kevin the chicken

I don't think those shepherds huts are braked and the noise from those iron wheels would be wearing. What about a Honda Crv? It's no range rover but they are nice inside. I should know I sat in one for half an hour before we cut the roof Off! Our old one tows our six berth OK, 25mpg as opposed to 40 ish normal use. At the end of the day the time you tow the van will be a very small percentage of its road use. I don't know how much they are but you have a good budget.

This time of year it's a buyers market as plenty of people don't want to hang on to their cars over the winter. Several people on here who know better than me have said avoid the lightweight so I would reach for the bargepole if I was you. It does seem pricey anyway. All the models faults and failings have been covered on this forum in infinite detail, have a look through and see which cars are the most popular. Obviously the newer models should have less faults but will be more expensive but you should be patient. I am quite happy bumping around in my 1996 registered series 7 but you may want something newer or just being straight on the road without any work may be your priority. Decide what you want before you do anything else. Anyway welcome to the madhouse, this won't be the last time you are deliberating and grinding your teeth over which direction to go. You are not far from me really, when you get sorted we may be able to meet up for a trip to the seaside for ice cream and Cockles!

Yep you are correct according to the link bob put up. Dunno where she got her info from,I shall punish her severely. The rules are being reviewed though in December this year.

Last year it was legal, this year it's not. Children now have to have a child seat with full back not a booster seat up to certain weight and height criteria. My 8 year old is now not allowed in my car as his seat won't fit in. He was using just a booster but now he will have to wait until he's bigger. My wife says the details can be found on direct.gov website if you want to check out exactly what they are. Boosters are not brilliant anyway, the same with other padding used to raise children as they can slide out and allow what is known as submarining where the person slides out under the belt with disastrous consequences. A full harness belt is far better than an ordinary 3 point one though.

Try again. Catch can breather.

Is it one of those little mesh brEsther's like you'd use on a catch can.

Do you have a definite date Yet? The leave booking sheet for next year is already out in my office and soon fills up so I need to get my name down asap or I won't make it unless it falls on my Saturday off. As to activities my wife had some ideas the last time we managed to get there a couple of years ago for the children,kite flying and face painting spring to mind. Come to think of it face painting for the adults could amusing after a couple of Drinks!

Earplugs! The cheap option

I looked online and they were originally fitted with the low compression engine giving about 75hp using the 205 block. Hopefully yours has the high comp one.

Depends on the state of tune of your engine. I believe the some of the single carb's can provide plenty of fuel for a mildly tuned engine and obviously will be less expensive and complicated to set up. Twin 40s will sound nice though and if you are intending to search for big horsepower will perform well.

Seem to remember a p100 race series many moons ago. You have plenty of good advice coming in from all directions, I think the most important thing is to take your time and get it right. You must have enough knowledge and parts to do the job so don't give yourself unreasonable time targets, everything always takes longer than you think. I have just been in a similar situation and the best thing I did was write off all the shows I was going to attend to take the pressure off myself so I could give myself time to do things properly. Good job too as there have been a couple of problems which I hadn't foreseen due to previous bodges before I purchased the car

+1 for dave at dampertech. He knows his stuff having dealt with many of these cars. If I hadn't dropped my phone and completely ducked it up I would put his number on here. If you Google dampertech his contacts will pop up.

Probably or cortina or capri. If you can find a better one that will fit some improved cooling can only help. Lots of posts on here where people have different rads or custom ones.

Mine is also a 1996 registered car but it says robin hood on the logbook

Definitely start with the Electrics. As you say start from scratch so you know what is what. I had Dan do mine as it is a dark art to me but I think not having them done when I first got the car held me up no end. If the original builder wasn't brilliant then you will find every time you sort one thing out another will pop up but you just have to work through it when time and money permit. Due to my enforced engine change I have sorted a lot of things out that have been annoying me for years so hopefully I will only have to drive it in the future.

As the song goes, what a difference a day makes. Good to hear of someone being lucky rather than unlucky. With labour on top of all those parts that garage is going to be swallowing a big bill although I guess the manufacturer will have to cough up in the end

No need anyway. Managed to get it in by taking the thermostat housing off and jacking the engine up slightly, once it was on the studs there was plenty of clearance. It was difficult trying to work out where to trim the body panels so that it would go in but Claire had the idea of making a flexible dummy manifold out of rolled up chicken wire so that we could see if our measurements were on the right track. First attempt was too small so cut another 10mm out and it went straight in. Clever girl. Not the first time she's got me out of trouble.

I am currently on the last few stages of my engine change and am trying to fit a stainless steel 4 into 1 manifold I got cheaply from ebay. It's a bit of a tight squeeze getting it in position between the engine and side of the car but I think I may be able to get it in by removing a few bits and bobs from the engine and the engine bay. If I can't would the performance be affected greatly by removing a small piece from each primary Pipe? I know someone who could do it for me and I am talking about only 5 or 10mm. Hopefully it will go in anyway but it would be good to know in advance. Regards all Kevin

Just thought I'd recommend a dealer who I have used a great deal since I have owned a kit car. He stocks mostly weber and dellortos spares but some other bits and pieces too. He has an eBay shop which is where I get my bits and pieces from, they are here a couple of days after placing the order. I had a technical question and he answered within an hour on a Sunday which helped me a great deal. Www.fast road cars.co.UK No relation to me, just that people who provide a good service deserve to do well

Both right, they are marine vents, I got mine off ebay and I think there was a choice of sizes. Fairly cheap too.

The fibreglass stuff becomes very fragile and disintegrates after a while. Not only that but is an itchy nightmare to handle no matter how much you cover up. I am interested to see how yours performs. When I wrapped my exhaust it reduced the under bonnet temperature by a good deal but the exhaust can got a lot hotter so it should work for you

For when the first one falls off and rolls under the seat where you can't get it.

Been to a bad motorcycle accident and you're not wrong about picking up pieces. Malcolm is right there seems to be a lot more motorcycles about this year, always thundering past my house especially in the evening. The same time all the boy racers are about too so that's where I am lucky finishing work early so I can go out in the afternoons. If I get this engine back in that is.

Just seen on the local news that a motorcyclist has been nicked by cambridgeshire constabulary for travelling at 160 mph. Possible ban coming up i think.

Bad luck that. You can be as careful as you like but takes just one twat to undo it all. Make sure you go to the doctors with that whiplash in case the insurance company decide to pursue a claim. My wife got shunted by a boy racer and it took some time to get over her whiplash but at least she did get a payout for it.