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Well, a nice man came and took my BMW away this afternoon. So I replaced it with this...

That's a selfie? I though it'd been borrowed from the Police report...

Having an aero screen and being to big (read wide) for half doors in an SE, I find in the wet the car starts to fill up with water even with holes drilled. After opening the holes up I found surface water was coming in from underneath. I am not sure if there is an off the shelf solution for this but to justify my 3d printer purchase I came up with this. I am going to try firstly to bond it with PU and if they come off then PU and 4 small rivets.

I too am old enough to know better and refuse to stop putting down stupid teenagers in tarted up Saxos and the like at traffic lights and wide roundabouts, showing them what proper acceleration and exhaust noise should be. I know that 3200 rpm in second is the correct noise and level to set off some car alarms in my neighbourhood. I'm not above blipping the throttle at traffic lights if someone walks by close to the exhaust, blasting their shins and making them jump. I always gear down in tunnels to increase the sound level. Most of the time, I'm a very considerate and careful driver. But I'm happy to say I can still be an immature jerk at my advanced age.

Couple of weeks ago I had my yearly 3 day mega blat consisting of 3-400 miles a day. Day one didn't nearly happen as I was still waiting for the parts I paid extreme engines to next day them, strange how you order next day on Tues, then actually collect them Saturday.. Next day? Yea I couldn't work that out either, I did complain, but.. Nvr mind.. Anyway it's 7am and I should be on my way! But no, I'm sat at the parcel office.. Gimme the bits! Took me till 11.30 to rebuild the engine.. Yes, the same engine that was rebuilt just last year, it's been a right dog of a rebuild. The amount of stuff loose or missing is incredible. I just found this time a keyway missing from the oil pump drive pulley shaft.. Hmmm. Can't of fell off. The same drive belt has 2 pulleys, one comes off the end of the crank and holds on the other drive pulley.. The big bolt holding it on... Finger tight... goodness me. did the engine builder use an apprentice unsupervised? And a worn starter clutch now.. I'm definitely not going back to that engine builder. His reputation to me is zero right now. I digress, my holiday was nearly ruined by incompetence. But I'm on it. If you want it done right do it yourself! Anyway. Huge thunderstorms were forecast for Saturday, yea.... great middle finger to the heavens. Biblical rain from Carlisle to kinlochewe... Nice.. Aeroscreen car.. 2 inches of water swilling back n forth in the footwell.. Quite funny. Other people in normal tin tops were pointing and laughing ha ha ha.. Yea.. Got any soap.. Then incoming! Bow wave hits me face on.. Doing a shampoo advert head throw I brush it off (but in reality I've now got water round my dangling bits which was interesting!) Then my electrics started to fail.. b*******. Speedo, fuel guage, accessories socket for sat nav charger, indicators.. Its a long day and I'm only at Glasgow.. Joy. I got to kinlochewe eventually about 10.30pm! Very achey and wet. But the hotels got a good drying room. I'll sort car out in the morning, zzz Kak I've missed all the food, they stopped serving ages ago. Zzzzz Kak, midges will be out in force, I know, find a breezy headland layby and have a check out of electrics. Zzzzzz Day 2 and it's dry, bright and perfect day for blatting.. Going right round the edge of Scotland then finishing at Inverness, long day ahead. Let's sort out the electrical issues. Driving round the coast a few miles to Gairloch I pull over, checks fuse, funnily there's one popped.. Lil munkey. Replaced, pop! Aww b******* there's a problem. Quick lucky find was the dash board has a bolt on socket for the autocom system, the sockets lock ring had vibrated loose behind the dash, the socket fell forwards, leaving the terminals to just touch dash. Yea sorted, new fuse and done. Also had a popped LH stop tail bulb.. Sorted at a service station. The silencer can had come loose a bit, slid back causing a metal on metal foul / knocking on mounting brackets. Loosen, slide forward, retighten, sorted. Wonderful drive, car worked perfectly the rest of the trip.. Highlight of the day was when I pulled over a a place called First Coast. Purely by chance I looked out in the bay to hundreds of seals bippin n boppin around the rocks.. Nice to sea them.. Arrived just south of Inverness near battlefield of Culloden - Daviot Lodge.. Awesome place, would well recommend! The 3rd day and last day is a drive home. Nearly 400 miles today.. Over the Lecht ski centre, Perth, Edinburgh, A7, Hartside, and home.. Some of the most fantastic driving roads in the UK.. No congestion at all.. Scotland - it is THE ultimate driving roads in the UK Sat working out my fuel stops for next year already.. Lol note to self, NEVER trust you'll get fuel at the village of Tongue. He is shut most the time. Lol, make sure you always top off at Durness 24hr pump.

I'll definitely put Moine House on my next Scotland Tour!

Well many were predicting a Landslide for the Tories, but things have changed, for the worse IMHO. Social media has become the only way certain people get their information and Facebook is literally awash with Labour supporters spreading their views and shouting down anyone who wants to have reasoned debate. there is no checking of facts at all. So it appears now all you need to do to get on is promise everything for free to those who want it. Never say no to anything, refuse to explain how you might make it work and in the case of Labour just paint all Tory voters as rich who do not care. Many of my staff were telling me how they were voting for Labour as he was going to make them richer and make the rich really suffer as there was plenty of money if you just took it off them. It is a sad day as the EU negotiators will know we now have a parliament who will argue over everything and the chances of us getting a fair Brexit deal have gone as Crobyn has told them he wants Free movement and access to the market. New Zealand and Australia must be looking so tempting for many young hard working aspirational people this morning. We as a country deserve better public servants than we have now got and those of us of a certain age will well remember people of opposing views could have reasoned debate in a none shouty way, we now have soundbite bear pit politics instead.

Glad you liked Orkney. You go once then you are hooked on the place. If you want some tips for your next visit drop me a pm

Free to be collected from Bicester area Set of build stands ready for the next builder

My little fiesta ST3 was my favourite tintop car for a long long time. It went back off lease at the end of March and was replaced with a golf gti. The golf is fine. Lovely solid well made reasonably quick. But in the words of James may just doesn't give me "the fizz" yes it wasn't the best made, stereo was unimaginably complicated and the ride was very firm. But when you wanted to act like a knob and wring it's nuts on a twisty the fiesta was epic. I've even contemplated giving the golf to the Mrs and buying another fez. So carry on annoying the chavs and enjoy it

tartan applecross stickers done and Mr and Mrs wee dov have offered to sort the Barbie out as fort this years run if no one has any objections its back across the ferry and a lunch stop at Plocton then back to the Inn . Bob

There is a lovely bay called Melness Bay and this is just a few minutes from Moine house. Its a nice stop over if you are in the area. If the sun is out, its a lovely little beach with a wreck of the "Reaper" on the shore. Mind you...even if the sun is not out, its still a great place. Plenty of great flat stones on the beach to go stone skimming. There is parking by the roadside but I reckon you will only get four cars. Here is a link about the boat. http://www.melness.org.uk/reaper.html

This is Moine House and its always on my "visit and stop" list. It is located between Loch Eriboll and Tongue. You need to stop and just take in the isolation. The only visible sign of been able to feed themselves is a small piece of cultivated land. http://cmy.iay.org.uk/moinehouse/moine.htm

This is Ben Lawers Dam. The roads up to the Dam from Fortingall are spectacular and as it says on the local school sign....."Twentys Plenty"....I am thinking of making that as our motto for next year. As we where there, the waves appeared to be standing in the same spot and it was brilliant to see. If you like walking, then you can do the "Horseshoe" in a good day and this is a ring of peaks that are just before the dam. The road from Fortingall is really scenic and you get forestry, river and "nothingness" complete with rivers and waterfalls in one short trip. For anyone who goes to the dam...The rough road at the bottom has been relaid with smooth tarmac. http://www.killin.info/guide/lawers-dam/

This is a clip from the ferry when going over Scapa Flow. The water was like glass and in areas, the water "boiled" where the different currents met. I was surprised at the lack of shipping and we basically had the whole of Scapa Flow to ourselves. The second clip shows the raising of the German Fleet that was scuttled there. The link will send you to a site that allows you to explore the remains wrecks and it is really interesting. http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com

I thought I would post up a few posts of some of the places that we went and a bit of history about them, in case anyone was interested. This is Corrieshalloch Gorge. Its near Ullapool. You stand on a suspension bridge that carries 6 people. In one of the photographs you can see the bridge in the distance. http://www.nts.org.uk/Visit/Corrieshalloch-Gorge

That would be brilliant. We have already discussed altering the route next year to spend more time on the islands. What threw me though was the amount of ferries required and the expense if you want to take your car.

Yep, handed to me today by our dear Postie just as the rain started, he was not amused. It's a brilliant, brilliant issue! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed and to Peter for gluing it together. Some funny bloke rambling on about stuff on the first page though - good job he sent in a selfie so he can be found and stopped before more damage is done...

Hi guys, you may have noticed quite a big difference with my details, links and banners. I want to let you all know, this is a GOOD thing! Last year A-Plan Insurance purchased Cherished Vehicle Insurance, we have taken on the business here in our Thatcham office. All this means for you is that we have access to more schemes, so better premiums and we have a central telephone number so you won’t get lost in the branch network system. Nothing else changes, for the last few months all of our paperwork has been dual branded and that will continue. We are still the same team, still the same office, still the same relationship with the club! If you have any queries regarding this please feel free to PM me. Thanks Clare

Yep Boghouse Blue gets out as often as John has time to join us!

Good to see Boghouse still in the club Great pickies !

Brilliant, even if it does look like a mini loo! Just remember to fix them on the right way round!

Excellent - should work as the rake will result in lower pressure underneath Westfield, sucking water out

Hi Ian, I have a copy of the Haynes Weber Carburettors Owners Workshop Manual which I no longer require. I bought it second hand on an online auction site and some of the pages are a little grubby but otherwise the manual is perfectly useable. PM me if it is of interest together with your address and I will mail it to you. Alastair.

£35800 list price for a new nc500 kit. He's also got 2.0 zetec Fw in stock for 24k I've just shown the Mrs the link to prove how "cheap" mine was

This is my next one. Already upstairs tempting me. I keep all the boxes and packaging etc in the loft. I Kid myself that one day I will sell them and make a profit

So, I recently received the Lego Deathstar for my birthday! Very enjoyable build.

This is the Italian Chapel that was constructed by prisoners of war. When you visit, your head will not get around, what the place actually is and what the various items are made from. The paintings are amazing. The setting out of everything must have taken hours....the blocks on the walls are all in perfect lines and ...well....everything is just perfect. If you look in the stained glass windows, you can see names scratched in and we wondered if these where the names of the people who made the windows. There is a charge of £3.00 with ample parking. I would suggest that you get there just before it opens as the place is really busy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Chapel

This is the Ring of Brodgar on Orkney. When you visit, you can imagine all sorts of weird goings on. I was amazed at the amount of graffiti carved into the stones but unfortunately the carvings don't show in the picture. I would imagine that they didn't light many fires as it certainly exposed, and the views are magnificent. And its all free. http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brodgar/

These are the Balfour Coast Battery at Hoxa head. There is also another set just a few minutes walk away and also another Battery across the bay. The video shows a view from the first floor of the command tower and this is the level from where the searchlights where controlled from. The Battery's did not ever fire in anger. There is a local cafe but you have to book to even get a cup of tea as its so popular. The three concrete slits in the concrete building are not for guns.They are for searchlight beams. The link below details a lot of information. https://canmore.org.uk/site/9622/south-ronaldsay-hoxa-head-balfour-battery

Got mine yesterday... First thing I do is look for pictures of the Onliest (Lardy) One, outside of my AO area report.

This this one of the Churchill Barriers on Orkney. If you love history, especially naval history then you will love the Orkneys. One thing about the barriers, there is no pedestrian footway for pedestrians to safely cross. Also attached are a couple of pictures that show the visible block ships that where sunk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_Barriers

All done

OK a little early I know but once you start the project...................... the gang on here will respond with any help and advice you need so best of luck.

I am now home....got in at 9.20pm. All but one hour in the rain. I don't know how they do it in Kingsterland without screens and hoods....I was so pleased for mine today. Ears are ringing but what a drive and well happy.

HOME after 11 hours 10 minutes drive, knackered will write tomorrow, night night.

It was running pretty smooth before hand. they've tweaked the fuel emissions so its all legal without compromising the performance. Great run back to Norfolk though!! Must say, all staff were very helpful and polite. Even got shown around the workshop. (spotless) I think I will be taking it there in future for MOT's.

Least you don't have to deal with these cretins up here..........

I sent off my postal vote earlier in the week. I can't ever remember feeling so uninspired and negative about the calibre of our leading politicians. UK politics is in a very very sad state with no vision or leadership at all. It is just populist, short term soundbite driven and with social and mainstream media scrutiny and distortion I can't see it attracting anyone decent. David

Good news at last. It's past it's MOT. A bit of tinkering with fuel mixture on the mapping side sorted the problem. Thank you northampton motorsport.

Pics look great, I owned "the Boghouse" (car on right in last photo) before John bought it off me and having done a few trips up into Scotland in it myself I'm sure he.....and the rest of you.....are having a great time regardless of the weather. Enjoy.

Yes, mad - but great guys (and girl). Just don't share a bag of chips with them (nudge nudge, wink wink)! But if you do, we want to see the photos!

I have been known to participate in a bit of star wars Lego. [/url] The Millenium falcon is 5500 pieces.

Ooh, like that even more now!

The Porsche does look better in the flesh but it does have big gaps in the body. I like the Catreham though as its 'real' Lego. Just bricks mainly so it looks like a Lego Caterham, excactly what it says on the tin. Too right. teaser alert..... You KNOW you want one.

I have got to get me one of these Ohh, I have. I told you I was on the case