Tempest

GTI International 2015 will be at the same venue over the weekend of July 4 - 5. Having been to scout out the new site for Inters I booked a stand for our club for 2015, believing that it is worth a visit again to mark our presence at this once iconic show, which seems to really be doing its best to get back on the map of VW events in the events calendar. If anything, the amount of traders and discounts they were offering made it worth my while attending, official VW dealership in attendance with classic selection of cars all rounding off the day. There is potential for a quiet camping area on the site, voice your interest here :) Earlybird offer 25% discount off the normal gate price (which is the same as last year!) Book online from Monday 8th December to 5th January 2015. http://www.gtiinternational.co.uk Tempest

Little bunch of merry men :lol: leaving Coventry train station (doing the sensible thing, Birmingham city centre is not a suitable place for Rados to go) either with the 12:02 service, arriving Birmingham new Street at 12:27, or if we're running late, leaving Coventry at 12:22, arriving 12:45. Meet=up point still at the bottom end of the fountain / water feature / stairs on Victoria Square (big square in front of the town hall), before we go off to do some "work". Tempest

Could be something to do with the fuel-pump / radiator fan after-run that a G60 engine has. Baically if a pressure sensor at the end of the fuel rail senses a certain fuel pressure (as typically found when engine has been running), and if ignition is off and the temperature sensor above the manifold senses a hot engine, then this causes the fuel pump and rad-fan to run till the temperature of the manifold area has dropped below a certain value (usually 95 deg C), to prevent fuel vapour build-up in the fuel lines. Tempest

Next lot: Tempest

Processed my set of pics from a once again truly excellent weekend. Thanks to all for sticking car on stand and/or coming to visit us on the stand. Slightly knackered after a full 2 days walking around the show and standing around on our stand chatting, and I have filled in the form for a stand for next year already Pics: Tempest

Not ridiculous because you've missed the essence of the post, not whether the car is an auto or manual, but how BMW deal with it, i.e. total denial. Is that their policy? It was Toyota's, and they rightfully got the book thrown at them. Had 2 older style diesel Fiesta vans in my former place of employment, and were very happy with them indeed for what we had them for. Tempest

Forget the M3 and 1-series. Have a colleague at work, who used to be a big BMW fan, until his recent lease adventures (yes, another lease-fanatic) resulting in his girl-friends 1-series having gone back to the dealer (not fit for purpose - gearbox issues, more on that in a sec), and his M3 has been in the dealer's garage for the last 4-5 weeks (gearbox issues, wait, I'll tell you in a mo), courtesy car a 1-series, with potentially same issues as girlfriend's 1-series. Girlfriend's 1-series will be replaced with an Evoque (at least we know our own stuff). Gearbox? Yup, at traffic light, eg. engine would cut out, then come back on, gearbox reset (software), resulting in driver having to press brake prior to driving off. Both 1 and 3 started doing this mid-travel, too, ouch, extremely dangerous!!! Dealer installed a data logger in glovebox and read out faults after a few more weeks, needed to contact BMW in Germany for advice. BMW playing the "Toyota"-game, i.e. "NFF=No fault found", total denial. Borg-Warner (or whatever they're called), US company make the box with German Getrag German bits bolted on (software), Getrag ultimately having found a conflict of signals on the CAN bus between the aircon system, the accelerator/EMS and another ECU. So, what was my colleague told, who incidentally can today collect his car? Erm, dear dealer, I am rather scared of driving this car. Software patch won't be available till next year summer, because BMW deny everything. The dealer has applied some patch from Getrag. He's thinking of handing the keys back to his M3, too. This is a big issue that BMW seem to have on all their 1-series and 3-series using that gearbox and software, but like Toyota with their UAP (Unintended Acceleration Problem) are in total denial. They deserve the force of the law, quite honestly. Just as well I am teaching High Integrity Software design, BMW could need my services. Tempest

... and erm, Corrados and their owners :) We're in Hall 8 on stand 120: http://www.necclassicmotorshow.com/show-features/Car-clubs Tempest

It's the red one I posted about couple of posts back, but haven't spotted yours yet, Awigman. Mind you, don't get to leave 523 every day, mostly stay inside. Had a mooch around the EMC chamber the other day, though :) Tempest

It's the red one I posted about couple of posts back, but haven't spotted yours yet, Awigman. Mind you, don't get to leave 523 every day, mostly stay inside. Had a mooch around the EMC chamber the other day, though :) Tempest

Went to a little local meet that is organised on a monthly basis (today being the last one for the 2014 season, and my first time attending) by the Coventry Motoring Museum, where despite the slightly shaky weather forecast 30 cars and a bunch of motorbikes appeared to park on the grand square in front of the museum, offering some excellent photos, and how great a 928 looks when seen from above :cheers: Tempest

Couple of points: 1. Use F-clamp to compress the tensioner for the supercharger polyribbed belt. No need to damage the thread of the stud protruding once the nut has been removed. 2. Now is a good time to replace that dreaded black silencer box with an RS-outlet kit (easier to remove for future G-Lader removal jobs) 3. Rather than using a long crow-bar to prise out the G-Lader, I tend to remove the console on the right hand side of the G-Lader (when standing in front of the engine bay). You will need a new seal for the engine block hole underneath when refitting. Tempest

Red VR, plate starting with L433 on car park inside JLR compound in Gaydon (lucky person: Has a car parking pass to get onto the compound!!!), today when I walked past at 9:45, at 12:15, and again at 15:15 (on way back from Heritage Centre, when I walked into the cold chambers and wind tunnel facilities) :) Tempest

Shame about that lovely 928 :( Tempest

+1 It's about keeping jobs in the armaments industry at the expense of jobs in sectors that are more useful to society, but not to a few that play golf together. Tempest

The season end show, not to miss! Last year in excess of 60.000 people walked through the gates at the NEC, to look at our cars. Visit the official Classic Car Show website for things like hotels (in case you are travelling from further afield), but may I suggest the possibilty of staying in nearby Coventry (much cheaper hotel costs), and taking the excellent 10-minute train connection straight to the NEC/B'ham airport train station. Ibis hotel in Coventry Centre, eg., 10 minute walk from Coventry train station usually a lot cheaper than any of the on-site hotels. Day visitors: Use the discount code that will be advertised on the CCGB forum and in the next Sprinter, then hand in the ticket stubs to Eric on the CCGB stand, so that the CCGB can get a small bonus per ticket handed in to the organisers. So, clubstand has been arranged and accepted by the organisers for 4 cars :thumbleft: We're on stand 8-120 this year, that's hall 8, stand 120. Tempest

Last pic: Tempest

Great event once again, and best of all, directly on my doorstep :silly: It did (unneccessarily rain on the Saturday, but only for a brief while, whereas Sunday stayed nice and dry. One of the last great outdoor events for the season, usually, before the wait starts for the NEC Classic Car Show B) Tempest

Meets don't always have to be jsut about the cars, it's getting to know and meet up with new and old friends, and what better way to do then at a German Christmas market when many a Rado is in hibernation. To finish off the year 2014, this is the last chance to meet up with like-minded people. The biggest Xmas market outside of Germany is held in Birmingham. That's where we're heading for some Rado- (and other) talk over a mulled wine or two. Meet up at the fountain on Victoria Square in Birmingham (10 minutes walk from New Street Train Station) at 13:00 on Saturday, 13th December. Last chance too for some late Xmas shopping. Map More on the market: http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/frankfurtmarket Tempest

To be seen right in the city centre of Coventry today: [video=youtube;1h9Mw-s9mzI] Watch all 3. Amazing stuff, more about the machine here: http://www.mantisrobot.com/#/technical/4571596647 Tempest

My pics of the day: Tempest

Will post up pics of the Cs that I snapped later today, but was a nice sunny day out, meeting usual folk (which was nice :) ) and some very nice Cs indeed. Even bagged a set of Binatone walkie talkies for the princely sum of £5 for future convoy action. Tempest

Off to the Scirocco Register National Day at Cosford, so no from me. Tempest

Club stand passes going out tonight :) Tempest

Sorry, couldn't make it today, because I had to go to a good friend's daughter's first birthday in London today. Hope you guys all found each other and managed to park together. Tempest