Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Kev B]

Hey Tom your current page is the same as the year we were born. Don't tell anyone though they would never believe it. 

[atdc21]

Hi Tom,
Your story of core plugs reminded me of a time a friend had an old Renault laguna. Although it was now getting on a bit it didnt have many miles on the clock, he always walked to work and usually only time it had a decent run was when he went horse racing, anyway one day he rang me and was saying i might have to scrap the renault i have a water leak and been quoted loads to fix it. What had happened was one of the core plugs on back of engine had started to rust away, and a small pin head size hole appeared in it but it looked immpossible to change plug with engine in place, so i said i can try and weld it in situ if i can get welder in. Told him it might not work but we had nothing to lose, so i set about very slowly ( so not to get too much heat into plug) and gradually built up a weld. It lasted for 3 years until he bought a new car 
Bit of useless info for you there lol
PS hope you are warm and well

[atdc21]

They are also refered to as 'welch' plugs

[RED-DOG]

Hi Tom,
Your story of core plugs reminded me of a time a friend had an old Renault laguna. Although it was now getting on a bit it didnt have many miles on the clock, he always walked to work and usually only time it had a decent run was when he went horse racing, anyway one day he rang me and was saying i might have to scrap the renault i have a water leak and been quoted loads to fix it. What had happened was one of the core plugs on back of engine had started to rust away, and a small pin head size hole appeared in it but it looked immpossible to change plug with engine in place, so i said i can try and weld it in situ if i can get welder in. Told him it might not work but we had nothing to lose, so i set about very slowly ( so not to get too much heat into plug) and gradually built up a weld. It lasted for 3 years until he bought a new car 
Bit of useless info for you there lol
PS hope you are warm and well

You did well to fix it with a weld Ade. We tried it once and failed.

Well I say we tried it, we didn't have any welding tackle so we took it to a bloke who did. I think he tried to do too much too soon and rather than fix the existing hole, he just made it bigger.

[RED-DOG]

There were three lorries on the Tank Lane camp. There was an ex-ministry Bedford that was jointly owned by my dad and my grandad. (My grandad on my father's side grew up in horse times and never learned to drive).

Click to see full-size image.

A BMC owned by my dad's Uncle Jimmy Vairy. We used to call the BMC's glasshouses for obvious reasons. Lots of men used to paint over the lower window on the passenger side to preserve their wives modesty. (it didn't matter to Uncle Jimmy, he was a widower)






The third lorry was a Morris Commercial that belonged to Charlie Vairy, Jimmy's married son.

Click to see full-size image.

It should be noted that our lorries were not like the lovingly restored examples in the photographs. Ours were old, much repaired working vehicles with many layers of brushed on paint to make them look roadworthy and avoid the attention of the old Bill.

[atdc21]

Yes, its very easy to blow a bigger hole in rusty metal. What i try and do esp with rusty exhausts if they have holes, is to start off making a bigger circle of weld than required away/around from original hole, and gradually make the weld circle smaller and smaller, until the original hole is covered,by doing it that way once you have the first circle of weld down, each weld in turn has got the previous weld to fuse to, as well as rusty metal. dont know if i explained that very well lol

[RED-DOG]

Yes, its very easy to blow a bigger hole in rusty metal. What i try and do esp with rusty exhausts if they have holes, is to start off making a bigger circle of weld than required away/around from original hole, and gradually make the weld circle smaller and smaller, until the original hole is covered,by doing it that way once you have the first circle of weld down, each weld in turn has got the previous weld to fuse to, as well as rusty metal. dont know if i explained that very well lol

You explained it perfectly.

Now I know where to come when I need some fancy arc work doing

[atdc21]

Blimey i haven't used my arc welder for years 
I have a friend who makes gates and the like, he still uses arc sometimes.
He is a much better welder than me, made me a nice fuel tank and hinged battery box for the banger

[RED-DOG]

While I've been wittering on about frozen stuff over the last few days, the pipes on my Portacabin utility room have been quietly bursting.

When a frozen pipe bursts nothing much happens, it's when it thaws that the shit hits the fan.

I went in this morning to find a very pretty fountain spraying on to the electricity fuse box and the floor under a good six inches of water.

I've left Mrs Red mopping up and gone into town to get some new plumbing. (thank goodness for Wilco)

Wilco is in the arcade, which doesn't open for another 10 mins so I pop into Greggs for a cuppa.

Did you know that Greggs do a proper breakfast now? I didn't, but it seems churlish to refuse.

You can also get an after brekky Belgian bun for 90p. Unfortunately, you can get two for £1.25.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Diet going well then Tom, right?

[typhoon13]

While I've been wittering on about frozen stuff over the last few days, the pipes on my Portacabin utility room have been quietly bursting.

When a frozen pipe bursts nothing much happens, it's when it thaws that the shit hits the fan.

I went in this morning to find a very pretty fountain spraying on to the electricity fuse box and the floor under a good six inches of water.

I've left Mrs Red mopping up and gone into town to get some new plumbing. (thank goodness for Wilco)

Wilco is in the arcade, which doesn't open for another 10 mins so I pop into Greggs for a cuppa.

Did you know that Greggs do a proper breakfast now? I didn't, but it seems churlish to refuse.

You can also get an after brekky Belgian bun for 90p. Unfortunately, you can get two for £1.25.

Click to see full-size image.

I still laugh about you mending your shower and that new washer finding its way back to yours...classic
.

[RED-DOG]

Hey Tom your current page is the same as the year we were born. Don't tell anyone though they would never believe it. 

I didn't know you were my age Kev. I thought I was years ahead.

What am I doing wrong?

[RED-DOG]

I still laugh about you mending your shower and that new washer finding its way back to yours...classic
.

Yes, I still feel bad about that....

[RED-DOG]

Diet going well then Tom, right?

Sigh....

Diet update soon.

[Kev B]

Hey Tom your current page is the same as the year we were born. Don't tell anyone though they would never believe it. 

I didn't know you were my age Kev. I thought I was years ahead.

What am I doing wrong?

Ha ha.