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@David tuckerIt was good run mate and nice location for a hearty breakfast and lashings of hot coffee! Very cold on way up at 1oC and misty too. Toyota Celica owners club there showing off and some nice cars in the car park too. I am going to organise a WSCC event there for either March or Aug/Sep? Trip back was clear skies and warmer (8oC) but eventful as there was a bad accident North of Stow-on-the-Wold so we were diverted off down a single track road that gradually deteriorated into a mud bath...I was following a Range Rover so not much help as he just plowed through! Had to treat it to a wash after... How do you fancy an evening meet before Xmas for grub and a pint - oh yes and to plan out some stuff for the New Year onwards? Chris

In Spain..reading his profile...... suitable location for a holiday

Nah, they’re too busy trying the ‘ 4 sprung duck technique’ from what I’ve been reading...........

Maybe he/she is hibernating, or even worse declared sorn 😲

That's a great photo Jude! One to cherish I am sure Glad you are finding ways to manage at the moment - I too find it hard with less light (as does my partner), but as you've said just trying to do *anything* really helps. It can be tough to remember though, especially when you are tired and have little motivation. I've had a tough, up and down, but generally positive few weeks. A few big things have happened which would normally completely sink me - slightly cryptic examples but something serious that wasn't meant to happen has, and something important that took a lot of work and was meant to happen didn't (both through no fault of my own) - but have managed to keep my head above water and see things in a different way to how I have in the past. The exception to this was Saturday morning when I got myself in a real mess. Symptoms of that carried over to Sunday but I kept going (via distractions!) and finally had a decent sleep last night, so I feel human again today! I've been using a mix of distraction and reflection to keep going recently, rather than pure distraction that was my previous go-to. This seems to be less draining so despite little sleep, I'm not ruined by tea time each day Perhaps this was because distraction techniques used to make me feel guilty. Sounds odd but I saw it as being 'selfish' and spending time on myself, when I should / could have been doing something else more 'useful' or helping someone out. But I'd still feel totally drawn and compelled to carring out said techniques because it was pretty much the only way I could find focus in a brain that would otherwise be overwhelmingly buzzing with a huge number of thoughts. My partner, Jane, has been really supportive of this. Her family have always employed a 'I need some of my own time sometimes' mantra (completely the opposite to how I was brought up!) so that has released my guilt for spending this time 'on myself'. I've also realised that, while it doesn't always have to be about doing something that gives an end result (eg. just reading a book is a good selfish distraction), a lot of my 'end results' are fairly special. In the last 18 months - amongst other things - I've transformed two gardens (to the point where we now have loads of visiting wildlife in one and grow enough fruit and veg in the other to noticeable reduce what we have to buy, especially during the summer), researched, designed and fitted a wood burner to the correct standards, trained for and completed a triathlon, ridden coast to coast for charity, designed and built a bed that folds up against our spare room wall, taught myself to TIG weld, built a car (a few of you will know about that one ), and more recently built myself a bike frame (using the same mantra as with the car, do things a bit differently) and this last week bought a 2nd hand keyboard and proceeded to learn to play at a rate which has astounded other pianists. Yet while all this has gone on, I've still managed to build and hold down a healthy relationship, got myself into the best physical shape I've ever been in, kept my business going despite tricky times, and fended off all the crap a seriously complicated divroce could throw at me (though this is still a work in progress, sadly, and it may be about to get even more crap). My point in all of this is that despite any troubles or how 'crazy' you feel sometimes, I absolutely guarantee that each and every one of you out there has a special talent or skill, which is something to be proud of. Never forget that and use it to your advantage! I ended up writing a lot more than expected - but perhaps, hopefully, someone else will read this and think 'oh, it's not just me who feels like this' and that will be a small positive step...

Has @OrangeCrush been caught by Tango Man (or more likely his wife). Gone very quiet. Maybe even deeper undercover?

He is not SORN, he has been out test driving, well passengering actually

Good question but I suspect not, anyone going to prove me wrong?

I had the same problem, but I persisted with it and finally got through. Try ringing around 6.00-7.00pm both his landline and mobile (plus leave a message), he will answer in the end. Decent service when you do get hold of him, I’m well pleased with mine.

I’ll be there!

Maybe sent to Barnsley without a exit passport!

I found your write up inspirational. @AdamR Reading between the lines it seems like you are not being good to yourself. Took me ages to learn that and to not feel guilty about everything in my life. It's only recently that I do nice things and just think how lucky I am to be able to sit and read, stop somewhere nice for a glass or cup of something delicious. Of course I always leave believing they think I'm nuts but hey.. I need to work on that, or should I bother.. Rhetorical!!

Have you tried the mobile number on the contact page?, the landline just rings out but i got an answer straight away last friday on the mobile.

To add a little about type 9’s as said above they can be engineered to handle power and there are a good range of builders and gear sets available. Pay your money and get your choice. The strongest and best geared standard boxes come from v6 cars 86 on. These have a larger bearing on the layshaft and can be identified by having An external lump (bearing carrier) for the larger layshaft bearing seen on the outside held in with 3 bolts. These boxes also have better ratios. Not all is plain sailing, the boxes are still all old and need inspection. The v6’s have longer input shafts which need changing. The bell housing needs to be modded to account for the layshaft bearing carrier, In my case I’m building a 2wd box out of a v6 4x4 box and 2wd and there are quite a few details making it interesting. Mostly uprated boxes will use Standard casings with the v6 Larger lay gear bearing and then a spacer off the inner shaft to act as the needed larger inner race. My previous “good” professionally built close ratio HD box spun this spacer on the shaft and .... not sure if it was a builder issue or not. The builder is no longer about so this build will be my own and if it goes bang there is no one to blame except me

Anyone going in a Westie ? 😝 see you there Andy & Becky

Yes, he does know his stuff, although if you go and see him allow plenty of time because he will really talk you through why his 'boxes are better than others! Oh, and if you go there you will have an interesting view of some 6 speed gearboxes made by someone else which a certain company now send to Steve for service or rebuilding. I'm not sure that I can say whose 'boxes they are, nor who sends them to him, because I don't know if it is public knowledge and I wouldn't like to cause any trouble for him. He did 2 'type 9 'boxes for me, one went into my old sprint car, and although it wasn't huge torque it was 272 bhp at the flywheel, and rev'd to 9,000 rpm, and had a very strong fierce clutch, it never gave any problems at all, and although I sold the car 4 years ago, to the best of my knowledge the car still runs with the same 'box on sprints/hillclimbs, and trackdays.

Absolutely - realised that hence the smiley face! 😁 More of an etiquette reminder 👍

Looks like a total steal - I have the 60" version from the previous year and I absolutely love it.

Nice to see lewis come out and admit a mistake rather than the usual bulls*** excuses a-la Vettel.

The other job for this month was trial assembly if the engine and transaxle in the chassis. Some time later in the cars history it was fitted with a Honda S800 engine so before the chassis goes to paint I wanted to be sure that the engine mounts were still in the right place for the imp engine. For now I'm just using a scrap gearbox and an old engine till something more suitable is built. In the advertising literature for the car it was stated that the engine and box could be fitted as a single unit to ease assembly. Encouraged but this news I set about trying to squeeze everything into the small engine bay but there was just no way it would fit from any angle. Disassembled again the transaxle was slotted in first and the engine dropped in and bolted into place. All the ancillaries and manifolds were then fixed into place to check for clearances.

It’s simple as I want exhaust exit on Right hand side to keep my noise sensitive wife happy !! Plus 200bhp would keep me happy !

Sadly, it was late, alcohol had been well, ahem, consumed, and got caught completely out of the blue with a simple, harmless “campfire questions” type game. Before you know it it’s that instant slam in the guts whammy of the fight or flight reflex cutting in, or in this case a complete mental freeze like a rabbit in the car headlights. Trouble is, when suddenly you find your brain has just jumped back to some prehistoric mode, it’s very difficult to explain why you appear to have instantly turned into a bit of a d**k, which of course then just piles embarrassment into the mix, and makes it worse! Been trying to work up to apologise to those who probably thought I’d gone mad, or was just being an awkward ****, but daft as it sounds, it’s still to raw; that horrible, hot feeling of shame just boils back up and takes control! No matter how hard it is to actually practice what you preach though, I can only say the same thing as others have, talk, find someone, sometimes it’s easier if you don’t really know them, there are lots of services out there, and talk. To that end, I can’t promise an expert ear, but if all you need is an ear to listen, my contact details are all over my posts, just reach out, pm, email, mobile, it doesn’t matter.