Timmus in the South East - June 2022

Andrew said:
My A2 'Nothing Special' maybe got a little bit special yesterday.

View attachment 95599

Thanks to Ian for hospitality and labour and Tom for his usual high standard of workmanship and the company of both.

Andy
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How do you prevent all those coins from tumbling out of the tray when you accelerate hard or ascend a steep hill? I find that slot fairly useless because of this!
 
dj_efk said:
How do you prevent all those coins from tumbling out of the tray when you accelerate hard or ascend a steep hill? I find that slot fairly useless because of this!
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I need the coins for our local toll bridge, centuries old and a real bottleneck in rush hour. Okay the odd coin slides out occasionally but not really a nuisance, never really bothered me. Maybe a 10mm wide strip of velcro on the cubby fabric neatly across the front would would form a lip to discourage coins making an escape.

Andy
 
Andrew said:
I need the coins for our local toll bridge, centuries old and a real bottleneck in rush hour. Okay the odd coin slides out occasionally but not really a nuisance, never really bothered me. Maybe a 10mm wide strip of velcro on the cubby fabric neatly across the front would would form a lip to discourage coins making an escape.

Andy
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I know said bottleneck well!
 
Also a big thanks from me to both Ian and Tom for yesterday. It wasn’t without its challenges (mainly due to me not properly thinking certain things through I should add!!) but Ian was the perfect host (as well as also being handy with a wrench and exceptionally well versed in all things A2!) and Tom worked like a Trojan in some pretty serious heat for not short of 12 hours straight. Thanks for your perseverance 😊
 
Massive thank you to Tom, Ian and Drew! had a fascinating time, sorting out and learning much about my 2001 TDI SE. 62mpg to Leighton Buzzard, via a busy M25 and with the Remap, and engine firmware updates, got 68.7mpg, and I wasn’t hanging about! The new door switches, reworked wiper arm and door stays all add more life to your A2.

But the star changes were the Cruise Control and the Engine Firmware, makes a huge difference to the driveability of the car. It’s just more docile, until you need to put your foot down! Overtaking is now exceptional in third and forth if you need to drop a gear. Im sure this will crack 80mpg on BP Ultimat Diesel, and 65mph cruise. I’ll report back For sure.

Ian’s hospitality was most welcome with tea and sandwiches. Hope to make it to Kimbolton Country Fair.

More upgrades planned, as in colour DIS and multifunction steering wheel, and updated CD Player.

Just a brilliant service. Thanks Tom
 
The A2OC gazebo was greatly appreciated yesterday. Here in Leighton Buzzard, it was 32°C in the shade. How fortunate that @Proghound is a club social secretary and therefore had the club’s gazebo at his house. We’d have all been cooked without it.

E5111F6F-3C18-4F2A-8E88-9E747D814E04.jpeg


Cheers,

Tom
 
Cenick said:
The RNSE was drawing power when off, not steadily but fluctuating. Tom initially thought may-have been the firmware so this was updated, thinking it had been resolved with the updates firmware we were happy, not for long though!

Fluctuations started once again and we tried without SD cards too, but after swapping with Ian’s head unit and different SD options, it was determined that the head unit was at fault.

It’s possible the fault from existed before my purchase that’d never shown up until my ownership!
It now has a separate fused switch to allow the RNSE to be fully powered down until I find a decent replacement 193 unit, tbh if it resolves the problem oI may leave as is!

If the car was driven every day, then i don’t believe it would present a problem.

Steve

Sent from the future
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Morning Steve,

If you're after eradicating this power fluctuation from the RNS-E PU then drop me a PM. Happy to help out Sir.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Many thanks to Ian and Tom for their generous hospitality, good company, expertise and hard work yesterday.

My A2 now has Cruise Control and an RNS-E has been fitted. Both front door check straps have been renewed, and a troublesome tailgate lock checked out.

Also good to meet Andrea, Colin and Isaac, other A2 owners there to take advantage of Tom's expertise.
 
Somewhat belatedly, just wanted to put a heartfelt and sincere "Thank you very much" from me and my dad, Peter, for the marathon Saturday session on 11th June by @timmus , repairing door electrics, replacing door looms, and installing a working replacement rear electric window assembly. Ian @Proghound was, as ever, a welcoming and generous host, and also very kindly fitted a replacement headlamp assembly, as time ran away. My dad thoroughly enjoyed the social aspect and watching the work unfold.

Thanks gents, very much, indeed.
 
Hello all,

It's been almost 2 weeks since I left Leighton Buzzard, but since then I've been too busy to write a concluding post. After leaving Leighton Buzzard, I had 48hrs at home in which to get ready for my Aberdeenshire residency. Needless to say, June has been hectic ...which probably explains why I have nearly 100 unanswered PMs in my inbox! To all those who are awaiting replies, I will do my best to get back to you all over the coming weeks.

This Leighton Buzzard residency was, without question, my busiest yet. Other commitments, such as the A2OC Aberdeenshire Social, meant that I was limited to 2 weeks in Leighton Buzzard. However, my desire to meet as many requests as possible resulted in me trying to squeeze 3 weeks worth of work into 15 days. Perhaps predictably, this resulted in a good number of late nights. I hope that, despite the hectic schedule, I managed to fulfil everyone's requests to my usual perfectionist standards. Although I didn't have time to acknowledge it at the time, I am hugely grateful for the positive feedback that was left here by so many club members who visited. Your continued support means a great deal to me.

I'd like to dedicate the rest of this post to the shining beacon known here as @Proghound. The simple truth is that I could not have managed this Leighton Buzzard residency without Ian. Of course, by virtue of working at Ian's house, this could be said for all previous Leighton Buzzard residencies, but this time was different. Ian had taken 2 weeks of annual leave from his usual job such that he could be a continuous part of the happenings on his driveway, and, given the busy schedule, thank goodness he did!
Day after day, Ian looked after me such that I could concentrate wholly on the task in front of me. Lunches were served up for myself and others. Countless cups of tea and coffee were made for visiting club members. At my request, Ian bullied me to keep drinking water such that I didn't end up with dehydration headaches at the end of each day. I don't think I did the washing up any more than once during the whole fortnight!
When he wasn't playing the role of the perfect host, Ian picked up tools to assist me in valuable ways; removing and replacing door cards, lifting seats in and out of the cars, etc. Over a total of 26 door lock repairs, the time saving really added up.
Whilst I invariably got straight into the prearranged job, Ian performed a number of routine checks on the cars: are the rear seats latched properly?, are the door check straps worn?, is the wiper arm in danger of scratching the windscreen?, does the rear interior light work?, are all doors locking and unlocking correctly?, do all the microswitches in all doors work properly?
Under less pressure, I'm usually adept at working on A2s and holding conversation simultaneously. However, I shan't deny that, on occasions, it was also great to be able to duck out of socialising such that I could devote 100% of my attention to the job in front of me. Of course, Ian loves having a 2-week drawn-out A2OC social on his driveway, so he gladly kept conversation flowing when he could tell I needed to enter 'the zone'.

I am delighted to see Ian's name mentioned so many times in the feedback. Whilst I humbly acknowledge that people travel to Leighton Buzzard for my expertise, it thrills me to see 'Tom and Ian' being spoken about as a team. Given his kindness, generosity and mammoth efforts, that is only right. So, once again, massive thanks to @Proghound.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who visited. Leighton Buzzard may be a lot closer to you all than my base near Lancaster, but I appreciate that many club members nevertheless drove for a few hours to visit. The A2 seemingly attracts good people; I equally enjoyed catching up with familiar faces and meeting new members.

My schedule for the rest of the year is filling up rapidly, with lots of commitments sprinkled throughout my diary. At present, it remains uncertain whether I'll manage another Leighton Buzzard residency this year, but if it happens, I can only hope that it'll be as enjoyable as the one just gone.

Best wishes to all,

Tom
 
Lovely post Tom. Although I didn't utilise your skills this time around it was a privilege to host you and Ian at our home again. A most enjoyable social occasion - even if I do say so myself.

timmus said:
Hello all,

It's been almost 2 weeks since I left Leighton Buzzard, but since then I've been too busy to write a concluding post. After leaving Leighton Buzzard, I had 48hrs at home in which to get ready for my Aberdeenshire residency. Needless to say, June has been hectic ...which probably explains why I have nearly 100 unanswered PMs in my inbox! To all those who are awaiting replies, I will do my best to get back to you all over the coming weeks.

This Leighton Buzzard residency was, without question, my busiest yet. Other commitments, such as the A2OC Aberdeenshire Social, meant that I was limited to 2 weeks in Leighton Buzzard. However, my desire to meet as many requests as possible resulted in me trying to squeeze 3 weeks worth of work into 15 days. Perhaps predictably, this resulted in a good number of late nights. I hope that, despite the hectic schedule, I managed to fulfil everyone's requests to my usual perfectionist standards. Although I didn't have time to acknowledge it at the time, I am hugely grateful for the positive feedback that was left here by so many club members who visited. Your continued support means a great deal to me.

I'd like to dedicate the rest of this post to the shining beacon known here as @Proghound. The simple truth is that I could not have managed this Leighton Buzzard residency without Ian. Of course, by virtue of working at Ian's house, this could be said for all previous Leighton Buzzard residencies, but this time was different. Ian had taken 2 weeks of annual leave from his usual job such that he could be a continuous part of the happenings on his driveway, and, given the busy schedule, thank goodness he did!
Day after day, Ian looked after me such that I could concentrate wholly on the task in front of me. Lunches were served up for myself and others. Countless cups of tea and coffee were made for visiting club members. At my request, Ian bullied me to keep drinking water such that I didn't end up with dehydration headaches at the end of each day. I don't think I did the washing up any more than once during the whole fortnight!
When he wasn't playing the role of the perfect host, Ian picked up tools to assist me in valuable ways; removing and replacing door cards, lifting seats in and out of the cars, etc. Over a total of 26 door lock repairs, the time saving really added up.
Whilst I invariably got straight into the prearranged job, Ian performed a number of routine checks on the cars: are the rear seats latched properly?, are the door check straps worn?, is the wiper arm in danger of scratching the windscreen?, does the rear interior light work?, are all doors locking and unlocking correctly?, do all the microswitches in all doors work properly?
Under less pressure, I'm usually adept at working on A2s and holding conversation simultaneously. However, I shan't deny that, on occasions, it was also great to be able to duck out of socialising such that I could devote 100% of my attention to the job in front of me. Of course, Ian loves having a 2-week drawn-out A2OC social on his driveway, so he gladly kept conversation flowing when he could tell I needed to enter 'the zone'.

I am delighted to see Ian's name mentioned so many times in the feedback. Whilst I humbly acknowledge that people travel to Leighton Buzzard for my expertise, it thrills me to see 'Tom and Ian' being spoken about as a team. Given his kindness, generosity and mammoth efforts, that is only right. So, once again, massive thanks to @Proghound.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who visited. Leighton Buzzard may be a lot closer to you all than my base near Lancaster, but I appreciate that many club members nevertheless drove for a few hours to visit. The A2 seemingly attracts good people; I equally enjoyed catching up with familiar faces and meeting new members.

My schedule for the rest of the year is filling up rapidly, with lots of commitments sprinkled throughout my diary. At present, it remains uncertain whether I'll manage another Leighton Buzzard residency this year, but if it happens, I can only hope that it'll be as enjoyable as the one just gone.

Best wishes to all,

Tom
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Darren C said:
Lovely post Tom. Although I didn't utilise your skills this time around it was a privilege to host you and Ian at our home again. A most enjoyable social occasion - even if I do say so myself.
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That evening at yours was the latest night of them all, which says something. Many thanks for inviting us over; you know we had a lovely evening with you and your family. :)
 
Sorry I'm so late to the party here, been off-line for a few days in the camper van down on the South Coast :cool: I should definitely do that more often if people are going to write lovely stuff like that about me while I'm away 😊

What can I say? :) Tom, it was an absolute and complete pleasure to host your residency in LB again. With annual leave that I have to use or lose, what better way to spend two weeks of it than in your most excellent company, at an extended A2OC social right on my driveway :D I'm so glad to have helped make it work for you by doing the few non-specialist bits that I can reliably do. The A2 owners who rolled up were without exception great people (the A2 does tend to attract them, doesn't it?) and I'm glad to have had the pleasure of everyone's company during two extremely enjoyable weeks. @Darren C, I must thank you and Di also, for having us both over for a very tasty meal and that loooong chat.

Roll on 'Team A2LB', if not for 2022.5 then for 2023! :) Meanwhile, looking forward to catching up again very soon with everyone who can make it to Kimbolton.
 
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