Colin Lindsay

Yours too? Mine has started playing up - the mode button sometimes works, and more often than not, doesn't. I e-mailed CTEK customer service and their advice was: bin it, you've got your money's worth out of it and they're not repairable.

Even a £10 reader has saved me a lot of bother - a few months ago my Mondeo went into limp home mode with the orange engine warning symbol on. I ran a test with the OBD reader and it indicated no problems, so I cancelled the error messages and the car has run perfectly ever since. A garage would have charged me a fortune to repair an invisible fault that hasn't reoccurred since. Some of the service-interval workarounds are quite funny.... along the lines of "turn the ignition key to position 1. With the heater switch depressed turn the indicator to the right-hand signal position. Flash the headlights three times and then with the hazard warning switch depressed turn the ignition key to position 2. Retract both door mirrors and keep the switch depressed for three seconds until you hear a beep. Place your right hand in your left pocket and switch on the interior light with your nose. NOW turn on the ignition and the warning lights should extinguish." It's like motorised Twister...

Amazing... so drivers were harrassed by Dealerships even in those days. I have an OBD 2 as well, great device and very cheap to buy these days, but some vehicles - Freelanders for example - require extra tomfoolery to reset the service interval warning.

A mate of mine, every time he ran over a rabbit on the road, would say: "Hello Dylan" I've no idea how Zebedee steered himself on one spring, as you can't see his trunnions....

I was looking at this item on eBay and the seller claims it has the Spitfire Service Interval Reset Key. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173104948044?ul_noapp=true I'm used to that on my moderns - the Service Interval warning has to be reset after each service, and there's a trick to each car if you're not a dealership - but I've never heard of it for the Spitfire. Did the USA Spitfires have a service interval indicator? If so, how did it work in pre-digital ECM days?

I once met a young lad, back in the 1980s, who had the letters ADU tattooed across his forehead in light blue ink. I asked him what it was and he very sheepishly admitted that he'd tried to tattoo "UDA" (Ulster Defence Association) on himself in front of the mirror....

It's striking a balance between the two! My last garage was well ventilated but still, under certain atmospheric conditions, I'd walk in and find the walls dark grey with moisture, and all the tools swimming in condensation. If I used the gas heater - one of the Sip Fireball series - moisture would condense on everything then dry off as the air warmed up, but many of the tools and spares were ruined over the years. Cold air just blew through the gaps around the up-and-over doors and out of the rear vents. I've had to get the GT6 chromework rechromed as a result; the front is still excellent but the rear, where it faced the doors, is ruined. When I converted the roofspace of the old garage last month it was suggested that I fit a 'Ventmaster' which would keep the air circulating but prevent draughts; as part of the house it would be warm enough but without any ventilation at all I would be likely to get black mould as what moisture there was settled in colder areas and promoted fungal growth. So: you need to keep your garage well ventilated, but warm enough to prevent moisture condensing on metal objects and destroying them.

Just the stabiliser bracket for the gearbox, it goes from the underside of the gearbox to a bracket between the main chassis rails. It's supposed to reduce flex caused by vehicle movement. I've only ever seen one actually fitted, and most seem to have been removed when the rubbers wore out and thrown away. The rubber mountings look to be the same as top front shock absorber mountings, or very close.

Refit the assembled components in reverse. "Okay I've put the car in reverse, and they still won't fit..."

I've heard nothing but good reports of Woolies, Jigsaw and Park Lane; I've no experience of Vintage Chroming. Superflex are very popular, I've used both red and blue bushes for various jobs such as diff mounts or radius arms but not for suspension wishbones; I went for a different manufacturer there just for personal choice.

Sounds like a C&W song... "Can't stand up, can't crouch down, Can't look up, but only at the ground Too deep to sit on trollies and the bench too high to kneel That's why it's a cowboy's life for me...."

Pits in domestic garages went out of fashion due to instances of people being trapped under cars that went on fire, and couldn't get out. You need quite a size of pit nowadays, so you can get away from the car without having to wriggle out from in under it, so it takes a lot of space. I had one in my first house that used to fill up with water, and the plastic liner used to move about, so that I could pull myself along under the car like Gollum on his raft... but you had to squeeze down into it and out of it again so it was never a pleasant experience. One of the wife's uncles has a very long pit in a shed that he uses for tractors, and it's a real joy to use... clean and well lit, but it's about fifteen feet long with concrete stairs at either end. And yes, that's the regrette that Edith Piaf WOULD have had... Je ne regrette rien.. except that I didn't make the garage bigger..!

Given that I'm from a region that uses phrases like: "He stuck his head through the door and there was I sitting in the middle of my dinner" you can understand how sometimes the thought process doesn't translate to the typing... Anyway I'm a pensioner so can get away with things like that! Are you guys being ageist?

I bought a Sip Migmate 130 years ago - 23 in fact - and STILL have not learned to use it; the fact that the brother-in-law is a welder by trade sort of ruled out any need for me to learn... but I wish I had. That one was recommended by Practical Classics in a review of Mig Welders as a good all rounder for car bodywork repairs but I suspect it was the entry-level model they would have recommended. The Lidl model is probably okay for welding gates or railings but I'd steer clear for bodywork or thinner metals. Richard - are you using the small disposable gas cylinders, or have you invested in a larger system?

Get some memory foam insoles, they help you remember where you live when you're out walking. My back's the problem, it hurts all the time but eases if I lie flat, so since I bought the lift I'm going to put the Triumph up on it, lie on the floor and lower the car down to where I can reach things from flat on the floor... Re the OP - find some good local Buy and sell ads, like Gumtree - I've got rid of tons of old carpets from last year's house move (for free) but kept two long pieces of heavy duty carpet to keep the Triumphs parked on. You can advertise in the 'Stuff Wanted' section for any old carpet that people just want removed; the 'Stuff for Free' section is full of things that people just want removed at no cost to themselves. I'll agree with PaulH that led fluorescents are excellent - lots of clean white light but little power usage.

Seal the floor but don't paint unless it's been sealed first - any kind of sealant that penetrates the concrete and keeps dust down (John is right) is excellent but paint, unless it's properly prepared, simply lifts off again and car tyres will stick to it. Sheets of ply will protect the walls, it won't light from grinding sparks. For shelving / furniture - remember the important rule that any object will use the help of gravity to land on your car, no matter how far away it falls, so be careful what you store higher up. If possible make some kind of internal partition that you can use to separate cars and stored items before they mix with a bang. I bought excellent black plastic shelves from B&Q recently, five very solid shelves standing over six feet high on four supports for £14.99. For a bench, raid your local kitchen manufacturer for old worktop that's out of style; it makes a great bench on a stout wooden frame. Don't forget your local charity shop for good storage units - I have three old wooden wardrobes / office storage units that have lockable doors and tons of storage space which were en-route to the dump until I saved them.

Thanks Tom - I'll keep you all informed but the parts - GT6 Mk1 rear bumpers and overriders, fuel cap and a small aerial bezel have all left me via Royal Mail so no going back! Three or four years in a damp garage caused a lot of small blisters and eruptions that won't polish out; there's no damage or dents so it should be a straightforward job. I just had a quick check - I had an e-mail from them on 28th August following an enquiry a long time ago and as a result I requested a quote on 12th December. The first e-mail arrived on 13th December, I removed a few items on receipt of their quote and managed to get the price down somewhat but then had 15 e-mails from them in very quick succession. Seven of these were on December 28th alone with up to three per day in between (and thankfully a break over Christmas!) and some were sent only minutes apart - six between 12.49 and 12.59 on one day. I'm happy with their advertising and the reports received from customers, but they were starting to scare me off with the sheer volume of messages. Of course it's the end product that counts!

Bought a set and they arrived in under 24 hours.... nice! I've used them already on trailer wiring and it's made things so much easier than one single screwdriver tester and a multimeter.

That reminds me of when I had a Reliant Scimitar, to work on the wiring under the dashboard I used to lie upside down in the driver's seat with my feet over the headrest and my shoulders in the footwell. Anything I dropped or unscrewed used to hit me in the face. To get out you just rolled sideways, unless the door had closed in which case there was no chance of reaching the door handle and I just had to shout for help.

I'm just rewiring led lights on a trailer, that would have been very handy! I might just purchase... thanks for the link.

Do you have my 7/16 inch spanner? Someone must have, all my sets are missing the same spanner. Check your armpit for me.

I was just interested as I got a quote for GT6 bumpers, very very expensive, they then bombarded me with e-mails asking why I hadn't got in touch, was there a problem etc etc; I queried the price and amazingly got "Christmas" discount of almost a third which made it more to my liking. It's their e-mails that are the problem - sometimes up to nine a day (NINE!!) - is there a problem, didn't I like the order, have I run away, that sort of thing... all coming from 'Louise" who is apparrently the CEO but who makes the entire thing sound like a dodgy dating agency. Once I agreed the order they hit me with e-mails so full of legal jargon it almost scared me away again... including an 'acceptance' which appears to have been signed by me, like some kind of legal document. Strange.... but it's almost as if they're saying "Ha ha we've got you now and you can't wriggle out of it..." I'll see how the goods end up - that will be the acid test.

An excellent mod!! I'm really impressed, this is real lateral thinking.

Never saw this before, Richard, anytime I've ever done it the unit came out along with the gearbox, the oil was drained and replaced and everything worked as before on refitting. This was solely an oil change with a bit of cleaning and seal replacement thrown in; the unit was not dismantled nor was the solenoid disturbed.

Is that the lifetime of the hose, car or owner? BTW I've got the Club silicone hoses for the 6 cylinder breather and can recommend them.