Soop Dogg

My comments about house price deflation were tied into the general performance of the economy and jobs market. When prices fell in 1989 (and for a few years following that) a recession bit hard and lots of people lost their jobs. The price of these houses today has risen - but that didn't alter the fact that the banks had to try and sell repossessed houses at a loss back then. The forecast of a secure income (or as secure as can be expected these days) is what the banks want too when they look at potential customers. If a borrower should lose their job, be that through redundancy or incapacity or whatever, they need to know that they will get their money back if they have to repossess a house. If this happens 2 years into a new mortgage, then house price deflation DOES matter to the bank. The fact that it will be worth more in 25 years time won't matter to them as they will need to sell it ASAP. If the economy starts to slip into recession (or if it looks like a recession might be on the horizon) the banks will stop offering interest only mortgages without some sort of assurance in the form of a policy (such as an endowment) or a 30+% deposit. Of course we all know that long term, property will appreciate in value, but you need to still be in possession of it at the end of the mortgage to benefit from that!

Wait until you hear one with Borlas or Corsas on - you'll be reaching for the credit card, I guarantee it!

Interest only mortgages won't be around for long if house prices start to fall. Or at least they could still be around, but the proportion of the house value that you'll need as a deposit will be increased. I only see them as a good idea if you intend paying off the mortgage early - e.g. buy to let or buy to improve and then sell for quick profit. The value of the house after 25 years is only part of the equation that the banks are interested in. They also have to factor in the performance of the national economy in general as this will affect employment rates - if a house owner loses their job after 2 years AND house values are falling, they want to be able to get ALL their money back. Endowment mortgages were all the rage a few years back - until the share market crashed so badly that endowments lost so much money as to be insufficient to repay peoples mortgages. These are basically interest only mortgages but the lender insists that you take out a fixed term endowment policy to run alongside the mortgage that should be enough to pay off the mortgage at the end of the term. These may be the only way to get an interest only mortgage again soon if house price deflation becomes a reality. Then there's little or no saving to be made as the endowment policy costs almost the same as the difference in monthly cost between the two types of mortgage.

If you have Sky, you can check out the coverage on BBC Northern Ireland. Can't remember if it's BBC1 or 2, but you can find them on channels 973 and 992. (I think) About 11.30pm Edit - it's on BBC1 Northern Ireland - 973 on Sky. 11.20pm normally through until Sunday.

Yep - most people say they are even better on normal tyres. However, I'm impressed enough with the handling and grip to keep it on the runflats. I've had 2 pnuctures in the last 3 years where i got a cut over an inch long in a tyre. I'd have need to be recovered if I'd been in a 'vette due to the absence of a spare. Also, if you puncture a normal tyre, you end up breaking the tyre pressure monitor on the back of the valve - these aren't too cheap to replace. (about £100 a time)

Nice one! Now get yourself over to the UK owners site and register - the nationals are on later this month at Huntingdon in Cambs! Glad to hear another person who has suddenly realised that the 'Yanks don't handle' thing is a myth when it comes to the 'Vette!

Yesterday, the 606 site on bbc.co.uk had a yellow version of the logo pictured and was asking for people to comment on it. Apparently someone said it looked like an adult version of a Simpsons episode with Lisa simpson giving someone a BJ. They even posted a link to a pic they'd made of it but the BBC took it down sharpish! Quote from Tony Blair: When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life WTF???

I'm feeling old now - i have a Robert Palmer video (yes - a proper, pre-rrecorded VHS thing!) that I bought back in about 1990 with Addicted to Love and Simply Irresistable on it. Aahh, those were the days!

Le Mans 2005:

I got a pack from a car parts store locally - about a fiver for 10 of them. You need the correct tool for securing them though. They're the sort that you get to secure CV joints on FWD cars. I'd go for the hose clamp in your case.....

Did anyone watch the coverage of the Northwest 200 in Northern Ireland a couple of weeks back? They're mad! And mass start Road racing too - none of this 2-at-a-time stuff! NW200 Coverage

Which direction were you going, mate? I've gone into that bend at daft speeds (a few years ago now - I don't tend to take any chances these days) heading towards Yarmouth. You can get up to over 160 if you get the power down early out of the Brundall roundabout and nail it down the hill. (Please don't try this though!) I dread to think what would have happened if anything like that had gone wrong. At those speeds, the smallest of problems can be massive. Thinking about it, at that sort of speed, I doubt they'd ever be able to tell what caused the driver to lose control if it went badly wrong because of a loose battery terminal.

It takes a little bit longer (not much) to change springs than to change the shock/spring combination as it's exactly the same job but with the extra work of having to dismantle each coilover and fit the new spring. Can't see why they'd charge extra to use spring compressors - it only takes 2 mins to put them on! And in some ways makes at least part of the job a little easier. I did a complete swap of springs/shocks on my car last week, also changing the springs. The rears can be done complete in about an hour, but the fronts can be a pain in the butt! I'd say 3 hours for doing all 4 shocks and replacing the springs as well is pretty quick. (and I've done this job 4 or 5 times in the last couple of years)

Or check out the RAC website; 'Pay-by-Day' I think they call it - again it's underwritten by Norwich Union. You pay so much for the first 2 or 3 days and then the daily price drops the longer you are on risk.

I remember the first time I went to the States, these had just come out. (1977). I thought they looked amazing and bought a model of one. (I was 11 years old then) Good luck with it. Ultimate Spares of America do a lot of stuff for these cars - all the panels etc are still available - even floor pans AFAIK! (Their website isn't up to much, so probably best phone them!) Service parts are cheap as chips - even though we're talking big block. If you need any more info or ideas on where to get parts, give me a shout.

Right - there are at least two black Lingenfelter C6's in the UK. The one in Evo magazine is owned by David Yu. The one pictured above that I photographed at Silverstone is owned by a guy I only know by his user name on Pistonheads and the Corvette Forum as EriktheVetKing. The car runs 620bhp. Mystery solved.

I think Alex is right. If it's David Yu that you're talking about, here's a link to the Evo article: CLICK (Complete with Lingenfelter badges)

If the damage was caused by a third party and their insurance is paying for the repair, then you can insist that they repair it. Besides, it takes the repair costs to be 60% of the market value of the car before it becomes uneconomical to repair. That would mean your car would have to be worth about £3k which sounds unlikely. Don't get too upset until the insurance company contact you.

Surely not???

Oooohhh....that's harsh!! (The picture, not Rosie's comments!)

Amanda cracks me up - how you can read from her expressions just what has come into her head - usually something nasty. Plus she's rather good looking...... (too young for me though cos I'm an old git now - how the hell did that happen?)

That's exactly what I thought when I saw it, but it had a different plate on it. Could still have been the same car though I guess. I'll have to ask....

Yep - 2 valves per cylinder, pushrod engine - agricultural by todays standards, but it works and it works well! Which could be a VERY useful thing if our wonderful govt. keep making it expensive to drive anything bigger than a 1.1 Fiesta! finding another market to offload a RHD car might be difficult - I'll just take my vette onto the continent to sell it if I have to! As I think I mentioned before, I get early 30's on the motorway at 80ish. Around town about 21mpg Yep - performance is great. But for me the exclusivity swings it. I did consider a 996, but I go to Le Mans most years and the place is FULL of Porsches. The 997 is a really great car too, I won't argue that, but it just wouldn't feel 'special' to me to drive in Europe in a Porsche. Me too, but I quite fancy a C6 in the meantime. I'll have to drive one sometime. How about a Lingenfelter C6? (Photographed this one in the car park at the FIA GT races a few weeks back at Silverstone) How cool does the rear of one of these look? ©Brian Duff 2007

Agreed. The reason your temp gauge doesn't go high is because 100 deg. C is not that hot in an engine. The boiling point of water rises with rises in atmospheric pressure. (and conversely falls with falling atmospheric pressure) Water can be boiled at 80 or 90 deg C at high altitude where atmospheric presure is low. (saves gas on the camping stove!) As the cooling system becomes pressurised when the engine is running, the water can heat up to well beyond 100 deg C when, for example you're stuck in traffic. The high pressure in the system means that the water won't boil. However, if your rad cap spring fails, it lets the pressure out of the system and the water boils causing coolant loss. Once you've lost some coolant, then the engine temps will rise still further and you'll see it on the gauge.