Hello Guys!
Well, it’s been 10yrs or so since I last posted here and I’ve been doing other things, as they say.
I thought I’d give a final update on the Punto van, that I heavily greased with Castrol C L grease.
( sorry about the formatting- I’m using an iPhone to post now)
I sold the van on at 13yrs and the grease was still protecting the black subframes 10 yrs after the second application. I was amazed at the persistence of this grease, and it seemed impervious to the general low pressure road spray received by the central subframes.
( I never pressure washed under the van)
But the end result was a 13yr old van with a literally pristine underframe and sump.
As I wrote here many years ago, the sump was greased every year with high temperature grease.
This van was super reliable and cost - from memory- around £200 over all those years in total repair parts.
As for me, my interest in vehicles waned a little in the last few years of the van’s life with us.
I still serviced it myself fully, but as I undertook a lot of long distance air travel in retirement, I became less and less concerned about the van.
Now here’s something from my youth all those decades ago!
I remember meeting a man who, seeing my obvious dedication to the ‘vehicle of the time’
told me “ the car is here to serve you. and not you the car”
Of course, being the car enthusiast I was, I laughed at that, and continued serving the car as though, perhaps it was on an alter in some mysterious realm where touching it up with a Halfords paint tin, actually came before dinner...
I’d sort of ‘automatically’ moved on from that in the last days of the van, as though it were some intrinsic survival mechanism- perhaps generated by these somewhat oldish bones being subjected to cold flagstones.
I set a cut off point at 70yrs, for self car servicing, that is.
And bought a new car, which, honestly I’ve no more interest in than the washing machine...
Oh, well I’m interested in that lol, but truly I’ve moved on and just drive it. Let a garage service it ( yes, really) and only wash it about every three months.
I’ve reached the point where ‘the car serves me’ and not me it...
Not that that’s any better of course- I've just lost interest in cars.
There have been so many other things taking my interest instead, six trips to Darwin, for example where I’ve been photographing and filming wildlife at Fogg Dam, and crocodiles on the Adelaide river.
But, that’s another story, as they say;-)
I’m going to post this now, without spellcheck or even proofreading- I used to post on a tiny EE pc - wow, 10yrs is a long time!
Best
ex ‘oilrag’
Edited by garlio on 03/12/2020 at 19:28
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Incidentally, I’m using a ‘throw away’ google email address to post,
I’ll never check it again after this registration.
Thanks
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I’ve found out about HJ being taken over.
Avant, can you close my account please, I’m no longer interested if HJ is not running the show.
Thanks
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Very good to hear from you again.
I'm not going to disable your account: if you don't want to be involved, just don't post. But I hope you will. Not much has changed: latterly HJ very rarely posted on here and we continue to exist as a source of information and advice -cum-chatroom.
Although the forum doesn't make money directly for the owners, it's a means of drawing people's attention to the rest of the site.
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I thought much the same as you, Avant, when I read this last night. I remember Oilrag's contributions as always worth reading.
I don't feel as if the sale of the site has had any effect on the Back Room, but of course people must take things as they find them. We continue to discuss, argue and offer advice, much as before. But I do hope we hear from "Garlio" again.
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Nice update garlio. I certainly remember your posting name and can't believe it's been 10 years since you were a regular!
All the best for the future.
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I remember the name, glad you're still keeping well
Can't say I blame you for losing interest in cars
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Big dump of railway track grease in a local siding which I'd thought of trying for this sort of application. I would only have needed a little, and it would have been very cheap, but they've just fenced off the track. Cameras too, so I'll never know.
Not the same make, but same idea.
momar.com/item/18375/railroad_track_grease
Reduces wheel slippage, apparently, which seems a bit counter-intuitive, though rails are slippery.
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