What's made you smile today?

[Cheest]

I have had many wise words from various people over the years, one that stuck in my head from a lecturer at university was to “be lazy, if you have to do a job do it once, get it right the first time, over engineer something, make sure you do it 100%, because if you don’t you’ll only have to do it again so by doing something right the first time you’re being lazy in not repeating the task. The other was to use everything at your disposal to make the task quicker and easier. At the moment he’s only 2 but he seems to be getting the second part of it down, he just needs to learn to do things properly and only do them once. lol

A lot of these chrome books are made extremely cheaply, I remember during covid they sold loads of them in the uk but a lot of them couldn’t be repaired if they broke such as the keyboard keys breaking and were only good for the trash if they did go wrong. I don’t really have much experience of them, I don’t even know what hardware they use, I do remember they usually don’t have much storage space.
The thing I find is you can get a very nice Microsoft built laptop like a surface go for only a couple of hundred quid second hand which are strictly a business machine rather than for gaming

One of the things all the Field Service guys would say, snottily, to management was,"Why is it there is never enough for you and your people to do the job right but there is always time for my guys to go out in the field to fix your fcuk ups?"

My old Chromebook is five years old and still works. Sort of. If Mrs.Cheest hadn't offered the upgrade, I'd use it until it died. The 128gb storage on that one would never have flown on my job, but for sitting on my backside in my recliner watching YT vids, it's more than adequate. I know the main problem with it is the replacement board I bought for it. Correct P/N, wrong version.

The new one actually has 500gb ssd and 8gb of RAM. It may have been halfway decent for my job.

 

[irc]

Left-hand drive coolant pipe clips

 

[HughJarsse]

Left-hand drive coolant pipe clips

I suppose you could say that you have to 'hand' it to them.

 

[bugsymike]

Salt on the roads? We don't get half the issues you guys further up the Country get with rust.

Just reading a trade magazine Brembo are bringing out aftermarket Carbon Ceramic Material discs and pads that never corrode, they also have the advantage of reduced unsprung weight for better road holding.
Not sure what vehicle range is covered though.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Just reading a trade magazine Brembo are bringing out aftermarket Carbon Ceramic Material discs and pads that never corrode, they also have the advantage of reduced unsprung weight for better road holding.
Not sure what vehicle range is covered though.

Very interesting but likely to be at a price premium which will make them rather irrelevant for our Pandas? Weight saving on unsprung suspension/brake components is always good, but again, I doubt if many of us will find much advantage in it with our Pandas? I can think of situations where it probably would be entirely appropriate and of great advantage.

Edit. Just thought, I wonder if they will offer lightweight caliper assemblies to go with it and really max out the advantage?

 

[varesecrazy]

Rubys brakes. Theres the 16%. These we spotless and in perfecr condition 1 year ago.

I paid a bit extra for the "treated/coated" discs on the 500, as the previous ones had a pad shaped spot on that just we oulnt get back to a shine

With the Panda I am just going for a new 'Van disc" set,

Waiting for the warmer weather

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Just reading a trade magazine Brembo are bringing out aftermarket Carbon Ceramic Material discs and pads that never corrode, they also have the advantage of reduced unsprung weight for better road holding.
Not sure what vehicle range is covered though.

Given the tens of thousands of pounds that OEM ceramic brakes cost, I can’t help but think they will be very expensive and probably limited to specific high performance cars, maybe aftermarket parts for cars that have carbon ceramic brakes as standard, but for people not wanting to pay £20k+ for the privilege of changing them.

 

[StevenRB45]

Probably not going to do them for a Toyota Auris then..bum.

Gonna have to go easy on the next track day..

What made me smile...saw the New Grandland in the dark.

It is a featureless block of a car but don't worry...

At the rear the Vauxhall lettering lights up Red...and at the front the Griffin lights up white.

I'm sure you'll agree this makes up for the lack of any other design features of note..

 

[The Panda Nut]

I paid a bit extra for the "treated/coated" discs on the 500, as the previous ones had a pad shaped spot on that just we oulnt get back to a shine

With the Panda I am just going for a new 'Van disc" set,

Waiting for the warmer weather

Today I have screetching and squeal, so further fettling when I get the pins and bushes tomorrow. I dodny smooth the leading edges. These pads look super aggressive material. Maybe I bent something.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Very interesting but likely to be at a price premium which will make them rather irrelevant for our Pandas? Weight saving on unsprung suspension/brake components is always good, but again, I doubt if many of us will find much advantage in it with our Pandas? I can think of situations where it probably would be entirely appropriate and of great advantage.

Edit. Just thought, I wonder if they will offer lightweight caliper assemblies to go with it and really max out the advantage?

Headline:
Modified Panda TA breaks 50mpg!!! LOL

 

[The Panda Nut]

Probably not going to do them for a Toyota Auris then..bum.

Gonna have to go easy on the next track day..

What made me smile...saw the New Grandland in the dark.

It is a featureless block of a car but don't worry...

At the rear the Vauxhall lettering lights up Red...and at the front the Griffin lights up white.

View attachment 462372
View attachment 462373

I'm sure you'll agree this makes up for the lack of any other design features of note..

If your going to call it grand.
STICK FAIRY LIGHTS ON IT lol

 

[The Panda Nut]

March 2025. Solar power up 134% on last year. 7 days costing £2.70 . Love it, especially as it also earned £7.50 for the surplus sent back into the grid. We shall have brown bread on sunday under our beans!

 

[The Panda Nut]

Ruby in now Ruby Royce again. New slide pins and caliper bushed fitted, Things of noye. The new pins require a T40 male key rather than the 7mm Allen key. Wow do the calipers move easier. The old bushes looked a bit past it.. After spending time working the pistons until they are really free and fltting the pads, all back to gether and the noise is still there. After ensuring the pads were entirely free I started the car and put it in gear one wheel off. Noise still present. After a firther while I decided it must be something touching the disc, non brake related. It was of course something entirely unconnected, and nothing to do with me The ducks that visit our pond must have been responsible as the backplate was bent. The front bottom corner ias very thing and ridiculously easily bent. Clearly a result of ducks doing either an emergency take off or landing. C'est las vie.

We shall see if this makes the rusting discs go away for a bit. Two pin and bush kits and two bleed nipples and covers came in 2p under £25 I intend to change these things every time I check the brakes from here on. The brakes on Ruby are now clean, repainted, perfect, (and quiet. LOL) Noop now needs checking as MOT next month, no rest for the wicked.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

A study by Which has found that having a Gas hob in your kitchen produces higher levels of pollution in your home than if you lived beside one the busiest roads in london.

Car emissions have been getting bad rap for a long time but if anything this shows that they really have made a massive difference to the pollution from cars. Which is why environmental campaigners are now getting twitchy about tyre emissions amongst other things no one however his making a big fuss about gas cookers, I suspect the next study will target gas boilers and sing the virtues of electric heating

 

[The Panda Nut]

A study by Which has found that having a Gas hob in your kitchen produces higher levels of pollution in your home than if you lived beside one the busiest roads in london.

Car emissions have been getting bad rap for a long time but if anything this shows that they really have made a massive difference to the pollution from cars. Which is why environmental campaigners are now getting twitchy about tyre emissions amongst other things no one however his making a big fuss about gas cookers, I suspect the next study will target gas boilers and sing the virtues of electric heating

What I forgot to say. After allowing the car to sit with the hub turning for 5 minutes, all manner of warning lights and messages. ABS unavailable, Power Steering fault , refer to hand book, warning, engine power warning and EML lit up too. EBD Iight on and all the trip computer data at zero. So dont get stuck in mud or on snow and ice and have 1 wheel spinning or its a £160 trip to the dealers for YOU.
The computer being zero'd worried me a bit. Had something shorted???
Nah just Fiats computerybolllocks. I connected MES and cleared the idiotic faults. Whoopee thecomputer data is all back. Brake faults recurred on touching the footbrake but went after a restart!

What was this nonsense? No sensors touched, no wires disturbed?? Compter at zero then previous data reinstated on fault clearance??? Its all cobblers, unnecessary and uneeicome electronic interferance. Yet again MES paid for itself. This must be 10 times over!

Oh and by the bye, on this 2014 1.2 lounge ABS can be seen and adjusted with MES with just the elm327 lead. No adapters needed.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

What I forgot to say. After allowing he car to sit with the hub turning for 5 minutes, all manner of warning lights and messages. ABS unavailable, Power Steering fault , refer to hand book, warning, engine power warning and EML lit up too. EBD Iight on and all the trip computer data at zero. So dont get stuck in mud or on snow and ice and have 1 wheel spinning or its a £160 trip to the dealers for YOU.
The computer being zero'd worried me a bit. Had something shorted???
Nah just Fiats computerybolllocks. I connected MES and cleared the idiotic faults. Whoopee thecomputer data is all back. Brake faults recurred on touching the footbrake but went after a restart!

What was this nonsense? No sensors touched, no wires disturbed?? Compter at zero then previous data reinstated on fault clearance??? Its all cobblers, unnecessary and uneeicome electronic interferance. Yet again MES paid for itself. This must be 10 times over!

Oh and by the bye, on this 2014 1.2 lounge ABS can be seen and adjusted with MES with just the elm327 lead. No adapters needed.

I tried jacking up the O/S/F wheel on the Ibiza and driving it with the engine when I was looking for the fault which eventually turned out to be final drive bearings in the trans. She wouldn't have any of it - The ABS applied the brake and stopped me being able to spin the wheel up! Very frustrating, I've been doing this, when needed, for many years to check a multitude of problems. Looks like a computer has defeated me now though.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I tried jacking up the O/S/F wheel on the Ibiza and driving it with the engine when I was looking for the fault which eventually turned out to be final drive bearings in the trans. She wouldn't have any of it - The ABS applied the brake and stopped me being able to spin the wheel up! Very frustrating, I've been doing this, when needed, for many years to check a multitude of problems. Looks like a computer has defeated me now though.

Thats progress!

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I tried jacking up the O/S/F wheel on the Ibiza and driving it with the engine when I was looking for the fault which eventually turned out to be final drive bearings in the trans. She wouldn't have any of it - The ABS applied the brake and stopped me being able to spin the wheel up! Very frustrating, I've been doing this, when needed, for many years to check a multitude of problems. Looks like a computer has defeated me now though.

Pull the abs fuse

 

[StevenRB45]

Is this not TCS?

Most none performance cars it should be go off with the button but will come on if wheel speed goes above about 30 mph as it's only off to allow "rocking" if the car is stuck.

 

[bugsymike]

A study by Which has found that having a Gas hob in your kitchen produces higher levels of pollution in your home than if you lived beside one the busiest roads in london.

Car emissions have been getting bad rap for a long time but if anything this shows that they really have made a massive difference to the pollution from cars. Which is why environmental campaigners are now getting twitchy about tyre emissions amongst other things no one however his making a big fuss about gas cookers, I suspect the next study will target gas boilers and sing the virtues of electric heating

I would target the tonnes of aviation fuel burnt that is tax free first.