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Well, the roadtrip's been binned again. Shame as it's a long weekend here due to it being Ninoy Aquino Day. Ninoy was the current president's old feller, who got himself assassinated at the airport sometime back in 1983. Welcome home!. Still, any excuse for a day off, eh? Anyway, to the roadtrip, or lack thereof. One, my ankle is still a mess although to be fair, now I have ignored all the doctor's advice for ten days, it actually seems to be looking a bit better, although still not up to a long haul. And two, because it's a bank holiday weekend, Typhoon Ineng has decided to come join the festivities as well. Not a lot of point driving all that way to stay in a little hotel who's bar is picturesquely built on stilts over the sea, when the water is likely to be knee deep as you sit with your icy cold San Mig in a 120kph breeze, is there? So to make myself feel a little better and as I'm still waiting for some parts, I've been doing a spot of mail order shopping (getting as bad as the girls at this retail therapy malarkey) at that nice Mr. Rimmer's place. Originally, the letters on the bonnet and tailgate were silver but over the years had faded down nicely as you can see below  However, also over the years, bits of 'R', 'V' and 'A' have also gone walkabout, to the stage now where it's time to do something about it. So I've just ordered a new set, but as I don't want them 'in yer face' I've gone for "Basalt", which is girlie speak for dark grey, rather than a direct shiny replacement. Should look okay  . Anyone know a fairly painless way of removing the old ones other than picking them off and attacking the residue with something? As to the other bits I'm waiting for? Well I called my radiator man who responded, candidly, that he'd forgotten all about it. I asked him if he'd be so good as to remember and he's promised me he will. Hmmm.  You may also remember I'm awaiting some interior trim parts from California, amongst which was a high-level brake light unit. So far the couriers have managed to smash two of these before they ever got out of the States, so I've said to forget that bit (it was a nice to have rather than essential) and just send the rest over, which should make for much easier and secure packaging. What to do this weekend then? Well this morning, I'll have a go with the paint pen I've got to touch up a coupla little chips then, to recover from that, maybe just pop around the corner to see how good ol' Mr Adriatico's getting along. Tomorrow and Sunday? May just join the Lotus Eaters over in Tondo, as the rain we're having will make it smell ever so much better. Have a good 'un all. |
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,274
Member is Online
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Thanks for the update, I've done hurricanes - no fun at all. Please please please be very careful and attentive with that ankle. Sadly all I can see is an amputation in your future if the wound goes gangrenous - or even in a "best case" scenario arthritis and weakness. Don't be stupid now or inattentive for I suspect you will pay for it badly in the future.
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For the letters, I would probably use some taut fishing wire and then clean up with a little white spirit afterwards. Works for me on old Fords anyway.
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-(
10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily
03 Import Forester STi - Sold
98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-(
99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold
02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX
88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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Ian
Part of things
Posts: 977
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Aug 21, 2015 10:44:04 GMT
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Dental floss is a good one and tar and glue remover
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Aug 21, 2015 12:25:20 GMT
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Hi How come your radiator man forgot the white man with all the money for the taking? Did he have a brainstorm or something?
Colin
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Aug 21, 2015 13:41:37 GMT
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Thanks for the update, I've done hurricanes - no fun at all. Please please please be very careful and attentive with that ankle. Sadly all I can see is an amputation in your future if the wound goes gangrenous - or even in a "best case" scenario arthritis and weakness. Don't be stupid now or inattentive for I suspect you will pay for it badly in the future. Funny but when I lived in the UK, you shrugged off weather warnings but here, they are of a different magnitude altogether. Having been through a couple of biggies, including Yolanda, I take them bloody seriously! This one's not so bad (for us here in Manila) and is sitting off the north of Luzon, but the rains could make the driving pretty hazardous, given the roads I'd be on, and it certainly isn't sitting by the sea weather. www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/533885/news/nation/at-least-4-dead-hundreds-flee-as-heavy-rains-hit-northern-luzonOn the ankle, the doctors insisted it should be doused in antiseptic at least four times a day which appeared to be doing nothing at all and I couldn't get it to stop suppurating (sorry if you are eating). So the other week I binned that altogether and just give it two salt baths a day along with several sluicings of fresh water. I also have it open at home but covered when I go out to keep the wildlife away. All of this seems to be doing the trick, and it actually looks like its starting to heal at last. It'll be a few weeks yet though. So yes, I'm taking care of it, thanks. But there have been times that, given the pain, whittling a new one out of a bit of wood has seemed an attractive proposition!  For the letters, I would probably use some taut fishing wire and then clean up with a little white spirit afterwards. Works for me on old Fords anyway. Dental floss is a good one and tar and glue remover Good ideas guys, thanks for that. Now, fishing line/dental floss, surely someone must sell these here? Hi How come your radiator man forgot the white man with all the money for the taking? Did he have a brainstorm or something? Colin Ah well, ya' see, it's like this. He had a guy who wanted an OEM radiator a bit sharpish and I happened to have one sitting in my lounge, as you do, so a deal was done. I gave him mine and that constituted half the cost of an all ally one to be made. I'm therefore assuming that in true Philippine style he sorted out his original punter, got some Peso in his pocket and promptly forgot about the future. It's fairly standard practice but to gee him up a bit, I know where his children live!  |
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Last Edit: Aug 21, 2015 13:49:17 GMT by georgeb
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Aug 21, 2015 13:58:06 GMT
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Get well soon George dude, and hope your lovely family is looking after you as well as you look after them One question I do have about the Philippines that I've not seen answered anywhere else....what sports are the most popular there? Obviously with Manny Packingcase's successes boxing has to be up there, but elsewhere I can only see evidence of repeated losses for the national football team in my World Cup history book, I'd guess that with previous American influences baseball may still be followed, and there seems to be a motor racing circuit still intact at Subic Bay. I await enlightenment. |
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Aug 21, 2015 14:50:52 GMT
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Get well soon George dude, and hope your lovely family is looking after you as well as you look after them Thanks matey. we're getting there and, having pottered gently around by myself today, I'm off the haven of delight and beauty that is Tondo tomorrow to get a bit of pampering in. One question I do have about the Philippines that I've not seen answered anywhere else....what sports are the most popular there? Obviously with Manny Packingcase's successes boxing has to be up there, but elsewhere I can only see evidence of repeated losses for the national football team in my World Cup history book, I'd guess that with previous American influences baseball may still be followed, and there seems to be a motor racing circuit still intact at Subic Bay. I await enlightenment. Most popular sport? Well, this is a bit like Stevie Wonder taking up darts in its likelihood but it is, without a shadow of a doubt, basketball. I know, I know...This is historically played by very tall people and your average Filipino is anything but. However, the county has literally tens of thousands of courts (I can see two from my apartment and there's one across the road from our house, another just up the street) and where there isn't one they'll build hoops on wheels and set a game up in the middle of the road of a Sunday. It's massive and almost impossible to get away from, either in the street or on tele. Every company of any size will have its own team all competing at a national level, so there's hundreds. The other reason, for the average guy, is that its cheap see? Two hoops, a ball and your laughing. Don't even need special footwear, or in most cases, any footwear at all. No, give a Filipino a basketball and he's a happy bunny. Football is popular but only at a very local level with no big teams and hardly ever gets any air time, unless they're being knocked out of the Asia Cup. Unlike Thailand and Malaysia, there's virtually no interest in the European leagues either and you see zero football shirts being worn. Apart from basketball, then volleyball and badminton are probably next in line. Rugby is played by the ex-pats, of course. There's two racing circuits on Luzon, Batangas in the south and Angeles near Clark Airport. Subic has now closed and when you look at the websites of the other two, its not hard to see why. There's virtually zero information about what's coming up, so it's hard to get motivated to drive three hours on the off chance something interesting will be on. So yeah, basketball! |
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Aug 21, 2015 15:22:09 GMT
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I did NOT see that coming.
Also I know of a couple of drag racing establishments in the Philippines having spoken to a chap who competes in RWYB-style events at one of them, so a country with a motoring/motorsport scene, NO football saturation, and common sense? I'm coming to live with you!
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Wasn't there some sort of explosion-propelled esky-lid sport, as well?
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logicaluk
Posted a lot
Every days a school day round here
Posts: 1,373
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Hi George glad the legs looking better, if they are stickers then try a caramel wheel, used for removing side stripes ect.
Dan
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I did NOT see that coming. Also I know of a couple of drag racing establishments in the Philippines having spoken to a chap who competes in RWYB-style events at one of them, so a country with a motoring/motorsport scene, NO football saturation, and common sense? The drag racing is held at the two circuits mentioned above, but don't bother looking on the websites to find out when anything happens. I had a quick gander and the Batangas site, under 'Forthcoming Events' has nothing and under 'Programme' has something that happened in July! The somewhat optimistically named Clarke International Raceway, on the other hand only has a Facebook page (which in effect writes it off in my opinion) and there's nowt on there either. Useless!  Zero football is a major bonus, but all invasive basketball tends to offset this a bit. Common sense? Do not confuse this with not giving a curse word about anyone or anything! I'm coming to live with you! Erm, I think I'd better run that past Madam and the girls first Wasn't there some sort of explosion-propelled esky-lid sport, as well? Banca racing you mean? Fun but very sporadic. Hi George glad the legs looking better, if they are stickers then try a caramel wheel, used for removing side stripes ect. Dan Cheers, slowly on the mend I think. No, they're not stickers, they are proper raised letters, probably attached with some 3M type stuff. Off to hunt for dental floss/fishing line today. |
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Well, that was fun. Today was re-do the bonnet and tailgate stickers and can I say right now, the 4.6 HSE one went on with absolutely no problems. As for the rest? Well. I got myself some dental floss as per the ian suggestion as the SmokeEm idea of fishing line was a bit too difficult to achieve. Had I bought an entire fishing rod, with reel and line from the little man selling them at the lights on Roxas Bouleveard, then okay, but buying separately, well another tale altogether. So anyway, I got my dental floss, all 200m of it, and set about the first letter, only to realise I could just pick 'em off with my nails. Anyone need 199.9m of dental floss? Still, halfway there  Interestingly, the new letters were at a completely different spacing to the ones fitted (the same applied to the back as well - wonder if it was a 1995 early run thing) so by placing your first 'R' on the original spot, your last 'R' was somewhere over the left hand headlight. I stuck them on individually in the end and I don't think they turned out too bad.  Ignore the strange highlights, they don't exist in real life. And so to the tailgate and exactly the same, so stuck them on one by one as well to keep the original spacing. No photograph of that as it turned out that stealthy, I can't take a picture of them! As stated above, the little 4.6 HSE went on without issue. I'll tell you if I'm pleased with the job, when I see it in daylight. Anyway a little tip here. logicaluk sugested a caramel wheel for removing residue and I'd seen one used on YouTube to great effect. However, please remember this is the Philippines and it's hard enough to find caramel toffee, let alone some that's been made into a wheel. So what to use? White spirit was also mentioned but again despite a major search, I failed to find any. Alcohol wouldn't touch it, nor would lacquer thinners but by careful experimentation, I found that one of Madam's finest Egyptian cotton towels, used dry and with a good bit of hard work brought the sticky off a treat. Hope she doesn't count them! And I've done my first ever selfie just to demonstrate the conditions in the Pit of Hell that is parking here.  This is me in overalls after removing the first ten letters. At this point that was all I'd done and nipped upstairs to get something. The photo's not the best but the light bits are the dry bits. Not many, huh? I've just had a cold shower and consumed 2L of the girls finest fizzy orange to get some sugar and fluid back in! Anyway, must dash, I've got a deadline to keep. No, not with Mr Adriatico, although his establishment does indirectly enter the scenario. See, at 11.30 this morning, they're having a fire/earthquake drill in the apartment block and all cars will be prevented from leaving from 11 o'clock. Now, supportive as I am of these exercises (I've had many a happy hour both planning and taking part in major emergency exercises on the various railways I've been involved in) there's no bloody way am I going to traipse down 16 floors of stairs with this ankle, thank you very much. So I'm heading to Cafe Adriatico to sit it out before the curfew. Told you it was indirectly involved! Bye now! |
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When I first bought my '38, it had a duff battery that threw up all the usual electrical gremlins with interior lights flickering on and wipers making the odd sweep of the screen amongst others. My Filipina missus blamed, quite seriously, ghosts.  Replacing the battery and having a good clean up of connections restored full functionality so I blamed, in my logical Western mind, electrics. Anyway, she may have a point. You’ll remember that earlier in the year I restored the EAS system. Coils off, Valve block refurb, new compressor, 3 month old Dunlop bags, new height sensors etc., and, with a bit of fiddling around with calibration it now works perfectly, except... There's a shopping mall near us in which the ascent to parking consists of a six storey left-hand spiral ramp. On three occasions now (not, usefully, consecutively) I have parked up at standard height, gone for a maximum of 20 minutes (I hate shopping and shopping in malls even more) only to return to find it at access. Start up and immediately raises back to standard. This issue has only ever occurred at this single location but, as I say, not every time I go. Other than this mystery, it performs flawlessly. Was she right? Ghosts, or just use another mall? Maybe I could install a gecko?  |
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Sounds like a characteristic to me. . .
Get a gecko anyway though.
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This is now a clicky linky!  |
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village
Part of things
Always carries a toolbox. Because Volkswagen.......
Posts: 567
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our T4 campervan has a gecko in it and never displays any of the ride height change symptoms you describe. get a gecko...........
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"The White Van is strong with this one...."
Chris "Chesney" Allen 1976-2005 RIP
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Get a gecko anyway though. Hmm, noticed a baby one wandering across the lounge floor yesterday. Plenty of dead flies and a little bowl for it go potty in...How hard can it be to car-train a gecko? |
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...use another mall... !
seriously, is it possible that air is being drawn into system on (extreme) left lock ?
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village
Part of things
Always carries a toolbox. Because Volkswagen.......
Posts: 567
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Sept 2, 2015 15:29:00 GMT
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Hmm, noticed a baby one wandering across the lounge floor yesterday. Plenty of dead flies and a little bowl for it go potty in...How hard can it be to car-train a gecko? mine is a pressed metal Spanish holiday souvenir, much easier to train..... |
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"The White Van is strong with this one...."
Chris "Chesney" Allen 1976-2005 RIP
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...use another mall... ! seriously, is it possible that air is being drawn into system on (extreme) left lock ? Even better, don't go to malls at all! Can't see air being drawn in, leaking out maybe, as it's under a fair pressure. But if it was lock related I'd expect only one corner, or at most both fronts to be down, not all four. The air suspension and it's components are not steering-susceptible (if there's such a phrase) so I can't see what is causing it. It's not helped that I can't replicate it at will, it's purely random. I think I'll just chalk it up as a "characteristic" as helpfully suggested by MonzaPhil It is a P38 after all. mine is a pressed metal Spanish holiday souvenir, much easier to train..... Hmm, yes, I take your point, but I'm not sure that Asian ghosts which are, according to my little spirit guides, particularly virulent, would be fooled by anything other than a living, breathing one. |
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