Colin Lindsay

Any of those I've worked on recently - three over lockdown! - I've stripped the old bellows off, degreased the entire rack and regreased. That makes it fun to get the rubber bellows back on again. The GT6 just got grease through the grease nipple, but I moved the steering from side to side full lock to full lock to make sure it was at least spread out. Some of the Herald spares were completely dry and really needed a complete clean, but I'd like to think that a working rack on a car still has enough good grease to really only require a topup, without having to remove the bellows.

Changing it every 50,000 miles???? Must make a note in the calendar for 2120.

Petrol?

Looking good! I have the headlining to fit to an estate roof in the very near future and it's so much easier with the roof off and upside down, like that. Do me a favour if you will - see if there's any code or part number on the cover; I can search later over a coffee or two and see if they were used on any other car of the period.

Really, Clive? A phone - that invention of the Devil - can replace a piece of motoring nostalgia? That's blasphemy.

Yes, that centre is very pronounced. It looks the same as this 1300 version:

They all start off at a reasonable rate - see the current TV ads for some ridiculous amount - then in a year or two it's well over £100 per year; I left the AA after over 20 years when they started to charge almost £200 renewal. I used them three times in all in twenty years, no complaints with the service but the price is exorbitant. They did try to argue that it works out at about £4 per week, and when I still insisted on leaving they dropped the renewal to just over £100. If they had done that in the first place I'd probably have kept with them. These days I just use a mate who has a Recovery Business, he doesn't charge me and I do all his legal work and official documents. And buy the chocolate biscuits.

An original Tapley, currently 99p on eBay. Anyone in the area want to collect it for me? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tapley-Brake-meter/153911287266?hash=item23d5d3dde2:g:3HUAAOSw4ytep0GI

That's the Belfast method. Throw it at a passing car; if he stops in time to catch you, he has good brakes, if you get away, he hasn't.

I've used Lithium 2 on the last few I've worked on.

Brilliant work, young man. The photo was more or less straight-on, but I had to angle it slightly to avoid reflections from the overhead lights. I'll still send the original across to Adrian, it may be handy to have the plans for a part like this on the record, but I'll be very interested in seeing your handiwork.

...and then of course you have to fit the rubber bellows, and everything is covered in grease and slides about...

Lol I love it! That just happened to be the first part I had in my hands when Adrian posted and I was thinking: surely I should have more of these? I assume you based the size on your own light unit?

The biggest problem is driving a variety of moderns all week the getting into a drum-braked Herald. The sheer effort of getting my 948 Coupe to stop on a hill coming down to a t-junction was amazing. My fault; I'd keep the speed up, approach the junction in the normal manner, lightly touch the brakes and... nothing. More pressure, nothing and by now the junction is looming.... so stand on the pedal, make dimples in the floor with the pedal, and the car stops. That was one incident I'll always remember. Sneaky of Triumph to build a twin-carb coupe that was capable of quite good speed, and fit brakes like those...

Even if you say the plugs are getting wet I'd still guess that it's fuel-related; if it ran for about 20 seconds that's the old fuel in the carbs burning off. If it starts with Easystart, then it runs until it burns that off too, but then stops as there's no further fuel getting through. It must be getting a spark or it wouldn't run at all, and I can't see it being so far off on the timing that it can't continue to run even erratically. Strip the fuel lines down, clean out, and see if that improves anything.

I found this wonderful story yesterday and just had to share it after that post: "(3 September 2018, New Zealand) Sometimes the fastest method results in the deadliest outcome. The tale of Howard Miller, 39, professional welder and Darwin Award Winner, illustrates the pitfalls of ignoring high school chemistry with a time-saving invention. Always helpful, Miller spent his last moments helping a friend weld an exhaust pipe onto a classic Holden Kingswood sedan. He arrived at the garage shed with an experimental welding kit: an LPG bottle, similar to a propane tank, in which he had mixed both components that make up oxy-acetylene welding gas: acetylene and oxygen. Now, that last detail should send a shiver down any welder's spine! Professional welders know that these components are kept in separate tanks because, when combined, they burn hot enough to cut metal. A tank of mixed acetylene/oxygen + no flow regulator = an accident waiting to happen. Like a scene from Breaking Bad, Mr. Miller had unwittingly constructed a lethal explosive! Once Miller unveiled his jury-rigged device, his friend recognized this dangerous equation and repeatedly warned that it was crazy! Finally he high-tailed it out of the shed while Miller, undeterred by a bit of panic, attachec a torch head straight onto the bottle and lit the welding tip. Sans regulator, the flame crept back into the bottle and the inevitable explosion flattened the shed, which also contained about twenty litres of paint thinner and gasoline. The force of the explosion was so intense it shattered the windows of neighboring properties. Needless to say, the friend is in need a new car. The deceased winner, a gentle and generous man, would surely be grateful to know that no one else was hurt in the fracas. And as a consolation prize, his tragic experiment will benefit others by demonstrating a potential consequence of skipping chemistry class."

At my last house the pipe into the septic tank was blocked - twice - and by the time it was spotted we had a pool of raw sewage spreading out from under the trees. I had to walk through it, amongst conifers that were very tightly interwoven, find the concrete slabs over the tank, lift them (massive things over six feet across) without dropping them down into the tank, find the blockage and clear it. It were right grim! It happened once more about six months later then I found it was someone flushing floor wipes down the loo. That soon stopped when I told them they would clear the next blockage themselves.

Even the socket looks concerned.. ...not to mention shocked!

Ok, will message you asap. Almost flat but there's one slight bend - you can make out the line of it at the 8 0'clock position. If the blanks can be cut then putting a bend in it should be wee buns.

Good job I'm too civilised to pick my nose.

Interesting! I was intending to use a later larger tank for my early 1200, which is bayonet fitting, but I'm also using an early speedo with the red high-beam warning light, which has the voltage stabiliser so I'm assuming it's a match. The car originally came with the 6-screw sender so there must be 6-screw stabilised, and non-stabilised, versions. I wonder how you tell the difference?

If - - if - you can attach the clip to your fingertip then you're halfway there. I have tried it with a small circular magnet sellotaped to the very end of my fingertip... balance the clip on it, reach up inside the door and hook it on. The short ones with the flat bottom are easier. I've also tried it between two fingertips but it's a real balancing job. You just need a grip that will stay in place when you let go. After that a short length, six inches or so, of a wooden drift will put it in place properly. If you've short fingers, you've no chance. I know the tool for pulling them up works, but even a length of wood like the handle of a hammer with a groove cut into it, so that the clip is held upright, means you can push up, rather than pull up, which can often mark the paintwork. For the quarterlight, I just unbolt it, push the outer strip down onto the gap, then rebolt the quarterlight which holds the rubber in place as well. Just have plenty of patience and be prepared to fish them out of the door bottom. Repeatedly. It gets messy if you've previously used Waxoyl, too.

Another toy for us to play with! Welcome, and plenty of photos please!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-MGB-MGB-GT-MGC-Door-Glass-Weather-Strip-Clip-Outer-GHF1560K-14-clips/133226947357?hash=item1f04f1e31d:g:n5wAAOSwE-pd0Boc

This guy is called Jack...