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Well finally made up my mind and went with a set of Anthracite CXR's in the end, Also went back to 13" from the 15's and got a set that will completely fill the rear arches, Ta again for the help in this thread

Wasn't sure where this should go... Stuff? Yeah I guess so. Nonsense? Not a bit of it! Anyway, perhaps I'm a day late with this as Mental Health Awareness week was last week, but here goes I've recently (almost) finished building my car, and all along the way this has had me dancing along a psychological tightrope. Due to various factors I have a tendency to strive for perfection, and this can get me into a lot of self-inflicted trouble (and has done in the past!). In a recent post I decided to 'come out' and share a bit of my story, in the hope that it would help others to be more open about any sort of mental struggles they have had, or are currently dealing with: https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/130867-the-lobster-88-se-rebuild/page/41/?tab=comments#comment-1422129 This can be anything from suicidal thoughts, right through to relatively-harmless-but-totally-draining overthinking (something I still do too much - mentally composing email replies at 3am while I'm lying awake, or practicing phone calls in advance!). If this describes you then you're not alone - even within this club - and I have always found the support that comes from all angles when I 'break cover' to be overwhelming, completely the opposite to my original fear of being seen as 'crazy', or being ridiculed, or even excluded. In fact it kinda makes you feel like you're in some sort of exclusive club when people pop up (both 'publicly' and privately) offering similar stories or support and understanding. It's extremely heartwarming. So, I guess the over-riding message is that it is perfectly normal to feel like cr@p sometimes, and that it's absolutely OK when that happens. There is support available all around if you allow it to come into your life. I will personally offer myself as one of these support mechanisms if I'm able to at the time, I'm only a PM away Feel free to share any stories here, you won't be judged and as I said, we'll be part of a (relatively) exclusive club, haha. And don't forget that whatever happens, there's always a fun and engaging toy with a shouty engine sat in / on your garage / shed / drive to allow you to clear your head at the end of a bad day Take care everyone, x

Patrick given the Caterham 620r uses a 6x13 front wheel is there any appetite to pursue that size?

3. Chris K (Scarlet)

Hopefully get some piccy's up for the weekend

Hi mate, Just FYI there are 2 types (LH and RH starter motor) but I believe all fit both ST and BT (might help your search). Also there are 2 different windage trays for BT and ST - if you find a silver top sump, I have a spare BT windage tray 👍🏻

Bit slow with the video edits sorry!

Hey Everyone In 2012 my wife and I adopted this incredible 2 year old boy (Josh) with so many disabilities you'd be hard pressed to find to find someone (even in the press) with more complex challenges to deal with. In 2014 we decided to do the same again and adopted a 3 year old girl (Evie) with just as many disabilities (albeit a lot more life threatening as she needs daily medications to keep her alive for the next day)! They have both come on in leaps & bounds. We were told Josh was never, ever going to be able to sit independently or have a sense of worth yet he's now walking and hacking into peoples YouTube channels due to his intelligence with a computer ... however if you put him near a road he will just walk into it without any consideration to his safety! Evie, who is also blind, was abused in many many horrific ways and now wants to train as a nurse to help others (and she has a good chance of fulfilling this wish!). Two days ago (before her latest seizure) I took her horse riding and the instructors think she, my 8 year old miracle, might have a shot for the British Para-Olympic team in the future ! For background her abuse was so bad she wouldn't allow me to change her or even be alone with her for the first 14 months! Every time I tried she went into a primal meltdown (as her primary carer this meant two or three times a day I had a girl who screamed the house down every time I tried to change her)! As my wife is a teacher, and had a lot of time off compared with me, I gave up my 'office' career as a marketing manager and became a marketing consultant (working from home) ... effectively becoming primary carer to both our kids. And, while it might not seem like it further down, I really do love all of it! So 12 months ago Evie had her first epileptic seizure. I was getting her ready for school and she just stopped breathing and fell to the ground ... only stopping being hurt further by me cushioning her fall (which my elbow ended up in sling for!). There was no trigger or prior warning. During this I was on the phone to the ambulance, performing CPR, trying to keep our son safe and trying not to throw up because I was in a bad way myself with the elbow. It was such a bad seizure that Evie required 8 doctors (plus many other nurses/professionals) in the resuscitation bay at the hospital just to keep her alive. Since then it's happened, to various degrees of severity (luckily not as bad as the above episode), every two or three weeks. There is no exaggeration when I say the critical care unit at our local hospital know me and the kids by first name! Both the kids are also autistic with Josh REALLY into his sports cars (hence my avatar as Roary The Racing Car). Due to this, and the success I've achieved being self employed, I've been able to indulge in my passion for cars ... enabling me to have a selection of incredible vehicles. So I understand I'm very fortunate. I understand there are plenty of people in a far worse situation to me and would love even a little of the lifestyle I currently enjoy. I've heard all the praise before. I know it's incredible what we've done and what we've given up. But both my wife and I get so much from the kids and wouldn't change it for the world. I would like to say I'm good at a number of things but I'm great at making my kids laugh. Not even my wife is able to do it as well as me and if that's the only thing I'm ever great at in life then I'll die a very happy man! And despite all of this I'm struggling! As soon as you adopt social services don't care about the adults. They say they do but they really don't so apologies to any social workers on here ... I know you are restricted by red tape and funding but a phone call once in a while (after the statutory requirements finish and one that isn't threatening BTW!) wouldn't hurt! Friends & family are brilliant at first but don't get what it's like to look after someone with disabilities. Finding childcare is next to impossible, they get offended when we have to cancel on short notice because of illness and they don't invite our children to their children's birthday parties as ours are different. Also don't get me started on being a man as a primary carer in a school carpark ... mothers and school staff really find that strange!!! But that's just the 'little stuff'! The big stuff ... well ... In 2020 I've had to perform CPR on my daughter three times and, despite being a very successful marketer, I can't even describe in words how it feels to save your own child on a regular basis. My relationship with my wife is strained despite knowing how important a stable relationship is for Josh & Evie (two of the regional groups will probably notice I only travel alone ... and that's only in part due to childcare 😞 ). Luckily those around me don't tell me to "man up" (except the Yorkshire WSCC Group but they do it in the right way 😉) but that's how it feels I should react to a situation like this ... however it's becoming more and more difficult to do hence this rambling post on a forum of amazing petrol heads! So thank you everyone who takes the time to read this and thank you to whoever started this thread (in my humble opinion you should be given free membership as you've given people like me a place to offload some things!). I'm not looking for sympathy or even advice. I've been on many training courses both for the medical and physiological side of things and know where to find professional support. However professional support isn't the same as real support and I just needed to unload some things. I know if I read this post again the marketer inside of me will cringe at the shocking grammar but to those who know me I hope you're understand why sometimes I'm chatty and then sometimes not! And finally is there is anyone who feels even worse than me ... PM, email or call me as I know what it's like to feel that low!

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...

Edit: crossed posts with Chris above, how strange! Its been a while so though it was time for a bump... thank you to those who have contributed so bravely, I hope sharing your stories has helped. I had a really tough couple of weeks, then a bit of time being insanely up and down, but have been in a good place for a couple of days now - head feels clear, I'm not rushing around as much, I've been able to make decisions (including one rather big one!), I'm being pragmatic when things have gone 'wrong'. Perhaps the weather helps! Anyway, main reason for my post... my partner recommended a book to me called Quiet, by Susan Cain, which I've been working through. It deals with the differences between introverts and extroverts, and how - despite some cultures and societies being set up to try and persuade introverts to act more like extroverts - there is a lot if power in being a quiet person. I feel like there may be a strong link between introversion and depression / anxiety. We (I say we because I am definitely down the introverted end of the scale!) tend to focus a larger portion of our energy internally for consideration and thought, which isn't too much of a stretch to get to overthinking, and thus anxiety, and then depression not a great distance from that. There's a little test here which can reveal where you sit, if interested: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/tests/personality/extroversion-introversion-test Armed with some of the knowledge and viewpoints in the book, I have started to look at a few situations differently. I find there's something strangely calming and comforting that comes from knowing yourself better - I think it's worth looking at 👍

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. No other album I’ve ever heard comes close. 🎧

What an amazing tale, you have done so well Dave. After the car accident which killed Brian I was treated for PTSD for 2 years courtesy of the insurance company of the biker that caused the accident. A 6-month waiting list for psychology from the NHS. I was shocked about this and at the next governors meeting, I let rip my outrage. In fact, I signed myself off from my mental health team of 30 years standing and I am going it alone. I take mood balancing drugs but keep trying to get off those... I try to take daily doses of the yellow easy to take meds on wheels. I have issues when on the road but just have to get on with it. Niki Lauda was sat in a burning car for the same amount of time as Brian... seeing it on the tv today brings everything back. AGAIN! I do offer advice regarding mental illness, I am happy for anyone to contact me should they need to share or enquire. I did mental health unit assessments for 4 years plus a variety of other NHS mental health related stuff.. I am confident that the comments on this forum will have helped someone and having battled for mental health services I am just so chuffed to read it all. Thank you all so much.

Couldn't agree more. And without wanting to disparage the general NHS, who after way more experience of, through family illness etc than I’d like, I’m aware have good and bad people, good days and off days. Do be be careful who you reach out to. With hind-site, maybe either a more specialist organisation, or at the very least, someone who you know and trust. Like a damn idiot, I spent months early last year, the end of the year before screwing up the courage to admit to a problem that had spun outside my usual control and to ask for help. I had a different nurse from my regular one at my six month check up, and pretty much managed to force myself to blurt things out. To my horror, she pretty much brushed things off with a “there are lots of people worse off” speech, handed m the samaritans leaflet and punted me out the door. I already had the metaphorical pistol, she basically cocked it and passed it back. I sat for more hours than I can remember staring at my “easy solution” on the dining room table. (Stockpiled morphine from after my Mum had passed away). And in the end, the only thing stopped me taking enough, was the thought of who would look after my pet cat, (who doesn’t meet new people well). It was as close as that. In fact in my head, I was already over the line, and just waiting for the actions of my body to catch up. My regular nurse was absolutely horrified when I asked to never be seen by the other one again, (she dragged the real reason out of me eventually). And set I should have just come straight to her, or the Samaritan’s or similar, and that they would have helped. She also told me one of the nerve pain meds I’ve been on carries a heightened suicide risk anyway, so I should have been immediately fast tracked for treatment. Thankfully, twelve months or more on, im still here, and it’s been a better year, but it still has its moments, and the problem with depression and it’s related issues, is they never seem to entirely go away, but creep back up on you when you don’t expect them. I can’t pretend to offer expert advice, and I know how little you do want to reach out when it gets bad. But do make those calls, and if you can’t think of anyone else, i’ll Listen. (Though you’d be desperate by then!) Oh well, I guess that’s more than five people who know now.

Its never too late to discuss anything. I think there is a bit of this in everyone. Everyone's life experience either exacerbates or subdues these feelings to different degrees. I started my first kit car build at age 19 and (wasted) five/six years of my early twenties whilst my mates were off to Ibiza, partying and catching diseases! :-) But I didn't waste that time, I learnt so so so much. I come from an engineering family but I taught myself everything. I recently qualified as a welder/fabricator using knowledge I picked up 15/20 years ago. Why did I choose to do it? Because somebody told me I couldn't. Not content with putting a straight forward Pinto in the car, I bored it out to 2.1 and strapped a turbo on as well. Why did I do the qualification? Because it was never good enough telling people you can do it, but a piece of paper will shut them up! I was always very hard on myself, and still am, I guarantee I would have been diagnosed on the "spectrum" if it was around in the days of black and white. I was always worried working full time would limit me reaching goals outside of work. In 2008 I went self employed and my perspective changed entirely. I was the only person to limit myself, but with that I had to learn to be easier on myself otherwise I would burn myself out mentally and physically. So long as I could go to bed knowing I had given 110% then I would sleep well. They say Rome wasn't built in a day, and the long game always yields better results. The other revelation I had was reading lots of autobiographies. From Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Sugar to Guy Martin etc they all have similar traits. They all have this desire to succeed, or they need to prove themselves, which drives them. This allowed me to take a view and understand that its entirely normal to be so driven. My other half laughs at me all the time, I cannot sit still, I rarely watch tv and I am lost without a project to do. I bought a house last year which is filling the project quota no end, but I still lay awake analyzing every detail of all of the projects. The trouble I have now is that working full time leaves me less time for "extra curricular" activities and I do sometimes feel like I dont have enough time, but I know that it will all work out in the end and fret much less about completing everything yesterday. The other thing I learnt during my self employed phase is to not care about what anyone else says, feels, thinks or wants. I was never one for really caring for the opinion of others anyway, but being utterly selfish about what makes your life better and is best for you is the best thing you can ever do. Your family will always understand and support you (if not they should), as do loved ones. Your true friends will also do the same, those that don't are not worth the time of day. I'm not afraid of saying no to people, and always tell people what I think, whether they like it or not. People may not always agree but they will respect you for it. I never really tried hard at school either, but did well. I started my masters a couple of years ago and I was always outspoken in class, challenging the material and asking questions of the lecturer. I saw other students rolling their eyes and tutting, mostly the basics who would prefer to discuss their holiday plans than study. Anyway, I actually applied myself for once, just to see if it would make a difference. I was mortified to only just make it into the distinction category, which I took up with the examining board having spotted errors on their model answers. It was then they told me I was one of the very few to get a distinction and had the highest marks of any other student nationwide, with some 65% failing the exam entirely. So that shut me up. My point being is that its fine to push yourself hard, don't be afraid to raise the bar higher and higher. Even if you fall short of the bar, you'll still end up higher than the next person. Be humble, ask questions, learn new things and above all ENJOY it! So long as you do your absolute best, thats all you can ask of yourself. Once you learn to realise the things that genuinely matter you wont be so hard on yourself and then you will be in an upwards cycle instead of a downwards cycle. I'm approaching 40 in August and must say that it doesnt daunt me at all, the only concern is of course - do I still have enough time to get all my plans done! 😉 Anyway, thats my lunch time thoughts .... :-)