katman

Hi All, Finally decided to make the DVD players and screen "semi-permanent". I cant fit them permanently as the car would get broken into and they would vanish :wub: Currently we only use them on long journeys due to the time taken to strap the screens to the headrest and get all the cables in place and plugged in. I have now designed a bracket for fixing to the headrest supports that has a multipin socket in it and the screens have been modified to get rid of the silly 6" tail and there is now a mactching multipin plug fixed to the bottom of the screen so it just slides onto the bracket and all connections are made. The DVD players have been modified in a similar manner so there is now only a single lead to plug in for power and all AV connections. My dilema is how to get the cable though the back of the driver and passenger seats. Does anyone have any experience of this and how difficult was it ? Will try the local scrapyard to try and source a couple of the bushes that the headrests fit into as they would make a neat exit point for the cables. Thanks Keith

Neil got in before me :) I was going to say watch out for the FM channel spacing as I know the US use only the ODD decimals eg 100.1, 100.3, 100.5 whereas we use all of them. A quick google for Japanese FM info threw up Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_band In particular this indicated that the radio will be as useful as a chocolate teapot... "In most of the world, the FM broadcast band, used for broadcasting FM radio stations, goes from 87.5 to 108.0 MHz. In the Americas (ITU region 2) it starts at 87.8, at the top end of TV channel 6. In Japan the FM broadcast band is 76

It didnt need to be bent! My letter box is 8 inches wide. The envelope in question was 7 * 15. Why the need to bend it unless he was holding it the wrong way round and trying to fit it in sideways. Sticker was bent it half but it is OK. See my other reply about why I was annoyed that it was bent in the first place. Thanks

Sticker received today thanks MO4. RANT AGAINST ROYAL MAIL !!!! I notice that MO4 had to pay extra to post these as "Large Letters" Presumably the reason for the increased cost is due to the extra labour involved when the Postman Bends the envelope in half <_< MO4 could have done that and sent it as a "standard letter"

Surely that should be on www.fordAnglia.org.uk ;)

... or that you wanted to try to fix the result which is why you cant view the result and then decide who/what to vote for. As MO4 said, you CANT fix a vote... even your own :lol:

My 97 GLX is Mistral Blue if that helps

Drudge Road was when I first knew him as well. I remember going thre to see the Pioneer Component Hifi bits. My mate had a brand new Capri and had the Pioneer. I had just bought a 2 year old Mk2 Transit and was planning to have all the components in a line across the dash but I couldnt afford it so I ended up with a Sharp Autoreverse Radio Cassette, Graphic Equaliser/Booster driving my pair of 2*12 Disco speakers (I had to carry them so thought I might as well plug them in!) and a Sirtel Searcher FM CB Radio (one of the first legal ones). Not quite in the same league as the Pioneer kit but it sounded pretty good at the time :D

Very nice setup Bagpuss. Peter Doidge does excellent work, his showroom is only 10 minutes from my house. I have known him for 25 years but only ever had one CD Player fitted by him. I normally do my own. He has some excellent kit in his showroom but it is just too expensive for the area I live in :wacko: We were looking for a new CD Player for the wifes car after she broke the fascia on her old one. He had quite a nice Clarion one that could do iPod control but it was

Similar to Toyota Previa but slightly smaller. ALL ESTIMAS ARE IMPORTS !!!!! There are a lot of Japanese People Carriers that have been imported to sell as secondhand. Easy way to spot them is that the instruments are marked in KPH rather than MPH and they tend to have the mirror on the tailgate. Insurance can be difficult as body parts are difficult to obtain and the vehicle could be off the road for some time in the event of a prang. We looked at several Jap MPVs when were were looking for a people carrier. My insurance company wont cover imports and all the UK spec models we say were very high mileage and lower specification than the imports. Having said that, thre are quite a lot of them running about so you pays your money and takes your choice :)

Do you know why the original amp failed ? Broken wires in the door boot is a common fault and it is possible that the wires in the middle doors could be broken. It is also possible that they shorted out and led to the demise of the original amp. Check the wiring in the door boots ASAP to eliminate the possiblity of killing your new amp.

Hmmm... thinks back to the 50/45 Headlamp bulbs on my 1961 Mini that only had a 22 amp dynamo and how bad the lights were when everything was used on a rainy night! I remember thinking the new fangled "Sealed Beam" headlights on my Dads JU250 van were soooo much better :)

Sorry, try again please.....comes back as a VW Golf..... Perhaps he drives though central London a lot and is offloading the congestion charge :angry:

Very sad indeed. I wonder if the cause was either tiredness or being under the influence of something as they were returning from a festival and there doesnt seem to be any other vehicle involved. There was a really bad accident on the A12 a few weeks ago when 4 teenagers returning from a concert in Ipswich were killed in a pileup in the early hours. I noticed on the front of the local paper today that two of the girls killed got the highest exam results in the sixth form.

This thing about MAFs still confuses me a bit. I have read posts that say people have unpluged it and got a dramatic improvement in performance. Is it only diesels that are badly affected or does it also apply to Petrol models ? Mine is a 2.0 petrol If the MAF is OK what happens if you unplug it.... does performance get worse ? I tend not to drive my Galaxy "hard" but I did try unplugging the MAF one day and going for a burn down the dual carriageway. Coming back the other way I plugged it back in. I didnt really notice any difference in performance one way or the other. Does that mean the MAF is OK or should there have been a noticable difference eg MAF knackered = runs better unplugged MAF OK = runs worse unplugged Does no difference indicate that it is on the way out ? Thanks Keith

Just started using my Fuelcost spreadsheet again. Never used it with the Galaxy before but when I used if for my old PUG 309 GLD I used to get around 54mpg. Only had 4 tankfuls of petrol so far so a bit too soon to accurately work out the true consumption but currently around 22 mpg :D :D Having said that, it is mostly round town driving with the longest runs being 18 miles. Aircon has been on all the time as well. Going away soon so a decent 200+ mile run each way and with the driving around will probably do the between 600 - 800 miles in a week. Will be interesting to see how that affects the figures. Took the kids to the park yesterday and a T reg Alhambra parked up next to my P reg Galaxy. Got chatting to the owner Me... "Petrol or Diesel" Him... "Petrol but I wish I had bought a diesel" Me... "Me too.. what size engine?" Him... " 2 litre" Me... "Same as mine, any idea what your MPG is?" Him... "Only about 20 :D" Me... "Mines about the same... is that with Aircon all the time ?" Him... "Aircon doesnt work" Told him all about the "place to be" so we will see if we get a new Bamma owner with knackered aircon soon.

I see they have found a way to solve the problems with the spare wheel carrier then :blink:

Me thinks Bagpuss has inadvertantly stumbled on an idea for those with knackered aircon..... Remove some of the seats and slide a large block of ice into the car :lol: Cant help feeling that in this weather it might give rise to even worse "footwell swimming pools" though :blink:

75 cars !!!!! I assume you measure the length of ownership in WEEKS rather than YEARS :D JEX 248 V 1979 Mk2 Transit Gentian Blue 1981-1994 ( killed by iron worm ) A nnn aaa 1981 Mk3 Escort Red 1994 - 1997 ( engine died ) G 990 NAH 1991 Mk4 Escort Red 1997 - 2000 ( viciously murdered by an expensive motor bike ) Private Plate 1997 Galaxy 2.0 GLX Mistral Blue 2004 - present Also had 3 different Escort vans when I worked for BT. J 406 VOP M 270 OOX S 634 TDA ( i think the reg is right... only had that for 8 months) Other vehicles I have owned.... 1961 Mini 850 1972 Daf 55 1974 Renault 16TS 1981 Nissan Cherry 1990 Peugeot 309 Look 1991 Peugeot 309 GLD 1997 Hyundai Lantra So in total I have only owned 11 vehicles in 30 years and that is only because we have had 2 cars since 1995 The Mini and the DAF were fun to drive, Renault suffered engine failure, Nissan froze solid one winter and popped all the core plugs. Both the Pugs were reliable workhorses but not very comfortable. Lantra suffers from condensation when using aircon.... windscreen gets so cold the OUTSIDE steams up!!! Galaxy is by far the best car I have ever owned and second place in my heart goes to the Transit. did a lot of miles in 13 years :D

Reminds me of my first car back in 1977. It was a 1961 Mini and I took it to the bus depot thinking pretty much the same. I was horrified at the way they checked for rust. They tried to crowbar the subframes out, rammed the bottom of the car with a driveshaft to see if it would go through. They were going to fail it for the horn not working until I pointed out that I had "upgraded" the steering column controls and the horn push was on the end of the indicator stalk not in the centre of the steering wheel. In the end they passed it but the following year I decided to take it somewhere else. I took it to the local Renault dealer thinking they wouldnt be trying to find work on a Mini. I was a bit apprehensive as someone had told me the handbrake had to be able to lock the back wheels and I couldnt get it that good. I neednt have worried about the handbrake.... that passed with flying colours :27: It the other THIRTY SEVEN things that it failed on that upset me :( :D

No advisories so I suppose it counts as a clean sweep although I did have it serviced about 4 weeks ago as the 100K was due. I was going to have the service at the same time as the MOT but I pulled away a bit sharpish the other week and instead of a screeching wheel spin, the nearside wheel sort of "bounced" several times. After that I could feel a bit of a vibration that wasnt apparent previously. I though I had snapped the roll restrictor again so booked it in to be looked at and had it serviced at the same time. Couldnt get the MOT done then as it was June and it wasnt due until Aug 5th so July 5th was the earliest date to get the extended bit. I didnt want to wiat that long because of the vibration. They didnt find anything wrong but the vibration was still there. I took it back again last week to book the MOT and they had another quick look but still couldnt find anything. MOT didnt reveal anything wrong with either tyres or suspension but I still have the vibration. Will keep an eye on it but other than that it seems fine. The vibration is similar to driving on a concrete road but I just remember it being smoother. They think it could be tar and stones geting stuck in the tread as a lot of our roads are just surface dressed and they are almost molten at the moment! If I have to park in a tight space the surface on my road just gets ripped to shreads by the power steering! Maybe I am just paranoid and reading this forum has convinced me that something has to be wrong because its a Galaxy!!! I drove the wifes car the other day and the road noise and vibration is worse on hers but then its only a cheap Hyundai. Going to treat myself to something to stop the loud thud from the back of the car when I corner hard.... a new spare wheel carrier to stop it rolling about in the back :D

Nice one Gregers. :D Mine went in for its MOT today and I have just rung up to find out how it went.... .... just call me "James Brown" WHOOAA... I feel good ... na na na na na na I hoped that I would ... na na na na na na Passed first time for the second year in a row :D :D

....For Dating My Daughter. Ten Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up. Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them. Rule Three: I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose his compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist. Rule Four: I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you. Rule Five: It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day.Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is "early." Rule Six: I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry. Rule Seven: As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car? Rule Eight: The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka - zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better. Rule Nine: Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me. Rule Ten: Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.