When not attending to garden tasks what other things have filled your day?

My fav car..1979 Corvette.

 

What a beautiful car @Doghouse Riley

 

The little Austin in the photo still has its semaphore turn indicators.
I took mine off and replaced them with those "new-fangled" flashing indicators.
I taught myself to drive. When I took my test, my examiner wouldn't let me use the indicators I had to use hand signals, but I still managed to pass first time.

The windscreen was hinged at the top, so you could swing it forward for more ventilation and lock it in position. Living in South London, the South Coast wasn't far away. On a few summer week-ends, I and the girlfriend I had at the time, would go down to Brighton or another coastal town and I'd back up the car to face the sea. We'd bring our lunch with us, so I'd twist the windscreen up until it was level, and lock it there, so we could use it as a table, sitting together on the bonnet with our legs dangling over the fascia.

It had no boot, just a metal cover over the spare wheel. You could unlock it and remove it. Inside there was a fold down rack on which you could put suitcases, after re-positioning the spare wheel cover.

A lasting memory, was a moment on a hot summer afternoon out, with that girl, her best friend and her boyfriend who sat in the back.
We had the hood down and the sides screens out. We were in a long double queue of cars waiting to get into Hampton Court car park.
The boy in the back had his new battery operated record player and he was playing our combined collection of Buddy Holly records at full volume.

I'll never forget the sour expression on the face of the middle-aged woman in the front passenger seat, in the car waiting next to mine.

 

I had a 71 Toyota Celica 5 speed stick shift. It was a 2 door, tan with a brown Landau roof. I loved that car !! I got it cheap since it needed a clutch but, I figured, since I didn really ever drive a car with a clutch, I might as well teach myself with a car that needed a clutch so that I could learn without ruining it !!

Like this but tan


I changed my own disc brakes, oil, and, plugs on it myself.

 

Wow everyone had some really classic vehicles. Those were the days.

 

Now this car of yours was indeed a keeper alright. And you've earned my respect again @Anniekay , for changing your own disk breaks! No wonder we get along so well here - We aren't they type of people who're afraid to get our hands dirty.

Anyway this is the car I now drive. It was going to become a pile of junk, but I first restored it - And now upgrading it is a most enjoyable ongoing process.



This actually is a joy to drive for me now, as after I gave it 33 inch tyres (not seen in this picture) - All motorcyclists are scared of it.

 

My most recent cars have been two Honda CRV's

There was "Brucie" (because he was "Spruce Green").

He was ours from new, I bought him when I took early retirement.
It got traded in after seven years for "Rhonda the Honda," in metallic grey.

I sold that after 20 years and bought a Honda Jazz Crosstar a year ago.

The car the kids liked most was the "Life on Mars" (featured in the TV series) Ford 2lt Cortina GLX we had in the seventies, metallic bronze with a vinyl roof, exactly the same as this.

 

Checked my credit card balance yesterday and found British Gas had charged me another £60 "excess."
We've now had four visits from engineers, the last on Monday and it's taken this long for them to realise that the system has too much sludge in it and that's what is causing the low heat.

It was only that I insisted that the engineer on Monday checked the filter, that this was discovered. So I sent another letter, as I've now been charged three £60 "excesses."

I got a phone call this morning from them in reply to my last letter. I explained what was in the letter I'd sent yesterday, and that I was annoyed that until I suggested it not one engineer had checked the partially blocked filter, which was a symptom of the problem.

The lady on the end of the phone told me that they didn't usually check the filter when attending to a reported fault.
I said that was a nonsense. The reason they don't check the filter when investigating a fault is because it's a bit of a mucky job and they don't like doing it. I also said that if I'm paying £19 a month for maintenance, I am entitled to better service.

She said she'd push my complaint up the line. I'm pretty sure I'll get at least two of my £60 excess back. As they won't want me to cancel my £19 a month contract, nor the £730 power flush of the radiators, booked for the end of next month.

 

Just successful rebuilt the engine's cylinder head. Dug into the rusted metal, then punched in pieces of brass - Through which I bore through, (replacing steel with brass). Thus rebuilding everything in such a way, that next time it'll never rust, (brass doesn't get destroyed like steel erodes away over decades).

You guys might not be familiar with such a restoration technique, as people say that it's better to just get another cylinder head. But this is how we do it here - Restoring a condemned engine part, to better than factory new! Because now it'll never rust away!

See these before and after pictures. And judge for yourselves!

Next headache, putting everything back together again...

 

Reorganized where the house paint is stored in the pump room. Also adjusted the pressure on the water regulator from the well water pump to the house to 40/60 psi . Changed the water filters and the UV water light in the filter system.