calvan

I certainly agree with that objective, but not necessarily the method of achieving it. There can be some circumstances when you need to slow someone down if they are oblivious to a specific hazard but I have often seen other drivers take foolish and reckless risks to get around slower traffic. Just this past weekend I was on a road trip through BC and saw at least three instances of impatient twits making extremely risky passes to get by other vehicles that weren't going fast enough to suit them. Two of the instances were people wanting to drive too fast for the conditions but the third was triggered by someone who was going slowly and doggedly refusing to let anyone past. Luckily, none of these episodes ended in disaster either through sheer dumb luck or good judgement by oncoming drivers It seems that we have significantly different opinions on reacting to faster traffic.

I don't see how that helps. Ok, the Audi is being a knucklehead and tailgating you - so let them by and keep an eye out to avoid their debris field instead of holding them up and perhaps triggering real road rage

Am I reading this correctly? Are you actually lauding the self-entitled priggishness of intentionally impeding someone simply because you disapprove of their driving habits or choice of vehicle? Unbelievable.

You are not alone - I have seen the same thing here, north of the 49th parallel. And I agree that it is most often a Dodge, followed by BMW - usually an older 3 series with go-fast body kit - or a clapped out Honda Civic with a fart can exhaust. They're a minority of drivers, even among those makes, but for some people out there the sight of a Lotus triggers a need to pass it even if it kills them. And it might do that. My experience is that for virtually all of these spaz drivers a reasonable description of their driving skill is that they couldn't find their own ass if they used both hands and a hunting dog.

I don't know how much the technology, or more accurately the chemistry, of this process may have changed in the 24 years since my car was done but it may require thorough preparation and quick work in applying the primer coat. Back in the day the primer/sealant used a two-part epoxy mixture. I recall a conversation with the fellow who did the work indicating that he had to be absolutely ready to go and then spray the car quickly because if the epoxy started to set before he could get his spray-gun cleaned out it would turn into a rather expensive paperweight. I don't know if that is still the case but something to keep in mind.

My Europa was done as clear over base way back in '97 but the fibreglass was sealed with an epoxy primer before the base coat went on. The epoxy layer had to be sanded, understandably, but then took base and clear like a "normal" steel body car. After twenty-odd years it is showing some signs of wear and minor stress cracks but has held up remarkably well. And before you can ask for a reference, the fellow who did it is (a) still here in western Canada and (b) retired.

To follow the idea of names reflecting car colour, I often refer to my Europa as "The Little White Deathtrap". If you could see the number of badly, but aggressively, driven pickup trucks and SUVs on the road here, the reason for the name would be all too apparent. The Esprit looks great!

Good for you, that was an important project to see through. And in any event, "upping sticks" is generally frowned upon in hockey regardless of playing surface.

@rallyesax, I'll go with your earlier comment and say that goalies are merely misunderstood. Although it does take a certain mindset to stand between the pipes while people are firing a frozen-solid disk of vulcanised rubber at you. To give a nod to the Lotus underpinnings of the forum, I make a point of taking my Europa to hockey once or twice each season. All it takes is cramming a couple of sticks and a large bag of somewhat malodorous equipment into the passenger seat (always on a day that I can keep the windows open). As you can imagine, a Europa attracts a fair bit of attention at a hockey rink. The biggest reaction is usually when I pull regular player sticks out of the car - people see hockey gear being taken out of a car that small and assume that I'm crazy enough to be a goalie 😉

it's great to find another hockey player on TLF, especially a goalie. We can always use more goalies, even if some people think are a generally a tad eccentric🙃 I usually, but not always, play defence. There a couple of rinks near me that run drop-in hockey so for the past few years I've been playing there instead of in a regular league. It's a good set-up but we never know how many players we have until just before the game - over the last two seasons I have literally played every position except goal. You're welcome to it, my friend.

I haven't been playing for a bit over a year due to shutdowns but hope to be back at it in a few months. Could do with the stress relief!

Depends on what you're looking for. If you are evaluating it as a long term career post, working on state of the art equipment in an exciting field has a lot appeal. Particularly if the company has good prospects for growth and advancement. If it just a job, go for the extra money and buy a set of carbon wheels for your Lotus.

Nor owners. Alas.

...or taxes.

I grew out of this phase (I hope) by my mid-50s but for a while my family was convinced that it was my life's ambition to be 10% scar tissue, by weight