Colin Lindsay

I'm not big on electrical terms, Iain , but just to clarify - it's NOT the wall-mounted / garage electrical system that trips, just the cut-out on the compressor. Pushing it back in again starts the motor off again. It has done this in at least three garages / sheds in recent years. I'll post a photo of a similar item that shuts off below; I removed it to check the unit number to possibly obtain a replacement if required. It clicks out so that the white band is visible; if I push it back in, the compressor will run for another short while and build up more pressure. A thinner oil is now on the cards by tomorrow latest.

I used engine oil when I first got it (serviced it myself the day it arrived) and that is what was recommended to me, and it worked perfectly. THEN someone who 'knows' told me that it was very bad for the piston, so I should use proper compressor oil, and therefore I bought a bottle of SIP's own stuff. Ever since then..... the SIP stuff is a thicker oil, possibly SAE40, but I was using 15/40 before and reckoned that covered everything. There doesn't appear to be any choice with the SIP stuff, it's all one bottle and no oil variation. Maybe I should go back to good old Castrol again and see how it goes then?

I've not been able to find any torque setting or other instructions in any of my manuals so far, even the workshop manual just states the reassembly with no further details on refitting the top plate other that it's the reverse of dismantling eg keep the components in the correct order. I've always just tightened them until the rubber bush starts to distort, then locked it with the second nut; I don't think I've ever gone down as far as the shoulder. I'm going to have to run out and check now.

I've got half of one in my garage......

The strut itself is very sound, no rust at all as it's been rust protected all the way up to the top plate. Once the top plate was removed there was sound red paint underneath. If it was even slightly corroded or cracked I'd scrap it, but I'm happy that it can be re-rust-treated and then new or cleaned components put back in. Another thumbs up for Robsport, who delivered suspension components to me within 18 hours of ordering. (Mind you, they charged me £27 for postage...)

Round where we live ie Northern Ireland any ar&e who kicks a ball gets a free car from some dealership or other, apparently it helps sales. People who like that sort of thing can drive the same car as their sporting hero. After the highly publicised rape trial recently some players didn't get a new one this year, for some reason.

It's not, as far as I can tell. It's definitely not a thermal cutout. There's no burning, and no great heat other than what you would expect, but with the cover removed from the breaker it seems to reach a much higher pressure before cutting out again. This may point to cooler air getting to the unit so it takes longer to overheat, but then it's not heat, as you say, it's current. Re Scrapman's post: the garage is all new, just built and with new wiring. It doesn't trip the circuit breaker box on the wall, just blew 13amp fuses in the plug a lot when cold, and that was in the other garage which was an icebox. This one is a lot warmer so that problem seems to have gone away. The only thing I've done to the compressor that's anyway wiring-related was to fit a longer power cable directly into it, to negate the need for an extension lead. I replaced the original four foot lead with a seven foot lead using cable bought from my local electrical supplies. I think I'll give it a complete service; it gets new filters about every two years, I can replace the oil when I'm at it, and give the motor windings a good clean. I'll also try to improve the air flow over it as it's tight to the wall and may not be getting enough fresh air to the fan.

You got two!! Great stuff, mine never turned up and I'm now thinking I binned them in a moment of madness... knowing that no-one would ever want them.

It takes up a lot of room. I've a good 1200 bonnet top, and cut the rusty wings off it to save space, but it's still huge and gets in the way a lot. It's very easy to bend in the outer corners too if you stand it up on that end.

I took the breaker out to see the model number and make (to price a replacement) then put it back in again, and the pressure went right up to 110bar but then it blew again; this was with the cover off so I'm wondering if heat is rising from the motor and blowing the circuit when it's all closed up inside the black box, but not when it's open? I've also got the fan against the wall, so it may not be getting enough cooling air. It's usually run from empty and regularly drained. Circuit breaker is 20amp and it's the same rating as the one I removed from the machine a few years back when it started these shenanigans.

Well, certain sections of the population are always saying they want the Royals modernised, so all those who turned somersaults when Megan got into the family can now agree that ducking responsibility after an accident, getting caught for motoring offences, and carrying on driving no matter what offences or punishments are hanging over you is about as commonplace as you can get these days. I don't know if you really can stick two fingers up at the establishment when you actually ARE the establishment, though....

I have a SIP Airstream 3hp/200 litre compressor and it's been behaving badly for some time now. It no longer gets anywhere near to operating pressure, especially for the sandblast cabinet, and cuts out well before that. The problem is that it's not the pressure relief valve that cuts out, but the circuit breaker. It used to cut out at about 130bar and cut back in about 60, but now it cuts out at about 70 by virtue of the circuit breaker blowing. If I reset it, it'll maybe get to about 80 then go again, and it runs right to empty without ever kicking in again. I replaced both the control box and the circuit breaker a few years back thinking that might cure the problem, which of course it didn't. I can't blast anything any more as there's not enough puff, plus I have to keep going to the compressor and resetting the breaker. It used to blow fuses regularly when cold, and I'm wondering if the oil is at fault - it's proper SIP compressor oil although when I first got it, quite a few years ago, I ran it on car engine oil for a month or two until this was pointed out as harmful, but it ran like a dream. Ever since I used the proper oil it's been sluggish and hard to start when very cold. Any ideas or thoughts to help me get back to blasting rusty bits clean again? I've just removed the circuit breaker to price a replacement which is why the top cover is off.

The driver in the other car is now whingeing that she hasn't received an apology. I'm assuming that if she gets one, she'll drop her massive injury claim?

Got called out at 7am this morning to a horse trailer with a seized hub. Thankfully I brought the essential equipment with me - something to kneel on on a wet road, a 6-ton jack, and a huge hammer, which turned out to be all that was required once the wheel was removed. I'm a big fan of the percussive-repair technique. As there was no point in going back to bed I hit the garage and removed one of the front suspension struts from the TR7. Never in my life have I seen such a quantity of dried mud that fell from the area of the McPherson strut tower. Who on earth decided to put metal ledges up in there? The strut is now removed and a complete mass of rust with many of the rubber components just a collection of shreds. I think the strut top plate may also have to be replaced, although it's really just flakes of rust and no perforation. I'll see how it comes out of the sandblaster. The strut tower itself is really sound so no worries there. The front wheel will still not come off the driver's side, so I'm stuck to one side only for the present. The strut itself came apart easily enough except for the insert, which is held in not by the expected hexagon-shaped strut end but a metal plate with two small notches. I'm assuming it was some kind of special tool for removal, but I'm hoping I have something along the lines of an angle-grinder wrench that will fit these. Otherwise it's off to the in-laws' engineering works for help. As usual I never saw the time go in so I'm assuming it's now breakfast time....

Does the horn sound continuously, or intermittently as the lights flash? You'd expect it to be intermittent if the switch circuit was causing a poor earth, as it would be interrupted regularly as the hazard system switches on and off. If it's constant then it's earthing regardless of the switch internals. I'd string an additional earth cable from the switch to a handy earthing point, even just temporarily, to see if that stops the horn sounding.

The Duke of Edinburgh is 97 and even he had to be helped out of his car earlier in the week... (Colin runs and hides... very speedily)

Thanks Pete; that's really appreciated. I've had a glance over the diff section and it merely says 'tighten the flange nut' so your figure is a great help - no doubt figures are elsewhere but it'll take a bit of reading to find that bit. I hadn't had time to check if it was a collapsable spacer or the like and didn't want to do my usual trick of 'dismantle now, find out the hard way on reassembly' sort of thing. The plan was to get the TR on the road asap and save the GT6 from the worst ravages of the Winter roads, but now it looks like a full front subframe / rear axle removal and rebuild. I'd be embarrassed to present the car as it is for MOT. Biggest problem of the last few days is that one of the front wheels won't come off - it just wobbles on the hub and I've nothing in the way of huge pullers to try to haul it off. I can't work out why it will not pull straight off, but no amount of rocking or thumping from behind will shift it. I've already obtained a pair of spare hubs to recondition off the car, so might have to remove wheel, hub and all and work on it somewhere else with better access. I'll be rebuilding the front struts anyway so everything is coming off in the end.

No more fluid leaks onto the paintwork, so it does what everyone says it should. It's also unaffected by alcohol so if driving home from the pub, you'll still be able to stop safely.

I'll agree with that, Waxoyl tastes horrible. Next time I won't find the groove in the cap by feel, so I can see that it's facing away and not towards...

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...