PaulAA

Good point. The key will be to distribute the load more widely over what is beneath, so an oversized pad of at least C35 would do the trick. As Colin reinforces, worth taking a bit of informal advice if you can. For the beam protection, instead of plasterboard, a single sheet of 15mm Fermacell is rated for 60mins protection. David, I'm late to the party and just catching up on your underfloor heating project - very interesting. My field is big commercial real estate, so I'm not too familiar with residential systems, but I assume you'll be running constant rather than intermittent heating and I wondered if you'd looked into the implications for air changes and how to create an airtight internal space, and the thermal performance of the other elements of the building - walls, windows/doors and the roof. Essentially, looking at passivhaus standards, but reeled back towards practicality. I'm guessing that you're using a gas boiler - did you consider and dismiss using a heat pump?

It depends on what's above it, but (unless the photograph angle is deceptive) not only is the bearing horribly weak, it also appears to be rather short, placing a lot of load on a relatively small pad. It might be worth considering propping the beam more extensively and replacing the haphazard beam end pad with a concrete pad cast in situ, but you'de need a bit of advice from a structural engineer on the grade of concrete mix and how it is keyed into the surrounding brickwork. I'm very much out of date with UK Regs, but I would also expect the beam to have been equipped with a fire resistant cladding, at least to achieve an hour's protection.

John Going back to your original post and the oxymoron of 'classic car investment', the Bank of England has a handy little inflation calculator, here. Marvellously, I was able to establish that I paid almost exactly the same price for my TR6 in 2013 as the new price in 1975 and that, adjusted for inflation, it has dropped in value (judging by comparable adverts) in the decade since. I haven't built up the courage to check the Jag yet...

John I suspect a degree of 'Trigger's Broom' in the manufacture, much like the drug dealers' favourite, the MB G-wagon.

Somebody is selling a 'factory fresh' 2022 seven-seater UAZ 452 locally, for approx. £15k (click here in case you find yourself irresistably tempted) Never quite seen the appeal myself - looks somewhat like a Five Year Plan Committee's attempt at copying the Alfa Romeo F12 using redundant tractor parts. Paul

I was mistaken. Not so much pink as lichen-streaked... 68 UTW past its glory:

There are things on that web page that cannot be unseen. Horrible things - the stuff of nightmares. But on the bright side, I saw a picture of a pink Herald stretch limo recently. When I've recovered, I'll post it.

A short update to this. Both the SD1s are fettled and roadworthy. The 2 litre petrol runs nicely, the diesel not so much. Their future is currently uncertain. The Acclaim is largely sorted and will likely return to the UK, as will the MG Maelstrom, which is in excellent bodily condition, but getting the 1.6 R-series to run anything akin to smoothly is proving to be... challenging. The peach of the bunch is the base Metro, which has scrubbed up nicely, runs sweetly and is in the process of being registered locally. Come spring, it will be on the roads hereabouts.

... or maybe the Higher Being was bored one wet Thursday and thought he'd give Life a go one one of those more remote planets down there in the bottom left hand corner, and see how it goes. Just the one planet for now. "If they make a go of it and behave, I'll trying rolling it out elsewhere. Hell, I could even franchise it and make a bob or two!"

Roger Did you not discover that, by the time you reached the pavement, most people within a three mile radius were already on the other side of the street filming the action? I believe there is a mathematical equation, which demonstrates that PE increases exponentially when its source is a scissor jack. Paul

I'm ordering several of these for the disparate group of classic car owners we have locally, on the basis that none of us has much more than a peripheral acquaintance with competence:

I have discovered that showing a recalcitrant vehicle this implement tends to have a sobering effect on it:

Not so long ago, I saw a bloke loading an old fridge into the back of a rather lovely Renault Fuego. It fitted, until he slammed to mainly-glass rear hatch down. I have to say that he looked the very picture of crestfallen, poor chap. Back to the soot dragons, Her Indoors has a Volvo V60 D4 - the last of the pre-Chinese Volvos. 2.0 litre, nigh on 200bhp and proper grunt in 'sport' mode, but astonishingly frugal on long runs. Sitting at 125-ish kph on the highway north to the Baltic, it returns 50 to 55mpg. On one occasion, travelling on my own with the family gecko (who grumbles about excessive speed), I got nearly 60mpg.

Great film, Hamish. Pity they couldn't manage a credit for the source at the end, given what the auctioneer's premium will be on this... I'd say it wil go for well north of $50m. Looking at what is being paid for cars with provenance now, it could be $70m.