ibrooks

Unfortunately it was also the same day that some drunk who used to play some football finally succumbed to his own excesses so his death was completely overshadowed in the press.

Fairly sure I've got one sat in the garage - free if you want it (or anyone else for that matter). Iain

Yes but yours is a welded steel one rather than cast so should be near indestructible. I was debating one of those from Machinemart when mine went but the bigger ones all have a swivel base which I don't want and they also don't do them with a quick release which I do want. I do keep thinking about one of those though for the bench on the other side of the workshop. Iain

I don't really have room behind the rearview mirror. I'm thinking the best place is actually in the bottom corner of the screen where the tax-disc is at the moment - where I just stuck the new Magnetax holder at the beginning of the month thinking that when the taxdisc is no longer required I'll stick the works car pass in there instead. Hopefully the adhesive hasn't gone off too much and I'll be able to carefully peel it off and relocate it - or I'll have to buy another. I did look at the top corners of the screen but that would put the camera looking through an area not swept by the wipers. Iain

No scaffold pole either. I tell a lie - after the vice had broken on a Sunday afternoon I used a length of scaffold pole to hold to hold it down whilst I went and got the breaker bar to undo the nut. Wish I'd done it that way in the first place. I was removing the balljoints from a pair of Mini hubs for the GTM. I think someone has been there before me and done them up with a windy-gun because I've never come across a set as tight as those before. I was also surprised to find only one shim between the 4 balljoints. Iain

I had to buy one last week. No hammer involved either. Iain

I've just bought myself one of these in-car cameras for stuff like this. I'm just choosing where to stick it in the windscreen to be out of the way. Iain

You can get food safe glues and in practice most epoxy or cyano glue would be safe once cured but for the cost of a new bottle......

Another point to note is that you now know that you need to treat the paperwork like gold dust as it's the proof that this car isn't a "wrong 'un". All the other indications are that the car isn't what it says it is so if you lose that paperwork then there's a good chance it will turn the car into a collection of parts with a fraction of the value. As the questionable practices that we thought were going on here become more common and the authorities become aware they are likely to start cracking down on it themselves (the Land Rover world has seen this). It might not only be a prospective buyer that you need to be able to prove the history to - if you take it for an MOT (or it becomes subject to any other "official" inspection) and the inspector knows a little about Robin Hoods then you might well find yourself needing to prove what you've found out to avoid a similar fate for the car. Iain

You "could" use a hobby bottle but then you really are into the minutes of welding per bottle territory. TIG welding uses far more gas than MIG welding because it's a slower process and then there's post flow etc. Iain

Can't remember when or which one but one of the kit-car magazines a few years back had an article about a father and son who had built Locosts from the book and made their own rear wheel-arch moulds - their rear arches looked very like that. Iain

Superspec - so Sierra rear end. What are you referring to as the "axle"? If you mean the torque tube that carries the diff then it's plenty strong enough. Personal I carry a scissor jack. A couple of 3x2 blocks with a chamfer on one edge though are a good idea. Put next to each other and driven onto they can often give that extra bit of height needed to get a jack under a convenient place and at other times they can serve as chocks to stop the thing rolling away if you've lifted a rear wheel. Iain

I just use straight CO2 on mild steel. The bottle has a £20 deposit and £20 for the gas so when I've used it I take it back pay £20 and swap it for a full one. If I give the bottle back I get the deposit back. I've also got an Albee bottle of Argon that I use with the TIG set I also use quick release fittings in the gas line so it's seconds of a job to swap the Argon bottle for the CO2 one on the MIG if I'm doing something exotic where I actually need the argon or if I run out of CO2 mid-job and don't want to stop until I can swap the bottle. I can also stick the hobby regulator back on and use a hobby bottle if I'm taking the welder out and about. Iain

So a few hundred yards away from the Police station (when we had a manned one in Darwen). I took a slow mooch through the town on my way home and swung past the scrap yard but nothing leapt out. There is some sort of garage on Branch Road that seems to specialise in Scoobys. There were two older white ones sat outside when I went past but the workshop roller-shutter was down which is odd in my experience ( and it's sunny here today). I'll keep my eyes open when I pass over the next few days. Iain

Any idea where the sighting was? and was it moving or parked?

Not generally so relevant with hoods but when masking for painting use poly bin-bags rather than paper. You can wash them down to get rid of dust in between coats and sanding and they don't go all soggy and fall off if you get them wet whilst you are wet-sanding. Plus they are cheap. Never use washing up liquid to lubricate seals for fitting - it's not good for the rubber or metalwork as it's full of salt. Lanolin is the thing to use (or cheap hand cream which is lanolin plus perfumes). Iain

And the listing's been removed. Wonder what he'll do with it now.

I'm surprised the Dutton owners haven't started placing bids on these whenever they pop up and then when they win refusing to go through with it because it's not and never has been a Dutton.

It just suggests that the sender isn't the correct one for the gauge. With the sender wire unplugged (and not connected to anything) what does the gauge show? The sender will have a resistance that varies with temperature (as it gets hotter it's resistance drops). You need to find out what the gauge is expecting as it's obviously not the same as the current sender. It might be possible to tweak the current sender with resistors in series or parallel to get it reading something like correct but I wouldn't bet on it being anything other than a very rough approximation. Iain

Bit of a minefield and my gut reaction would be to walk away. However..... Was it actually an HPI check you di or was it one of these other outfits? The ones where you text the reg number have a reputation for false positives. You then phone them for further confirmation and they "do further checks" before coming back and telling you that it's OK after all. Thing is..... the call was on a premium rate number. Now far be it from me to suggest that they do this deliberately but I have my suspicions. Just because it was clear of finance when the current seller bought it from Evans doesn't mean it is now. He might well have taken out finance to buy it and that's what's showing. If he didn't take it out through Evans then there would be no reason for them to know about it so they might well tell you it was clear then - more likely they would refuse to commit to an answer because they won't take any responsibility for a car they aren't selling. I'd still be tempted to walk away and let the seller sort it if it's a problem with the checking company's records. Iain

A chap here in the office was "tagged" by a falling tree last night on his way home. Fortunately it was a hire car so he can apply an element of "not my problem" to the issue of a replacement. It's ripped the bonnet off, smashed the screen and bent the A-pillars and squashed the roof down somewhat. He had to climb out a window as none of the doors would open. He's been in hospital this morning whilst they dug lumps of glass out of his hand but apart from that no injury - very lucky boy to have got off so lightly but very unlucky to have been hit in a moving vehicle. Iain

Not a 15. I've got a set of 4 14" alloys you can have free if you come and get them (different tyre on each and unknown age so best replaced). They are Speedline branded from memory and 5 spokes (sort of starfish looking). A bit rough around the edges though. I've also got a set of Sierra 14" alloys - the later RS lookalike (similar pattern but softer corners). Got tyres on but again unknown quantities so best replaced. From memory these are good condition (no dents or major kerbing) so £20? I'll have some steel 14's around too no doubt. Yes Mitch - I need to do an inventory. Unfortunately the workshop I was going to buy fell through as the planning wouldn't allow me to store cars in it but I still need to rationalise the Sierra stuff I've built up over the years. Nikki (and of course anyone else) - if any of this stuff is of interest to you we have shifted bulky stuff like this around the country via a members relay in the past when people aren't in a rush. Iain

Regarding 13" wheels (on 2B sliding pillar or otherwise). My Hoods (an S7 and a sliding pillar 2B) both ran on 13's and benefited hugely from moving to the Capri/RWD Escort offset. At the rear they filled the arches far better without having to go to silly wide wheels (which can tend to aquaplane easily with a light car). At the front they gave much more clearance between the inner edge of the wheel/tyre and the 2B suspension (and that bottom bolt). Personally I also found the extra compliance of the higher profile tyres made for a better road car. Just something to think about. Nikki - if you ever get up to the Blackburn/Darwen area I've a set of 15" Sierra fitment wheels you can have cheap if you decide to go that way and I've also got a short manifold to put a pair of Webers on a Pinto that I keep meaning to sell (although I'd stick with Mitch's advice and fit a 38DGAS if it doesn't have one already). Iain

www.leylandminiclub.com - then there's a link to the forum that I can't remember off the top of my head. You can have a nosey at my GTM project too and see that you've not really got that much to do with this one in comparison. Iain

I've posted it on the Mini club forum - I'll ping you a PM if anyone is interested. Iain