http://passionate-about-cars.com How to survive the world of modern motoring Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:40:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 © andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk () andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk() 1440 Just another WordPress weblog andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk No no http://passionate-about-cars.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://passionate-about-cars.com 144 144 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2011/02/20-i-gotta-take-a-leak/ http://passionate-about-cars.com/2011/02/20-i-gotta-take-a-leak/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:07:15 +0000 admin http://passionate-about-cars.com/?p=175 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2011/02/20-i-gotta-take-a-leak/feed/ 0 29:34 Steve is thrown into the hot seat as Kathleen is off today - so I chatted to him in his 'Alan Sugar' office. We discuss: The ... Steve is thrown into the hot seat as Kathleen is off today - so I chatted to him in his 'Alan Sugar' office. We discuss: The idea of using incontinence pads while at the front desk An update on the roof insurance story - insurance claims and how to write letters of complaint The art of complaining The slipping clutch on my Volvo 940SE and Volvo drivers in general Autodata When Haynes Manuals go bad Austin Maxi exhausts and carburetor balancing Built-in redundancy conspiracy theories How Steve interacts with the competing garage next door - yes they DO come around to borrow spanners! Traffic wardens and the garage Photo: Elsie esq. law,and,regulations andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk no No http://passionate-about-cars.com/2010/07/15-scimitars-and-black-ops/ http://passionate-about-cars.com/2010/07/15-scimitars-and-black-ops/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:07:32 +0000 admin http://passionate-about-cars.com/?p=138 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2010/07/15-scimitars-and-black-ops/feed/ 0 23:48 On a beautiful morning in Brighton, I tracked down Steve Kennard on the workshop floor at 1st Class Garage. After discussing a mysterious starter motor ... On a beautiful morning in Brighton, I tracked down Steve Kennard on the workshop floor at 1st Class Garage. After discussing a mysterious starter motor issue on a Volkswagennbsp;van, I noticed the rear end of an exotic looking Reliant Scimitar - brake cylinder problems. We finished the discussion was a rant from Steve on the way the revenue from car tax is being spent in the UK. Photo: exfordy Andy: Hello everyone, Irsquo;m standing with Steve Kennard in the forecourt of his wonderful garage, First Class Garage. Hello Steve how are you today? Steve: Yes, morning Andy, no fine making the most of this nice weather wersquo;re having. Itrsquo;s supposed to be getting to sort of 30 degrees today, but I donrsquo;t know that wersquo;ll quite reach that down here on the South Coast. But yes, itrsquo;s lovely, nice, pleasant good working conditions at the moment. Andy: Yes, yes it is very. Irsquo;m surprised how acoustically quiet it is in here at the moment, why is that Steve? Itrsquo;s normally very noisy in the work shop. I mean you look busy, therersquo;s loads of cars here. Steve: Yes, it is, therersquo;s a couple of guys just gone out on a road test. And everything. Andy: nbsp;Thatrsquo;s more like it. Steve: Yes just on cue, the compressor fires up, you know. But no I meanhellip; Andy: Now it sounds like a garage. Steve: Yes, yes I donrsquo;t doubt itrsquo;ll sound even noisier as it sort of goes on. Someonersquo;s bound to pick up an air tool or something like they usually do, when wersquo;re trying to sort of talk yes. Andy: Actually itrsquo;s very much like that in an operating theatre, some of the tools they use on bones. Steve: Yes, yes yoursquo;re right actually. Andy: Thatrsquo;s a different story. Steve: Oh absolutely, you know I mean I guess if you were to see some of the instruments they use you know. Like hacksaws when theyrsquo;rehellip; Andy: Theyrsquo;re very similar to garage instruments, theyrsquo;ve got compressed air power devices. Steve: Absolutely, and joint splitters, I mean we remember you used joint splitters to sort of split ball joints. Itrsquo;s no different like in the operating theatres, except that theirs are not covered in dirty grease and road grime, you know. Andy: You mean you donrsquo;t dress up in greens and masks and things? Steve: Well they say theyrsquo;re meant to be clean but I donrsquo;t know, Irsquo;ve got my doubts in some cases. Andy: So whatrsquo;s been happening? Because there is lots of cars here. I can see a Volkswagen, a Renault Espace and a Volkswagen Van at the end I recognize from around Brighton, with the thing in the back window I recognize. Whatrsquo;s going on? I know that thatrsquo;s got an interesting story, because itrsquo;s a starter motor mystery isnrsquo;t it? Steve: Yes, yes itrsquo;s one- it came in a couple of weeks ago, it wouldnrsquo;t start, we had to go and recover it. Andy: So itrsquo;s a Ford Transit is it? Steve: No, this is a Volkswagen Caravelle. Andy: Just testing. Steve: Yes, okay. Andy: Thatrsquo;s why itrsquo;s got a Volkswagen sticker on the back. Steve: Obviously you need to go tohellip; Andy: Specsavers. Steve: Exactly, I didnrsquo;t want to mention it but, you know. Andy: I was looking at the wrong van, I was looking at the one in front which is a Ford Transit. Steve: Yes, thatrsquo;s the Transit, no the Transitrsquo;s just in for a knocking noise on the front. We know what that is. And on the Caravelle, had a starting problem, we recovered it back here. Had a look at it and itrsquo;s - there was no - the starter motor itself is dead. Therersquo;s power going into the starter motor, nothing happening. So we put a new starter on it. Fine, tried it, road tested it everything was fine, and off it went like, you know. So here we are again, two weeks down the road, its come back with starting issues. And when wersquo;ve sort of ... faults,,law,and,regulations andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk no No http://passionate-about-cars.com/2010/02/12-dont-drive-your-mini-through-a-ford/ http://passionate-about-cars.com/2010/02/12-dont-drive-your-mini-through-a-ford/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:01:11 +0000 admin http://passionate-about-cars.com/?p=114 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2010/02/12-dont-drive-your-mini-through-a-ford/feed/ 0 17:35 Amongst other things, Steve tells the story of how driving a mini through a ford resulted in a new engine. Andy: It's Friday 29th January, I'm at ... Amongst other things, Steve tells the story of how driving a mini through a ford resulted in a new engine. Andy: It's Friday 29th January, I'm at 1st Class Garage with Steven. Steven's just been playing - not dominos - that game where you have to move things around to make space with cars. Steve: Well, it's almost like musical chairs with the cars, just shunting the cars around so that people can get in and out. And, yes, I mean, it's the same sort of problem wherever you go in the town. I don't know; I don't know what the answer to it is really. Well, I do know the answer is not to fleece the motorists. That's basically all that's happening; it's all about money. I mean, if you go not too far from here there's, like, it's 11-hour meters. And if you go up and down those roads you'll find that most of those are standing empty because, of course, the cost of parking now. So we've got roads around here that has got not a lot of vehicles parked on them because they're now metered. Whereas before the meters, obviously people used to park there, so all the cars that used to park there, where have they gone? You know, they've only moved them to another area. And this is the common practice: when they started zoning this town people used to park on the outskirts of the zones, so they moved the zones out. People park on the outskirts of those zones, so it is a little bit of a knock-on effect. And the parking issues in this town, I mean, I could spend hours talking about it and I don't really want to go down that - because it does make the blood boil. Andy: Have you had any nice, juicy run-ins with traffic wardens recently, Steve? Steve: Just lately, no. I've got to say, in fairness, the guys we've had around here have been very understanding, because obviously we work with cars; we're in the town; parking is a problem. When people drop their cars off, you know, we then have to move vehicles around to accommodate them or we have to find somewhere that we can park them, you know, safely and legally. So yes, parking is a little bit of an issue and we've had run-ins in the past with various wardens - I don't know what their, sort of, their actual job title is now, but... Andy: Traffic enforcement officers, I think, something like that. Steve: Oh, traffic enforcement... Andy: Or parking enforcement officers. Something like that, I think. Steve: Yes. That's a lovely term, isn't it? I mean, just directly outside the garage here we've got double yellow lines. We did ask if we could actually have, like, the white bar that they used to put across sunken pavements. Because this is a sunken pavement, or a crossover as they call it, which means that you - you know, that really other people - or people shouldn't really park there because we need access to it. So we asked if we could have the white bar there because of cars being dropped off; it'll allow customers just to pull their cars up outside there without getting hassled. And one or two of the wardens in the past have really hassled us, you know, they don't appreciate that we have a job to do like they have a job to do. We've got to have a little bit of sense and just - it is, it's common sense really. Andy: But on a bright note it's good news about the understanding wardens that you've encountered recently. We salute understanding wardens, don't we? Well, I do. Steve: Absolutely, I'm all for it. Everybody has a job to do and I'm sure they hate to get abused, but there are ones out there that actually encourage abuse with the way they go about their job. You can understand why people do get wound-up and do, like, howl verbal abuse at them. I'm not condoning it - I can't condone it - but yes, you know, it'll make your blood boil, particularly if you're having a bit of a bad day and their lack of understanding is - it doesn't help matters. It's just fuel to the fire really, isn't it? Andy: Now Steve, last time I spoke to you, which was in December, was faults,,law,and,regulations,,winter andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk no No http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/12/9-politics-and-winter-motoring-tips/ http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/12/9-politics-and-winter-motoring-tips/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:00:53 +0000 admin http://passionate-about-cars.com/?p=26 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/12/9-politics-and-winter-motoring-tips/feed/ 0 17:52 A whirlwind of political commentary from Steve in this show, including motorist persecution, the toll increase at the Dartford Crossing, police doing speed checks on ... A whirlwind of political commentary from Steve in this show, including motorist persecution, the toll increase at the Dartford Crossing, police doing speed checks on Brighton Seafront and how some banks are not passing on the 2% interest rate change. nbsp;Oh, and we discuss driver safety, K-Series Rover head gaskets, Nissan rear door handles, and some tips on preparing your car for winter such as tyres (tread and pressure), lights, screen wash and good old WD40 in your locks. Enjoy! law,and,regulations,,winter andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk no No http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/07/7-scored-brake-disks-and-speed-cameras/ http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/07/7-scored-brake-disks-and-speed-cameras/#comments Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:00:23 +0000 admin http://passionate-about-cars.com/?p=21 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/07/7-scored-brake-disks-and-speed-cameras/feed/ 0 12:33 Steve talks about scored brake discs, fabric skins on cars, Japanese cars coming into the UK and how wonderful speed cameras are - not. Steve talks about scored brake discs, fabric skins on cars, Japanese cars coming into the UK and how wonderful speed cameras are - not. law,and,regulations andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk no No http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/06/6-two-post-ramps-and-parking-in-brighton/ http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/06/6-two-post-ramps-and-parking-in-brighton/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:00:57 +0000 admin http://passionate-about-cars.com/?p=16 http://passionate-about-cars.com/2008/06/6-two-post-ramps-and-parking-in-brighton/feed/ 0 12:34 Steve enthuses about the joy of two post ramps. What is a two post ramp you may well ask? Ever tried parking in Brighton? Steve gives ... Steve enthuses about the joy of two post ramps. What is a two post ramp you may well ask? Ever tried parking in Brighton? Steve gives us a wonderful example of why the parking regulations in Brighton, UK are more like a type of Human Error tax. Enjoy! law,and,regulations andy@wireworldmedia.co.uk no No