Unkel Kunkel

The slight vibration puzzled me and had made me just slow off immediately, so when it “went” I wasn’t going very fast at all.The car, Freelander 2, was remarkably stable and controllable.

I had travelled about 30 miles on the M6 when a slight vibration set up from the rear of the car- barely noticeable. The day before ,and about forty miles earlier , I had had 2 new front tyres fitted and the rear ones checked and deemed to be in good order. I just slowed off, and as I did so the vibration became suddenly much worse. As I headed towards the hard shoulder I was “ undertaken “ by the entire outer circumference of the nearside rear tyre which continued on its way before veering right and finally bouncing off the central reservation barrier. Little of the tyre remained on the wheel, which surprisingly was undamaged. I had a spare wheel -a tyre inflation kit would have been of little use! I have no idea what caused the incident , though on reflection I vaguely recalled a tinkling sound as I ran over something in the nearside lane, a bit like a bit of a drinks can or something, about 15 mins earlier. I now have a tyre monitoring system...

I replaced a 3 rail with a single rail simply because a good one with an overdrive became available at a price I really could not refuse . I had called in when driving through Cheshire to a placed called ‘Triumph Nuts” ( this was a few years ago, he may not be still in business) He supplied me with the gearbox with bell housing , the rear gearbox mounting and a correct length propshaft and a 1500 flywheel and some very useful advice - all in for around £65 or thereabouts , I think. I had to buy a 1500 clutch plate and some spacers from Rimmers for the flywheel bolts and apart from a remote gear change bush overhaul kit, that was about it- and a 90 degree speedo drive. The flywheel is quite different ,as others have descibed -I don’t recall it being any heavier though,and there were no issues re ring gear/ starter - and it ran smoothly.

Just a suggestion. And certainly not a very sophisticated one - but it sort of worked. I went down a similar path thinking about garage-rebuilding(walls were thin) added beams, wood or steel, extra buttressing , block and tackle etc., drawings .. etc. On reflection though, the essential requirements were to lift the body off chassis (SpitfireMk1V) after sills floors etc. had been done, and then “do” the chassis and attend to the finishing of the underneath body repairs. The cheapest, quickest and most practical solution for this was to buy a fairly basic engine crane to lift the body off.(Door apertures weld- braced).The body was placed on a Heath Robinson(OK ,a very H R) frame largely made of scrap - bits of joists etc. on wheels -a dolley.The chassis bits then could live on its road wheels under the body for storage.and each could be pushed out of the garage independently to work on when required. Suitably supported and balanced, ,the chassis with all its running gear could be lifted,tilted and positioned with the crane with strops and supports for welding, painting etc.No need for rotisserie and the body on its stilts on wheels had enough height to scramble under.

I think this is a dichloromethane aka methylene dichoride based paint stripper -the ingredient that is so effective but no longer to be found in of the paint stripers in the DIY places like B&Q.(Nitromors and others are pretty ineffective these days as they boast they are now dichloromethane -free ). However, I reiterate your very sensible advice to be careful, Paul. -and feel I must add : - Only ever use this in a really WELL-VENTILATED place - ie outdoors. Apart from being very readily absorbed through skin contact , it is easily breathed in. It really can cause short term (drowsiness ,dizziness, headache) for hours or days and longer term neurological problem with peripheral nerve problems in addition to liver dysfunction . Also - (and this may at first seem bizarre) but it can cause carbon monoxide poisoning as it is metabolised to CO. = Cover up - and use it outdoors.

Some folk have resurrected their polythene and mineral wool insulation and many will have opted for covering at least the inner aspect of the tunnel with one of those adhesive backed insulation and foil type materials (eg Rimmers catalogue Ref No.1473 which is the stuff in the picture ) .This is really good tough material than needs cutting with tin snips - not to be confused with that stuff you get in B&Q to put behind radiators. Also -It’s worth looking at Frosts and also in “Car Builders Solutions” -they do lots of it - and pretty much everything else imaginable for cars.Their catalogue is amazing.

Black Cat, the general view seems to be that the fibreglass version is hard and inflexible which makes it less easy to fit than the injection moulded plastic ones. I did try to resurrect a battered old cardboard tunnel by using fibreglass resin to mend the damaged bits and coat it.The resin soaked in easily and it was certainly very strong, but so rigid it was awkward to fit and resulted in a very gappy fit therefore I chucked it. I bought a plastic one and it is very good - vastly superior to the original card board jobs which get weaker each time they are disturbed -that and the polythene bag of fibreglass insulation having either disappeared or hanging off its staples saturated in ancient EP 90. The seal can still be an area of weakness, however .Some have made a new seal by buying one of those camping rolls from Millets and cuting a gasket seal from it - and those frustrating spire clips...

Rimmers ( so far )OK for carraige off shore to IOM as are the others such as Canleys, Paddocks. Moss-I have always called in when in Manchester. The TSSC shop basic £21.95 cost is prohibitive - I paid an off shore rate of £14.95 to a firm to send me an engine crane!

They are all OK. Some might do a better price for some things so it is worth comparing.I have found Rimmer Bros. customer service to be excellent as is Paddocks .I have visited both and have had mail order from them ,both are fast despatchers. I have also been very pleased with Canleys and Moss. Don’t forget the the club shop of course.I don’t use them because they charge so much to post off shore.

Vehicle fires can be fast and so furious that the waxoyl probably won’t add much to the general mayhem from the petrol paint tyres upholstery etc so I wouldn't worry,Dave. Years ago there seemed to be a spate of fibreglass Reliant Robins “brewing-up”. They were rather dramatic. I had a Scimitar then with a few wiring issues. I thought about it now and then -mainly when putting 17 gallons of petrol in the tank.

Waxoyl flammability? Oh yes! Years ago, we nearly had a chimney fire after putting on just a few broken up bits of Waxoyl-soaked hard board that had been used to collect the drips when WaxOyling a car weeks previously.It was quite an alarming lesson to learn. Welding Welding our old cars is liable to ignite bits of that horrible bitumen stuff they used .It always seems to be near where the car needs welding, An extinguisher is already there in your hands if you are MIG welding. Quickly turn off the power, and then use the gas -your CO2 or CO2 /or Argon , to cool and quickly stifle the flames before they get a hold.

I have only once had to use a fire extinguisher. and that was in a building ,not a car. One of those old fashioned big red cone shaped things that you bang the plunger on the base (it breaks a glass vial of acid into bicarb. solution and the CO2 squirts out water). - I was quite shocked to see such a pathetic jet of water appear and how briefly it worked for.Utterly useless. I certainly wouldn’t hang around to use one of those things again. For my car, I used to have an ex MOD Chubb fighting vehicle extinguisher reasoning that they should be fairly effective. I haven't seen them available for some time now.

Ha ! like it. Brevity in Newspaper headlines also used to be the thing of ? the Sun or the News of the World, I forget which. The story goes of a report of a psychotic patient breaking free from a secure unit pausing en route to sexually assault one of the female domestic staff working in the laundry before escaping from the hospital. Next morning the Sun’s headlines were “ Nut Screws Washer and Bolts”.

The title brought back memories of an advert that used to be placed by a small engineering firm every few months in the local paper “ Wanted - women for cleaning”

Well done - It certainly looks great to me! Before I buy a car I go with a set figure in my head and rehearse what I am going to say. -However this has never, ever worked. I always come away kicking myself for being talked around and paying more! I really should get someone to do the deal for me . What’s your commission ?

Old motoring books are fascinating. They are fairly cheap, require little maintenance and can be enjoyed comfortably in the worst of weathers.. Autocar did something along the lines your “Motor” book, John. The cut-aways and the adverts are wonderful -who could resist buying the “Nightingale” ’ exhaust whistle? and doesn’t the Autovac looked so cunningly clever? ( though the crews of WW1 tank s equipped with these towards the end of the war allegedly used to say,” The attack will proceed at ... hours. ... God and Autovac willing”.

AA book is a bit modern. This is one of mine

All of the above plus a piece of one of the most useful, cheapest and lightest “ tools” I have ever bought: a piece of comfy closed cell foam matting to save your knees, elbows back etc. when working on road gravel. I have a bigger piece in a roll I bought at the Classic Car Show at the NEC some years ago for about a tenner. Transforms working next to or under the car at home for some of us now ‘beyond our teenage years” - it even feels warm.

that’s very goog news -thanks

That’s them , Colin! - from Cleckheaton by gum, They are (or were ) brilliant.

Used Eezibleed many times. Always found it to be very straightforward to use.The cap / master cylinder seal has the potential for trouble, I agree. I really can’t explain why it hasn’t worked for you,Darren.The obvious points such as having enough pressure and opening the bleed valves sufficiently, I am sure you have addressed , and Pete’s explanation seemed very sound. The only thing I do different is I adapted mine to connect to a compressor ( on low pressure, of course! ) rather than from a tyre valve - but that was simply for convenience. The best thing I ever found for bleeding brakes as a one person job very quickly and easily was to replace the standard bleed valves with “ ABV” valves (presumably for automatic bleed valves).They were neat spring loaded one way bleed valves .You could get them for most vehicles .You just undid the valve a half to one turn a half turn , pumped the pedal a few times , tightened it up, next wheel and so on.The only need for a tube and jar was to catch the fluid to avoid making a mess. I haven’t seen them anywhere for years...

There was something that fell off the timing cover on my 73 Spitfire.I also think it had been some sort of an attempt at sound deadening .Either that or it was a desicated cow pat.

I have not seen them. If you are sure that the dreaded big “R” “disease” is so localised, then cutting out and butt welding in new metal would seem an option as would buying a whole panel , cutting the bit you need for replacement and welding that in.(After factoring in the expenditure of time and effort against the cost of the part)

Firstly, a disclaimer : This is certainly not a technical answer to the problem - a historical diversion at most . The pictures brought back a memory of the very hot summer if ‘76 when my work found me working in Norwich. Sweating and very despondent, I was staring at something very similar on the head of my ‘71 GT6. I was short of money.My outgoings were out of balance from my income which was very poor even then - and quite unbelievable to most people now .The only option was to put the head back on and keep my fingers crossed. Long after uncrossing my fingers, 2 years on and a few thousand further ,it was still running really well - brilliantly in fact. I sold it - to the person who had sold it to me. We remain good friends.

Brilliant! thanks Doug and Angel for your help-I understand now ... I think.