nelmo

Interestingly, this was a QI question - historically, which country is the most successful in battle and the answer was France! Probably due to Napoleon but don't knock 'em...

that was exactly my attitude when we were looking for a new place last year - a big garage with some rooms attached... (sadly never happened though....) You can search for existing planning applications but that isn't going to help in the long-term - someone could come along the day after you move in and apply for a new cement works on the land. Best thing you can do is try buy up some of the land yourself, if you happen to win the lottery sometime soon...

Yeah, i know what you mean, there's not much choice and they don't look great but they do look better IMO and, more importantly, I feel I need something brighter. I don't really see our kits as 70s designs - seem pretty timeless to me. Those blocky rear light clusters look horrible and dated so almost anything is an improvement. ...

Now that I've done the front, i want to do the rears as well but i don't want to spend a fortune - anyone comment on these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RDX-LUX-LED-Stop-Tail-Indicator-Light-Carbon-Pods-Kit-Car-Westfield-Caterham-etc/231295602065?hash=item35da4acd91:g:7p8AAOSwPe1T2PNT&redirect=mobile ...or other suggestions in that price range?

I'd be cautious with those heated seat pads - I bought a cheap one which just plugged into my lighter socket and it sent the electrical system haywire. Voltage spikes all over the place and bad enough to affect spark to the engine, power to the ECU etc, etc. Went straight in the bin...(the pad, not the car ).

I had always planned to install a heater when building my car but I decided to leave it until after IVA. Since then, and with doors, I've found the heat from the engine bay coming through into the cabin is just as good as a heater. Without the doors, the heat just gets blown straight out and you hardly notice it, which I assume is what would happen with a heater as well?

I just can't get on with any of the presenters - they try desperately to be funny and rebellious which just doesn't suit them at all. They are obviously trying to be like Top Gear but, sadly, they just don't have the artistic ability - they're great drivers but useless actors (the fake 'rivalry' and banter between Tiff and Jason makes me cringe). They should either stick to being geeky about the cars or replace them with comedians/actors (Matt LeBlanc was excellent in the new TG). Even without the presenters, the articles are always too simplistic for me, aimed at people vaguely interested in cars but just too lightweight for serious car buffs. For example, when they pretended to be surprised that the Mustang and Camaro, 2 cars with almost identical power and weight, do almost identical lap times. Come on - they're pro drivers...Jees...annoys me. Sorry but I miss the old TG.... ... stupid and pointless road trips but funny, funny...

All sorted and looks quite good, IMO (and yes, I do have a throttle stop):

Unfortunately not, it's as direct as it can be already...

OK, thanks, that's what I thought - my only concern was that I'm losing a support point for the cable if I remove that tube connector thing through the pedal box wall.

Actually, that's what I did to get me home - problem is, there wasn't really enough cable and I had to drive home with the throttle at twice it's normal height, which made braking tricky :-) I can't just use any old cable because there's a special bit of plastic on one end that attaches to the throttle body. As far as I know, only GBS sell the cable like that, hence the £30. Does the cable need to be at right angles to the firewall? Below is a very bad diagram of what I mean - the top diagram is the current setup (cable horizontal to pedal box wall, then angled down to TB) and the bottom diagram is my proposed setup (cable direct from pedal to TB):

All good points BUT they all assume i'm getting a new cable, which i don't want to do - a faff to fit and I've already got one of those fittings i linked too in my first post, so no cost involved (£30 for a new cable). Can you see a problem with removing that connecter in the red box of my pic, so the cable has a direct run through the pedal box?

Good point - had to break out the laptop to do that, though So, in pic below, the green square is where it snapped (this is an old pic - the cable looped round and was tied back on to itself and that screw was replaced ) and the red square is the connection through the pedal box I'm considering removing:

My throttle cable snapped at the weekend and I'm trying to engineer a simple replacement method of fixing it without having to replace the whole cable. It snapped at the pedal end because i had the basic GBS throttle cable kit which, with hindsight, is crap as the cable loops round and rubs on a straight edge, which is why it's worn through in 4k miles. I'm thinking of using this instead: http://www.tecni-cable.co.uk/RH-TECNI-Standard-Balustrading-Angled-Runs-into-Metal.-3-4mm-Cable-160.140.102 ...but its too big and won't fit inside the pedal box, so I'll have to remove the existing threaded tube connection through the wall of the pedal box and enlarge the hole so that this big cable thingy fits through. If you're still following, my question is will it be ok to have the throttle cable running from the pedal to the throttle body via just a a couple of cable ties holding it to the side rail? Is that current threaded tube through the pedal box essential?

Ooohhh, like those...

Having fitted LED headlight units which include an indicator function, I am planning on removing the god-awful ugly nosecone indicators needed for IVA. I was thinking of just replacing them with funky looking motorbike indicators but I don't really need indicators there. Any suggestions for something different (and to cover the holes)? Maybe stickers or some sort of novelty item (bull horns? )...

Having recently had to spend £3k on a new boiler, I wouldn't dare touch any of the electrics involved. That item probably comes from China where they have a very lax attitude towards H&S AND even they say don't connect to a boiler, so I deffo wouldn't

The autumn issue of the magazine has now been posted out to members - please let me know if you don't receive it within the next few days. As always, many thanks for the contributions from members and I'm always happy to accept more stories and photo's, particularly photos (in portrait mode) I can use for the cover. I hope you enjoy it...

Actually, looks like an MOT on a Q plate is going to be easy - this is from the current MOT manual: You must inspect vehicles with spark ignition engines first used on or after 1 August 1975. For emissions purposes only you should treat the following as first used before 1 August 1975: kit cars and amateur built vehicles first used before 1 August 1998 *bleep*el rotary engined vehicles first used before 1 August 1987 Q plated vehicles Tee, hee, see what this forum site has bleeped out :-)

Nobody 'wants' a Q plate, it's assigned if you can't prove engine age. It used to be that a Q plate meant getting through MOT emissions more easily but not so any more. Getting a new 2018 plate is the hard thing to do; you need to prove only one major part is reconditioned and all the other main bits need to be new. Nothing wrong with a Q plate; the only downside is that you can't get a private plate if that was part of the plan...

Don't suppose you've got a link to which headlights you've got?

Blimey, bit of a minefield - this site seems to be the most up-to-date (May 2018) about the requirements - LEDs fine as long as the spread and intensity is right (no need for levellers or washers - only tested if fitted). Not sure how they test spread or intensity - my last MOT on my tin-top and they just seem to check height, unless that also somehow measures the other stuff?

Have you been through an MOT with them yet? Were they a problem?

Cool, thanks...

Anyone know if these will fit a standard GBS lamp unit? If so, are they plug and play or will they need relays or something? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282779391592