Since when do we.....

[HamsterJam]

Some cartridges are reversible.

What John says - I had some quarter turn taps that were backwards. Discovered the valves come apart and can be reassembled so the tap operates conventionally. Was quite a while ago now but think I had to remove a circlip to dismantle them.

 

[HamsterJam]

Easy. The R5 started out as a styling exercise which was quickly put into production. For speed of development they used R4 engine and gearbox in the base model and R12 engines for the bigger ones. Remember that cast iron 4 pot engines were loads heavier back then, compared with modern alloy ones. The R4 was a light car, it was designed a bit back to front so the engine sat within the wheelbase and the gearbox in front of the axle line. Made it far less likely to understeer when pressed hard. The R4 had a big engine compartment, plenty of room to run the gear change mechanism over the engine not in the way of anything much. The R5 was a much smaller affair and the engine compartment was tight for space.

I had an early R5 Gordini, frighteningly fast in its day. Odd cross flow hemi head but no overhead cam, pushrods angled in and strange rocker assembly.

I recall the one of the R4s spark plugs was under the bulkhead making it rather awkward to get a socket onto it.
Edit: In hindsight I think it might be the R6 that was difficult to work on.

 

[bourbon]

I've got a German style tap in the bathroom. You lift the lever UP to turn it on. left for hot, right for cold.

 

[Dabop]

I don't get it, all 'center console' autos I have ever driven have this shift pattern (Ford, Holden and Toyota) with park nearest the windscreen...

What shift pattern do they have that you go backwards for reverse and forwards for drive???
You pull it backwards from park, yes- but if you are 'shuffling' to get in or out (and my big 74 LTD took some shuffling in a carpark lol) then you went backwards to get drive, and forwards to get reverse....

Back to taps, my sisters place, her shower has 'one left/one right' taps- they started with a small lever handle and are only '1/4 turn' taps, but now have matching handles to the rest of the bathroom... with their original handles they were both 'horizontal off, push down to turn on, so hot was 1/4 turn anticlockwise, and cold was 1/4 turn clockwise...
(oh and hots on the left, colds on the right in hers- although you can find them on either side here- as cold is usually on the 'door side' of the shower so you can adjust the temp of the shower without getting burned, tap handles on the basin match the shower- so its possible to find both 'sides' in the same house in different bathrooms...)
(no point showing you my shower- its in a caravan and has a single tap- low water flow is hotter, high water flow is cooler, or adjust the temp on the heater unit...)

 

[Oakay]

...open taps by turning clockwise?!

I had a new kitchen sink tap - one of those 'dual' something-or-other, 2 taps, one spout - installed by our plumber yesterday evening, and I've already soaked my shirt twice by turning the tap off (but not!)

I agree, going against convention is normally inconvenient and upsetting. If we had more standardisation, life would be both easier and more economical but it leans toward communism and can stifle inventiveness and artistic flair. The one convention I would love to leave behind is the metric system in base 10. Base 12 would be so much better, but just think of the upheval to achieve universal switching to that....lives would be lost. Shows how important it is to get conventions right in the first place.

 

[Dee J]

Only really understood base 12 when I learnt to count to 12 on one hand.. using the tip of the thumb to count each of the 3 sections of 4 fingers. Mind you, had to deal with binary, octal and hexadecimal on old computer systems.

 

[clogs]

working on anything french is still hard.....
but Ford and the rest have cought up now....
I work a lot on pre WW2 cars, loads'a room but can still be akward tho...
this is a 1928 Citroen C4....try doin a clutch on that....2 gearboxes....lol.....

 

[Oakay]

Only really understood base 12 when I learnt to count to 12 on one hand.. using the tip of the thumb to count each of the 3 sections of 4 fingers. Mind you, had to deal with binary, octal and hexadecimal on old computer systems.

As woodworkers, we would appreciate it more than most. 10 only divides once before turning into a fraction. Base 12 having factors of 2,3,4 and 6 (in base 12 there are direct relationships between more numbers) so would make woodwork so much better. I think this is why America stayed imperial, they recognised metric 10 is flawed.

 

[Cozzer]

It's always intrigued me how the Post Office still sells "books" of stamps in 6s and 12s.....

 

[stuart little]

Pretty much all our taps are cold on the right side, clockwise to open and hot on the left side, counter clockwise to open.

Pete

Mine too - although I'd never given any thought to it till now, but just seemed natural. Correction- cold on rt. anti-clock; hot on left clockwise.

 

[stuart little]

Taps (faucets) don't bother me, but my Peugeot 308, about 2 years old now, is, IMO, overall a lovely car - it satisfies me anyway. But after all this time I STILL cannot get used to the idea that the selector (it's an auto box) needs to be moved FORWARDS to select reverse gear, and vice-versa to move forwards.

WEIRD? Or not? My wife says lots of cars are like that, but I can't remember ever having driven one like that, and I've driven plenty, especially if you include hire cars around the world.

Anyway, even after the above 2 years, this (to my mind "wrong way round") gear selector business has nearly led to some embarrassing car parking incidents - 3 times now.

So am I, as my wife believes, just an old fogey who's finally lost it entirely, or does anyone else have the same idea as me?

For our transatlantic friends, I should perhaps add that Peugeot is a French make (I don't think they import them to the US & Canada).

Sounds like a 2CV - " fwd to go back- back to go fwd!"

 

[stuart little]

Early Land Rovers, 1st & reverse next to one another. I remember a Datsun of the eighties (1600 SS, I think) had an internal 'reverse beeper' to tell you've selected reverse, which was where 1st would normally be, 1st was where 2nd would normally be. Hated that car when it came into my shop for service. The owner eventually saw sense & bought a SAAB 900!

 

[stuart little]

French taps & valves did operate the opposite way. Apparently when the Liner Normandie caught fire in NY delays were caused by firecrews etc struggling to operate taps & valves, not realising everything was 'ass-backwards'.

 

[Richard_C]

The owner eventually saw sense & bought a SAAB 900!

I has Saabs for years, ending 12 years ago. The habit of keeping my car key in my left pocket persists.

 

[stuart little]

I has Saabs for years, ending 12 years ago. The habit of keeping my car key in my left pocket persists.

I've owned SAABs since '77, still got my 93 bough new in '01 with 30k on clock, but in 2nd yr of SORN now. I remember taking my first one, '72 99, for tyres & left a seat cover on that hid the key hole, I had a phone call saying they couldn't find where the key went in!

 

[Fergie 307]

And there you have it, summed up perfectly – it’s French, if there is an awkward way to do it they will certainly try and do it that way. I remember my ex-wife’s Renault five. That had the gearbox in front of the engine with a long rod that went all the way from the front of the car across the engine and through the dashboard. Why!!
I was pretty handy at doing points and things in those days but it took me three hours on that car!
I think you’ll find that putting cold/ blue on the right and red on the left is in the regulations as an aid to blind people. Easy to remember it’s the same as politics. Ian

Very sensible actually. Keeps the floor clear, and gives a nice clean change, unlike some of the ghastly and complicated gear change linkages on some cars which feel as though you are stirring a bucket of rocks. Ever driven an Austin Maxi/Princess ?

 

[Smike]

If an Alien came down to Earth bet he’d have a laugh. Half the world driving on the right, the other half on the left !!

 

[John Brown]

If an Alien came down to Earth bet he’d have a laugh. Half the world driving on the right, the other half on the left !!

Indeed! We already know what they think of our potato preparation methods.

 

[stuart little]

I don't get it, all 'center console' autos I have ever driven have this shift pattern (Ford, Holden and Toyota) with park nearest the windscreen...
View attachment 124401
What shift pattern do they have that you go backwards for reverse and forwards for drive???
You pull it backwards from park, yes- but if you are 'shuffling' to get in or out (and my big 74 LTD took some shuffling in a carpark lol) then you went backwards to get drive, and forwards to get reverse....

Back to taps, my sisters place, her shower has 'one left/one right' taps- they started with a small lever handle and are only '1/4 turn' taps, but now have matching handles to the rest of the bathroom... with their original handles they were both 'horizontal off, push down to turn on, so hot was 1/4 turn anticlockwise, and cold was 1/4 turn clockwise...
(oh and hots on the left, colds on the right in hers- although you can find them on either side here- as cold is usually on the 'door side' of the shower so you can adjust the temp of the shower without getting burned, tap handles on the basin match the shower- so its possible to find both 'sides' in the same house in different bathrooms...)
(no point showing you my shower- its in a caravan and has a single tap- low water flow is hotter, high water flow is cooler, or adjust the temp on the heater unit...)

Sounds like it could be a 'Variable' drive - echoes of Daf/Volvo 300 series?

 

[Cabinetman]

It's always intrigued me how the Post Office still sells "books" of stamps in 6s and 12s.....

Well try and put 5 on a page, personally I still refer to things as "half a dozen" but then I’m a little bit old-fashioned – I still say tuppence and tuppeny bit lol