Today in the workshop .....

[Cato]

I reckon a rare piece like that is worth a fortune to a collector, and much more useful than a coin or stamp with the Queen's head facing the wrong way.

I got it years ago when an ice cream van workshop was being cleared out.

 

[Morris]

I'm always surprised when cars come past me with this sort of stuff in dangerous places on the windscreen.

Unfortunately it's frequently the driver.

 

[Keith 66]

Today in the workshop I actually did some work on the Morris 1000 pickup. Its been too long & its taken me nearly two weeks to unbury it from the junk & bits that had covered it.
Its too bloody cold to work outside on boats & stuff so its a light the workshop stove & get back into it.
So today i actually cut some new steel & welded it into the truck, Bumpstop repair on wheelarch before new flitch panel gets welded in.
The elderly Cebora Stag mig set lit up & did its stuff. Bit blobby at first but i was happy with results once the welds were linished back.
Hoping to get most of the right hand side welded up this week.

 

[Pete.]

Using my patented (it's not, help yourselves ) valve seat facing technique that issue's sorted.

Drop a suitably sized ball bearing onto the valve seat, give it a few taps and voila. The valve seat being fairly soft brass, and the ball bearing being hard steel, means that it crates an even, flat dish on the seat face.

View attachment 524953

My dad's GS850 would overflow the carbs regularly. The hardened needles had a tiny ridge on them where they seated on the same spot of the cone. I drilled the seats out a tiny amount and caused the needles to seat a little further up the cone then re-set the tabs to get the float height correct - no more flooding.

 

[Cato]

Monday morning, dark, cold and snow. I don't care for it.

 

[Cato]

First up today will be to get the internals cleaned up on the Tillotson carb ready for the rebuild kit arriving later this week.

 

[Cato]

The stuff has come through for the KickBack show in Malvern. The benefits of getting in with an early booking is having a decent spot (top left).

 

[Robotstar5]

Looks like you have control of the power for that side of the hall, you can disconnect the competition

 

[Cato]

Looks like you have control of the power for that side of the hall, you can disconnect the competition

Anytime I see power at a place like that it reminds me of Josh Fiddler's (Peter Butterworth) reply to a request for anything additional in Carry On Camping "Pound."

I wonder if Michael O'Leary watched that as a child?

 

[Cato]

The XS650 tracker project went to its new owner today, so the clear out and rationalise has begun in earnest.

 

[dobbslc]

Looks like there's two barbers stalls competing for the beard wax brigade.

 

[Cato]

Looks like there's two barbers stalls competing for the beard wax brigade.

He couldn't have been further from the stereotype in age or appearance, and we took the front end & rear wheel off so that he could shove it in the back of his Squashedcow.

 

[Cato]

That's the Tillotson carb ready to rebuild when the parts arrive.

 

[Robotstar5]

Better make a start on cleaning the engine now as it's going to look odd with shiny serviced bits bolted to it.

 

[Cato]

Better make a start on cleaning the engine now as it's going to look odd with shiny serviced bits bolted to it.

The plan at the moment is to get it running and moving under its own power. Once it's at that stage I'll see if anyone wants to take it on as a cosmetic project with the spares package.

If not then it'll go back in the corner until I get chance to do whichever comes first from making it pretty, turning it into a Kettenkrad, we get a big fall of snow, or I drop off my perch and it falls to whoever's clearing out the workshop.

 

[Keith 66]

Today in the workshop cleaning welds on the truck i bit myself with the angry grinder. Nice deep wide gash across outside ofhand, thumb side, fortunately no tendons or big blood vessels cut, i have a couple of duct tape sterry strips across it holding it together.
off to orset minor injuries unit, think they will want to stitch it. Cobblers, it was all going so well!

 

[Keith 66]

Just got back. 3 hours wait but a cheerful nurse sorted me out cleaned it all out & half a dozen steri strips plus a tet jab. Lucky it wasnt deeper.
Waiting in the coridoor with a cross section of humanity. Couple of women with grandad who had fallen & busted his head, finally got seen & told take him to A&E. So they kicked off effing & blinding. One would have thought the clue was in the name "Minor injuries unit!".
At one point someone about 30 yards up the coridoor let out an absolutely massive fart, Of course i loudly remarked "Nurse!", My wife had a sense of humour bypass & dug me in the ribs "This is not the place" & sat there gimlet eyed. Out of all the people one geezer my age obviously remembered Derek & Clive & started to chuckle. That set me off.
The rest looked at us as if we were mad. Cheered me up no end.

 

[Cato]

No matter how many fuel/vacuum adapters you make you always need to make another.

 

[Cato]

Talking to the Snap-On rep this morning she was saying a couple of reps are knocking it on the head as their 5 year contract is up this year. She also said a couple of garages have gone, and a few more are teetering. She's struggling to get money out of the fitters too.

Looking like 2026 is going to be a bumpy year in the trade.

 

[dobbslc]

Same in the construction industry at the moment, scratching about in London for the bigger jobs as no-one wants to spend the money now.
The property investment bubble has burst and there's a surplus of office space empty nobody wants.