A wee diversion

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

In these stressful and worrying times I thought a look at something useful and completely unrelated to cars might be of passing interest?

Shortly after buying our house, many years ago now, I installed a gravity fed thermostatic bar shower. It worked well enough but could not be even remotely described as a power shower. Then about 3 years ago it suddenly stopped being thermostatic so was almost impossible to control the temperature. The thermostatic cartridge had failed. The company that made it had long since been bought out by another and they didn't make any parts for it any more. Only option was to buy a new bar unit. I took care to buy a unit supposedly optimized for gravity feed but, having fitted it, I found it just didn't pass enough water to get a decent shower. I dismantled it and it's easy to see the water passages through the cartridge are considerably smaller. Contacted the supplier who, very politely, explained that most modern houses are now plumbed for mains pressure (Combi boilers and pressurized systems) - I should maybe think about a pump? I looked into this and talked to a couple of trusted local plumbers and in the end bought one of these:

https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/salama...nJkiQ-JEjDjf24OuV8emcL0TRNjpMhh8aAoLNEALw_wcB

It's absolutely wonderful! gives a very invigorating flow. Mrs J recons you could strip paint with it! I just love it! There is a problem though. The increased water flow and pressure means that it tends to displace the shower curtain and if you don't notice you end up with the floor swimming in water. I'm on top of this but when guests come to stay it's a bit of a disaster. I looked at fixed and hinged shields but I've never been that keen on them, most I've had experience of still leak, and they are quite expensive. Also it's something else to clean because they look so grotty if you don't. Then I saw an advert for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3wHDTWLxdQ

Looked like it should work and it's cheap (which appeals to a Scotsman) so I bought one and fitted it:







It works very well as long as you get the curtain pulled down tight before installing that magnetic clip.

By the way, sorry about the colour of our bathroom suit. Very "Abigail's Party" don't you think? It was very fashionable 35 years ago though. Thank goodness we didn't go for Avocado!

So there you are folks, hope that was an amusing little diversion for you?
Do stay safe won't you.
kindest regards
Jock

 

[varesecrazy]

Thanks Jock

Yes @30 years ago we threw out the WHITE suite.. for a Very similar shade to yours

Lasted until @8 years ago.. replaced with WHITE.. ooh the uncertainty

Deep Blue..
in the shape of 'clam shells'..

Wouldnt have stayed so long

 

[portland_bill]

Looks like a great simple idea.
Strangely the company who put up the video do not seem to have the product on their website, so they've put a lot of effort into sending customers elsewhere.

I have a screen, but it tends to leak a little. This little device will probably just divert the water away without needing to tuck any curtain in it.

Google has brought up widely ranging prices, from £10 to £25 when delivery is included. Homebase (yes really) still have a website active, offering a really good price of £5, but can't offer delivery, or click & collect, so just teasing really. B&Q list it at £6.36, but with no stock in any store near me, and not available for delivery.

So Jock, where did you get yours? Please.

PS. I like my blue bath. Have resisted changing it for a stark white one. It is also an enamelled steel bath, so whilst a little chilly to step into on cold mornings, it does not flex like an acrylic one.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Oh dear PB, senility strikes again! I ordered it on line but just really went for the cheapest quote I came across and can't tell you who that was. I might come across it in my historic Paypal account and if I do I'll post in here. It really is such a simple idea and as long as you get the curtain tight before clipping the retainer in place it never leaks.

Colour choice is very individual and if you're happy with it then that's just great. Mrs J worked in admin in our local school so got school holidays (unpaid). When we were younger she would take the kids off to her sister's in Devon for the whole summer holidays (I would go down for my 2 weeks) and one year, while they were away, I spent the evenings stripping out the miniscule ensuite shower in the end of our bedroom, demolished the stud wall, moved it up the bedroom by a few feet, rebuilt it and installed a proper bath, basin and toilet. Luckily the toilet in the main bathroom was on the other side of the wall. so the soil pipe was easily accessed and the old shower's drainage was easily adapted to the new bath. I remember waking up on the second day and looking down the bedroom at the absolute mayhem I had wrought and thinking "Jocky boy, I think you've bitten off more than you can chew this time". Some comprehensive plumbing was required but the rest was all quite manageable. Mrs J had chosen the bath before they departed and I managed to collect it in the back of my DAF 33 van (I loved that vehicle).

So why am I telling you all this? It's all about colour. The bath is one of those "sexy" shaped ones and is pink as is the toilet and basin. The wall tiles are white with a pink border on each tile. Pink features large in the rest of the decor. "Harlot's Boudoir" comes to mind as a descriptor! Although I have brushed my teeth in the basin I can't remember ever being in the bath. Mrs J was quite ecstatic when she first saw it and loves it to this day, she can spend hours in there with lots of bubbles in the bath and nice "smellies" around her.

 

[portland_bill]

Oh dear PB, senility strikes again! I ordered it on line but just really went for the cheapest quote I came across and can't tell you who that was. I might come across it in my historic Paypal account and if I do I'll post in here.

Thanks for that, whenever, don't make any real effort.

my DAF 33 van (I loved that vehicle).

Now there's a gem.
At 14 I started working at a local garage (as you could back then), weekends, school holidays. They were a DAF dealer, so I spent a good amount of time around the cars. My first two cars were a DAF 44, and then a 66.
A local butcher ran a 33 van. On Portland (Dorset), lots of hills and one lovely switchback section up to the prison. The van, with its rear swing axles, had a tendency to tuck a wheel under if cornered enthusiastically, easy to do on that downhill section. About once or twice a year, the van would just fall over, usually at slow speed, so little damage to its side. About six of us, plus a couple of hefty butchers, would just heave it back onto its wheels and away it went again, paint to be touched in sometime later.

The front and rear brakes were Lockheed drums, and looked identical to the Mini, but were metric. If people fitted Mini shoes, when well worn, they could allow the wheel cylinder pistons to pop out. That got exciting for the occupants.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thanks for that, whenever, don't make any real effort.

Now there's a gem.
At 14 I started working at a local garage (as you could back then), weekends, school holidays. They were a DAF dealer, so I spent a good amount of time around the cars. My first two cars were a DAF 44, and then a 66.
A local butcher ran a 33 van. On Portland (Dorset), lots of hills and one lovely switchback section up to the prison. The van, with its rear swing axles, had a tendency to tuck a wheel under if cornered enthusiastically, easy to do on that downhill section. About once or twice a year, the van would just fall over, usually at slow speed, so little damage to its side. About six of us, plus a couple of hefty butchers, would just heave it back onto its wheels and away it went again, paint to be touched in sometime later.

The front and rear brakes were Lockheed drums, and looked identical to the Mini, but were metric. If people fitted Mini shoes, when well worn, they could allow the wheel cylinder pistons to pop out. That got exciting for the occupants.

Yes I really loved that van. Had it for quite some years. My daughter later told me that it was the object of both admiration and derision when I would, occasionally, turn up at school to pick her up - apparently no other parent's vehicle attracted such attention!

I never managed to turn the old girl over but the handling could get "challenging" at times. I don't think the rear suspension translated very well from the car application. I remember the very "bouncy" rear end whenever you had a load on board - ie an engine or similar.

Slow speed handling could be interesting too. You'll know this PB, but others won't, there was no differential on the earlier cars - it was introduced on the 46 and 66 - So for the edification of you others, The engine had a dry centrifugal clutch which directly drove a solid aluminium prop shaft which connected to the rear mounted primary Variomatic pulley unit. This was quite a simple geared unit which converted the drive through right angles to drive the pulleys - a bit like a differential in a conventional rear axle but without the diff spider gears. It turned both pulleys at the same speed. It also enabled reversing via a simple dog slider selector (no syncho) like the "crash boxes of olden days. Two belts then separately drove the rear pulleys which in turn, through a step down gear, drove the half shafts to each wheel. The rear pulleys had a sodding great diaphragm spring (like a clutch spring) inside which was trying all the time to keep the pulley faces together so forcing the belts to ride at the max pulley diameter. The front pulleys had internal centrifugal weights which would force the front pulley halves together the faster the pulley rotated. So at rest the rear pulley springs would be dominant forcing the belt to ride at max dia on the rear pulleys and min dia on front pulleys. As speed increased the front centrifugal weights would start to force the front pulley halves together - the faster the pulleys rotated the greater the force from the weights and the more the pulley halves were pushed together whilst the rear pulley halves would be forced apart an so the effective pulley dia on the rear would decrease as the front increased. There was also a large rubber diaphragm in the front pulleys to which engine vacuum could be applied (via a wee valve connected to the throttle) which could add to the effect of the centrifugal weights so that the front pulleys could be held together when in the cruise so the engine wasn't constantly high revving. Here's a video showing it in operation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLuSCpDJ4Xs

It was an unusual car to hear in operation. The twin cylinder engines sounded not unlike a 2CV Citroen but the transmission made it sound like nothing else at that time on the road. You also had to get your head round the gear selector too. The selector was floor mounted just like a conventional gear lever but only had 3 positions. Push forward to go forward and pull back to go back. There was a neutral position in the middle but you selected it at your peril! If the lever was in neutral when you started the engine, especially from cold, the fast idle cause by the choke would cause the centrifugal clutch to drag enough to spin up the prop shaft. Then, if you tried to select either forward or reverse, the selector dogs in the primary unit, having no synchro, would crash spectacularly and, if you achieved selection, the car would jump violently under the "flywheel" action of the spinning clutch drum. You didn't have to do this too often to ruin the primary unit! So you would select either forward or reverse before starting the engine and stand hard on the brake pedal as you turned the key! Later cars were modified (46 and 66) to allow neutral on start up. Then when you were ready to move you just depressed the throttle and off you went. The engine revs would rise by about 500 rpm as the clutch bit and hang there as the car started to move. revs would then rise very rapidly to the speed dictated by those centrifugal weights and, if you kept your foot down, hold those revs (can't remember, around maybe 4000 rpm, PB?) until you released the pedal to cruise when the vacuum took over and forced the front pulley halves fully together to give relaxed cruising at low engine revs. There was no differential action at very low speed but there was once the pulleys started to alter pitch so maneuvering at very low speeds was always interesting when both rear wheels were turning at the same speed. Quite dramatic snow plow effects (understeer) could be achieved on slippy surfaces! The belts came in matched pairs and woe betide you if you tried to mix them up (as I did with used belts on my own cars) because if both belts were not exactly the same length the car would pull one way or the other just as you started to move or came to a halt when those front pulleys returned to their resting positions.

The 46 and 66 design was substantially changed to stop this. The clutch design, still centrifugal, changed from being basically a big lawn mower clutch to being a diaphragm spring type which now allowed for a vacuum operated disengaging lever to be incorporated which allowed for a "proper" neutral position to be introduced. The rear end also changed substantially still with the same primary unit and belt drive to the secondarys but the secondarys here linked together an drobe a common shaft now linked to a proper diff on the output side to the rear half shafts diff action was there all the time. Made for a considerable refinement in the driving experience. Here's a 66 with the diff unit nearest the camera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1U4IMRr2Jw

I've owned both a 44 and the 33 van but, for all it's many failings - which were mostly addressed in the 46/66 - I've always harboured a longing for a 55 Marathon I just think it' a very pretty looking car:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGCuMdD8TNA

An unexpected bonus of the earlier design was that they were quite exceptional in snow, mud, slippy conditions because, with that "non diff" belt drive, if one wheel was turning the other had to too. It had no option to stay still as with a conventional diff.

Hope you enjoyed all that
Stay safe everyone
Jock

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The front and rear brakes were Lockheed drums, and looked identical to the Mini, but were metric. If people fitted Mini shoes, when well worn, they could allow the wheel cylinder pistons to pop out. That got exciting for the occupants.

Again I have to say what a fantastic source of knowledge this Forum is folks. I always thought the shoes were identical! as you say PB they certainly look the same, but I've never laid two sets out side by side. I never tried fitting a complete shoe set but I did reline a riveted set of DAF shoes using friction material advertised as suitable for a Mini. Must have been the metal shoes themselves which were different? 'cos my "bodge" seemed to work just fine.

 

[portland_bill]

Yes, it was the metal shoes that were a metric size.
Funny how these details stick in one's head, when other, arguably more important stuff flows straight through to be forgotten instantly.
Often talking to my brother our memories can be quite different. If we both remember an event, the detail is complimentary, but there are some events one will remember, but the other not, or only vaguely.

I have come across one occasion when the metric shoes were fitted to a Mini. With adjusters backed right off the shoes were dragging, so the owner took abrasive paper to the friction material. In the days of asbestos. Much silliness, as the metric shoes were always significantly more expensive.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Yes, it was the metal shoes that were a metric size.
Funny how these details stick in one's head, when other, arguably more important stuff flows straight through to be forgotten instantly.
Often talking to my brother our memories can be quite different. If we both remember an event, the detail is complimentary, but there are some events one will remember, but the other not, or only vaguely.

I have come across one occasion when the metric shoes were fitted to a Mini. With adjusters backed right off the shoes were dragging, so the owner took abrasive paper to the friction material. In the days of asbestos. Much silliness, as the metric shoes were always significantly more expensive.

This jogged my memory to look in my brake parts spares drawer and look what I found:



So now the question is are these left over from the van (DAF33) or any one of the several minis I've had over the years? Also why the one single bonded shoe? where are the other 3?

Then there are these:



Which have made me have many happy and kindly thoughts about Felicity for which they were spares. But again I wonder why there's only two? what did I do with the other two?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Funny how these details stick in one's head, when other, arguably more important stuff flows straight through to be forgotten instantly.
Often talking to my brother our memories can be quite different. If we both remember an event, the detail is complimentary, but there are some events one will remember, but the other not, or only vaguely.

I can relate to that PB, especially where Mrs J and I are reminiscing about things long past. Mrs J has an almost photographic memory - a mixed blessing - whereas I often think I clearly remember something, only to be corrected by my dear other half, whereupon I realize my recollection is, in some detail, entirely wrong. Annoyingly Mrs J is never wrong!

 

[jackwhoo]

I can advise you to excellent specialists in the repair and installation of plumbing, which you can find here Toronto Plumbing Services The specialists of this company made me basement waterproofing toronto. This company offers patented, guaranteed methods of repairing and installing plumbing and other services. No matter what plumbing or drainage problems your home has, they will help fix it. You can find all contact details on the company website.

Not this again

 

[Brigodee]

In these stressful and worrying times I thought a look at something useful and completely unrelated to cars might be of passing interest?

Shortly after buying our house, many years ago now, I installed a gravity fed thermostatic bar shower. It worked well enough but could not be even remotely described as a power shower. Then about 3 years ago it suddenly stopped being thermostatic so was almost impossible to control the temperature. The thermostatic cartridge had failed. The company that made it had long since been bought out by another and they didn't make any parts for it any more. Only option was to buy a new bar unit. I took care to buy a unit supposedly optimized for gravity feed but, having fitted it, I found it just didn't pass enough water to get a decent shower. I dismantled it and it's easy to see the water passages through the cartridge are considerably smaller. Contacted the supplier who, very politely, explained that most modern houses are now plumbed for mains pressure (Combi boilers and pressurized systems) - I should maybe think about a pump? I looked into this and talked to a couple of trusted local plumbers and in the end bought one of these:

https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/salama...nJkiQ-JEjDjf24OuV8emcL0TRNjpMhh8aAoLNEALw_wcB

It's absolutely wonderful! gives a very invigorating flow. Mrs J recons you could strip paint with it! I just love it! There is a problem though. The increased water flow and pressure means that it tends to displace the shower curtain and if you don't notice you end up with the floor swimming in water. I'm on top of this but when guests come to stay it's a bit of a disaster. I looked at fixed and hinged shields but I've never been that keen on them, most I've had experience of still leak, and they are quite expensive. Also it's something else to clean because they look so grotty if you don't. Then I saw an advert for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3wHDTWLxdQ

Looked like it should work and it's cheap (which appeals to a Scotsman) so I bought one and fitted it:

View attachment 207317

View attachment 207318

View attachment 207319

It works very well as long as you get the curtain pulled down tight before installing that magnetic clip.

By the way, sorry about the colour of our bathroom suit. Very "Abigail's Party" don't you think? It was very fashionable 35 years ago though. Thank goodness we didn't go for Avocado!

So there you are folks, hope that was an amusing little diversion for you?
Do stay safe won't you.
kindest regards
Jock

I hear that Avocado is back in, and, to add insult to injury, fairly expensive.

 

[DaveMcT]

I had a four segments hinged bath shower shield/panel. It leaked if you sprayed water directly at the seals but water running down never caused a problem. I put the shower head rail on the side closest to the screen so spray largely would go towards the wall and never had a problem.

Something like this example
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/900x1400...335709&hash=item5d60901b1a:g:3RcAAOSwBLlVcTb4