Jen

<sigh> No way George or Bertha'll be ready for this one Maybe next time

There's been 30minutes waiting on the high street for ages - so I guess it depends how long you want to be in the pub! I'd suggest using the 2hr ltd waiting in the surrounding roads or getting a friend to buy some visitors parking permits for you. Oh, and the high street works weren't just paving... scary amount of drainage works, finding old bombs and digging up bunkers surrounding remodelling Leigh Road! Luckily that's nothing to do with me! Phew! Mm. Not good is it. I can't drive along that road in my mini anymore Contractors, always a problem. And luckily - nothing to do with me! God I'm getting good at this Council slopey shoulders thing! B)

...The clue was in the post: Nothing wrong with being a Road Safety Officer is there?

Not strictly true, since the Council's took over the parking attendants (Decriminalised parking) hardly any are on performance related pay, indeed as an example ours aren't. But it is worth contesting, not just on the ticket, but look at the lines/signs and legal order. It's so hard to keep everyting up to date there's bound to be something missing/tarmaced over/worn out. If you need any advice you know where I am! As an aside, please don't be these people that park in stupid places though... last week we had a chap who parked on an area designated no parking/loading. What was the problem? Eastleigh high street completely obstructed for 35min whilst he colected his pension check tailbacks/lorries and chaos on the surrounding roads, he only just got there before the flat bed! Needless to say, the majority of yellow lines and restrictions are there for a reason (all the one's in my area anyway!), usually related to safety or traffic flow. And before you all start, no, I'm not a traffic warden - I'm a traffic management and road safety officer B)

Thanks for the advice Tonk B) I think that's why the front 1/2 survived so well - oil leaks! I've got 1 free day next weekend, so when I've finished wax-oiling the Mini I'll have another look and make a decision I was thinking of a modified stronger x-member anyway, build in potential for a rear winch etc.

About £90 for a 1/4 (which would probably suit me fine) or £250 for a 1/2 Link here Compared to the £763 for a Richards whole late IIA Chassis. The £500 would go a nice way towards paying for some other bits and pieces should I decide to go with the half... Mm, a bit more standing in the garage staring into space first me thinks... How's your truck Tonk? Did you do any major chassis replacement or is it all lookin' good?

designa chassis do both a 1/4 and a half... anyone any experience of using them?

?! It's still gonna be a Landy Jon!

Thanks Mark, That had been the original plan all along, but to be honest the front almost 3/4 is pretty much perfect, I've found one hole about the size of a 5p and I've been over the whole thing brushing it down/prodding/poking etc. Tbh the rear isn't that bad and would probably be fine for the next 5 years... but it has been repaired and like anything 2nd hand, I'm not sure how well. That and whilst it's all stripped down (it's literally just a bulkhead and chassis atm) I thought I might as well replace it. ... I donno. So many options! Just seems a shame to throw it away when it appears 75% perfect

Blimey Bish et al, you were certainly busy... we drove around all the time we weren't in the trailer looking for people to laugh at - er, I mean help! and couldn't find any! Still, was a great weekend

Thanks Jon, I thought that might be the case I'd like George to be at 7S next time... but my lack of understanding about gearbox's and fear of doing the bulkhead wrong could be a deciding factor! ..however, there is talk about 'rescuing' a S1 from someone who doesn't want it anymore, so I could be there in a Series!

The blood of said lodger I think would work well or at least make you feel better... (although you have to do it 'cos he's scary! ). ...sorry, no sensible suggestions, as you can probably tell by the state of my lounge carpet

Everyone's always recommended Richards to me, but the chassis was better than I thought and I don't want a hole ( ) one now.... so do we have any recommendation's as to where to buy a new rear 1/2? Obviously I could just go out and buy one, but any experiences of those on here would be welcome B) Thanks! Jen

Get well soon Joe! B)

..but how can you choose? I loved my 300TDi Disco because it did everything I wanted - a decent comfy laning vehicle, a useful 'mobile home' and I even beat a few 90's and Rangie at V8 Camel's punch challenge events! Warm and waterproof. The Camel Defender is just superb - this weekend we off-roaded all weekend at 7S with some big side slopes and rock crawls, camped in the roof tent at night and the awning protected the dinner on Friday night. Not only that but it towed the Shire Shed home with a dodgy radiator. A true Landy, it seems to be able to do pretty much anything B) My favourite though? Got to be my series I've driven it twice, it only had 2 gears and you only had 45 seconds before the cab filled up with smoke, at the moment it's only a bulkhead and a chassis... but it's a 'proper' Landy innit?

lol! So True! There was no danger of that really, there was lots of ruts... I just went down there a bit quicker than I would have liked! lol! Btw Jon, what you doing on here? Only 6 months 'till the next one and we need 2 more series' present

Had a great weekend, even more fun as I got to do a bit of driving around the site and I hadn't done any in ages ..not so fun selecting the wrong gear for a slope because everyone told me 'it's fine' I assumed a 2nd low... but you know what they about assuming 1st rule of off roading - always look. Bloomin' useless me! Still a few quick taps on the brakes got me down safely. Dan would of killed me if I rolled the Camel! Did some superb technical stuff, some fun muddy stuff and everyone got home safely. I hope Alex gets better soon and I can't wait until the next one! See you all there with chocolate, beer and recovery trucks. Jen

lol! Fair comment!

What's wrong with giving to a good cause? Does it really matter if Richard brought it into the spot light? Do we not give to hurricane victims at the time a hurricane hits because it's 'tacky and jumping on the bandwagon'? Seems worthwhile to me, at least the people in the area will continue to have a valuable service that will help save some more lives. Anyway, I'm not intentionally being argumentative, I just thought that was a bit of an unnecessary comment. This is a thread about Richard, so I won't debate the merits of that website anymore, I just thought it maybe of interest to some who read this thread.

Jon - go and do something useful, I have one word: NO! Chris, sadly that was at the garage where I brought the mini... my campin's more like this! : The field across teh road sounds ominous... does that mean I have miles to walk to the loos?

Not sure if anyone's interested, but saw this on Scoobynet - fund raising for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the guys that took Richard to hospital: http://www.justgiving.com/PHRichardHammond B)

Oi you evil men! I'm going to hide Fred in the garage... I'm sure there's a free shelf! (he's far to pretty):

..well I can't wait! I have the celebratory cookies waiting

40mph no problem! We had well into gale force wind and rain on Harris this summer and that was in the roof tent! I'd like to spend it on George, will probably buy the rear 1/2 chassis, but that'll be it until details are confirmed re: America lol! I love Petal! B) Fred doesn't get a V8 ever I'm really enjoying the £200 insurance and £21 of fuel lasting a whole week! B) B) Scoob was £650 insurance and £46 a week, so at the moment I'm just taking it easy and increasing the America fund! (the 1978 Mini I want however could be a whole different story... ) ...is there a WBT(iny)SC?

Only heard this morning Really bad news. Still, stable is good, so hopefully we'll see him back on our screens behind the wheel of something entertaining soon