. Top Gear, struggling between love/hate for UK-products, still turns it the blind eye, bash foreign cars but drive German.

You lot wanna feel great bashing Belgium? Go on, no worries : I don't feel Belgian, just born here. A certain Rital-infected person in this group comes from Wales, that makes me the lucky one.

The CIA Wold Factbook quote was checked. Looked for United Kingdom at the same source. The UK imports from Belgium 4.7% and is "producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center "

So while 100 years back Lieven Bauwens stole (plans and parts of) a weaving machine from Old England, making Gent the weaving capital of Europ, we are getting repaid by you stealing Belgian knowhow in producing drugs instead of just using them. How low can you go?

Some suggest with drug abuse foul mouthing comes as a by-product, youth kniving each other too. Any reference to some former replies is just coincidence.

Knives are not for me: our gouvernement -as yours a sorry bunch of people- didn't outlaw private ownership of firearms yett. That's about the only reason why the number of guncrimes in Belgium didn't explode the way it did in the UK...

Tom - do please take the above serious or don't - De Moor

First Dan, this is Internet. Sometimes shots get fired: some go over, some might go low, some hit more than expected. Return fire however often seems lower aimed.

Personally I find "we are British and you're a low life from elsewhere"- attitude a bit funny and quite a contrast to reality.

However: if one can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. In a boxing ring there are punches. It's that, punch first or duck faster.

Secondly: I wish no-one's x-mas to be ruined. Why should I? I don't even believe in nor have any affinity with it. These are indeed cultural differances: some things which I find offensif, you find normal and vise versa.

Last but not least: I do have a memory. I did not mock about your condition but on one side I sadly cannot help you, on the other side you are bringing them up for reasons of your own. Let me state I don't like those reasons.

MAybe we better lighten stuff a bit up. There is no bashing contest yett and there certainly won't be a winner in one.

Cheers.

Tom De Moor

It was nothing to do with that until you made it so. The issue was your gargantuan superiority complex, and the fact that you perpetually belittled and mocked everyone else who you perceived (with no real actual knowledge of their own financial situation - hint: not everyone that's well off goes on and on about in the way you do) for not having as much money/as many exotic cars/their own successful business compared to you. Then you came in with your slagging off of the British economy (and let's face it, it's not just the British economy anyway), and it was only at that point where people basically told you to f*ck off back to Belgian groups.

You could do with taking your own advice. Your cocky willy-waving attitude of thinking you're the greatest thing since sliced bread (if you're not aware, it's something we think very highly of in this country - it's better than the wheel and everything) has come to a head (make your own crude jokes, guys) and it seems everyone's fed up to f*ck with your attitude. So I refer you to your own advice above.

I might recommend you to reread the thread and find the UK-equivalent for 12 UKP per liter motor oil as well as servicing.

As to my personal cars: I have them, as we have customers -Brits too- with a far larger collection or companies 1000 times bigger. So what?

You know where it stupidely comes down to in this slagging? My opinion that saving a stupid oil change a *ANY* car engine is quite bad savings, not really worth the risk.

But if the saving those 5 liters -for my part- 100 UKP per liter oil in a 500k-engine which has never needed service anyway, makes you feel better: by all means.

Finally (again willy-waving in your view): I travel quite a bit but seldom as a tourist. The UK has the most liberal rules about cars and modifications. You have opportunities no one in Europ has. Look at the cars you drive.

There is a Billy Connely-sketch about a bishop visiting his old school, this thread is bearing a striking ressemblence.

MAy your bread be sliced and buttered!

Tom De Moor

I'll go with that idea, and cheerfully leave this thread for a lighter one :-)

I used Silkolene Pro S 5w 40 in the Vee, from here at £10.70 a litre -

I know that's not £12, but it's close and if you look on that site you'll see "Amsoil Synthetic Engine Oil (AFL) 5w-40 European Formula" which is available for over £12 for one U.S. quart of it. There's also a Motul 5w40 that's over £12 a litre, and if you're in the uk and go into petrol stations, buying oil from there can be even more expensive.

When i had the 197 serviced the dealer charge per litre of oil must have been around £10-12, it was also fully synthetic 5w40 and was Mobil 1 iirc. I don't have the invoice anymore as it went with the service book, but I'm sure the oil was over £50, £54 rings a bell...

It's about time people started agreeing with me regarding working on cars hehe :-)

Only if you live in a country that has never really had a strong national identity...

In many sectors, they still are.

What has Belgium ever had to offer other than a place for the British to beat France and Germany at war?

That's because everyone has conquered them...

Because they know that if we didn't spend our money there, tax revenues would dive. And they'd shit themselves if we withdrew our payments to the EU.

What great car manufacturers has Belgium produced? Oh, and we still have Prodrive who are probably the worlds no.1 competition car company. Certainly most of the F1 and WRC teams seem to think so.

That was after Yorkshire and Lancashire had moved on from being that...

Neither has ours. You can still get gun licences and anyone over the age of 18 can freely buy air weapons.

So your nationalism is alive and well?

You really don't get it, do you?

No one here has suggested 'saving a stupid oil change'.

You are the one saying that doubling them up is a good idea.

And I've said it's a waste of money - at best.

Usual procedure applies- don't rev when cold, nor idle for any length of time. Vary speed and load, use the gears freely.

When properly warmed through and straight away give it some bursts of full throttle but impose a rev limit of 3500rpm for the first 100 miles, then add

500rpm for the next 100 etc etc.

After 500 or so miles dont be afraid to take it to the red line.

Change the oil after 3000 miles or so.

Tim..

+AD4- Coming from a Belgian, the nation that has only ever exported beer and +AD4- chocolate, that's rather amusing.

True, once you realise institutionalised paedophilia and kiddie murdering aren't cash exports....