[HighlandPete]

Repair your own punctures... The days of the inner tube.

Tyre levers and (for those who remember) the latest 'Tip-Top' patches.

[HighlandPete]

Too much speed going on, it seems.

My old Viva would only just get over the speed limit. A4 out of Calne, up through Cherhill and past Yatesbury, 70mph (speed limit at the time) on a good day. With the wind behind me.

[Abzynthe]

I used to:
-Chop wires and attach them with a simple twist and some tape.
-Paint my own parts with rattle cans.
-Neglect to service my car
-Buy the cheapest tyres
-Wash my car with a sponge

I once tried to change the dials in my car and while the dials worked, I ruined the ribbon that showed the mileage on the display. I just left it.

[goram]

Originally Posted by bytejunkie

swapped an exhaust. seriously, when was the last time you had to swap an exhaust on a car?

Cavalier SRi130.

What a car that was. Reckon it would've outdragged my 335d!

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by goram

Cavalier SRi130.

What a car that was. Reckon it would've outdragged my 335d!

I had the Cavalier GSi 2000 16V, (name was a bit of a handful), as was getting off the mark in the wet.

[RobUK]

Hitchhiking...

[lobeydosser]

Speaking of exhausts - anyone else repair a broken pipe with a tin can split down the side, embedded in Gun Gum, and held on with 2 Jubilee Clips?
Could last a fair few months if done right.

[xenon]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Repair your own punctures... The days of the inner tube.

Tyre levers and (for those who remember) the latest 'Tip-Top' patches.

I repaired a puncture just the other day using a tyre plug.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by lobeydosser

Speaking of exhausts - anyone else repair a broken pipe with a tin can split down the side, embedded in Gun Gum, and held on with 2 Jubilee Clips?
Could last a fair few months if done right.

I remember seeing that done with an Irn Bru can on an Arial at a track day many years ago. I've also patched a holed sump in the middle of nowhere with PU adhesive and a coke can.

[Blacktemplar]

Drove from the south side of Glasgow to Kingsholm in Gloucester in just over 4 hours a few years ago in a Ford Galaxy, though to be fair it was late at night and there wasn't much traffic.

In a similar vein I drove the A9 many moons ago in my Alfa GTA from Perth to Craigellachie in well under 2 hours, in the days before average speed cameras. The A95 section from Aviemore is an absolute hoot at night if you know the road well - unless of course the local wildlife is out for a wander, which happened to my boss when he hit a stag and trashed his E Class....

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

Drove from the south side of Glasgow to Kingsholm in Gloucester in just over 4 hours a few years ago in a Ford Galaxy, though to be fair it was late at night and there wasn't much traffic.

In a similar vein I drove the A9 many moons ago in my Alfa GTA from Perth to Craigellachie in well under 2 hours, in the days before average speed cameras. The A95 section from Aviemore is an absolute hoot at night if you know the road well - unless of course the local wildlife is out for a wander, which happened to my boss when he hit a stag and trashed his E Class....

Kingsholm! I hope that the drive home felt longer

[Blacktemplar]

Remember the old clamshell petrol tanks? My 1972 Marina had one with a fatal dose of rust and it failed at the join, occasionally sloshing fuel onto the exhaust. My mates called it Fireball XL-5.....

Like isleaiw1 I was an impoverished student of the 80's so there often wasn't more than a couple of quid's worth in the tank thankfully.

One of my Uni pals was a dab hand with a welding torch so we emptied the tank, trimmed off the rust and he attempted to patch the leaks. Trouble was he'd forgotten to wash out the tank with detergent first and damn near blew himself up....

I think the most common substances on my car were Paddy Hopkirk Plastic Padding, fibreglass and Gun Gum. Being a 70's BL car most of the bits that were going to rust/fall off had already done that by 1979 when I acquired it for the princely sum of £350 from a friend of my dad's who owned a garage. We were done....

[MashinBenzin]

Much like other posters, it's the long journeys that I can't imagine being so easy now. Far less ability to flex the journey time.

Gloucester to (around) Fort William or (around) Aviemore was a reasonably regular jaunt. 4/5am starts to get to get past Manchester/Warrington/Preston before traffic built up. Trundle around Glasgow and then those beautiful quiet roads like the A82 where you could really work out the car.

[Blacktemplar]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Kingsholm! I hope that the drive home felt longer

European Rugby away game for Glasgow, I think we lost narrowly as the Warriors were in good form that season and the Cherry & Whites were a bit off colour. We played Bath the following season and that was another close run thing. One of my favourite away trips - ended up in the same pub as Lipman & most of the team who were on a mission to get as hammered as possible. Sat beside Matt Stevens who kept disappearing to the bog, returning with a smile on his face... Eliota Fuimaono-Sapulo was chatting up my missus, and as he's a psychotic 6-foot odd Samoan I decided to play it cool

Sad to see Bath fallen so far this season - that was some humping they got from Sarries at the weekend.

And it was nice to drive home to somewhere a bit more civilised

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

European Rugby away game for Glasgow, I think we lost narrowly as the Warriors were in good form that season and the Cherry & Whites were a bit off colour. We played Bath the following season and that was another close run thing. One of my favourite away trips - ended up in the same pub as Lipman & most of the team who were on a mission to get as hammered as possible. Sat beside Matt Stevens who kept disappearing to the bog, returning with a smile on his face... Eliota Fuimaono-Sapulo was chatting up my missus, and as he's a psychotic 6-foot odd Samoan I decided to play it cool

Sad to see Bath fallen so far this season - that was some humping they got from Sarries at the weekend.

And it was nice to drive home to somewhere a bit more civilised

Brilliant stuff. The European games were always a good night to be out in Gloucester - always far more pleasant than when it was just the locals out! Munster visiting was always a highlight. Euro rugby, night out in Gloucester, no rugby, night out in Cheltenham.

Tough to shed any tears for Bath, the original moneyed rugby club buying success (I might be biased) without any of the proper support that the real big clubs had

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

European Rugby away game for Glasgow, I think we lost narrowly as the Warriors were in good form that season and the Cherry & Whites were a bit off colour. We played Bath the following season and that was another close run thing. One of my favourite away trips - ended up in the same pub as Lipman & most of the team who were on a mission to get as hammered as possible. Sat beside Matt Stevens who kept disappearing to the bog, returning with a smile on his face... Eliota Fuimaono-Sapulo was chatting up my missus, and as he's a psychotic 6-foot odd Samoan I decided to play it cool

Sad to see Bath fallen so far this season - that was some humping they got from Sarries at the weekend.

And it was nice to drive home to somewhere a bit more civilised

Ah Rugby, game played by men (and women) with funny shaped balls.

And Union, where they need 15 to do what League can do with 13...

(I know nothing about rugby, it was legalised bullying when I played it at school and I never made it past minute 10 before being sent inside for fighting....)

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Ah Rugby, game played by men (and women) with funny shaped balls.

And Union, where they need 15 to do what League can do with 13...

(I know nothing about rugby, it was legalised bullying when I played it at school and I never made it past minute 10 before being sent inside for fighting....)

League

[Blacktemplar]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

League

To be fair, it was the influence of ex-league guys that gave the Union guys a boot up the chuff when it came to fitness, strength & conditioning.

I knew Gary Mercer quite well when he was at Warriors, he coached at my son's club & school where his boy Zach (who has now moved from Bath to Montpellier) also played. Zach was a beast, playing in the school/club U18 when he was barely 16 - definitely took after his old man who was built like a brick shithouse. Gary played for all the big League sides in England, as well as for Bay of Plenty and both the Maoris & Kiwi national League sides.

He was always very dismissive of the 'soft' union players, and encouraged a lot of the promising young club & school players to build bulk & strength - given the way the game has gone in recent years, particularly with respect to concussions, I'm not sure that was a good path to take....

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

To be fair, it was the influence of ex-league guys that gave the Union guys a boot up the chuff when it came to fitness, strength & conditioning.

I knew Gary Mercer quite well when he was at Warriors, he coached at my son's club & school where his boy Zach (who has now moved from Bath to Montpellier) also played. Zach was a beast, playing in the school/club U18 when he was barely 16 - definitely took after his old man who was built like a brick shithouse. Gary played for all the big League sides in England, as well as for Bay of Plenty and both the Maoris & Kiwi national League sides.

He was always very dismissive of the 'soft' union players, and encouraged a lot of the promising young club & school players to build bulk & strength - given the way the game has gone in recent years, particularly with respect to concussions, I'm not sure that was a good path to take....

VERY good points and interesting insight.

Union fitness was very poor and the transition from amateur to pro was an interesting period. It seemed to take a long time for true professionalism to come through, as you say sadly not with the best consequences.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

League

I dont understand any of it, but I did used to drink in the pub in Huddersfield where the Rugby League was formed, and I have watched Leeds Rhinos a couple of times with friends because the beers before and after were fun!

Besides League is a Northern sport so bound to be better!

[MrManor]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

I dont understand any of it, but I did used to drink in the pub in Huddersfield where the Rugby League was formed, and I have watched Leeds Rhinos a couple of times with friends because the beers before and after were fun!

Besides League is a Northern sport so bound to be better!

League is huge round here and I’m pretty much sandwiched between St Helens and Widnes, I have a couple of mates and family who are ex professional and I haven’t got the foggiest about the rules and have zero interest in egg chasing.

Try asking them why there’s 2 versions if you want to trigger somebody for shits and giggles

[TiredGeek]

Setting cruise control to 95mph on the M62 at Leeds and not turning it off again until stopping for fuel in Inverness.
Overtaking things on the A9.

Those were the days