Enjoyed it tonight, but why replace the original magneto ignition system with modern electronics?
There must be plenty of scrappers out there. I restore old radios, and every effort is made to keep the innards original, modern components being used only as a last resort.
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I didn't know it was on - I only switched the TV on to distract the dog from barking at the next door neighbours. This is the most dangerous programme on TV - especially next week when they are planning to restore a 1960s Bristol. I really don't need any encouragement.
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Yes I enjoyed it to. One of the best programmes to come out for many a year putting Top Gear and the like well into the shade. The steam roller project was absolutely brilliant.
Does anyone else share my faint sceptism over the ten days thay have or is this unfair. I would need 6 months or more to complete this work.
However it reinforces my belief that we still have people who can match any other country in the world for basic engineering skills.
Makes me remember the old days when Birmingham was known as the tool room of the world before the 80s decimation of this heritage.
but why didn't I ever have apprentices as nice as this young lady.
Alvin
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Could we send them up to do Mr W's Landie??
(or the newly - trashed BX?)
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> Does anyone else share my faint sceptism over the ten days thay have or is this unfair.
I think there is a bit of 'licence'. For example, in the case of the steam roller, there magically appeared a former for shaping the coal tender. Such a former would have taken a lot of time to design and make. All good fun though, and I agree that it certainly outshines Top Gear (and Driven!)
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Missed the steam engine, but enjoyed tonight's episode. Why use a failed comedian like Lee Hurst to present?
Magneto ingition - maybe the young mechanic didn't understand it fully and felt the need to introduce something with diodes to feel at home.
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I liked the traction engine episode, but discussions with colleagues, who know about such things, suggest there must have been much off camera work. The bore and piston of the engine must have been very worn, if the steering was so worn that it required re-bushing. This didn't feature. Maybe they only did the cosmetic and essential bits.
Lee Hurst wasn't a failed comedian. He used to be funny, unlike many others. I thought he'd jacked it in for personal reasons.
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Yes I thought that wasn't like your usual "Darcy's goodwill to all folks" attitude.
I think Lee is quite poorly.
David
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Is this the same as /similar to "Junkyard Wars" on Discovery Channel? That's the one where there are two teams in a scrapyard and each has to produce a drag racer or a motocross machine in 24 hours out of what's available. That appears to be a US program but has a Brit girl compere. Great fun and watch it regularly.
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I wonder why they have a token black chap, a token lady and a token white chap.
When they try to convince us we are a multicultural society why do they generally ignore the Chinese folks?
Anyone notice Time Team talking all the time of "kilometres" instead of miles. Klicks are illegal in UK, are they not. Kilometre signs put up by councils had to be removed.
Isn't propaganda wonderful! And so subliminal we never notice.
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>I wonder why they have a token black chap, a token lady and a token white chap.
Come on Alwyn, they seem to know the job and make good TV so why not. What do you want? Three of what?
David
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What about Ground force, if that started out just trying to be PC with a token woman then they failed miserably selecting Charlie!!! However I'm sure the raised viewing figures (and blood pressure of the mid life crisis brigade) more than made up for it.
I Hate PC crap!!!!
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I think PC came shining through on that one albeit accidentally. Something tells me Ground Force wouldn't have run to quite so man series had miss CD not been involved somewhere along the line.
Did I hear somewhere her year calendar had outsold Britney Spears Christmas before last? Frightening...
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Has it occurred to you that these might be the best people available for the job at the time? Why does the presence of a black face in a public and/or senior position make people cry "PC rubbish"? It smacks of racism IMHO.
Chris
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Chris wrote
> black face in a public and/or senior position make people cry
> "PC rubbish"? It smacks of racism IMHO.
>
>
To clarify, my crys of PC rubbish are an expression of my dislike of even having to think about it. I hate the fact that the dreags (sp? as in the manky warm bits left at the end of your beer) of society ( racists / child abusers / bigots etc) force the powers that be to impose rules and regulations upon the normal folk. ie Dare you pick up and rub the knee of a young child that has fallen over and hurt it?? I think not... I stopped taking Scouts after attending a course about this stuff, it makes me sick to think about it. ( Child abuse is a strong example but I feel equaly strongly about racism)
Sorry about the rant!
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I agree with you Big Vern. But we don't know the facts in this case. And in my experience, racists do indeed use the "PC rubbish" argument to support their views. As in, "I'm not racist ... but why do we give "them" jobs when our own people are unemployed? It's PC, mate, that's what it is. Simple as that."
Chris
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Suggestions please for improving my vocabulary with a phrase less likely to be missunderstood.
Email me direct as I do not wish to tie up the forum with unrelated topics (Why isn't there a link against ChrisR's name so I can email him directly??)
P.S. remove the loadsa.spam.anyway. from my email address
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Big Vern
I don't put my e-mail address on my posts because I've had bad experiences with spam/viruses, and I depend on this computer for my livelihood.
I think this misunderstanding is down to the limitations of e-mail. To be clear: I didn't accuse you of being a racist. What I did suggest was that careless, off-hand criticism of equality as "PC" can be read as racist, and in fact is often used by racists to justify their views. There are many things wrong with the way equality programs have been managed, but I think we live in a fairer society than we did thirty years ago, and that's partly down to those very programs. Political Correctness is I think something different, and rarely surfaces on this side of the Atlantic.
Chris
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Chris,
If you look at any kids programme or virtually any advert, you will see anything from a token ethnic minority presence to more than 50% ethnic minorities.
How can this be if, as we are told, ethnic minorites make up 9% of the population? This PC nonsense is creating racists where there were none.
Once it is noticed it becomes really obvious.
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Alwyn
Unless you have 100 presenters, you're not going to achieve anything like "ethnic balance" even if that were a good thing. Two presenters (the most common format), one of them black, gives you a fifty percent representation. The bottom line is, do the presenters do a good job? If so, who cares?
Chris
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Chris,
Because I object to the PC fools trying to mess with my mind in such an obvious fashion.
Figures recently produced show the UK could be predomininatly black and/or Asian by2060 along with a complete change in our present culture.
Fortunately there are still some Caucasians who think that perhaps we have a view on that.
Don't forget to order the prayer mats for your grandchildren. My gunsmith tells me his sisters little girl - a Christian - was sent home from school last year because she did not have a prayer mat.
You don't care about that?
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When we had our third child we were given a book on babies by the "health Care system". It was obvious that white males are banned from any illustration! There were scores of graphics but no white males were to be seen. The PC world (and PC World come to that!) has gone mad.
I've mention before tha Tesco's has Mother and Baby parking slots. How sexist is that! And they still get away with it.
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Grahem -refer below ...
Author: ian (cape town) (---.cpt.mweb.co.za)
Date: 30-12-01 08:06
I've recently had this problem - took junior (20months) with me to buy Xmas goodies and something for SWMBO.
Parked in the bay, (The alternative was parking about 200 yards away, and controlling an excited toddler in the busy carpark...) got back, and found I'd been clamped.
Spoke to the clamper, who pointed out it said "Mothers with small children"...
Spoke to the shopping centre manager, explained the position, and was grudgingly released.
Jobsworth W***ers!
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Don't you find it an unusual mix? As Mohammed Ali said " Blue birds fly with bluebirds"
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Alwyn
I'm disappointed you are making these comments as, although I don't always agree with you, I had thought you were a thoughtful and fair minded person.
Your Mohammed Ali quotation is completely from the point. He made that comment at a point when a debate was raging about whether African Americans should or should not be "separate but equal". The Nation of Islam (a tiny minority of African Americans even in the civil rights movement) thought they should - they even thought they should set up an African state. Even so, it has nothing to do with black presenters on British TV, other than to reinforce a racist view that there shouldn't be any.
Correct me if that's not what you meant.
Chris
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I have no problem with black presenters in proportion to their percentage in society but it has reached the point where I appear to be watching the Barbados Broadcasting Corporation.
BTW. when we had a black student from Belize at my company, I spent a week with him, showed him the joys of Chester and I believe we both learned from the experience. He was the top student in the Belize Electricity Companyand his prize was to meet me!
It is propaganda and mind games I object to. These fools are creating racists where there were none. People will choose who to associate with , not be told.
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Makes sense, the original aircraft merlins had twin magnetos and two plugs per cylinder. Always started irrespective of wear or conditions. V12s at 2.5 litres/cyl. take alot of power to get started. Being the Army/British Gov. they would go for the cheapest option every time.
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Isn't Junkyard Wars the same as Scrapheap Challenge or is it the other way round?
Having missed the steam roller last week, apart from the 3 minutes I survived watching the dumbed down explanation of the chain roller bush replacement, this tank episode was not too bad, but why oh why did they paint it sand coloured and not the proper pink desert camouflage per the SAS/Lada's imagination.
(Oh sorry guys I just realise linking Lada and the SAS in one sentence has opened up whole new dangerous ball game!)
Also the restoration worries me in much the same way as the Changing Rooms garbage. It strikes me that just for the sake of drama in making a time limit are too many haporths of tar missed in the rush. Which could mean some poor sod has much more difficult work at a later date in order to undo.......
It also struck me that green personnel carrier, which presumably did not win a prize, looked an absolute minter! Perhaps the TV mob won first prize in category for tank restored by a TV programme, or am I just being cynical.
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FIF,
Repeat after me...
"This is relaxing TV related to an interest of mine (motoring) and I don't need to dissect the engineering."
;-)
I look after cars for quite a few engineers/boffins in the air industry (sort of). Most are very good and let me get on with it. There are one or two who want to reverse engineer every failure situation and spend the next week mulling over it.
As I tell them "let me worry about the nuts and bolts, you look after your design engineering and keep those things up in the air".
David
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Read all about it, read all about it.
Historic day on the forum,
Darcy being a bit snippy.
David W indulging in smiling winky thingys.
What next? Suggestions please!
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Flat in Fifth wrote:
> What next? Suggestions please!
Mark (Brazil) admitting that FreeLanders have some good points?
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David W admitting that this old water based Citroen suspension is a bit daft really... :o)
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Just so I can't be accused of having a poke at others and not taking a personal dig, suppose I ought to come out and declare that I'm thinking of inviting Tomo to join me in an attempt at the Lands End-John O'Groats no holds barred speed record.
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LAS talking sense.
(Yes - he has given me the 'ump)
(Or was that the idea?)
KB
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In principle this programme could be something very special, but like so much on todays screen it was diminished for the majority. I would just like it to be a little less than superficial.
Centurians were a quite extraordinary tank, and were almost a quatum leap when designed to replace the huge number of tank disasters previously engineeered in WW2. It was upgunned to 105 mm by the Israelis using a British gun and APDS shot to increase velocity of armour piercing rounds. It had wide tracks and could achieve a high turn of speed and proved oustanding in Korea and the 6 day war. It was an evolution in performance, when compared to the outstanding Russian T34 the best tank design of WW2.
The Meteor engine was fitted less its Merlin sisters 2 stage supercharger and chucked out approx 700 BHP. It was not popular with the Isralis, who preferred the reduced fire hazard of a Diesel conversion.
I would have loved to have contributed to its rebuild - Like the Whittle jet engine a wonderful piece of clever engineering.
Regards,
Julian
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