Ford Transit Forum

by **Vee4** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:18 am

ake wrote:I prefer The Sound of Silence

Interesting! Simon visited England in 1965 "on a tour of one night stands, my suitcase and guitar in hand" (The track I identify with - Homeward Bound). According to Wikipedia, the trip came after the initial poor reception of the Simon and Garfunkel album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. but I think it was probably because he had heard of Ford's introduction in the UK of a revolutionary new light commercial vehicle range and he couldn't wait for a test drive (picture courtesy of http://www.transitvanclub.co.uk):

Phew! Managed to bring the thread back to Transits.

by **Vee4** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:51 am

Party at Vee4's ...

Celebrating one year of Forum membership (it should have been yesterday but too much work on). It's a virtual party, and all members are welcome. Just come in your Transit - there's always plenty of parking in the virtual front yard and the virtual tea urn is always on the boil.

Here is the magnificent raffle prize, well worth turning up for:

(Serving suggestion only - Transit not included)

It's not actually a nice sponge cake, but a sponge for keeping your Transit clean and shiny. The Health and Safety Officer would not allow the candle to be lit due to fire hazard, and the Accountant was secretly pleased because that meant the same candle could be used at the Ordinary Van's first birthday party.

Thanks to all members for their advice and indulgence during the past 12 months and their sense of humour. I won't need to be sending a 'wire' as Groucho Marx famously did:

"I sent the club a wire stating,
PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION.
I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB
THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER."

http://www.marx-brothers.org/info/quotes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groucho_Marx

There's a prize for the best 'moustache and glasses' outfit too. There can only be one winner ...

by **ake** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:36 pm

I'm giving you a virtual packet of hob nobs to have with the virtual tea

by **Altransit** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:43 pm

ake wrote:I'm giving you a virtual packet of hob nobs to have with the virtual tea

I'll bet that you virtually finished them first :shock:

by **ake** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:41 am

Altransit wrote:
ake wrote:I'm giving you a virtual packet of hob nobs to have with the virtual tea

I'll bet that you virtually finished them first

no Al they were on bogof in Tesco so I ate the free ones maself :lol:

by **Vee4** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:18 am

ake wrote:I'm giving you a virtual packet of hob nobs to have with the virtual tea

Thanks for the HobNobs - always a firm favourite. From the 'viewing figures', there were about 100 visitors so the biscuits had to be divided into quite small chunks.

Groucho did win the 'moustache and glasses' competition, and as he left in the Tourneo courtesy bus [Mk7 content], he favoured us with one of his great one-liners:

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."

The good thing about a virtual party is that you can have your own celebrity guest list. The A-listers were all clamouring to attend, but most failed at the first stage of the selection process: no Transit. Now if they had said A-Series ...

Some HobNob links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HobNob
http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/ ... p3?item=10

I enjoyed reading the www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com site. It's a pity they didn't keep it going - I suppose there is only so much you can write about tea and biscuits, just as there is only so much you can write about an Ordinary Van. I'm off for a nice cup of tea and a sit down - at the workbench.

by **Vee4** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:55 pm

The Ordinary Van rides in style

Last night, I was driving up the M1 (or that would be 'down' if you are a railway person: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_d ... ed_Kingdom) and I was overtaken by a 'stretch limo' in the form of an unnaturally elongated Range Rover. It was one of those slightly surreal moments where you glance to your right and think "Oh yeah, Range Rover coming past" but then it just keeps on coming. As it moved ahead, it seemed to be going slightly sideways as though the chassis was out of alignment.

I was left thinking which vehicle I would rather be in. Answers on a postcard ...

by **ake** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:43 am

I do like a Range Rover, had one a few years ago, also had a V8 Discovery for a while, Always had a Transit as well tho

by **Vee4** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:46 am

Do you suffer from separation anxiety?

I'm beginning to. While washing the van recently (yes, I do occasionally wash the Ordinary Van) I noticed this:

I'm not sure it's changed - probably I hadn't noticed before because it does depend on the viewing angle. I'll have to keep an eye on it and resist the temptation to pull on it. I hope these strips don't turn out to be more trouble than they are worth. They are only stuck on and they failed to protect the side of the van as I had hoped:

viewtopic.php?p=520545#p520545

by **Altransit** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:36 am

Most of my side protector strips have fallen off since I've had the van :shock:

Luckily, I've not lost any yet, so I've just cleaned them with celly thinners, and the side of the van the same, and re-stuck them using two strips of "No More Nails" Double sided tape. They do need to be held under pressure for a while though, so an adjacent wall and some wood has been used for that purpose :lol:

If the strips have become bent, they can be laid on top of a house radiator, until they flatten out

by **Vee4** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:58 am

Altransit wrote:I've just cleaned them with celly thinners, and the side of the van the same

Did that not compromise the paint on the van? I think it should be a warranty repair if they fall off in the warranty period, assuming the separation is not caused by collision damage. I will point it out to the dealer when the van is in for service.

I considered having the strips on my Mk5 all those years ago, but at the time, they only came as a kit with wheel trims or something else I didn't want.

by **Altransit** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:02 am

If the paint is factory, and properly hardened, the celly thinners will only clean it and take off any fuel or wax which will stop the tape adhering properly

If it's been newly sprayed, maybe best to use white spirit or surgical alcohol

by **Vee4** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:13 am

Altransit wrote:If the paint is factory, and properly hardened, the celly thinners will only clean it

"Always test the product on an invisible area first ... "

by **Altransit** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:48 am

Vee4 wrote:
Altransit wrote:If the paint is factory, and properly hardened, the celly thinners will only clean it
"Always test the product on an invisible area first ... "

Ah yes sorry! ................ I forgot the obligatory disclaimer :roll: