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ibrooks

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ibrooks last won the day on September 12 2014

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About ibrooks

  • Birthday 08/27/1975

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  • Car type
    GTM Coupe
  • Full name
    Iain Brooks

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    Male
  • Location
    Darwen (Lancashire)

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  1. 'lo folks, long time no speak. Some of you may remember me (and some may not). I had a couple of Robin Hoods some years ago but not any more. I've been having a clear out and have come across about 30 Boyz In Hoodz magazines from around the mid '90's to the early 2000's. I can't promise that they are a complete set for the time period. I'm not looking for anything for them. I live in Darwen, Lancashire and would prefer someone to come and collect them. PM me if you're interested.
  2. ibrooks

    Danger Mouse

    I was severely underwhelmed. Utter garbage - I can see my nieces now wondering what on earth I was recommending that rubbish for.
  3. So what does the ally housing connect to? Temp senders don't usually have an earth - they get it from screwing into something metal like the head or block. On the A-Series the later ones went into the stat housing which is a separate ally lump but it's bolted to the block so all earthed via the block to body straps. Iain
  4. ibrooks

    Mt75 Vs Type 9

    Yeah - the Lexus problem sounds like it's more down to the narrow power-band of a turbo-diesel and engine management that's not letting the engine boost under certain conditions. Regarding the Type-9 and MT75. Beware the V6 boxes and the 2.5 Scorpio diesel one as it's not just the bell-housing that's different but also the input shaft. It's unfortunately not uncommon for people to play mix-n-match with bell-housings and front casings to make a box that looks like it'll fit your application but in reality won't. Usually this is when they've used the bits they want from a couple of boxes to make a hybrid that suits them and they have bits left over. Type-9's will last OK at and beyond 200bhp if they are good to start with and driven with just a modicum of care. That doesn't mean driving like Miss Daisy is in the back - it means not dumping the clutch and spinning the wheels at every opportunity. I know of Type-9's that have lasted years driven fairly hard behind BOA V6's with no complaints and that's in a Sierra. In a Hood you are never going to be putting as much load into them as the rear wheels will light up long before you can put that much torque into them an act as a safety valve for the box. Personally I'd go for a Type-9 behind a Zetec if all else was equal. That said I do have a collection of MT75's for my Ford based project but that's because I'm looking at north of 300bhp and 4x4 (though I've a Scorpio diesel box to allow 2wd if the mood takes me). The backup plan if the MT75's become a consumable is a Skyline box - they have been made to fit my application and will allow me to retain the four wheel drive whilst being supposedly beefy enough to handle 1000bhp yes that's a thousand. Iain
  5. I echo the stuff about the standard Sierra calipers and discs being more than up to the job - they are designed to stop a significantly heavier car from any legal speed so are usually OTT for a Hood. M1144's always seemed good to me but I also highly rate Ferodo's bog standard road stuff - I've seen them pull up a road rally car with no drama when the discs were glowing. I used the Ferodo stuff on my Mini that only had 7.5" discs which have a reputation for fading due to heat buildup (later minis had 8.4" as standard but they won't fit under 10" wheels). I never managed to get them to fade and with a hot 1380 under the bonnet it wasn't slow through the twisty bits. Iain
  6. My mates terrier has a habit of sticking her nose in your ear when you least expect it. Most disconcerting when you're underneath a car that's up on axle stands - usually makes you jump just enough to crack your forehead on the underside of the car.
  7. ibrooks

    Hydraulic Clutch

    Might sound odd but can you get your hand onto it and feel the lettering? If so....... is there any plasticene in the house? I've managed before to make an impression of casting numbers and the like to read something that I couldn't see or get a mirror into a position where I could see. I've also managed to use a camera-phone at arms length to take a picture of stuff that I can't see directly. Iain
  8. Yes 50Amp minimum is a bit too hot for bodywork thickness stuff. The Clarkes that generally do the job well are around 30-35Amp minimum. An auto-darkening helmet is indeed a revelation and can be had for sub £30 nowadays. Iain
  9. Unless you are looking at heavy fabrication then for a home user I'd say MIG every time. I have a Clarke 150TE which I'd recommend to anyone in a heartbeat. I've converted it to use "proper" sized gas bottles but apart from that it's only had replacement tips and shrouds in what must be over 10 years. Compared to the 90 Amp SIP I had before it and a friends more recent SIP - well there is no comparison. Dunno what SIP are like nowadays or what the larger ones are like. Keep your eyes peeled for a VAT free voucher for Machinemart and you'll not often get a new one cheaper. They have quite a range and choosing between them is a bit of a minefield. I wouldn't buy a 151TE for example because it's the same machine as the 150TE but in a different case and £24ish more expensive. The MIG145 and MIG152 welders look like good value (even after factoring in the gas regulator and kit) but I'd be a little wary as they don't have as many adjustment points on the power range - in reality I don't use all the points on mine but welding is 90% about finding that sweet spot where power and wire speed combine to give a good weld with enough penetration but without blowing holes and I'd be worried buying a welder with few settings that I'd always find one setting too cold and the next one up too hot. They might be fine but....... If you aren't going to go with Clarke then I'd still suggest using the spec of the 150 from Machinemart as a minimum list when looking elsewhere. Screwfix were selling some 150Amp MIGs a while back that looked a good deal until you spotted that the minimum welding current was waaaaay too high for thinner metal like car bodywork. You see these things popping up on ebay still as people who bought them now realise they don't do what they want and try to offload them on the next poor unsuspecting mug. There have been some Wolf branded welders in yellow with a very similar spec to the Clarke 150 that I've heard good things about. Iain
  10. We always reckoned a good part of the problem was the mix of materials (ally of possibly two different grades and steel). They are in an area that gets warm and will all expand at different rates and lead to movement. Plus the fashion always tended towards making them as anorexic as possible leading us to suspect flexing may play a role too. From what I've seen I doubt loctite on the bolts would make any difference. On the ones I've seen that have slipped the bolts always seem to be tight still. I'd be more inclined to suspect some loctite between the parts of the pulley would be more effective but future adjustments would be a nightmare. A note if you are pinning this type - make sure the pin doesn't protrude on the back side enough to catch the flange of the rocker cover or similar. Iain
  11. Yeah the 1300 was a rarity in this country as it didn't have the power to justify it's own weight. It was faaaar more popular in Scandinavia where they had cubic capacity based tax long before us and the 1300 fell into a lower bracket and the difference was significant - you saw a lot of main dealers turbocharging them as that didn't affect their tax but it brought the power up to equal the bigger engines. Iain
  12. Quaife peg type every time. The ones that just use three allen bolts and friction to hold the parts together are forever slipping and you end up going too far on the bolts to try and stop it - if forced to use this type (because it's all that's available for a given type of engine maybe) I would drill the thing once it's set and shove a roll pin in to prevent it slipping. Iain
  13. And if you can't get that one from Stoneleigh (or someone else local can't) I've somehow ended up with three of the things (do they breed?). Same deal in that they are free to anyone here who arranges collection or pays postage. Iain
  14. Easy-ish...... The amount of force required isn't massive in comparison to what can be achieved with a screw adjuster but bear in mind the lever advantage over the depth of the throat on that type of machine and at the closed end it's fairly massive. What tends to actually happen is that the frame distorts sideways. There are many people who have bought machines just like the one in the link and then beefed up the frame to prevent this so some quick searching with your favourite search engine should get details. The next problem is that it becomes a 2 man (OK person) job. You need to manhandle the sheet of steel (which is usually fairly large and floppy at this stage) so that the bead follows the desired line. You also need to set the desired tension on the rollers - and then re-set it at the end of the pass as you'll want to take at least two passes and more likely three or four. Then you need to turn the handle to drive the rollers - whilst guiding that floppy sheet of steel in the right direction. Usually your arms aren't long enough. Talking of manhandling the steel - you want to keep it flat as it goes through or you'll find the bead "sets" the curve into it. Iain
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