Fettling to Driving Ratio?

[David Stepney]

I have just looked up “fettle” in the two dictionaries that came to hand. Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary gives the meaning as “to arrange or mend” as a verb, and “preparedness or readiness” as a noun. Nuttalls Standard Dictionary gives “to set right” and “good condition” respectively.

[Steve Jones]

And in my Grandmother's Comprehensive English Dictionary (John Ogilvie, Glasgow, 1892) Fettle is defined as 'To repair, To mend' and also 'To do triflng business'.

Steve

[Charles P]

I was taught that fettlin (we are in Yorkshire) was removing the runners and sprues from castings, and roughly filing off the metal where the moulds joined. Also filing off similar bits from rough forgings.

I'm not in or from Yorkshire but my understanding came from studying metallurgy there. 

C

[Duncan Grimmond]

My first Austin special was in very much a 50/50 until I had it fettled then it went down to a 10:1 ratio of driving to fettling. Since I sold it I gather it has been chromed and polished to death but driven fewer that 100 miles in four years....

[dickie65]

My car had a cheap rebuild in the 1990s using what bits I had from fathers large pile, it then got used and abused for years.
Now I have a better job I am doing more fettling to bring it back to factory spec. ( current project is a Hadley Cranked Nippy Engine to replace its mongrel bitsa engine )
I have not driven it much since 2012 when I started to hillclimb it.
I am hoping to be out and about in a bit more this year.

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

Whatever we understand as fettling I think what we know what we mean.

Some fettle, some drive. Some drive without fettling, some fettle without driving.

In my mind all are welcome in the A7 world.  Let’s not cast aspersions as to who has the moral ground

Cheers

Howard

[Dave Wortley]

I seem to be doing neither fettling nor driving currently but I usually take a mashing of tea up to my garage and on the way back to the house chuck the tea waddocks in the garden ("Mashing" a brewing of tea leaves. "Waddocks" what remains in the bottom of your teacup)

[Duncan Grimmond]

Waddocks is a new one on me. Is it peculiar to Sheffield? I think we should ask Ian McMillan, the "Bard of Barnsley" who seems to know all about South Yorkshire.

[Reckless Rat]

There are more wassocks in Sheffield than Waddocks...

[Dave Wortley]

Duncan and Reckers. Just looked up Waddocks in the Urban Dictionary (???). Slang word for ladies breasts. Used by men " Nice pair of  waddocks". So Reckers there will be more waddocks in Sheffield than wassocks.