Night Train

There's money in plumbing, electrics, plastering and joinery but nothing at all in furniture. I still love the job though, but I can't afford to play Land Rovers anymore. Though that could be to do with being an environmental architecture student and having a house to rebuild. By the way, what does IIRC mean? I've not come across that before. Anyway, we're off topic.

If you like. I had to give up my job and study full time for two years and then sell my Harley and equip a workshop and then start making and finding clients. There's no money in it though so I teach it at college two days a week.

As a bespoke cabinet maker it pains me to say I do use B&Q drawer runners quite a lot both for my own work shop storage and for some of my clents who need or want full extension drawers.

I had access to a wind tunnel when I was at Middlesex University but I was doing experiments with fluid flow from about 10 years old (placing toy cars in the smooth flow of water from a hose pipe and assessing the turbulance by where air bubbles were trapped against the bodywork). I can make up a wind tunnel using a big perspex box with my work shop dust extractor attached at the outlet end and a stack of drinking straws at the inlet end to smooth the flow. A smouldering sash cord would provide the smoke. It would be difficult to guage the wind speed at that scale but a small anenometer might do it. It would also depend on the accuracy of my collection of Land Rover models. I was drawing trucks with air flow conditioners attached in 1974 when I was at school. Not sure when they finally appeared on real trucks but one of my teaches took my drawings home to show her husband who was a designer... I'm not accusing anyone but one does wonder sometimes.

B&Q have a crappy website (I hope you are reading this, B&Q) and it is next to impossible to find stuff there. It is easier to go to the store and look in the hardware aisle. Ebay has some. 45kg isn't too bad, near 100lb. If you need more capacity then you can double up on them, leave a 15mm gap between the sets to make it easier to install when you have removed the drawer though. Found the B&Q page.

I don't think it would be a boundary layer on a Land Rover. Boundary layers form with very smooth flow over an aerodynamic shape where the flow becomes laminar. The turbulance caused by a Land Rover would prevent any laminar flow from forming. It would cause turbulance and eddies of rotating air that travels with the vehicle. It is the same sort of airflow that allows truck drivers to keep their mirrors clean with a strip of rag tied to their mirror arms. The air flow swerls around the the edges of the mirror and causes a low pressure against the mirror glass. This sucks the rag onto the glass and swishes at around wiping the mirror clean. The door mirrors and the widscreen edges would cause a similar effect around the area of the door glass.

Those drawer runners are available from B&Q in a range of lengths and can also be full extension so 600mm will pull out 600mm.

I've not done a wind tunnel test on a Land Rover but I suppose I could do if I really have to. A 110 will be lousy. The sharp edges will cause lots of turbulance around the windscreen and the back of the body. If it was nicely rounded that would make a huge difference. I did a real life test on my Skoda Octavia estate for fuel economy a while ago. On a regular 230 mile return trip motorway drive: leaving the two roof bars on increased fuel consumption by 11%, opening the drivers side window added 15%, tyre pressures low by 10psi added 5% and was scary. This was based on regularly getting 60mpg on every standard run, same day of the week and same time of day, and making one change at a time.

Always the way. I ended up with three second hand 20l jerry cans in much the same way. It was worth it to save the fuel.

The pedal lock I used to have fitted in a second and removed in a second as it was so well designed. The removable gear stick was something I took with me if I was only stopped for a while. Ultimately, when I was working in London it was less trouble to use the security everytime then it was to locate a stolen vehicle and replace all the missing gear.

The sump doesn't have to in the centre of the tank, it doesn't have to be a part of the tank at all, just lower then the tank. It could be a small capacity tank that is tall and thin that is joined to the base of the main tank by a large tube. Each time the main tank sloshed fuel around some will run down the large pipe and into the sump and that is where you pick up from. The sump tank just needs to be big enough to last as long as you are sideways for. Depending on the size of the joining tube you might need a breather from the sump tank to allow it to fill quickly.

My Jackall had a lot of use before I got a winch. After I got a winch I tended to use it most for wheel changing, spreading and clamping when working on my truck. Then I got a professional 21/2 ton trolley jack and stopped using it for wheel changing. It now only comes out for those awkward situations where only a Jackall will do the job. I moved a safe with mine last time and I was on the last few inches of the 48" beam lifting the safe under the top of the safe door frame to get the safe onto rollers. Any bigger and I would have liked a 60" but a few blocks of timber under the foot of the jack would have done the same job.

It must be reported as the truck driver will claim from you as your vehicle hit his. The trucks claim will then be added to your claim against the other car. Unless you are quite happy to walk away with nothing at all and the loss of your vehicle then you should be claiming for the value of your vehicle and possibly a hire car to cover your transport needs, any injuries and any other costs arising from having to be off work, spending time getting it sorted, recovery of your vehicle, the disposal of your vehicle etc. If yours is written off then remove anything of value that is not part of the original vehicle.

I'm with Direct Line and they didn't have a problem with me driving my Dad's Discovery on my driving other cars cover. They said that it was fine as long as it was in emergency situations and not as my regular drive. However, you will have no help or support from either insurance company's legal protection should you be involved in an accident where it wasn't your fault. You will have to fight your own battle to prove it was the other party's fault.

But it is exactly what I would fit if I still had my 6x6.

The Full Metal Jacket sounds like a pedal box I used to have in the late 70's early 80's. It was just a steel box that with slots for the pedals on one side that could be placed under the pedals. The lid was another overlapping box that went over the first box trapping the pedals with two layers of steel. The corners were rounded so that it couldn't be easily attacked. The top and bottom sections were held together with a bar that went from the base of the bottom box through the top of the lid. The top and bottom were held apart by a coil spring and there was a knob attached to the bar where it came through the lid. The lock was a slam shut latch inside the box. It was simple to use single handed. Slip the box over the pedals, place both feet over the lid of the box and pull on the knob drawing the bottom of the box up and locking it. The lock was in a position that made it difficult to attack with a drill when it was fitted.

I mentioned in another thread about some of the security I had on my S3. The gear lever snapped off at the base one day so I welded on a twist lock byonett socket and made a 20mm diameter hardened steel gear lever that was removable. When I parked up I removed the gear lever and inserted it into a welded socket in the foot well that allowed me to bar the three pedals and then pad lock it in place. The gear lever went under the clutch, over the depressed brake and under the accelerator. The transfer box lever was then shifted to neutral and padlocked onto a 6mm plate welded to the side of the bulkhead. I had a keypad isolator under the seat where it could be felt but the numbers not seen, a hidden keyswitch inside the dash panel and a keyswitch inside the front wing. The key switches and keypad didn't just isolate the electrics to the engine but also cross wired all the lights and horn so nothing functioned. There was also a very loud and penetrating bull horn on its own battery in the dash so once it was sounded it was complicated to switch off and deafening to the driver. I did similar to an MGB and included a fuel pipe shut off valve. I also pushed the seat fully forward and padlocked the seat runner under the seat and then fliped the seatback onto the steering wheel and U locked the head rest to the steering wheel. The head rest on an MGB is really difficult to remove. Where we parked the company vans at night we also chained the axles to the road and chained the vans back to back. Things we thought of but didn't do as it would have been illegal was razor wire in the dash to deter hotwiring and, the best untried idea, the noose of piano wire fitted around the foot well with the loose end passed through a hole in the floor and attached to a drive shaft. As the thief drives away the noose tightens around their ankles... ...then you just have to identify the feet and trainers left in the footwell as you follow the trail of blood down the road.

My gut reaction would be to go for one with a cast body rather then a pressed metal one. If you skip the Clarkes one in Machine Mart then I only know of Hi-Lift and Jackall. I would rate both as good kit, very capable and well made. I only got the 48" due to space in my first Land Rover but, if we can locate a supplier, I would happily get a 60" beam to swap with it. I am tempted to make a log splitting blade to replace the clamping head as I spend more time working with wood then Land Rovers nowadays. Just had a look on Ebay and there are some there. I would say that if you want to use a clamping head then the Jackall head is better as it is a socket that bolts to the beam whereas the Hi-Lift one is a cast plate that bolts to the side of the beam. I managed to bend and break a Hi-Lift clamping head on my friend's jack many years ago - he got the Hi-Lift and I got the Jackall to compare them.

Perhaps what you really need is one of these things. Note the rating in the Q&A.

Wetwipes work as well (well that's my excuse for having some in the car!). But definately the wet soapy water on a bit of kitchen towel or tissue and left to soak.

The only thing I will say about bikes is 'Don't buy a Harley Davidson!' The after sales and customer care is rubbish and all they want is club membership payments for a new pin badge every year. Having said that, they hold their value. I sold mine and built and equiped a workshop with the money. Shop around, a lot. My ex's dad used to get fresh bike every 6 months and he always found good deals. Most of the dealers knew him though as a regular.

There isn't really a good way to do it to be honest. Tyres is the safest as long as you pump back up before driving off. I suppose using a 2 ton hydraulic puller, as used for body work repairs, might be a safer bet. There are 5 ton versions too in case you want to find other uses for it. You would need the pump, 4 ton or 10 ton, as well but you could hook it between the chassis and axle and then pump it closed. The release valve on the pump will allow a controlled release.

Put the earth clamp right next to where you are welding.

Can you reach from underneath? You might just have to remove more stuff to get there. I usually remove all the cables just to be sure but I have also welded on vehicles with both the battery and the alternator still connected. Sometimes it was ok but other times the alternator failed shortly after so it isn't worth the risk.

I think on the spelling front I try to spell as best as I can and I will check if I am sure it is wrong but I also produce typos when responding quickly to something and I often don't get the chance to edit the typos out. I think that spelling should be good but allowances made for those who produce typos and when trying to name something that is just awkward to spell. Text speak should be for texting only as it is on every forum I've used except handbag.com. I use another site to discuss environmental architecture and on there they like to keep it on topic but do also have a 'Gossip' forum to allow people to have light banter on anything (most of the time). It works fine except that for whatever reason it is an anonymous forum so folks make comments and snipes at each other while hiding behind the anonymity. That isn't so good. I also use a 'girlie' chat forum and do all my mindless chatter there and then come here for the sensible technical stuff.