Life and Times of an OCD Insomniac

See.. that migraine I mentioned? Well, it went away. And I wanted fish & chips and the energy drink in the fridge (something called "Go Fast", it tastes really odd).

And then around 10:30pm I'm thinking "bed, but I'll just see how those bolts are freeing up on the Delica".

Well, they were a bit sticky. So I figured I'd thread them back and forth (read: "Wrench the stubborn little bastards with the breaker bar and ratchet until they squeal like mad") and work more WD40 in. But then I realised they were almost out. So I just kept on until the exhaust pipe was unbolted from the front pipe and hanging on the three 12mm bolt hangers. I know they're 12mm because I went "I'll just check what size those are for the morning". "I wonder how stuck they are" "Oh. That one's quite easy! I wonder how bad the other two are..."

One snapped, but that's okay - the captive end is part of the exhaust, so snapping just means I need another £1.80 bolt. BFD. Dealer should have them in stock, too.

Anyway, now the exhaust is no longer attached. "Hmm. I better get that out from under there". *wiggle* *jam*

See. Exhausts tend to be fed over axles and stuff, so don't like being moved around too much when the car is on the ground. "I'll saw in in half". Amazing how quick that was, too, given it was a cheap hacksaw I was using.

Well, now there's no exhaust.

"I'll pop the new one under. I'll need a jack to get it fitted, after all".

It almost fit, too. Just one bracket in the way. I know, I'll jack the... oh. My jack is too small. But I can lift it. If I get under, on my back, I can lift the car quite a distance by effectively "bench pressing" whilst supporting myself and the car with my legs (bear in mind, the ground clearance on this thing is almost as much as my thigh length).

"Siani! Can you help with this?!"

Fortunately, she's finished her painting, and comes down to support the silencer end whilst I lift up the car (moving body higher relative to rear axle), feed the exhaust bracket past the suspension bracket it was catching on and making sure it doesn't catch the brake lines or wiring, and then attach the rear mount. Then I go attach the silencer end bracket, the exhaust flange and gasket, and tighten it all up. Perfect fit, as I had hoped by spending £200ish for the genuine article instead of £100 on a pattern part. Utterly painless, in fact.

Take car for test drive. Can hear worn injectors more and knocking from shite fuel (it loves BP Ultimate Diesel, hates Shell, and prefers additives with most others). can hear turbo spooling up with a nice whistle, can't hear the "gale blowing" noise of the oddly flute-like rusty old exhaust.

So now I will sleep well (once I have washed the yard out of my hair) having accomplished the job on the car, burned off some of that energy drink doing so, and having One Less Thing to do. Must get some clear (or similar) waxoyl spray from Halfrauds though, as I did scratch some of the meagre rust protection on the suspension hanger. Halfords and the Mitsubishi dealer are in the same town anyway.

Atari Flashback 2.0

WANT.

Unlike the "Atari Flashback" console which it turns out was based on an NES-on-a-chip with ported games (always wondered why it looked funny), the Flashback 2.0 is a 2600-on-a-chip solution.

And, like the C64 DTVs, was designed by someone with a proper interest in this stuff, so...

it has solder points for a cartridge slot to be added.

Which means genuine Atari 2600 games, on modern TVs with A/V sockets. And new fullsize joysticks.

It is, incidentally, fascinating how these little "TV game" devices come about, varying from some sort of 65816 devices made by Windbond which must, really, be like developing for an old-school console, to rehashed 80s (and 70s) designs. The C64 DTV is merely the most obviously interesting because it has instant access to a C64 BASIC mode and on-screen keyboard.

Productive?

Well:

Spoke to cat.
Checked emails, made some notes.
Chatted to insurance company about PowerBook, they suggested I recover my data; did so then wiped HD totally (FireWire target disk mode ftw). It gets collected tomorrow.

Went to get new bolts for exhaust, bubble wrap and a tin of Waxoyl spray. Remembered all items, plus had cheeseburger for breakfast/lunch/probably part of dinner. Not only that, but also got PROPER Waxoyl kit with clear Waxoyl, consisting of pump, hoses and attachments, and sprayer. Went to Halfords and was disappointed to find the lovely ratchet spanner set with adjustable heads that was on special offer isn't anymore, and is £60. Did not buy them; used normal spanner to tighten up awkward bolt on exhaust. Parts guy seemed surprised that I'd fitted the exhaust so quickly without any issues.

The clear Waxoyl kit is to allow me to do the underbonnet area, but if it's not too hard I'll do the whole car myself and save a few quid (not many, admittedly, but at least I'll know how to do it myself in future - and the £30 kit I got I'd have needed anyway since the garage doesn't do that bit), and I got the spray (black) anyway to do the area I scratched quickly and easily. New exhaust definitely sounds better, though the car has lost some character losing the utterly terrifying racket it made under power.

Swept the gathered leaves that were beginning to overwhelm the front door.

Looked at cars in the Citroen garage. Well, looked at a Vauxhall, as they have NO Citroens there, but I got a brochure for the C6. Spotted the Astra Twintop cabriolet/coupe, and... it's actually not that bad looking. In fact the front view is almost pleasant, unusual for a Vauxhall. Rear end looks crap as usual, no-one seems able to design a folding hardtop car with a decent back end since the Ford Fairlane/Lincoln Continental. Salesman agreed that buying a C6 would be madness

How long would the Heads Up Display work for, I wonder...

Now I write some more reviews and gear myself up for trying to wrap up some bullbars in bubblewrap. And perhaps acquire a cup of tea, since I have once again managed the whole day without one.

ETA: One can of Waxoyl now emptied; car has black areas on hangers, chassis rails and inner sill on the ns where it's easy to get to. Surprisingly unmessy to apply if you're sensible and don't hang around one bit too long. Not sure if the aerosol stuff is even remotely useful, but seems to work okay and stick to the bits of the car I'd like it to stick to. Really want to get car up on 4-poster lift and do the job properly with goggles/boilersuit so I don't mind if some drips, and get it into all the box sections.

It's amazing how much happier I feel about a car when I've done jobs to it that make it clearly better.