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Evening all, a few photo's of Nigel's exhaust repairs.. Starting with a bit of pipe. A bit of beating... Taking shape. You can just about make out the "holes circles" in this photo.. Snip snip. Some welding and quite a bit of drill later.. The welds around the side still need a bit more grinding back in this photo. Old verses new.. I know which one looks better

Evening all, time for a long overdue update on this camera panning jig thingy, and quite a lot has changed.. But first.. You saw the masking tape template of the part I forgot to photograph, well here's the part finally photographed.. Screws go though the cog and screw into captive threads in the 6 sided er... boss which is welded to the shaft. It has been re-welded since this photo was taken.. With the winding shafts sorted so they run parallel with each other the whole lot was welded to one end of the rails. The other end got a pulley.. One of the shafts was then taken back off for some serious strengthening and a few guiding washers. The green garden string I had bought was useless and kept breaking, so I tried some thin fencing wire which I happened to have kicking about the place. The system worked just fine for panning along side to side though the fencing wire was starting to develop lots of little kinks.. So I thought I'd best try things up and down.. Yes I was in position to catch the video camera should anything fail and gravity makes things plummet during testing.. These two photo's were taken in record time As the electric motor at the time was 12 volt, it made it easy to try it out outside.. With it back on the bench for more testing the thin fencing wire decided it had had enough of having lots of little kinks forced onto it and showed it by snapping! I also wasn't that happy with how the pulleys worked. The ultra slow side of things was really ultra slow like the camera moved 1 ft every 20 mins sort of ultra slow! The New Holland tractor wiper motor made all sorts of squealing sounds when it's speed was turned down and it would of been a pain in the 'orse to have to disconnect the drive wire/string from one pulley shaft to another to get different speeds... Sooooo, a rethink was needed... Hidden under the yellow rag (which is wrapped around to try and quieten gear noise a bit) is the 18 volt motor from the rechargeable drill that gave up it's speed controls. It powers the kiddys electric car gearbox to turn a single shaft which is now held up one end by a bearing and plate that came from a Webb cricket pitch mower years ago.. It pays to throw nothing away As you can see the whole thing is now rubber mounted to the rails to reduce the amount of running sounds the camera picks up. A big thank you to Matt for donating some strong fishing line to the cause, it now winds both ways on the shaft, so when one side is winding in the other is winding out. The speed control is a work of art and is more than worthy of the two photo's it's getting As I am using the trigger speed control from the 18 volt rechargeable drill I needed to find an accurate way of applying pressure of varying amounts to the trigger and keep it there.. The easiest way I could think of was a clamp of some sort.. Like the exhaust clamp with a bit ground out to fit the trigger.. Just tighten the nuts to increase the speed. A washer was welded on to house a master on off switch Power is now supplied by this 18.5 volt HP power pack that I found in a box in the workshop.. No idea where or when I got it, but it has come in handy So with everything finally ready to go, the jig thingy was put in a position up high, video camera clamped in place on the carriage and the comical electrical system plugged in... It was at the point I managed to knock a stand which was holding up one end and it all came crashing down with a loud bang! Nigel and Matt came running to see if I'd done anything nasty, but soon hastily retreated once they saw me stomping about the place swearing a lot! Somehow my video camera didn't get broken, not even a scratch, but the jig thingy did need some repairs! One of which was to repair the end of the winding shaft which had had a threaded end sheered off! To make the shaft long enough again I had to lengthen it.. It was at this point I had an idea and left the shaft over length for another idea.. More on that when it happens. So does the camera panning jig thingy work? Well, here's a couple of snaps after some successful testing, but your going to have to wait until the next MadTrax video to see the results

Beware to anyone considering selling on that major auction site from the US. I wont mention their name, but it begins with a E and ends in Bay. I sold an engine block and literally minutes after the buyer receives it he files a claim that it and says it was broken. Prior to the sale the customer emails me and asks several questions to determine if it is the same part, as it it turns out they are from the same tractor and he is happy because his engine block has a hole in it. I spend three hours cleaning and inspecting the block before packing and shipment, I include a few extras not listed in the sale like all the connecting bolts, cam gear, and oil pump, and pack it up securely using bubble wrap and foam padding. I sold the block for 50.00 plus 20.00 flat rate shipping. Other blocks like it are trending at 125.00. It actually cost me 26.00 for the shipping as extra parts and packing material has increased the weight estimate, so I am settling for a net profit of 44.00. After he files a claim with the auction site, I email him and ask if the package was damaged in transit and to send pictures of the damaged/broken block. That email and two more subsequent emails were never answered and no pictures were ever sent.. Both eBay and PayPal also requested pictures. That was over three weeks ago and the auction site is still holding my money until the 19th of November. If he still requests a refund anytime before November 19th the auction site will give him the money even without pictures or proof of damage. The auction site also said I was going to be charged 26.00 for a return shipping label if he decided to return the item. I removed my 55 for sale items from the auction site, closed my account, removed my CC and bank account from my PayPal account and closed it. I also filed a fraud report to my Visa card for the amount the auction site and customer owe me. Apparently the auction site has a buyer protection guarantee, but absolutely no seller protection. Their response to me was that losses were a part of dong business. I replied that since they were a partner in the profits they should be a partner in the losses, they declined to shoulder any of the burden. If the customer makes a claim and receives the money back I intend on filing a criminal complaint. I know he isn't sending pictures because his block isn't apart and he can't and/or he is afraid I might have an identifying mark or have taken pictures before shipping, I did.

I bet he was exhausted after all that work.

Not good Alain. Fortunately I have not had dealings with any iffy buyers, except for one who tried to claim money back 2 months later from non receipt of item. He failed badly, as the 'Sucker' forgot he had left really positive feedback to me on fast delivery and a good condition item !!!!. A glimmer of light has appeared in my Inbox from an 'Involved' Courier Agency. They admit failure to deliver caused by damaged item and return to Sender. Had the greatest of pleasure forwarding it on to E-Stray and Seller!!!. Sit back and another wait now.

Evening all, I have started a little project that I have been meaning to do for a long time, a panning camera jig thingy.. This should make my videos look more professional and hopefully make them more enjoyable for you all to watch... The first part needed was the gearbox out of this very old and abandoned kiddies electric car.. I forgot to get a photo of the gearbox so here's a pic of what remained of the car when I'd finished cannibalizing it. While dumping the remains of the car on the rubbish pile I thought I'd have a quick look at the scrap pile... Hhmm... Those tubes could come in handy Back in the workshop some choppy weldy later, a 8 inch wide tubular track was made. Now I needed something to roll along the track, a sliced up cart axle and some used bearings got things rolling.. Yes I did commit the sin of welding the bearings to the axles, but the bearings feel the same as before the welding so hopefully all will be well. Something to mount the camera would be handy, so an old tripod got the chop. To motorize the contraption I am using a CB radio power pack, a New Holland tractor wiper motor and the speed control gubbins from a rechargeable drill that has knackered battery's. The two axles were joined together by using a cut down New Holland tractor wiper motor bracket which just happened to have the right size hole to fit the tripod cut off. As you can see the wiper motor isn't fully fitted yet. The idea is the wiper motor slowly winds a length of string onto a shaft and pulls it along the track.. The speed control does work but the motor does make some squealing sounds at slower speeds.. Something to have a think about.. I will add the electric car gearbox to slow things really down whilst doing time lapse filming. I hope to have it all fully finished and tested tomorrow, so stay tuned

Unless it's something from a personally recommended source, I only pay for what I can see.

There are some dodgy characters around the world over. Why people have to piss around i don't know.

From memory, the mounting brackets on the deck from my H16 is different than the one on my 850. As Chris said, I am sure Iain will come along presently and confirm this.

From my landy forum

i think someone said once, more than two strokes is called a wank

Not sure TBH. Should think brackets etc would be wrong That man form Norfolk will be along soon to answer your question

Them old escorts have a lovely timing belt and sprockets on , The belt cut and glued to flat bar / box section makes a cheap rack for the sprockets to get a posative drive on . Try the CV joint rubbers segmented cone , they may give you the tyres for the bearings your looking for . And if it has electric windows then you have some low geared winch motors to hand . Electric mirrors have small low geared motors in them as well . And if you fit one of the interior light door switches at the drive motor end , you can make an auto stop overun switch by running the motor through it and if anything goes wrong the trolley will hit the switch and open it . Loads of possability if you have an old escort or two ..... Not to mention the rear stub axles for rotary welding table mounts or trailer axles , youve got 4 of them - Skid steer tractor in the making ....

If you had asked I've got loads of radiator pipes you could of had for a £1 tight ass 🖕