Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 5h"What do you mean you've struck an iceberg and need to send an SOS? This is *my* box now, and I fits, so..." Our two are also very good at involving themselves in activities that require precisely zero cats 🤣 000
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 11/10/2026I *may* have taken this gorgeous, shouty old lady out for a sunny, autumnal blat around. #weirdcarbs #classiccarbs #carbluesky 0200
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 04/10/2026👍 We saw a nice T-plated Mk2 Sport out and about today looking vibrant in Signal Orange. Mrs C commented how small it looked compared to the traffic around it! 020
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 04/10/2026A bit more driving today, and the pad swept areas are about clear of the protective coating - the discs are bedding in nicely 👍 020
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Yep. The entire disc is supplied with an anti-corrosion coating. My last set were black, but I chose silver this time - the one thing that is consistent is the awful niff that the discs give off as they heat for the first time and the pads start to clear the coating off the swept area. 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 03/10/2026This afternoon, I switched the brake discs on the #AlfaRomeo #Mito for the MTec items delivered earlier this week. Job done in about 90 minutes. Super. Driving around to start getting them bedded in, I remembered too late that the coating absolutely hums as it comes off 🤢 #weirdcarbs #carbluesky 250
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 03/10/2026It is sunny, and dry! [ Whips off the weather cover, and fires up the Shouty Straight Six ] We shall go to... Tesco...? #weirdcarbs #classiccarbs #triumph #carbluesky 0182
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Oy oy... What's happening here? Dort's #AlfaRomeo #Mito is getting some new front brakes. Vented and drilled discs are somewhat overkill for a 1.3 JTDm2 - but I think the quality of MTEC stuff is pretty good having had them on my 159 Sportwagon, which used to eat Brembo discs for fun #weirdcarbs 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 01/10/2026[ Digs out usual "No car needs to be online in order to be a car" response ] The first things any connected car like that which ends up in my ownership gets: a microphone full of hot melt glue - and its GSM antenna cut off. 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I'm quite lucky that I have this place (www.autosparks.co.uk) more-or-less down the road from me - which was dead handy building up the PI's EFi engine harness - but I've seen quite a few businesses go that way 🙁autosparks.co.ukWiring Looms and Vehicle Wiring Products | AutosparksVehicle Wiring Products and Automotive Electrical Supplies. High quality wiring looms and wiring harnesses in classic and contemporary styles. Made in Britain. 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 20/09/2026I'm quite impressed with them, to be honest. So much so, I've now got H4 and H1 LEDs on order to replace the candles in the headlamps. The Flasher was already a LED-compatible one, but the hazard relay isn't completely happy with them so that'll need to be replaced. New one also on order 👍 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Retrofitted some LED bulbs to the #Triumph Mk2 PI today, replacing front and rear indicators, front sidelights, rear stop/tail, reversing and number plate lamps, which had all been traditional incandescent bulbs. Easy enough to fit, and much brighter - even in sunlight 👍 #weirdcarbs #classiccarbs 2110
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Can you tell if the cable (or hydraulics, whatever it uses) is actually pulling on the release fork? Does the pedal feel "normal"?* *for any given definition of it. 001
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 04/09/2026What about the HMS Hawke / RMS Olympic coming together off spithead in 1911? Ok, neither sank, but in terms of tonnage involved with the biggest ship in the world at the time, that has to be up there. 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 04/09/2026I quite love the reaction when I overtake slower-moving stuff in the Triumph. Audis and BMWs - and the stereotype that tend to own them - can be particularly amusing, especially if they realise I'm making a point 🤣 030
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 04/09/2026The Alfa Mito is perceived as a popular first car for young women and I've noticed when I drive the Dort's, bullying perceptibly increases despite it being fairly nippy. The Triumph Mk2 PI is as small by modern standards, but the six is "quite shouty" under power. Folks tend to leave that alone. 020
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 03/09/2026A spy "hidden" in the back of a Mk2 Triumph? Evidently M is not aware of the large glass area giving excellent visibility all round - from inside *and* out... 🤣 030
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Misusing our rubbish grasp of Italian to gently troll Mrs C after she dropped a typo this morning #weirdcarbs #classiccarbs #carbluesky #britishleyland 031
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Loving that 👍 I've rebuilt engines plenty of times, but never had a gearbox in bits. I would be scared stiff of it exploding into lots of pieces with many of them sodding off into either an alternative dimension, or a dark corner under the workbench never to be seen again 😬 🤣 110
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Fingers very firmly crossed for no more hassle 🤞 This gearbox has been on hell of a trial! 120
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Oh, excellent 😶 I mean, I suspect you'd rather find this now than later when it helps turn the bearings to expensive mince, but even so... sheesh! 😬 110
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Can't say our cats feel quite the same about the hoover; they both disappear like farts in a hurricane when it comes out! 🤣 110
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Son also lives in London. Have never felt unsafe when we've visited, even when in central tourist-y zones. I find it a bit over-stimulating, just too many people about, but they both love it there. 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Daughter, who lives in London and drives owns a ULEZ-compliant diesel Alfa Mito. It's here in Nottingham with me. She says: "Dad, you'd have to be mad to own a car in london with the plethora of public transport options available" 110
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 27/08/2026They look like they've made a nice job of that! 👍 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Don't forget gasket paper "squishes" as you tighten the components it is between. That 0.4mm might finish up something significantly less. I'd be getting a sheet and testing it 👍 010
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Little Torteshell Cat is roaming the hallway downstairs looking for her sister, Little Black Cat, who is evidently hiding quietly in the dark - because she's an asshole. One little mew reached us that ended with an upward infection and we're giggling like idiots at what sounded like "mew?" 020
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 18/08/2026We have a similar thing here - car, servicing, insurance costs, everything delivered through one monthly salary sacrifice payment. We have a fairly wide choice of awful, bland cars - but I did notice it also included stuff like the Alpine version of the Renault 5. Still not tempted though 🤣 110
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I've heard others refer to the Haynes manuals as the "Book of Lies" Can't speak for the accuracy of the proceedures in the manual I have for the Mk2 PI, but the wiring diagrams do seem to be creative works of fiction. I found a factory workshop manual for it. Is one available for the Pug? 120
Jim Christie @the-crust.bsky.social · 17/08/2026With all the shite doing the rounds, we were due some positivity 👍 020