Colin Lindsay

Sometime over the weekend I'll get a spare hour and will now return to the underworld, which is the dirtiest, rustiest underside that I've ever seen on a road-worthy car. The photos below are AFTER I lowered it back down and powerwashed it. I think the PO kept it in a ploughed field. In an idle moment last night I spent all my pocket money on springs, bushes, brake discs and other assorted bits like seals. I'm going to have to tackle the diff, which is leaking both front and rear. Anyone know the torque setting for the pinion nut, or how to estimate that it's been retightened correctly? I can't mark the nut position as I've bought a new one, but I also can't find a clear guide to replacement that isn't vague if not completely unhelpful. ("Replace the nut as directed"... that's a lot of help.) I'm going to replace the small breather on the top too so hopefully this one will come off ok; a replacement is only £3 or so and a small expense given the cost of the rest of the order. There's hardly a rubber seal left on the underside, most, like the bump stops, just fell apart when touched. It will require spring top and bottom rubbers plus probably shock absorber bushes, bump stops and lots of other assorted small parts. Even the exhaust hangers are incorrect, and past their best, but luckily I have lots of these in the garage already. I see lots of derusting, cleaning and Waxoyling coming on. I really should just drop the rear axle, but the way things are round here at present it'll be this time next year before it goes back on again.

I think it's some sort of anti-mould additive, or it was on the silicone I bought. How many tubes do I need for a standard GT6 system?

Mine was (still is, I've had it twenty years!) a SIP Airstream 3hp 200 litre model; it came from an engineering firm that were upgrading and this was their backup machine that was run for an hour every month as per maintenance schedules. I got it for an absolute song and bar servicing hasn't caused any problems; although it does have a tendency to shut off before it reaches the necessary pressure to blast and I have to reset it. Originally I had a small 50 litre model that performed well in short bursts or else ran continuously so was deafening; it gave up and died one day.

I started with the one bit of metal I knew to be sound, and used it as a reference point, hanging the rest of the car off the rear of it.

That's interesting - thanks Ian. I may sit down later with a coffee - not home until about 10pm this evening so it might just be a glass of milk, due to this darned 'Dry January' gimmick - and see how I can match the TR7 trim to their colour charts.

Build one!! I did, way back, and it worked great for about fifteen years until I bought a professional version and sold this one for £30 on Gumtree...

It's been a long time since I had a 1500 Spitfire but I think you can mix and match the two, as if I remember correctly the head ports are the same. Be aware there is a cut-out on the 1500 chassis for the larger downpipe setup. The only problem may be connecting the downpipes to your single centre pipe; I don't know if there's any difference in the pipe bore but if you're linking the two at a non-factory point it may require flaring. The only real advantage is that it will save you the cost of a replacement 1300 system...

This will be for the rear cockpit trim panel, plus possibly the door trims; not the seats so there'll be no wear from people sitting in them. It's just a stopgap for badly faded trim. There appears to be a company still making / selling it but they match it to your requirements, and don't (apparently) just sell it over the counter, as it were. http://www.kolorbond.co.uk/vinylkote-paint-leather-vinyl

Get me some.... please!

I think at present I just need spirits... but that was sorted within a few minutes of the photo. It's in keeping with the top photo, where the bonnet didn't fit well (you can see they way the grille looks) and that turned out to be because the car was four inches shorter on one side than the other, due to old accident damage, which necessitated a full rebuild within a year.

Ok so you'll not be buying one then. I'll just use the one I have, and at your stated 5 watts it sounds okay to me, so I'll not bother suing them under the Trades Description Act.

Depends on whether or not you like the chromed bumper and want to show it off; you can attach the plate directly to it, but this covers most of the chrome, or else make two small metal brackets about two inches long and hang the numberplate off those, so that the chrome is uncovered. My GT6 was originally underslung, but I moved it up a few years later after it had been fully rebuilt.

Many of them are just that, floating about and deserving to be flushed away.

Surely, in the best spirit of Blue Peter, the proper thing to do is to make one yourself...

That' s from eBay, Amazon has the same description. No idea how to check output electronically but if you turn it up, the speakers get louder until they start to distort. And it hasn't gone on fire yet. It's only a stop-gap until I find the spare cash to get a better half-din sized version, if I even bother.

I couldn't settle last night so went out and worked on the TR7 - without any music on as I didn't want to wake the neighbours. I've stripped the doors down; mostly to replace the original and very past-their-best original speakers, but have used the opportunity to Waxoyl the inside of both doors to keep rust at bay. I found one of the window runner rubbers lying inside the door, and on inspection the other one was half-out too, so have replaced both with a good helping of adhesive to keep them in place. Much easier to remove and replace the runners here than on the Herald or GT6. Both of my door lamps have the locating feet broken off, and given that one worked when pressed up, and the other when pressed down, and only one worked when the doors were opened, the wiring needs sorted. No panic about the damage, though - these were also used on the Renault range - Renault 5, 11 and Fuego amongst others - and so are relatively easy to source second-hand or even new, if the TR7 breakers don't have any good ones. Both my door trims and the rear trim panel behind the seats are incredibly faded, and expensive to replace. Has anyone tried any of the Vinylkote range on these, or any other kind of paint or dye?

Stick a plastic golf tee into the pipe, it'll hold against a gentle flow of fuel. If you really need to, a cable tie around the outside keeps it in place more securely.

True, but remember the old joke about the astronaut who was asked how he felt just before lift-off, and replied: "How would you feel, sitting on top of the end results of 1000 low-bidders?" There's (hopefully!!) a world of difference between £10 Chinese technology and £100 Chinese technology, and I'd like to think it's not just the brand name and the packaging. Remember the film "Armageddon" with Bruce Willis, where the Russian cosmonaut tells him: "American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan!" It all comes down to what you really require, and all I want is a head unit that will fit the available aperture and play music at a good volume, in this case 60w per channel, plus it has the rear connectors for an amp if ever I needed one. I don't need it to connect to the steering wheel, turn the sound down every time the phone rings, or automatically interrupt songs to tell me the local traffic when I'm stuck nose to tail in it, so I'd like to think the price I paid gives me just the basics. It's a bit like my mobile phone; I've just binned my last one as it was too smart for its' own good and drove me demented by thinking it knew better than I what I really wanted, and have gone back to an older version that just makes calls.

Plus, if you wait about twenty years, you can buy cars for a fraction of what they cost new, so it also pays to be patient.

Autumn, of course!

I've been so busy recently I haven't been near the garage; in fact I've hardly been at home due to one thing or the other so it was nice to get Saturday afternoon free and work on the cars. Firstly the GT6 is now back on all four wheels and off the ramp, although I discovered that although I'd reassembled the brakes and bled the system I'd forgotten to adjust the rear shoes before putting the wheels back on. Too many distractions at present! That's one little job to do before we get back on the road again. This has allowed the TR7 to get onto the ramp for a look underneath. I promptly lowered it back down again, it's too depressing, and started on the interior instead. Dashboard is now back in place, bar the steering column shroud and the centre console, which has been delayed due to wiring for the radio / head unit. All I need is about four clear hours. At present that's like wishing for a slave to do the job for me. Possible but unlikely. I'm also having problems with the seats, which I want to remove to refurbish. The passenger side is stuck fast, fully back against the rear trim panel, and will not slide. The torx-headed screws are stuck fast in the captive nuts and on some the nuts themselves are rotating rather than the screw. I need to remove the seats to work on the floors, which have been pushed upwards in the areas of both footwells by poorly-positioned jacks or lifts, but can't get the carpets out until the seats come out... I'll get there. Just give me time. My super-dooper hood stowage bag has also arrived... in the wrong colour. I ordered tan to match the seats, they appear to have sent me beige, but are hinting that this may be the correct colour and it's my mistake. The photo, and the car trim code, shows otherwise. I was less than impressed with the returns process, from whom I haven't heard a whisper back after more than a week. Looks like I'm going to have to chase them up. You pays your money... and then you're on your own.

I don't think anyone's Herald will ever be as bad as one of mine from a few years back.... now THAT'S what I call packing...

I'll nominate you for Young Scientist of the Year, just lie about your age....

There's another thread in the forum on worn backplates, where the handbrake lever has worn a groove into the backplate and presumably this means the cylinder will have to negotiate this before moving; check yours to see if any wear is causing stickiness.

Not to me, it isn't. I'm starting to feel discriminated against....