18 hours ago, Preecematt said:

You and me both, at least I've handed my notice in AND I'm hoping to get 20 days of paid holiday at the end of my notice period.  nice little bonus lol.  Also really like the look of your new 405.  You have any specific plans for it, eg restore it etc

That's good, at least you are on the road to being "free"!  Need to do that myself.  I don't really have any plans for it at the moment, other than cleaning up the interior and getting it through the MOT in September.  After that I'll maybe clean up the paintwork a bit, although it really needs a full respray to look good. 

21 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

I do like picking this up yesterday...  Even if it was a 4 hour journey there (on buses and trains ) and then a 3 hour drive home with the usual worries of buying an old car "sold as seen" - expecting a major engine failure any second!

The bodywork is shocking (it always seemed to be that shade of burgundy which faded and peeled for some reason), but mechanically it is sound and lets just say the price I paid was very reasonable...

Its MOT is due in 5 weeks, but I'm not too worried considering it has new brakes (surprisingly with functioning ABS, as discovered tonight when a grouse ran in front of the car at 60MPH!), exhaust, and good tyres all round.  The only worry is some MOT history of underbody corrosion (the usual areas), but I know a very good local welder who could sort that out should it be an issue, and immediately thereafter it would be going in for undercoating to stop any further spreading!!

I won't say any more as I'm taking over the "do like" thread and you're all probably sick of me going on about 405s, but if it is any consolation I'd be exactly the same had I found a MK1 Focus

Looking good! (Or at least, it will be...)

Will the blue one still be your daily?

1 minute ago, chrisroberson99 said:

Looking good! (Or at least, it will be...)

Will the blue one still be your daily?

Yeah the saloon (which is actually green, although everyone thinks it is blue!) will still be my daily driver, but I'll use the GTX regularly too.

I do like having a short shift at work tomorrow, which means I could get home and mow the lawn, then possibly clean out the GTX.  That's the plan anyway...  I kind of need to do the latter though, as I'm planning on taking my test in that car (because it has better tyres, unlike the Quasar's which are barely above 1.6mm - hardly a great first impression for the examiner!) and if I don't do it over the weekend it won't get done in time. 

That said, the grass is almost knee high too, so that's also rather urgent... 

2 hours ago, Preecematt said:

Your into fixing cars though aren't you?  Maybe do that, I don't know how old you are but maybe an apprenticeship?  I'm looking into a car bodyshop one

I'm 24, couldn't afford to live on an apprentice wage though!  I already have a 'higher' BTEC in car maintenance, was supposed to get an apprenticeship after that but health reasons stopped it back then, as they still would now.

I'm not good at cars either, I know the theory but when it comes to doing stuff I start one job and make 5 more lol.  Not an ideal business model!  I did offer to help out for a couple of hours a day at a couple of local garages for free but they weren't interested due to their company insurance.

I have harvested the first tomatoes of the season, all three of them, another half a kilo of mangetout peas and even more courgettes

2 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

That said, the grass is almost knee high too, so that's also rather urgent... 

You must have the right weather up there in Scotland for lawn growth, together with naturally high nitrogenous soils. I've had the wrong weather and haven't had the mower out for over three weeks, it's either been too hot or too wet, it's not even reclining cat high!

3 hours ago, chrisroberson99 said:

The bodywork is shocking (it always seemed to be that shade of burgundy which faded

Won't that mop out?  That era of reds and before were notorious for fading, but they can be restored with a good machine mopping.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

I'm 24, couldn't afford to live on an apprentice wage though!  I already have a 'higher' BTEC in car maintenance, was supposed to get an apprenticeship after that but health reasons stopped it back then, as they still would now.

I'm not good at cars either, I know the theory but when it comes to doing stuff I start one job and make 5 more lol.  Not an ideal business model!  I did offer to help out for a couple of hours a day at a couple of local garages for free but they weren't interested due to their company insurance.

Ever considered technical writing for the OE manufacturing industry, or indeed for service manual publishers?  Contrary to "'I'm not good at cars either" you're one of the more knowledgable ones on here, and highly likely on your other car forums too.

 

 

12 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Nope, nothing I'm good at lol.

Anyone in most of the world can see that is not true!

Anyone can see on the home page of this site that what Tom says is being read and liked.

So I think I can safely say to Tom:

You can communicate,

You have an engaging natural charm in what you say,

You have good technical knowledge, at least on the car based topics I have seen you write about, and, it seems to me, a sound under-pinning knowledge and understanding.

You can, and do, help others, in ways like:

Helping them cope with stressful and difficult problems on their cars, or do interesting mods.

Brightening our days with humorous but realistic tales of difficult repairs and mods to your vehicles, and even through to reports of dodgy encounters with spiders (Verging toward the "Too Much Info" there, but it worked!.)

That looks to me like a skill set worth having. And it is a job (rather badly paid, but still a job!)

I think I can appreciate the lack of structure problem. When I was at Uni, there was a period when I had no morning lectures. My time keeping drifted until I was getting up in the afternoon, working most of the night, and going to bed about dawn. Many, many years later, being self employed, the problem still arises, and I have to set myself a fairly strict, but sustainable timetable. But it still falls apart from time to time!

It is a fact of Life, the Universe & Everything that a lot of bad things happen. The only way to counter this is to try to latch onto anything good, and hold on to it hard! It is how we Humans have coped with adversity going back into prehistory. Looking at a few of your posts on this site, Tom, I see no evidence of a wasted life, and that is something you can hold on to in times of adversity.

 

I do like spending my Saturday evening with a case of Budweiser, unhealthy food and television.  After a week of work, and then 5.5 hours today on top of that, I need some relaxation!!

I like my new 4K tv, didn't know I needed it until the old one popped it's clogs with a decently loud bang.

Sent from my SM-G930F

I like my new 4K tv, didn't know I needed it until the old one popped it's clogs with a decently loud bang.

Sent from my SM-G930F

I sense the old one was sabotaged

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Not in any way.

Darn thing was only 3 years old.

New one is a smart tv with wi-fi too so Amazon Prime on a nice sized screen now rather than a Galaxy Tab all the time.

Sent from my SM-G930F

2 hours ago, Stoney871 said:

Not in any way.

Darn thing was only 3 years old.

New one is a smart tv with wi-fi too so Amazon Prime on a nice sized screen now rather than a Galaxy Tab all the time.

Sent from my SM-G930F

My parents still have a fully functioning full-HD 42" Pioneer Plasma back from 2007!!! Not the most power efficient (bit like a radiator during extended use lol), but still as good as the day it was bought... :)

9 minutes ago, Incontro said:

My parents still have a fully functioning full-HD 42" Pioneer Plasma back from 2007!!! Not the most power efficient (bit like a radiator during extended use lol), but still as good as the day it was bought... :)

my parents still have a functioning  20 something inch square tv , bang and olufsen . 30yrs old at least they were telling me.  hooked up to there sky hd box!! lol

I do like finally getting round to pruning my rather wild and unruly Prunus laurocerasus hedge, that runs alongside my eastern boundary. It had enlarged itself so much it was beginning to encroach upon the lawn

If it doesn't rain, tomorrow I shall be largely shredding bush trimmings into mulch for the shrubs at the front.

Just two courgettes picked today

19 minutes ago, Incontro said:

My parents still have a fully functioning full-HD 42" Pioneer Plasma back from 2007!!! Not the most power efficient (bit like a radiator during extended use lol), but still as good as the day it was bought... :)

 

7 minutes ago, iantt said:

my parents still have a functioning  20 something inch square tv , bang and olufsen . 30yrs old at least they were telling me.  hooked up to there sky hd box!! lol

If we're doing "my TV is older that yours" -  amongst my TVs, I've inherited a 21" Sony Triniton from the 1980's  It's not used regularly, but it is connected to a Freeview box, a working VHS recorder and a relatively modern DVD player.  It's about the size of a small fridge yet it was considered compact in it's day

36 minutes ago, GMX said:

If we're doing "my TV is older that yours" -  amongst my TVs, I've inherited a 21" Sony Triniton from the 1980's  It's not used regularly, but it is connected to a Freeview box, a working VHS recorder and a relatively modern DVD player.  It's about the size of a small fridge yet it was considered compact in it's day

I own a 2003 25" 4:3 Sony Trinitron which I use as my bedroom television.  I don't use it much, but it was free and works great - so can't complain!  We have a Toshiba 36" 16:9 in the living room which was also free and has been with us for over 2 years now.  I much prefer CRT and wouldn't voluntarily replace our televisions with LCD counterparts. 

Looking forward to Wednesday...pick up a nice shiny Mondeo :D

12 hours ago, SeanW said:

Looking forward to Wednesday...pick up a nice shiny Mondeo :D

Nice, which generation? Petrol/diesel?

Mk4 2.0 TDCI, Titanium :D

It's a beautiful car to drive!!  Comfy, plenty of toys, goes well, whisper quiet - even at motorway speeds (my only real dislike for the Focus) and most importantly for me - considerably more economical than the Focus lol

 

(Who am I kidding? Most importantly it has plenty of toys and goes like stink!! :D)

I do like getting the grass cut (even though it was raining...) and then cleaning the interior of the GTX.  One of the most productive Sundays I've had in a while!

Things I like - this one I do, because I found it funny...

That moment when your younger brother says he is already a better driver than you, when he hasn't even passed his driving test yet 

I do like making the decision to take the GTX for my driving test (mainly because it has a functioning handbrake!) and therefore booking it in for two new rear tyres to replace the Fuldas which were on the wear indicators.  Still technically legal, but not sure the examiner would be too pleased it I took it for the test with borderline tyres!

You've really got me thinking about driving the Focus in my test...I think that I drive it better and feel more confident than I am driving the 208 (Focus has a nicer clutch and is much "easier" to drive). I've also driven it a lot more so feel more comfortable in it. I'll be speaking to my instructor when I next see him! I've always had the impression that doing the test in your own cad isn't a good idea though?

Yours can't be far away now, and I'm sure you'll easily pass it, and if you don't, just do it again! What tyres have you bought?

I like driving the 26 mile journey home from my dad's without losing my rear L plate again and not having someone pull out on me on the A3!

I like spending the day at Leicester space centre and whilst there seeing a ST estate and on the way back saw a AC cobra(unsure if it was a replica or not) and a plymouth barracuda, both of which were at the services on the way back & both of which sounded AMAZING

56 minutes ago, chrisroberson99 said:

You've really got me thinking about driving the Focus in my test...I think that I drive it better and feel more confident than I am driving the 208 (Focus has a nicer clutch and is much "easier" to drive). I've also driven it a lot more so feel more comfortable in it. I'll be speaking to my instructor when I next see him! I've always had the impression that doing the test in your own cad isn't a good idea though?

Yours can't be far away now, and I'm sure you'll easily pass it, and if you don't, just do it again! What tyres have you bought?

I like driving the 26 mile journey home from my dad's without losing my rear L plate again and not having someone pull out on me on the A3!

I disagree, and certainly for me it is the opposite!  I was a terrible driver in my instructor's A3 because I just couldn't get used to the "modern" feel of the clutch and brakes, plus I was uncomfortable driving a car that wasn't my own.  In the 405 (both my Quasar and the GTX) I'm completely at ease, have perfect clutch control and because I drive the car every day, I know exactly where all four corners are and have the spatial awareness required for maneuvering and parking etc...

It isn't far away at all - this coming Wednesday!!

I've gone for West Lake RP28 tyres as they are budget priced (£36 per tyre for 185/65 R14) but actually provide good grip and durability.  When the old Focus' front tyres wore out I bought two of them and they performed very well for their price, almost as good as Goodyears or Michelins actually.

You've lost a rear L-plate?  That's strange to me as I've never had a problem with the rear ones.  The front plates on the other hand, I've had many of those fly off! 

Yeah thinking about it, I'm in the same boat, whilst I don't think I'm a terrible driver in the 208 I feel I drive much better in the Focus and ultimately I have driven it a lot more! I'll have a word with my instructor when I next see him (in over a weeks time! )

Oh they don't sound too bad, especially at that price! I've always been a bit wary of budget tyres and if/when mum danger her car to something better I'll make sure she gets decent tyres for it. The 207 has Chinese rubbish on all four corners which is a bit disconcerting...the fronts are nearly at the legal limit but she won't change them...

How odd, I think it's a bit because there isn't much room on the back of my car so the plate overhangs by the boot handle so it must've been enough for it to blow off! Prior to that driving at 70+ I didn't lose them.