Keeping positive - COVID-19

Wonderful noise those Class 37 beasties make.

I'll not forget standing on the footbridge at Arnside station as a couple of 37s, pulling a flask flatbed, came off the viaduct and started to accelerate away. The noise as they went under us was extraordinary - we certainly felt as well as heard them!
 
As with most people we’ll all have plenty of fantastic pictures and in many different cars/family/places so I thought I’d just post the A2 ones only as I’d be here forever.

My first A2 and the point at which the pictures were taken of the car had circa 50k miles and was 3 years old, clearly the interior had held up very well.
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My current A2 with pictures taken at circa £27k miles and 16 years old.



Some of you may have may have worked out (from my historic posts) that attention to detail and perfectionism is my thing when it comes to cars but hey, it makes me happy!

Those grey leather seats look new. ?
 
Those grey leather seats look new. ?
I know, I’m a bit fanatical about keeping cars pristine, especially interiors where you spend most of your time. I’d really love a pristine set of grey leather sports seats for my current A2 but suspect they won’t exist in the standard of my first A2’s seats. Even when I sold it with 90k there was no sagging anywhere, (I should never have sold it) dam you company car scheme, I got swayed by a free car (except BIK).

My current A2’s seats are sports and whilst near perfect, you can see where the previous owner has slid over the side bolsters resulting in slight creases in the fabric. I wonder what would happen if I took an iron to it?

You can really see why I’m really happy with that picture!
 
I know, I’m a bit fanatical about keeping cars pristine, especially interiors where you spend most of your time. I’d really love a pristine set of grey leather sports seats for my current A2 but suspect they won’t exist in the standard of my first A2’s seats. Even when I sold it with 90k there was no sagging anywhere, (I should never have sold it) dam you company car scheme, I got swayed by a free car (except BIK).

My current A2’s seats are sports and whilst near perfect, you can see where the previous owner has slid over the side bolsters resulting in slight creases in the fabric. I wonder what would happen if I took an iron to it?

You can really see why I’m really happy with that picture!

I'm a bit ocd with my interiors as you can see from my signature. Since i don't get to drive my car often enough, the mrs uses it as a daily, i often don't get enough time to clean it. Yes i can see why your happy with that pic, what surprised me, there is absolutely no shine to them seats. Perhaps a testament to your cleaning regime or the products you use?
 
I'm a bit ocd with my interiors as you can see from my signature. Since i don't get to drive my car often enough, the mrs uses it as a daily, i often don't get enough time to clean it. Yes i can see why your happy with that pic, what surprised me, there is absolutely no shine to them seats. Perhaps a testament to your cleaning regime or the products you use?
Yes cleaning regime, one thing I hate is shiny leather, IMHO it cheapens the look.

My technique is to leather clean with a cleaner (in wipe form), once dry use a clean chamois dipped in hot water and wipe again (make sure it’s had no products on it and the bucket is clean too) this takes the sheen off the leather and makes the leather look new. I’ve been doing this for years especially on steering wheels and it rejuvenates the leather.
 
Well here's a photo of my A2 FSI after a visit to Timmus just before the lock down, Sunderland point, Nr Heysham, lovely place and looking forward to returning as soon as we are allowed.
Arnside station
This thread is gradually becoming an A-to-Z of scenic locations near my house. Arnside viaduct connects the Arnside & Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the Lake District National Park. I've spent many an afternoon walking in that area. Sellafield nuclear power station, on the west coast of the Lake District, used to do loads of nuclear fuel enrichment for the other nuclear power stations throughout the UK, resulting in loads of armoured nuclear wagons crossing the Arnside viaduct.

I'm absolutely loving this thread, by the way. I've known for a long time that we A2OCers are a diverse bunch, but it's really good to see the huge variety of things that we all do away from cars.

Keep the stories coming, folks!
 
Yes cleaning regime, one thing I hate is shiny leather, IMHO it cheapens the look.

My technique is to leather clean with a cleaner (in wipe form), once dry use a clean chamois dipped in hot water and wipe again (make sure it’s had no products on it and the bucket is clean too) this takes the sheen off the leather and makes the leather look new. I’ve been doing this for years especially on steering wheels and it rejuvenates the leather.


you can steam creases out if you know what you are doing , its fairly easy and lots of how to vids on the net . My RS4 had done about 30k and had a couple of creases front and rear and they came out after some work
 
you can steam creases out if you know what you are doing , its fairly easy and lots of how to vids on the net . My RS4 had done about 30k and had a couple of creases front and rear and they came out after some work
That’ll be some lockdown research for me to do as it the only remain minor blemish to my otherwise pristine seats.

Thanks for that tip. ?
 
This is the Jôf di Montasio, the highest point of the Italian Julian Alps. It was first climbed in 1877. During the First World War, only 38 years later, its summit formed part of the front line between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire. Having control of its summit was a major military advantage, so it was permanently manned by the Italians from 1915 to 1918, including during the bitter winter months. In order to get cannons and other hardware to the summit, a series of climbing aids and winches were installed into certain sections of the cliffs. The most elaborate of these is Pipan's ladder, which is 60m high ....equivalent to six Olympic diving platforms stacked on top of each other! These sheer faces, coupled with military fire power, were simply impenetrable and resulted in no offensives by the Austro-Hungarian army.

South West Face.jpg


Of course, these days, the summit is visited by recreational climbers rather than climbing soldiers. Much of the WW1 hardware is gone, but there's still plenty of evidence of Montasio's fortification, including Pipan's ladder, which is maintained. The photo below shows me somewhere in the middle of the ladder. One of my climbing partners took the photo over his shoulder, whilst my other climbing partner can be seen beneath me, in an orange helmet.

Pipan's Ladder.jpg


After Pipan's ladder, it's still some way to the top. The next photo was taken by me and shows my two climbing partners holding hands as they walk along the final ridge to the summit. Cloud had started to build on one side of the mountain, but you can clearly see the valleys to the left of the photo, and get a sense of why, over 100 years ago, Montasio's position was of such military significance.

Montasio Summit.jpg
 
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brave man . brother in law is a climber and did Mont Blanc last year . He keeps trying to get me out but i get a nosebleed going up a ladder
 
Yes cleaning regime, one thing I hate is shiny leather, IMHO it cheapens the look.

My technique is to leather clean with a cleaner (in wipe form)
What leather cleaner may I ask? I have been using Zymol and now just bought some Dr Leather...
 
What leather cleaner may I ask? I have been using Zymol and now just bought some Dr Leather...
I used some Dr Leather previously however since having kids I find baby wipes (un-fragranced) seem to do a similar job of cleaning the surface.

The bit I swear by however is the chamois. I use the rougher side to re-clean the leather, the chamois gives up some of its natural ingredients leaving a non-shiny matt appearance. I always use my new ones on the seats but you’ve got to make sure there are no cleaning/contaminants in the hot water as you don’t want residue of turtle wax/autoglym etc transferred to the seats via the chamois.

This is good for resale as it’s always a bonus if the car looks as good/better than the day you bought it!
 
Both myself and Tom share the same passion for climbing the bigger bumps on this earth. It is good to reminisce during this lockdown but also good to know they will still be there when it is all over, maybe a little busier if everybody else has the same idea though.

Mont Blanc.....2nd attempt I think......and socially distancing even then!!!
1586870817475.png
 
I used some Dr Leather previously however since having kids I find baby wipes (un-fragranced) seem to do a similar job of cleaning the surface.

The bit I swear by however is the chamois. I use the rougher side to re-clean the leather, the chamois gives up some of its natural ingredients leaving a non-shiny matt appearance. I always use my new ones on the seats but you’ve got to make sure there are no cleaning/contaminants in the hot water as you don’t want residue of turtle wax/autoglym etc transferred to the seats via the chamois.

This is good for resale as it’s always a bonus if the car looks as good/better than the day you bought it!

I remember the last time we bought a leather sofa, the sales adviser said not to use wetwipes, he wasn't that impressed with my response of "well if its safe enough for a babies bum i'm pretty sure its fine for a cows arse".
 
I remember the last time we bought a leather sofa, the sales adviser said not to use wetwipes, he wasn't that impressed with my response of "well if its safe enough for a babies bum i'm pretty sure its fine for a cows arse".

Exactly right. The sofa salesman obviously didn’t know is arse from is elbow.
There’s a bun in there somewhere


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I remember the last time we bought a leather sofa, the sales adviser said not to use wetwipes, he wasn't that impressed with my response of "well if its safe enough for a babies bum i'm pretty sure its fine for a cows arse".
Fantastic response!

Anyway there are some salespeople (not all) that haven’t got a clue especially new car sales people. The ones I have no respect for is those that come up with a bu****it answer, I don’t care if they don’t know, just don’t lie!

Anyway, been using wet wipes for 25 years........ for cleaning cars (get your minds out of the gutter)!
 
Both myself and Tom share the same passion for climbing the bigger bumps on this earth. It is good to reminisce during this lockdown but also good to know they will still be there when it is all over, maybe a little busier if everybody else has the same idea though.

Mont Blanc.....2nd attempt I think......and socially distancing even then!!!
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Mont Blanc from another angle sally and daughter on walking holiday Sall didn’t like the glass floor ??....
A54144F2-AE39-4E1B-B263-A8AFEC9363B9.jpeg
 
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