Manky's Pop.

[kapri]

KEEP on 'Speedy'cables case Andy ,don't presume that because you've heard nothing all is well .

[Manky Monkey]

Yeah, I've had mixed results from them in the past -always a good product, but prices & delivery times seem to vary a lot. I've tried a more local guy in the past though & eventually gave up waiting for him -better the devil you know. I was surprised how big their place was -more of a factory than the small repair shop I'd expected, so maybe they actually manufacture as well as repair speedos? I'd hoped it'd turn out to be one little wizened old man, with half moon glasses & a long beard, in a tiny shop surrounded by dials & clocks, like some Terry Pratchett character, but sadly not. I was 150 miles from home, but the girl I spoke to turned out to have moved to Wales from Sherfield on Loddon -about 10 miles from Loony's workshop.

[kapri]

I used to use a guy who lived in Littlehampton ,retired unfortunately . If ever anyone should be sued for misdescription  under Trades desciption it's 'Speedycables' . At least you know the score from previous dealings.

By the way you are correct they make gauges to order as well as supplying many companies using their instruments sold under another name.

[hunter]

Only about 20 miles from me Andy,I can't say you should have called in for a cupper because i wasn't there.
I was in Bristol attending an old friends funeral.

R.I.P. Bob.

[Manky Monkey]

Today I have mostly been ...Dynomatting.
Dynomatt is an American product designed to absorb noise & reflect heat. It's a thin layer of flexible aluminium sheet, backed with sticky bitumen. The black stuff stops panels from resonating or drumming, while the silver bit reflects engine heat. Used in a lot of rods, but not cheap. 12 square feet cost me 65 quid. There are cheaper ways of doing it, like the self adhesive lead "flashing" used to waterproof house roof joints & the silver foil you stick behind household radiators to reflect the heat into the room, but this is thinner & more convenient to use. Obviously this Summer was exceptionally hot, but the Pop cab became almost unbearable a few times. The engine noise at motorway speeds can get very tiring on long journeys too, So if this stuff works, it's worth it,
Took exactly half a pack to cover the gearbox tunnel & the trunking that protects the wiring loom. Not pretty but it's thin enough to show the tunnel's curves, whereas carpet wouldn't. The plan now is to take it to the local upholsterer & see if he can stretch a thin layer of black vinyl over it. Again, one of the time consuming jobs I want to get underway. Or I could leave it in shiney silver & pretend I'm driving the lunar module.

[Manky Monkey]

A small item arrived in the post yesterday from American Ebay. A Cadillac push button glovebox latch. 6 quid. I've got a locking one at the moment, but it doesn't need to lock now I've got glass in the windows & it's a pain having to fish about for the key. Also means I can't open it when I'm driving cos the keys are in the ignition.
Swapping the latch & also getting rid of the 2 mis-matched locking fuel caps will mean 3 less keys on the bunch hanging out of the dashboard.
Also bought a power socket, (cigarette lighter socket), so I've got somewhere to plug a SatNav in for our foreign jaunts.

[poprodder]

satnav!!!! you are a street rodder!! lol

[BikerGran]

But an international one!

[Manky Monkey]

Street Rodder?! How dare you Sir! I am a down n dirty, ruffty tuffty hot rodder!
Never used a SatNav in my life, preferring mapbooks & a scribbled list of directions, (managed to find your house in Great Yarmouth without any problems Mr Poprodder, but did get lost visiting Mr Kapri in Hampshire), but after nearly losing our fellow travellers on the Rotterdam motorway network in the dark & the rain, I've got to admit, a plug-in gizzmo with European maps on it would be a wise purchase. We're planning on driving to Belgium in April, so now's the time to fit a socket for it.

Took the gearbox tunnel over to Newbury in Berkshire this afternoon to my old mate Phil Silk the upholsterer. Phil's covered many a bike & trike seat for me & did the Pop seat bases last time, (they've been re-done a couple of times so far as I've changed my mind about their design. He'll be doing them again in the next few weeks). He described the tunnel as "challenging" to cover, but should be ready in a couple of weeks.
 

[Manky Monkey]

Received a second glove box push button in the post today. They're from a 1950 -55 Cadillac & the seller in the States had 9 of 'em. I wanted a second, matching one for the storage box I plan to construct between the seats.
A day of running errands today. I removed the seat runners a few days ago -we never move the seats & the operating lever gets in the way & just annoys me. Had to keep the seats the same height from the floor though cos the fusebox is under one & the brake reservoir under the other. So I replaced the runners with 1" square box section spacers, welded in by Mr Loon.
A quick tidy up with a soft pad on the angle grinder & I ran them over to Phil Silk the upholsterer. After our recent trip to Holland, we've decided we need more padding, or at least stiffer padding. After a couple of hundred miles it feels like you're sitting on a plank of wood. Phil's going to modify the foam & reshape it a little. For some reason the upholstered bases don't quite match, (more to do with the hand-made seat frames than Phil's work), so I left him the whole seats to work with. Once they're done they can go straight to the powder coaters.
While I was in Newbury in Berkshire visiting Phil, I also picked up some Mini exhaust "bobbins" for the new stainless exhaust & dropped some parts off at the powder coaters. 
Not much to show, but lots of small jobs underway.

[Manky Monkey]

Another little job. A housing for the vintage interior light I picked up from Ebay a while ago. Nathan, (Galaxie 500), has already converted it to LEDs for me so it'll be bright enough to illuminate the whole cab.
This will weld to the roof when it's finished, above the screen, where the rear view mirror would normally be. It'll also hold the on/off light switch.
Spoke to "Speedy" Cables this morning -it'll be 4 or 5 weeks till they get around to looking at mine.

[Galaxie500]

Spoke to "Speedy" Cables this morning -it'll be 4 or 5 weeks till they get around to looking at mine.

And they have the cheek to call themselves 'speedy' 

[kapri]

Spoke to "Speedy" Cables this morning -it'll be 4 or 5 weeks till they get around to looking at mine.

And they have the cheek to call themselves 'speedy' 

Then 4-6 from when you accept the quote , then case them up after two weeks because you havne't had any contact and they say they never got your confirmation ,so get quoted -6 week sfrom THAT date instead then 2-3 weeks chasing cos their late ,then send back for another 2-3 weeks cos they did it wrong , then argue for 4 weeks that they want to charge for something THEY did wrong , then get it back and it stil doesn't work , then send it back again ...and so on .All my last experience .

Still you've driven without a speedo al last year

On the other hand you could go to a smaller specialist who reconditioned a dash for a friend, charged him over £1000 and it LOOKED stunning whne it came back, shame none of the gauges were working.

[phunkie hiboy]

Spoke to "Speedy" Cables this morning -it'll be 4 or 5 weeks till they get around to looking at mine.

And they have the cheek to call themselves 'speedy' 

Then 4-6 from when you accept the quote , then case them up after two weeks because you havne't had any contact and they say they never got your confirmation ,so get quoted -6 week sfrom THAT date instead then 2-3 weeks chasing cos their late ,then send back for another 2-3 weeks cos they did it wrong , then argue for 4 weeks that they want to charge for something THEY did wrong , then get it back and it stil doesn't work , then send it back again ...and so on .All my last experience .

Still you've driven without a speedo al last year

On the other hand you could go to a smaller specialist who reconditioned a dash for a friend, charged him over £1000 and it LOOKED stunning whne it came back, shame none of the gauges were working.

So who else is there around who can deal with speedos and gauges then? ( not including Mr Sidwell) I'm going to need to have the speedo done for the Met.

[Manky Monkey]

Maybe I could draw one on a piece of cardboard, with a moveable needle.