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1.4? Very impressive. Any idea what it does on the 13psi? Quietly lurking and enjoying this whole saga. i think it's around 7 bhp per psi , so another 28 bhp = 190 bhp . it may be a bit more , since the turbo is in a more efficient range at 13psi . it feels a big step in performance from 9 to 13 psi . Spec is, 1.3s cam , mpi head , slightly ported ,10.1:1 cr ,t25 garret turbo off a navarro 2 , water to air chargecooler .2.5" exhaust . lpg on a megasquirt2.
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You are driving a 1,4 8v on LPG in an Astra Estate? Must be a real burnout wonder? Thom it trundles along ok thom . That was 9 psi boost i normally run at 13 psi boost . regards robert
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The stately pile is starting to look cosy now! If your swapping your legs remember there is 3 sizes of wheel bearing nope those legs have the 2 litre driveshaft flanges in them so too big for my car . I'm swapping the discs pads calipers , even then i got caught out on the disc id ,the new ones are vectra i think , so need a thin spacer ring , the ones i took off were fiat or alfa romeo i think , and needed a thicker ally spacer ,so i had to get those thin rings off the hubs , was a pain .
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Was the astra emissions on LPG? if so they seem very high my range rover was .13% CO and 79ppm HC on LPG thats with a old high mileage rover V8. yes kevin , on lpg , a longer duration cam , and being sat for the winter doesn't help , however i think this particular 1.4 8 valve has done about 150 k miles now .
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morning chaps , this week i have mostly been eating a bloomer ,thick toast is such a luxury... i thought i would treat myself , to the detriment of my waistline however . in other less vital news , i have hung a picture .. its definately looking a bit more homey .. once it warms up a bit i will put the final white gloss on the window surround, and then the 2nd curtain and tie backs . Astra NEWS : i have an mot ! huge relief . slight disco tail light prob was sorted with a wire wiggle on site , and the emissions were awful compared to normal , co was fine at around 1% but the hc was 1100 ! drawback of a engine left unused with v hard plugs in ... a good blatt around should clear that up , however limit is 1200 , so all fine .....normal co is about 2-300 . one problem was a dragging front disc , so when i got home i took off the wheel and caliper to investigate .. i had to put the caliper back on to push the piston out , but , as you can see, the piston may have shuffled off its mortal coil and is not really good enough . i thought " i wonder what i have in the spares department ?" off up the hill to look .. ooooo... whats that peeking through .. yurrrp.. i had no memory of calipers as well , so this was a great surprise , also my discs are not good , and pads down , this whole lot can go on the car .both sides ! it looks like new discs and pads and calipers that have not done a lot , the rubber dust seals are much better than mine . bonus all the bleed nipples came free . lastly , heres a graphic to look at . the red is the power used from the grid per day , and the stage one gangrene colour is the power used by the house each day .the difference between the two is the power created from the sun by the panels of purest Aztec black obsidian . it turns out i have had to join the local Aztec church , to get maximum power from the panels of purest Aztec Black obsidian , but it's been well worth it , the P.O.P.B.O have doubled thier output provided i perform the necessary rites each morning , these involve a pint of goats blood , a small bowl , and a flute . I have to lean forward on one foot , put the flute into the pint of goats blod , in the little bowl of ivory , and play an AZtec melody entitled, "Dawn Rising gleams the vital fountain " that's the rough translation from the Aztec , the original was vfdsgrdgfasb eeverg bythgfb. q. apparently the tune bubling through the liquid creates a frequency that activated the obsidian SHARDS embedded in the panels , and causes thier alien inteligence facets to follow the sun more closely , enhancing performance . gets me out of bed too . Having lately been accepted to the Aztec church inner circle , i now know there is another high level of efficiency attainable , however this would involve building a 67 ft tall ziggurat , and the blood of 12 and a half willing virgins , and , as mr Cryo , the tvr man who lives in the coldest house in the northern hemisphere pointed out , finding a virgin in this area may be a problem .Of course , bearing in mind my sex appeal , ans general gywatemalyness , the willing part would not be an issue . regards robert
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Feb 28, 2024 20:51:27 GMT
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Following the whole heating thing with interest as most will be forced into this type of "eco friendly save the planet system" is it working out or do you think it was perhaps oversold? its a little difficult to make a definite decision , much more data to gather . i don't feel i was really sold anything per se , i asked to be called, they called , they came round and did the survey , i specified i would deff have to have panels to offset the pump costs , they came round to my way of thinking and fitted the panels . i think that it may well be that , although now if cold , windy, and overcast ,i could use 15 units in a day , that's 10 units more than before ,but also i'm not using 4.5 litres of oil , which at 72ppl is 3.24 pounds , and at .29 ppu is 11.2 units of leccy. also if its sunny i make so much leccy ,on two days i only used 3 units a day . now i have effectively disabled the immersion heaters in the buffer tank box , and gradually brought the heat of the rad water down , and done a bucket load of reading about the whole subject , i am using less and less power . i have gone onto octopus agile so my unit cost will be much lower too , apart from 4 pm to 7 pm . so its all evolving and hard to be absolute about it , i will say that if you have no panels , and want 20c in the hs , i can imagine some shocking bills . my house is very different now re heat retention , whereas before if you turned the heating off , you would be cold in 10 munutes , now its a hour before you get much colder . regards robert
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very neat phil , yup anti freeze finds gaps like nobodies business .
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Are you going to re plaster the wall around the fireplace? It would look really smart if it were smooth & white like the walls. I'm sorry Mark , connecting the words 'smart' with 'Roberts House' created a warp in the space time continuumniumnum . it's staying brick and unsmart
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Feb 25, 2024 17:06:56 GMT
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You almost lost me at beans as I have an allergy that gives me a trout pout Lesley Ash would be proud of if I consume them 😂. However, as usual top work turning a fail into a win 😎 Thank you SK , appreciatedamundo . last week was restore the period cupboard week . goes in here .. and was removed in a hurry so the insulators could do that wall , if you remember , i also knocked off 2" depth of lime plaster too , so the insulation would not venture into the room so much . first thing to do was make the uprights out of old scrap wood .. then the shelf battens .. then the shelves trimmed to fit plank by plank . I then offered up the facade , and marked out where to hack away the brick edge .. i found a old diamond disc left here by the previous ,so used that to cut a 1" deep slot down the wall , then a hammer and chisel for the side cut ,those blue bricks did not cut well ,the rest did.. this made a lot of dust ,but now i could fit the facade and screw it to the shelves which i adjusted forward to suit ,then screwed them to the battens . also drilled into the bricks an screwed into them . gabby did the inspection for me ,, i then cleaned the insides and outsides of the doors.. and , hoping they would still fit , screwed them all on .. voyay ! it all fits . such a relief to have the room back to how it should be after the tsunami of ECO4 work.. next i initiated hi fi protocol 57 , i cleared the other cupboard , and removed enough shelving to get the speaker in like so .. and then did the same on the other side ,along with the old hi fi too .. stealthy ! a couple of interesting things are , i wonder if this , directly under the rayburn chimney , was the top of a bread oven .. and i found a coin from 1942.. just think , when that was minted ,the british isles didn't even know if they were going to win the war . what else ,, oh yes , i found a lovely original sapphire workshop manual for a tenner .. which i was thrilled with cos i thought i was buying a reprint ,,this is soooo much better . also i solved the curtain rail problem in the drawing room , where i wanted it to sit close to the glass not out in the room . i bent a bit of copper pipe , and exntended it to fit .. bought a lo ad of metal rings and bobs your thingy .. really happy to have curtains again so i can use that room at night with no audience, it's much cheaper to heat than the sitting room . i'll finish on a picture of Gabby the multiverse travelling cat , as she re-materializes from Huonnn-Battat , the parallel world where cats are in charge, and humans catch mice for them . regards robert
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Last Edit: Feb 25, 2024 17:10:29 GMT by ivanhoew
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brilliant inventiveness and initiative , well done chap .
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oh god i have raised the safety police squad ! Do understand old chap that it's purely a collective self interest. Who else will provide us with turbo tvr's, lpg astras, baking, cats, and tractors all in one thread?! Fair point and well made ! A slight diversion from the norm , if there actually is a norm in this random life bubbles thread of ineptitude mixed with a modicum of idiotic stubborness ,today the subject is , BAKED BEANS . for the last few weeks i have been successfully forgetting to buy myself some baked beans , and so , as is my wont ,i set myself a penance of buying them from the local little corner shop , at huge expense, to shock myself into remembering to get them next time i'm in aldi. All well and good you may say , and i would concur , however , continuing the gradual creation of a body of evidence that early onset stupidity is accruing in my boko , i bought my beans , brought them home , only to realise i had , and not for the first time in my life, been caught by the "beans with sausages" trap . for a blissfull moment i thought i had missread the label , so took a closer look .. Nope . POX. after a cry , and a bit of a lie down with my blow up comfort teddy/doll/matron... i rallied bravely and came up with a plan . i opened up the foul work of the devil , the hoofeed one , the dark brother who's name must not be mentioned , etc etc , and i picked out the revolting pollution bit by bit .. and lo it came to pass , i now had purests bean content , with no vile pink fingers in it . all was good and i had my beans with my supper . HOWEVER,,now lurking, muttering to themselves , was a bowl of "things" in the fridge , that i had to deal with . on with the hazmat suit , rebreather mask , and radioactive materials 2' long tongs , and i extracted the foulness , and was about to through them in the biohazzard waste lead lined bin , when i had an idea , what would happen if i put then in my roast chicken dish , would they pupate into something totally "other "??! So thats what i did ,and LO AND BEHOLD ... Much to m surprise , and relief ,total yummciousnessnosity ! so , there you go , if you have a tiny pink sausage , and no idea what to do with it , don't give up . regards robert
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no thats original house wall , they did the other wall, behind the books .
oh god i have raised the safety police squad !
never fear chaps , luckily having a lot of experience measuring co in my rolling road testing of medusa , i have a few co monitors, i keep one in the bedroom , and they are quite amazingly sensitive , and very very loud .
no sign or smell or co in the bedroom the last 5 days , i think it had snuck up the stairs due to me making a smoky fire and not much chimney draught , i have found out that the fire hood needs sealing to the chimney at the top , where it narrows down , so i am going to get a load of rockwool , wrap it in tin foil , and wedge that in all the 1" slots around the hood .
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Last Edit: Feb 18, 2024 9:02:01 GMT by ivanhoew
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Good Morning Compadres, this week i have mostly been eating seedy bread ,feta, and raisins. Going back to the nice tight chest in my bedroom , a slight prob occurred .... i had a fire down stairs and came up to find a funny smell and some faint miasma of ghostly mist in the room . i levered the chest out , and decided maybe possibly some smoke was coming through where i had removed the skirting board for clearance .. it was the work of a moment to slather on some blocking the gaps stuff , and while i was in the mood , i went out, bought one of these .. and crudely hacked off the skirting , so the chest is not such a tight squeeze and i don't have to sit on the floor kicking it into the gap like a stray camel with a hangover .. next day i had a go at putting back the shelves in the drawing room , i actually did initially follow the lines the insulation chap had drawn when i asked him to extend my lines i had put up ,so i could use them again , however i had to redo one support , you can see how out of true his line as .. bit better with them up and off the sofa .. its a real pain having to redo all this stuff and no mistake , but worth it in the end for the insulation . speaking of which .. time for the Grand Window Return .. getting this looking remotely straight, with the random lack of any consistency to the new plastering was a job and a half , but i got it done , i was very happy with how the vertical window box insets came out , bear in mind these were done in one pass with the circular saw , and are varying in width as they go up , total variation was over 5mm .. just a load of filling sanding and painting to do , that multi-tool i bought should be great for insetting the wall cupboard that has to go in next . What Else ? oh yes , i had to build a Gabby proof shield so she didnt get acrylic filler on herself, the little noodle . on the leccy front things are looking up .. i only used 3.8 units yesterday , and made the best solar so far .. i have made a few more changes , i found that the 9kw immersion heaters were set to kick in if the water temp had not reached required temp after 10 minutes of heat pump action , so i changed that to 60 minutes , this slows down the warm up which is fine by me , and means the water heaters never kick in . also i am heating the water only when the panels are kicking out a goodly amount of power , so its not taken off the grid . also had the smart meter fitted .. octopus bloke phoned up at SEVEN AM !!! omg , and i had to drag myself up for 8 so he could fit it , but its very usefull for tracking down hidden leccy losses , i found out the pump is using 30w all night and the panels 50 watts all night and a pulsing heater charger sends that up to 200 w regularly , so i am going to experiment with turning it all off over night and see how they like that ! ASTRA NEWS ! After finishing the tank fitment as far as i could , i tried to start it and it was v reluctant , i put the hot air gun on the injectors and , as you know , it fired right up , so they were deffo gummed up . got some inj cleaner , undid the hose , poured it in , and with the gas turned off span the engine ,with the plugs out , and saw thathe level dropped an inch .i went and had lunch ,then span it over some more , then connected the hose and turned on the ga to push the cleaner through , span it , put plugs in , fired up . spluttered a bit then caught on all 4 . acid test was next morning , in 5c , whereas before cleaning it would just not pick up for ages , and run the battery down , and then need the charger ... what would happen this time ,? did the cleaner work ?? THE WORLD NEEDED TO KNOW !! Well ,stuff my boots and call me Marrisa , the pole dancing ingenue/houree of renown , famous for her thighs of steel ,where by sheer inner thigh/pole frictional vibration she can create a frequency capable of shattering any champagne glass within 10 miles . where was i ? oh yes . it blimmen started straight up ! like ,dare i say it ....a normal car . and also did the same the next morning . mot time i think . in other news , i have evolved a new crumble recipe . amazingly i still have eatable apples on the ground , i collected these a few days ago .. washed and chopped .. then my new low cholesterol, no butter , mix .. 100 gms flour , 75 gms demerara suger spot of olive oil all mixed up mit das ger finglez packed down ready to cook.. that was sunday ev afters sorted . noice. lastly , just for variety , here's the tvr engine bay from the 90's. regards robert
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Last Edit: Feb 17, 2024 9:31:03 GMT by ivanhoew
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Feb 12, 2024 12:55:36 GMT
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ivanhoewHad it come as part of the grant? Mind if I ask you which company is doing the work? no DR i joined octopus , and to get on thier schemes for solar/heat pump/batteries i had to apply for their smart meter . work was done by eco4 renewable heating ltd.
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i did have a fire in the big fireplace , and the house was only about 14c in the day but i found that ok , its sunny and clear today so far , so it should be a good one too , and of course , in summer i may build up such a load of credit it might cover the winter costs . time ..will..tell.! Have they fitted you a resale meter so you get paid for excess you generate? That's not a normal part of the eco 4 grant but well done if you've got it! being fitted on wednesday
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Wood fires only for us. Also, although I'm sure my wife would disagree, 20 degrees is far too hot for comfortable sleeping. completely agree Igor , to me 15c in the day , and 17c in the evening would be warm , at night i'm fine with 12-14c in the bedroom . i think a key part of the acclimatization is wearing enough clothes , and not sitting still for ages , get out there and do stuff and then when you come back in it feels warm .
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I think heat pumps only work on super insulated and sealed modern homes? Maybe a combo of heat pump oil and log fires is the way forward? you replicate my thoughts uncannily mark . once the inspection is done i may redesign things a little , although , having said that , yesterday i only used 7 kw from the grid , and it was quite chilly , i think if it's at all sunny , and above 5c , it all works quite well , the house used 10.9 kw , i extracted enough solar 6.8 kw to put 3.3kw into the batteries , 2.3kw put back into the grid . and the rest fed the hs leccy . i did have a fire in the big fireplace , and the house was only about 14c in the day but i found that ok , its sunny and clear today so far , so it should be a good one too , and of course , in summer i may build up such a load of credit it might cover the winter costs . time ..will..tell.!
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Feb 10, 2024 14:59:18 GMT
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Thoroughly enjoy your updates and writing style. Just wanted to say thanks for the entertainment and laughs over the last few days while I've been binge reading this thread! What an adventure you are having.... Thank you Dave , that's really kind of you to say ,and much appreciated .
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Feb 10, 2024 10:09:51 GMT
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hello chaps , Sorry about the pretty poor update frequency ,however hers a little bit more nonsense from the sleepless farm of fatiguenosity ,,let me tell you , having builders here every week for a month has been a trial , and no mistake ,thank god no more early starts from now on !! so last time i was looking forward to the decorators ,and they came and did decorating .. and ,as yuo can see , i have started to reconstruct all the rooms, furniture, and carpets and vacuum everywhere . some work was um .. i did ask for this to be filled and i would sand it down , however a slight problem was there was no hardener in the filler , so it never went hard . also a slight sink problem occured .. oh and a few leaks .. so plumbers , electricians (no real idea why ) and decorators again this week , to fix those things . now , finally ,i think thats it , and i can get some rest , and start to reassemble the window surround and georgian cupboard .. i think i have worked out how i am going to get that in there , and during my research/bashing plaster off the inner side by the fire , i found some more classic old layers of wallpaper .. i wonder how old they are ! in other news , i did a bit more on the roman rd .. i tidied those bricks from round the back door , and then made a sculpture .. while out there i did a bit more on the astra too .. theres this strange clearish rubbery condom thing that has the pipes up it , and seals to the floor so any gas escaping goes outside the car .. getting that on , with the two pipes and 4 wires in , and sealing it to the valve body is proving difficult , luckily i have a old friend who is a gynacologist , and he offered to talk me through it . he lives and works in austria , and when i called him he was up to his elbows in a complaining orifice , he did point out that he could see the matterhorn over her shoulder ,and that, indeed , he did have a womb with a view . he has a db5 aston , however i think his numberplate is completely innapropro though . "CMNBRT" I mean .. REALLY ! so what else , oh yes , mr tvr helped me drag down furniture for upstairs .. that chest was a super tight fit ! best sort ! oh now the astra pipes were on , if not sealed , i could get the wheels back on and wash the old girl .. much better..... MOT time now . incidentally ,i must remember this yellow lever is in the "no gas" position , oh that caused so much fun . i think thats everything , oh some polystyrene balls are appearing , so a few little gaps to fill . leccy usage is a little better .. but not warm in here .. thats bedroom temperature, thursday 9.26pm . i can see a raft of huge bills going to those trying to heat thier houses to 20c , and debt agencies rubbing thier hands together . somebody somewhere has made a terrible miscalculation about all this heat pump stuff . i think if i heated my house to 20c , i would use about 35 units a day , instead of my 5 units when on the oil . thats 10 pounds a day on heating . say that was done for the 6 cold months ..thats 1800 quid on heating . anyway , to end on a high note , check out my snowdrops .. noice ! regards robert
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Jan 31, 2024 13:20:18 GMT
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When you get bored and have run out of jobs to do...... There are several Facebook Groups about ASHPs. I find the Heat Geek's Heating Help for Homeowners most interesting. Enjoy tuning the Weather Compensation curve! thank you i'll have a look , funnily enough i just turned the weather compensation curve down from 50 c at -10 to 42c graduating down to 32 c at 25c .this means at the moment its at 37.5 with an outdoor temp of 5c .
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