"'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

General Chat with an emphasis on BMC Minis & Other iconic cars of the 1960's. Includes information on MK1 Action days.
User avatar
trevorhp
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:38 pm
Location: Taunton Somerset UK Formerly Kingswinford
Contact:

"'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by trevorhp »

Working away today rebuiding my 1955 Triumph TR2 after a comprehensive restoration, so need a bit of light relief following a difficult day, so far.
Please feel free to add your own versions of the following 'law' which always seem to apply to me:

'Any item dropped whilst working on any vehicle, car/van/pickup/estate/SUV etc. rolls or bounces directly under the vehicle coming to rest at a distance from the perimeter of the vehicle, exactly 1.1 x the arm length of the arms of any peson within shouting distance of the person working on the vehicle'
"Ambition: the first step on the road to disappointment" Homer. J. Simpson
"Disappointment: the first step on the road to enlightenment" Buddha
"Enlightenment: the first step on the road to ambition" Dalai Lama
KDK 320F
HDK 443E
DJJ 226H
TFD 47G
PKV 375
I x un-identified Ex-Race Cooper S Bodyshell originally Red now Blue since 1968
1 x chassis 007 1967 Cox GTM Originally from Bolton, then Swansea then, Belgium then Holland, then Somerset :roll:
gs.davies
Posts: 1156
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:29 pm
Location: Essex, UK

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by gs.davies »

There is an inverse law that relates to the criticality of any dropped piece. The more critical it is to completing a job, the more likely it will teleport to the ‘Universe Of Lost Things the vey moment it falls from grip.
User avatar
trevorhp
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:38 pm
Location: Taunton Somerset UK Formerly Kingswinford
Contact:

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by trevorhp »

There is an inverse law that relates to the criticality of any dropped piece. The more critical it is to completing a job, the more likely it will teleport to the ‘Universe Of Lost Things the vey moment it falls from grip.
[/quote]
:lol: :lol: :lol:
"Ambition: the first step on the road to disappointment" Homer. J. Simpson
"Disappointment: the first step on the road to enlightenment" Buddha
"Enlightenment: the first step on the road to ambition" Dalai Lama
KDK 320F
HDK 443E
DJJ 226H
TFD 47G
PKV 375
I x un-identified Ex-Race Cooper S Bodyshell originally Red now Blue since 1968
1 x chassis 007 1967 Cox GTM Originally from Bolton, then Swansea then, Belgium then Holland, then Somerset :roll:
User avatar
Pandora
Posts: 3066
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Dunfermline, Fife

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by Pandora »

Newton's 42 law "Any object's weight increases proportionate to the distance it is being carried"

Al
User avatar
mk1
Site Admin
Posts: 19150
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:30 am
Location: York-ish
Contact:

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by mk1 »

The heavier an item, the more likely it is to land on your foot.
360gts
Posts: 2487
Joined: Sat May 24, 2014 7:12 am

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by 360gts »

And don't forget 'Murphy's Law'

Also, my rebuild shop has a 'third' person.....he/she/it is lurking under the car......eats anything that falls from the nearby bench. :lol:
GraemeC
Posts: 2130
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 1:05 pm
Location: Hiding From The Dog... NW Eng

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by GraemeC »

Items will only become useful once discarded (or confirmed lost).
Timescales between item being skipped and being useful will be inversely proportional to length of time they were been stored for.

(did anyone else open this thread with impending dread as to what the DVLA/DVLC have dreamt up now?!)
Last edited by GraemeC on Mon Mar 06, 2023 4:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
mk1
Site Admin
Posts: 19150
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:30 am
Location: York-ish
Contact:

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by mk1 »

(did anyone else open this thread with impending dread as to what the DVLA/DVLC have dreamed up now?!)

I did :lol: :lol:
User avatar
MiNiKiN
Posts: 617
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:15 pm
Location: Graz/Austria // NN1 4ST previously

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by MiNiKiN »

GraemeC wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:49 pm (did anyone else open this thread with impending dread as to what the DVLA/DVLC have dreamt up now?!)
I did :lol: but hence it's way better than expected
If only I knew the power of the Dark Side...I wouldn't have made contact with an Innocenti :mrgreen:
User avatar
tweedy998
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2021 7:55 am
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Re: "'Laws' relating to rebuilding cars !!

Post by tweedy998 »

mk1 wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:55 pm (did anyone else open this thread with impending dread as to what the DVLA/DVLC have dreamed up now?!)

I did :lol: :lol:
Me too... :lol:

Back on topic though, at the weekend I decided to get one of my old Renaults out from it's winter hibernation and do some spring preparations for getting back on the road. Beavering away under the bonnet with a rag and an aerosol of ACF-50, I accidentally knock the aerosol lid down the front of the engine, it lodges itself on the oil filter. No bother I think and try and extricate it with some long nose pliers, which duly have the opposite effect, sending it tumbling underneath the engine. But, there's an under tray so it fails to tumble conveniently out onto the drive.. No bother I think and start rolling around under the car to remove the under tray. That done, I manage to retrieve the offending lid and begin refitting the tray, which brings forth some particularly choice language as it's saturated in slippery power steering fluid (don't ask...) and is a tricky combination of plastic clips into the subframe and a couple of bolts. I eventually wrestle it into place do up one of the bolts and try the other, which turns out has bizarrely stripped itself on it's way out. So, I try something stupid with a cable tie for ten minutes before deciding an actual proper nut would be the proper solution and spend a good half an hour searching for one the correct size and pitch in the jam jars... All for one dropped lid.
1965 Tweed Grey Mk1 Morris Cooper 998
2005 Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy 407/500
2010 Storm Grey Renaultsport Clio 200 Cup
Post Reply