What has been keeping me quiet ?

[Bonzo]

Been quite a stranger to the forum recently .... What's that I hear you say " Bleeding good job too " :D

So what has been keeping me quiet ?

Well apart from the usual health related issues & the bad frame of mind that comes with it. ( Nuf said about that )

I have been doing a few jobs about the house as & when I can, slow going but with Juniors help we have made a little progress.

Have been waiting for a dry settled spell so as the new roof can go on the workshop ... Not looking like that is going to happen any time soon !!

Whilst waiting we set about the rough embankment at the side of our back garden, more or less a bit of a wildeness, nothing more than Mine waste, rocks, nettles & brambles.
Here's how it's looking today.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/DSCF0167.jpg

Cleared the weeds, excavated most of the rough bank to ground level , used the rocks that were put to one side to build a small wall, piled all of the excess spoil on the remainder of the bank & grassed it out.

Have probably gained about 5-6ft of width to our back lawn ( I use the term lawn, loosely :D )

Will plant some shrubs on the bank later in the autumn, just chucked some grass seed on it for the time being.

Wifey well happy with the result.

Downside, it took me over 4 weeks to do such a small job !

Just waiting for the rain to stop so as the new roof can go on the workshop, when are we going to have a dry month ? :(

More to follow

[Davey]

Good to see you're still about Ronnie, I had wondered how you were getting on. Nice job on the garden, it doesn't matter how long it took you got there in the end and it looks good. Mrs being happy is a bonus.

D.

[vmax1974]

Welcome back ronne doesn't look like it was too small a job to me would have took me years to do that one good to see the wife happy and you able to get on and do a few things weather should clear up soon..... Well I hope so been trying to get time and weather together myself

[flyerncle]

Good to hear from you Ronnie, ongoing niggles are a PITA.

[robo]

Hide the thread ronnie or tt will kick off about the bloody fish pond again:eek:

Bob

[Bonzo]

Hide the thread ronnie or tt will kick off about the bloody fish pond again:eek:

Bob

:D

Time for a little confession Bob !

Most of the rocks I dug out of the bank came from a fish pond that I built a good few years back.
Didn't realise back then that fish ponds & overhanging Sycamore trees are not good bed fellows. :o

Hmmmm, that reminds me, I have recently rekindled my interest in ornithology .
Must post up a few photos sometime. :D

[robo]

:D

Hmmmm, that reminds me, I have recently rekindled my interest in ornithology .
Must post up a few photos sometime. :D

Surely Ronnie that would go on twitter:o Dont mention the pond.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k577/mypickys/hanmansnoose.jpg

Bob

[Bonzo]

Surely Ronnie that would go on twitter

Bob

:D :D

I'll have to find out how to start Tweeting.

This thread is making me feel kinda " Chirpy " :o :D

[ayjay]

Anyone want some FREE pond fish:o

(They keep multiplying)

[Bonzo]

Firstly, thanks for the kind words & smiles chaps. :)

Part 2 is back to a car related theme ( Sod all to do with the Roadster build though )

Some of you may of read that I have a growing collection of Ford Sierras.

Junior has a Sierra as a daily driver & being as they are beginning to get scarce, I thought it would be a good idea to find a spare car as a source of spares.
Spotted a fairly local one on ebay & ended up buying that.
Sierra Sapphire Ghia, 2 litre DOHC, auto gearbox ( Probably why it did not sell for more )
Short Tax & long MOT.
I drove it for a few weeks & all is well.
Going to be a great source of parts, if I can bring myself to break it.

Now to the point.
Junior is bored with the shocking fuel economy of running the Pinto engine, with the current price of petrol, can't say I blame him.

The plan was to rip the DOHC engine from the Ghia auto & fit that into Juniors car.
We started to hunt for a MT75 manual gearbox & flywheel, been looking for quite a few months, nothing but expensive ebay offerings.

A few weeks ago my eldest told me of a Sierra that had been sitting in a field for the last umpteen years.
Tracked down the owner, done the deal & bought this pile of scrap parts home using my trusty old A Frame & Jeep.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/100_0784.jpg

Was assured it was in good running order when parked up & to cut a long story short, once I got it home it did not take too long to get it up and running.
Now starts on the button, drives fine & sounds quite sweet for an elderly DOHC engine.

Bit of a result, that engine & box can go in Juniors car, I can now leave the Sapphire Ghia intact for the time being.

I'll give you all an update of my build progress later.

[Not Anumber]

Is the DOHC significantly better on fuel than a Pinto ?

[robo]

Is the DOHC significantly better on fuel than a Pinto ?

The wheel has not been reinvented here but has been refined. The pinto is a cracking unit as are most ford lumps but things have moved on. The pinto with all the right bits on would knock out some serious power but in standard road form with a carb the later stuff has to be better. Someone wrote somewhere that a carb is just an organised fuel leak and its true really.

Bob

[Bonzo]

Is the DOHC significantly better on fuel than a Pinto ?

Having driven both cars for an extended period, I can definitely say there is a marked difference in fuel consumption between them.

I am talking about real world driving, not put the hammer down & thrash the life out of then. ( That being the case, probably on a par with each other ) :)

100% agree, there is big power to be had from a pinto engine but only if you want to chuck a whole heap of money at it.

As Bob has pointed out, the Pinto is kinda yesterdays technology.

Take the 2 litre Zetec for example, 140 BHP'ish straight from the box.
Still to be had brand new for under £900.

Pinto in a 7 quite cool, in a road car ?, bit yesterday really. ;)

[HandyAndy]

Good to see you back Ronnie :cool:

Ermmm, I,ve got a garden here that could do with some attention :eek: ( garden is a term I use loosely :D ).

all the best Ronnie :)

cheers
andy

[Bonzo]

Ermmm, I,ve got a garden here that could do with some attention ( garden is a term I use loosely :D ).

cheers
andy

Trust me, I know how you feel Andy.

Me & Junior have managed to get the garden looking half decent at the mo.

Junior has been out & bought an outdoor Table tennis table.
I have not played table tennis for nearly 40 years.
You could say it is a joy to behold .... Can't even begin to tell you how much my legs are aching just now :o

Just as well I am tucked up in bed with my IPad :)

Feeling good Andy, my head is in a much better place these days, I guess that is a benefit of keeping myself busy. :)

[robo]

Just as well I am tucked up in bed with my IPad :)

Feeling good Andy, my head is in a much better place these days, I guess that is a benefit of keeping myself busy. :)[/QUOTE]

Hey Ronnie dont tell me mrs Bonzo has got you playing captain Hook:confused: :)

Bob

[Bonzo]

Hey Ronnie dont tell me mrs Bonzo has got you playing captain Hook

Bob

Ghaaarrrrr

Oh yes & the jolly Roger was at full mast :D :D

I wish :o :)

[onedayTM]

no wonder your health abit dodgy shifting all that, great job, gardening genes never passed on down to me. Did i see in another thread that you got yourself a F27?
tony

[Bonzo]

Did i see in another thread that you got yourself a F27?

tony


You sure did Tony.

I have no pictures of the F27 as it is now but here are a couple of photos of how it looked before the last owner stripped her down.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/F27.png



http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/F27d.jpg

I bought it as a rolling chassis minus the alloys.

In addition to the chassis I also had the Screen, nosecone, roll bar, front & rear wings + a few other components.

Also managed to purchase the original full set of wet weather gear ( As shown in photos )

Was a factory built chassis, most of the running gear was either new or as new.
SVA'd in 2003 & correctly road registered, in fact still has current MOT.

Based on Cortina mk3 donor parts, she has a live rear axle so not exactly space age technology but I am sure that it will be more than capable of providing me with some fun.

At the moment I am looking at fitting my Vauxhall Redtop engine & Omega gearbox in to provide a decent amount of power.
That said, I would dearly like to see another V8 engine installed, if I find v8 engine & manual gearbox combo at the right price I may very well change tack. ;)


the good news is, I still have my Roadster & am now in the mindset of seeing the buid to the end.
Should be a lot easier for me as I will not have to prepare the Roadster for IVA until I am good & ready.
I now view the Roadster as a longer term project to be completed as & when. :)

[onedayTM]

hi ronnie, it looks great, you got best of both worlds, one to ride and one to build and as you say no pressures. I actually built a F27 chassis some years ago but when got separated, lost garage when house sold it got left in my mates wooden shed and went rusty as hell, so chopped it up when I saw roadster book. If you know anyone building one Ihave still got rear four links and panhard rod made by hot rod company with all bushes and crush tubes somewhere.
didn't want to throw them away.
Nice to hear your still carrying on then with roadster.
tony