DFB's Garage

Klasse Act said:
I get the concept there but damn that's some government overreach...GOD BLESS AMERICA

I say this because that assuming 100% of new drivers are a$$hats and irresponsible, inexperienced yes but that's truely painting with a broad brush

So can I ask how "pensioners" are dealt with there

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My Mum turns 85 this year, and she has to take a practical driving test to maintain her full licence, she can also decide not to take it and accept a restriction that she can only drive within a 5km radius from home. For the last 4 years she's had to get a clearance from her doctor to keep her licence, this tests eyesight, night vision, reflexes, etc.

Many years ago I had an elderly neighbour show me his bank statement and ask me if it was enough to buy a car, it was over $40k so yes it was enough. I walked him back home to his son and told him, they'd had to take his licence off him and hide the car keys, but he still wanted to drive, they made the correct decision, mentally he wasn't really with it anymore.
 
DFB said:
All newly licensed drivers must carry a P plate in the front and rear window or bumper. Learner drivers must carry a yellow L plate.







There are also restrictions on what a probationary (P Plate) drivers can drive. At one point, in addition to the ban on V8's, ALL turbocharged/supercharged engines were also outlawed. In theory this stopped an 18-year-old from buying, or even driving, a V8 Falcon, Commodore or Mustang. That system was pretty silly though, especially once all the downsized 4-cylinder turbo engines came to market. In theory you couldn't drive a 110-kW (148 hp) turbocharged VW Golf, but you could drive a RWD 4.0 inline-6 Falcon with 195-kW (262 hp).

The later system is based around power to weight, which helps account for small turbo gas and diesel vehicles on the road now.
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That is very interesting.

I find whats actaully a hazzard more than old people driving is driving while on a phone. I see it everyday, and it dont matter young or old, all ages do it. It pisses me off. One reason to quickly lose faith in a common sense society. And there is no way to stop it other than people just not doing it

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opie2 said:
That is very interesting.

I find whats actaully a hazzard more than old people driving is driving while on a phone. I see it everyday, and it dont matter young or old, all ages do it. It pisses me off. One reason to quickly lose faith in a common sense society. And there is no way to stop it other than people just not doing it

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We have some strict rules around phone usage while driving. You can use your phone for navigation and streaming audio, but you can't be touching it, this includes having it resting on your lap. So you have to set it up in advance, or be able to do it with voice commands. It used to be they had to be in a proper mount as well, but I don't think they enforce that on anymore, so many new cars have cordless charging pads, and the phones connect via Bluetooth. That's one of the things that makes me mad, people driving new cars that 100% have Bluetooth connectivity, yet they're driving with the phone up to their ear, it's a $410 and 5 demerit points, and you're only allowed 12 before you get suspended.

Provisional licence holders, that's people who have had their licence less than 4 years, and that's mostly teenagers, can't use a phone at all while driving. No navigation, no audio streaming, and definitely no touching or holding your phone. This rule is about reducing the amount of distractions for inexperienced drivers, for the same reason they can't have multiple passengers, unless they're family members. There's been too many accidents where a car full of teenagers, encouraging each other to take risks, leaves the road at high speed and hits a tree or rolls and we end up with 4 or 5 crosses by the side of the road. That's a common sight on our country roads, crosses or little memorials.

We have special mobile cameras as well, designed to detect illegal mobile phone usage and also seat belt offences (either not wearing it, or not wearing it correctly). They sit at an angle with polarised lenses to see straight through the windshield. Funny thing is, I don't know if they can see inside the FJ, it has a short but upright windshield combined with a deep dash, the angles may not work. But then I don't play with my phone, and I always wear my seatbelt.
 
Kranzle KHD10/122 Oil Change

I’ve previously documented the oil change process on the mobile K1152 (K1122), but in this instance, I’m featuring the KHD10 that I wall mounted back in June 2023. After 18-months of solid use, this will be its first oil change.

The owner’s manual instructs to change the oil at 50 hours, then at 250 hours or yearly from there on. The oil change is also a general guide to the health of the machine. If oil coming out of the machine is grey or white, that indicates water is getting past the seals and into the oil chamber, meaning more extensive work will be needed in the future.



It’s not recommended turn these machines upside down, so the oil should be drained from the bottom drain plug rather than out of the dipstick. To gain access to the drain plug, the machine needs to be taken off the shelf. That means removal of the rubber saddle clamps that secure the unit to the shelf, then the inlet water hose, followed by disconnecting the jumper hose which transfers pressurized water to the hose reel. Finally, unplug the power and lift the machine off the shelf.









With the machine on the bench and before going further, I took the time to go over it with Bilt Hamber Trace-less. Not that it was especially dirty, but I like to work on clean machines.



It can be tricky to drain the oil due to where the drain plug is located and the lack of clearance under it. As such you need to rig up something to hold the unit above the oil drain pan, although this is much easier on the KHD series rather than the bulkier cart models like the 1122/1152. In this case, I used two small buckets.



Once suspended, you can then loosen the drain plug with a 13mm socket or wrench, then backing it out by hand. The oil used in these machines is thick, so remove the dip stick to speed up the process. I also recommend gloves, this stuff is basically diff oil, which means the corresponding acrid stench.







The oil that came out of the machine was darker than I was expecting, so I probably should have changed it sooner. Because of that, I decided to flush
the case with some 15W-40 motor oil I had on hand. Once fully drained, the plug was cleaned and reinstalled, ready for the fresh oil.



Consulting the owner's manual, it asks for 0.25L of the OE-spec Kranzle Gear Oil, which seems to be a bit thin on the ground at the moment. The manual also suggests the use of 15W-40 motor oil as a substitute. Measure out and then add the oil, reinstall the dipstick and check the level, adding more if needed.

At this point I'll point out that these Kranzle pumps always take more than 0.25L of oil. Each and every time I have changed oil on these, I've always had to add at least another 50ml of oil to even register on the dipstick. For a German company, I find this puzzling.



It's then time to re-install the machine on the wall. I connected the inlet and jumper hoses first, then shuffled the machine to line up the saddle clamps with the holes in the shelf. Everything tight, I fired it up for a test run.



Serviced and ready for another year of washing.
 
Klasse Act said:
I get the concept there but damn that's some government overreach...GOD BLESS AMERICA

I say this because that assuming 100% of new drivers are a$$hats and irresponsible, inexperienced yes but that's truely painting with a broad brush

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Click to expand...

I can see why they do it, the government needs to be seen doing something about the road toll, especially young drivers. Thing is, if someone is inclined to drive like a d.ck, they are going to do it in any car regardless of power or vehicle type. Restricting power for new drivers sort of stems back to when we had access to cheap RWD V8's.

Thing is, more and more new male drivers are not buying Aussie-made sedans and utes. Instead they are buying dual-cab pickups and heavy duty 4WD SUV's, jacking them up on raised suspension with huge mud tires, then fitting a steel roof rack and driving around on the public roads with recovery boards strapped to the roof. I think you can guess how top heavy that would be, not to mention how those tires handle on bitumen. I often see these drivers hurtling around corners with the suspension at full travel, I've even seen one nearly roll the vehicle, on purpose too. This seems to go unnoticed by Police, almost like they are stuck in 1998 dealing with heavily lowered and ultra noisy Commodore's and Falcon's.

Moral of the story, because a certain percentage of new drivers are idiots, it ruins it for everyone. The vehicle restrictions are virtually useless. What the government should be implementing is mandatory driver training in high school. If you look at other countries, Germany in particular, to gain a drivers license is extremely expensive and requires drivers to display a certain level of skill before being granted one. In other words, losing your licence for idiotic driving is quite costly, which encourages better driving standards.

In Australia, all you have to do is pass a basic written/computerized test, then basically a lap around the block, done. Then when you do something silly, you get a fine in the mail weeks later, which basically teaches drivers absolutely nothing and doesn't really stop poor behavior on the road in that moment. The government likes this because it helps generate revenue, over and over again. To implement driver training would COST them money.

So, despite all of the finger waving about poor driving, trotting out the Police to warn drivers to drive safe, don't drink and drive, don't use your phone, don't go too fast......................................they actually don't give a sh.t about the road toll, they would much prefer you to do all those things so that they can make money out of you on top of registration fees, compulsory insurance, license renewal fees, all the added taxes like GST, stamp duty and luxury-car tax that get put onto the purchase price of new car, they even take money from you when you sell a car privately.
 
Big Dave said:
My Mum turns 85 this year, and she has to take a practical driving test to maintain her full licence, she can also decide not to take it and accept a restriction that she can only drive within a 5km radius from home. For the last 4 years she's had to get a clearance from her doctor to keep her licence, this tests eyesight, night vision, reflexes, etc.

Many years ago I had an elderly neighbour show me his bank statement and ask me if it was enough to buy a car, it was over $40k so yes it was enough. I walked him back home to his son and told him, they'd had to take his licence off him and hide the car keys, but he still wanted to drive, they made the correct decision, mentally he wasn't really with it anymore.
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Because I have diabetes, I have to do a yearly doctor's review to keep my license. Massive pain in the rear, but I get why they do it.
 
DFB said:
Because I have diabetes, I have to do a yearly doctor's review to keep my license. Massive pain in the rear, but I get why they do it.
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I have to go every two years to do mine due to medication requirements, but in the 22 year's I've been driving zero tickets and only 1 parking ticket that cost me $50 Stupid Devonport council.

And i hope to keep it like that 🫡
 
DFB said:
Because I have diabetes, I have to do a yearly doctor's review to keep my license. Massive pain in the rear, but I get why they do it.
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While I don't have to do it every year, when I do my renewal every 5 years, I have to get a medical review as well, that's because of type 2 diabetes.
 
My Ford Performance welcome pack arrived today........................



Also arriving, a fluid extractor. This particular one has a 9.5-litre capacity to account for the both the Ranger and XR8, which hold 8.6 and 8.5 respectively. This one also features both pump action and a compressed air connection.



No excuses now.
 
Big Dave said:
We have some strict rules around phone usage while driving. You can use your phone for navigation and streaming audio, but you can't be touching it, this includes having it resting on your lap. So you have to set it up in advance, or be able to do it with voice commands. It used to be they had to be in a proper mount as well, but I don't think they enforce that on anymore, so many new cars have cordless charging pads, and the phones connect via Bluetooth. That's one of the things that makes me mad, people driving new cars that 100% have Bluetooth connectivity, yet they're driving with the phone up to their ear, it's a $410 and 5 demerit points, and you're only allowed 12 before you get suspended.

Provisional licence holders, that's people who have had their licence less than 4 years, and that's mostly teenagers, can't use a phone at all while driving. No navigation, no audio streaming, and definitely no touching or holding your phone. This rule is about reducing the amount of distractions for inexperienced drivers, for the same reason they can't have multiple passengers, unless they're family members. There's been too many accidents where a car full of teenagers, encouraging each other to take risks, leaves the road at high speed and hits a tree or rolls and we end up with 4 or 5 crosses by the side of the road. That's a common sight on our country roads, crosses or little memorials.

We have special mobile cameras as well, designed to detect illegal mobile phone usage and also seat belt offences (either not wearing it, or not wearing it correctly). They sit at an angle with polarised lenses to see straight through the windshield. Funny thing is, I don't know if they can see inside the FJ, it has a short but upright windshield combined with a deep dash, the angles may not work. But then I don't play with my phone, and I always wear my seatbelt.
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Im not a fan of cameras, not because i break the law but because its spying and collecting more data than they lead on. Trackng your every move. Big bro is always watching.

The seatbelt law is a joke. I personally wear one but if someone does not want to then thats on them. All it is is another reason to get you stopped, collect money and/or look for something else.

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Rover Combat Service -

Readers will remember that one of my garden clients gave me this 18-inch alloy chassis Rover Combat. I was actually the last person to use it, I would use his mower to save unloading my own, but a leaking fuel tank and a running issue meant it sat unused in his garden shed for more than a decade. When cleaning out their shed, they had no use for it and asked if I wanted it..................is the Pope catholic?





The Model-Type-Code numbers on the engine paint a picture of its age and helps with future parts ordering -

https://www.briggsandstratton.com/c.../en_us/Files/Numerical_Designation_System.pdf

Model -
121702

12 = Cubic inch displacement, 190cc
1 = Design series
7 = Vertical shaft
0 = Bearing type, plain
2 = Starter type, rewind

Type -
185-01

These numbers are used represent paint colour, decals, top engine speed and the customer/brand using the engine.

Code -
92121658

92 = Year
12 = Month
16 = Day
5 = Plant/Factory number
8 = Assembly line number

So, this engine was made in December 1992, so the mower itself would likely have been made in early 1993.

Because it was so dirty and had clearly been used as Fluffy's toilet, it needed a thorough clean to make it safe to work on.





While this mower is somewhat weathered, because it sat for so long, it's mostly cosmetic and I believe it hasn't done as much work as you would expect for the age of the machine.

The running issues I diagnosed as being caused by the leaking fuel tank, it just wasn't getting enough fuel unless ran on choke. Because this is mid-series Quantum, it has a different fuel tank to the later engines, which meant having to wait a few months to get the correct part.







In addition to the tank and a new fuel line, I had also ordered a carb kit, fully expecting I'd have to clean and rebuild it. But after dropping the bowl, its cleanliness was remarkable, so I replaced the bowl gasket and left it at that. With fresh oil, new filters and a new spark plug, it was then time to fire it up, fire it up, fire it up..........................


These engines still had low and high-speed carb adjustments, which meant I could dial it in to have a nice stable tick-over and a strong top end.



With the engine running properly again, I also replaced the cracked handlebar knobs, which I had to have sent from the UK as no one here bothers with them.



I even polished the muffler.......................



So that's the recap, so what was today about? Mainly because of storage issues, I loaned out this mower to the nursery to maintain a specific lawn that we wanted cut ultra short, something the Aussie-designed Rover could do very easily. For obvious reasons, I contemplated leaving the machine there on my departure, but I sunk a fair bit of money into this mower and it's such a sweet runner that I wanted it back. No doubt that will be looked down upon.

Most likely unnecessary, but out of curiosity I wanted to de-coke the cylinder head. So, I ordered a new cylinder head gasket and got to it.



After removing the eight remarkably clean head bolts and the two smaller bolts holding recoil, I gently lifted the head away from the block. The piston was also remarkably clean, and while it looks bad in the photo's, the head wasn't too bad either. Compared to the oil-burning Sprint from a couple of months ago, this one looks quite reasonable. The intake valve was pretty crusty though.



I then went about cleaning up the head, block and piston, removing any remaining gasket material in the process. I also sanded the head on the bench to level down any warping and create a level gasket surface. You would probably do that with the block as well, but I wasn't removing the engine or all the surrounding parts to make that possible. The valve faces were cleaned, and I did my best with the valve seats.





After cleaning the block and head with carb spray, it was then time for reassembly. For the head gasket, you need to be careful when ordering these. Despite these flat-head engines being largely unchanged over many decades, Briggs did change a lot of parts over the years, head gasket included. This is where your model-type-code number comes into the equation, which helps narrow down what parts your engine needs. For this vintage Quantum, I needed the 272200 or 272200S head gasket.

Head Gasket for 4.5HP Briggs & Stratton Quantum Motors 272200 272200S



With the recoil cover still on the machine, it can be tricky getting the head levered up under the cover plate, then aligning the gasket and at least two head bolts with the block. Once located properly, I then fed in the rest of the bolts, getting them started by hand then seating them with the impact driver. Important to note that I didn't torque them down with the impact, I just ran them down till the first click and then followed with a torque wrench. I know there is probably an official torque sequence, but I just follow a cross pattern, the first round to 10 Nm, then followed by the suggested 16 Nm..............actually, I did them at 17 Nm.



With that done, I turned to some more basic service items, starting with the spark plug. These engines originally came with Champion CJ8 plugs, but a J19LM that was used on the later flat-heads will also work. I had both in stock but went with the J19LM.

Champion J19LM



Next, the filters. Both the paper panel filter and foam pre-filter were dirtier than expected. I could have blown out and/or washed them, but I don't have the patience for that, so I just replaced them. The items that came out of the machine were aftermarket parts, the ones that went in are genuine Briggs.

Briggs & Stratton Genuine Filter-A/C Foam 493537S
Briggs & Stratton Genuine 3-6.5hp Quantum Filter-A/C Cartridge 491588S





It was then time to fire it up, fire it up, fire it up for a test run, which started on the first pull and settled into that sweet idle.



I love these engines, they are so simple to work on and seem to run much nicer than the later versions with their fixed speed carburetors. That means they can actually idle and then have enough fuel for high rpm running. What I did today wasn't really needed, but after seeing the condition of the piston and those head bolts, it sort of confirmed my suspicion that this engine hasn't done much work.

Next? I need to figure out why that Victa Commando keeps over-revving.
 
The following small project took more than 4-months to complete!

Back in early September last year, the mulching plug retainer on the Mulchmaster wouldn't stay in place. These mowers can be run in mulch mode with the plug in places, or side throw with it removed. On inspection, the through-bolt that locates and holds the plug in place had rusted to the point where it no longer had threads. This meant the top knob wouldn't hold and caused the plug to fall out.



So, I went and looked up the parts manual for this machine and went from there. I've been storing links to various parts and owner's manuals to help with parts lookup. For common parts, I then copy and paste the part number and store it in the appropriate tab, blades, plugs, filters, oil quantities ect.



Of course, Victa don't bother selling the bolt separately, and I didn't want or need the full mulch plug assembly. So, I took the bolt to a specialty bolt supplier and was given the appropriate substitute for free (don't stress, I've bought countless other items from them in the past, and my father's business one of their biggest customers). The replacement bolt got the machine patched up, but the threads of the knob were a bit suss too.

I then went online looking for a replacement knob. No one but Outdoor King offered it, and even though it wasn't in stock, the "leaves our warehouse within 7-12 business days" gave me the confidence to place the order. :rolleyes:

https://www.outdoorking.com.au/lawn...parts/victa-genuine-mulch-plug-knob-ch86885aw



A month later and I was emailing wondering where the order was, only to be told that they were still waiting for the part. Ahhh, so it's going to be one of those situations where you take my money and sit on for a few months because your website doesn't update product listings or inventory.......................:unsure:

So, fast forward to last week and 4 months down the track, I again (politely) emailed wondering where the hell my order was. Amazing how it was suddenly ready dispatch the next day. Better late than never, the parts arrived today. Included in the order was an updated deflector design for when using the side throw function.

These early Mulchmaster's came with a completely ridiculous plastic deflector skirt............................





That deflector lasted all but 10-minutes on my machine! I can see why they went with this design, and in certain situations, it poses no issues. But the stupid thing would hang op on the edge of paths or garden edges, it even made turning around at the end of a row difficult. So, I removed it and threw it in the back of the garden shed.



In mulch mode with the plug installed, running without the deflector was completely fine. However, for thick growth that warranted side discharge, the lack of deflector was quite dangerous. Re-fitting the plastic skirt would mean remembering to take it with you on the job, then have a socket set on hand and burn time on the job fitting it. Clearly Victa put some further thought into this and redesigned the deflector, reverting back to what earlier Mulchmaster 550's used.



Current model Mulchmaster 560.....................



Typical Victa, they didn't bother updating their product images to represent the newer 850-series fuel tank and cowling design. The crappy V200 engine is fully representative though. Considering Briggs and Stratton own Victa, you would expect them to want their products accurately depicted. Or maybe it's just me who notices these things? :unsure:



Anyway, consulting the parts manual, the newer steel discharge flap is a direct fitment on older machines and not outrageously expensive, so I ordered it too.

https://www.outdoorking.com.au/bran...ts/victa-genuine-discharge-flap-assy-ch87226a

Before getting started, I decided to give the unit a superficial clean, applying Shine Supply Wise Guy to the whole machine, left it to dwell then rinsed with the pressure washer. (See, there was some detailing related content here) When I had power and water routed to the pressure washer, I had them bill it out as "workshop maintenance washer"...............so I guess that was somewhat accurate. ;)



I had kept the plastic deflector mounting bolts and washers installed on the machine, which made installing the new steel item easy. You need to fit this first before installing the mulch plug and knob, you can't do it the other way.









The functionality of swapping between side discharge and mulching is the same procedure, just unscrew the knob and drop the plug out. However, with the flap in place, it makes side throwing much safer but without being an obstruction.

A four month wait for two parts installed in less the 5-minutes.
 
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Impromptu early evening drive...............................



After working just about every weekend for more than 10-years, I'd come home so tired that I'd just crash with no desire to go anywhere. I'm told that's not healthy, but you have to do what you have to do. So, it's nice to jump in the car on a Saturday evening and just go for a cruise.
 
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Just came across this virtually brand new 2015 FG-X XR8 for sale, same Emperor Red as mine. It has all of the production line build sheets, even the plastic is still on the seats and touchscreen. Having never been registered, if/when it's sold, it will actually count on the official Vfact's monthly sales tally......................................... 9-years after they stopped making Falcon's!




This example has only 85 km (53 miles) on the clock and looks to be owned by a Ford dealer. A lot of Ford dealers held onto some of the last Falcon XR6's and XR8's to sit in the showroom indefinitely. My local dealer had a Winter White XR8 on the showroom floor for many years, not sure what happened to it though.
 
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