This week's major project is splitting the tractor, to replace the failed oil seal which is leaking oil from the gearbox into the clutch housing. We've got to the point where the only thing still holding the front half of the tractor to the rear is the steering linkage, and I can't remember how we split that last time!
@simon_brooke Never seen tapered splines. Heat and impact might help. Load it up with the puller, heat it, then shock it with say a brass drift and hammer. Best release stuff I've ever come across is a home made mixture of diesel and acetone.
@simon_brooke Well done 👍 Coincidentally I was chatting to a neighbour today who was having trouble dismantling a car wiper mechanism, apparently it has splines on a taper.
@Wen@simon_brooke I'd an HP Deskjet 500 printer for decades, it just kept going without issue. Was still working fine a couple of years ago when disposed of as downsized and nowhere to put it.
Today, we’re looking at Fiat’s mid-engined X1/9. I should logically have done this one after I covered the Fiat 128 as it uses the 128’s engine and gearbox shifted to the rear - rather in the manner of the later Metro/MGF ‘flip’ I also featured recently. The X1/9, introduced in 1972, was designed, and later manufactured, by Bertone. It carried that company’s badge, rather than Fiat’s, from 1982. I saw this one at Techno Classica Essen in 2014.
@davidwilkins Very cute sporty wee motor with fine handling. A pal had one of the last ones, a gran finale, the big bumpers kinda ruined the lines, but still a nice car. The longer he had it the more like him it became, his name was Rusty! 😂
That's all of this year's calves tagged. A stressful evening, but successful. One of the tissue-sampling tags failed (the calf was struggling and I missed his ear), and one yearling who needed a remedial tag evaded capture, but perfection is for the gods.
Pictures will follow – for obvious reasons, they're not on my phone.
@simon_brooke I'd be very wary of anyone who forcibly stuck earings like that on my lugs. Apart from it being sore, them things are hardly on trend, not exactly svelte! 😂
As well as introducing MG versions of its Rover saloons and hatches, in 2002 MG Rover also revamped the MGF sports car, which was rebadged as the TF. The most visible change was a slightly more aggressive frontal treatment. But under the skin, there was a stiffer body shell and the replacement of the previous hydragas suspension with coil springs. Snapped at the 2023 NEC Classic Car Show.
@davidwilkins Not at all sure mid engine was a wise choice, little room for stuff, maintenance nightmare. I think front engine rear drive would have been a more successful layout. More space for stuff, doesn't have to be terrible to maintain. Not that hard to make a fine handling front engine rear drive car that's a bit practical. Mazda MX5 hasn't done badly.
This is extraordinary, and a damning indictment of land ownership in Scotland. How on earth can a private company be in a position to give a capital city’s main bus station notice of closure? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg302gkw779o
@simonvarwell Dear landowner, you'll be delighted to hear that in order to promote Edinburgh as a green city, we have re-zoned the old bus station site as agricultural land. We are keen that local residents should have somewhere close to hand to grow their own produce. Planning applications to turn the ground into allotments for locals will be looked on favourably. We know you will be pleased to help provide a greener future for our wonderful city.
I've spent an interesting hour or two researching cordless vacuum cleaners. Yes, my life really is that exciting. 😃
It's possible to spend hundreds of pounds on models from the high-profile brands. I've decided on a Russell Hobbs Centaur 2 in 1, which I got for £69, incl. delivery. Time will tell if it is any good. Although, at less than half the price of some other models, it is hard to see how it can go wrong.
I had eye surgery yesterday, to clean out the filters in the drainage ducts of my eyes. I was (obviously) nervous about it. The experience was unpleasant but not terrible, and greatly helped by a surgeon with a great chair-side manner.
This morning my eyes feel not much worse than an average morning, and I have an only-slight headache. So (so far) this has been a much less bad experience than it might have been.