Patrick Taylor

Yes, I agree with the above. I went for lower/firmer suspension 25 years ago and can't remember what the original set-up was like! I've just bought a proper, modern, sports car and realise the Bond will never, ever, compete; so I'm tempted to put it back to original, trundly-trundly spec and enjoy it for what it is, without all the banging and crashing over potholes...

It sounds like you have a good sense of humour! You'll need it, both on the Forum and in the car... As an explanation of the latter, my car has the main headlamp switch next to the windscreen wiper switch, on a largely unlit dashboard. This makes turning the wipers off on a dark, wet night into a game of Russian roulette. You'd think I'd know which was which after 30 years of ownership. Wrong. Oh, how we laugh when the road ahead is plunged into darkness... I see your car has the later, more sensible, dashboard layout.

You have my sympathies. Disappointing, isn't it?

What I have found to be really poor are the aftermarket chrome wheel nuts sold to fit alloy wheels. The threads strip far more easily than on the studs, which is as it should be, of course: all engineering is predicated on having a hard material in contact with a (comparatively) softer/more elastic one. I keep a spare set of nuts to top up the set in use as they strip. And yes, I only torque them to 40 ft/lb.

My car has over-cooled for years, ever since I put a full width rad on it. It rarely gets to halfway, even in the summer. I've just fitted a 91 degree stat, and that gives a needle bang on halfway and a toasty heater. I don't see why it would need the mixture and/or the timing adjusting as it is running at what is, presumably, the correct temperature. I'll have to swap it back again come warmer weather.

I missed getting an MOT last year, but will put the car in for one once I've sorted a couple of niggles. Whilst none of us wants to be told our car needs work, I don't believe I have the kit or the knowledge to properly check the entire braking system and its efficiency, plus assess corrosion, wheel bearings and trunnions, and headlamp alignment. An MOT is a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

I've done a few miles on the Uniroyals now. I always think I'm an un-analytical driver, but they were a significant improvement right from the off. I know the Dunlops must have gone hard(er) over the years, but I don't recall them ever being this good.

I had new tyres fitted on Saturday: I asked the fitter to tighten the wheel nuts by hand and not with the windy wrench. The fitters were amazed to hear that the nuts should be torqued at 40lb/ft: they were doing vans at 170lb/ft! Would have stripped the nuts in seconds, I imagine....

It appears that Dunlop Street Response 2 tyres have been discontinued: Easy Tyres could get me 2, but not 4. They contacted Dunlop to see if there was a batch in the pipeline, but no. So after a quick trawl on here I've opted for Uniroyal Rain Expert 3s; they came out a little cheaper, too.

I'm really glad I found this thread as it reminded me that I had a full set of tyres fitted when I had some work done on the car at Jigsaw...eleven years ago! A quick check found small cracks developing all over the sidewalls...so I've booked myself (or more accurately, the car) in to have new boots fitted tomorrow. Just shows how useful a Forum like this can be!

Yes, it's a Bond GT4S. There could be some useful spares, not least the rear screen, which is in hen's teeth territory. Original front seats and the steering wheel, if still there, are similarly rare and sought after.

I don't know what info the Club requires, but a starting point would be the 'Bond Cars' maker's plate on the nearside of the bulkhead, visible with the bonnet open. The chassis number is the same as the Triumph engine number but with a 'B' added to it: so engine number FC12345 would be Bond chassis number BFC12345. There will also be the Bond production number on there: as a 1968 registration, your car will either start with and 'S' (1967) or 'T' (1968), followed by the month number (Jan=1, Feb=2, etc.) and finally the production number which will be between 1 and 2505.

No problem, @butchthebond. There are more important things than our cars! I hope your wife is on the mend. @Colin Lindsay I know what you mean -there was an Alpine dealer display at the big local show last summer; I may have pointed it out to my wife as we walked past...🙄

Welcome to the world of Bond! I too have a Bond/Alpine combination, but a different type of Alpine...

I was going to refurb my own but in the end decided to go with new, despite some contributors on here feeling it was best to avoid them. I fitted new discs and bearings at the same time and have not had any problems with any of them.

Bertie the Wedgewood Blue Bond Equipe says hello to Bertie the Wedgewood Blue GT6; they have a petrol filler cap in common!

Cling film might tear when the reservoir cap is replaced; a piece of polythene bag would be sturdier.

I had a problem with water in the petrol when I have a TR7 DHC in the 80's: the filler cap sat in a recessed well -I choose that word specifically- in the rear deck which didn't have a drain hole (thanks for that, BL designers...!); so the well filled with water when it rained, leaked past the seal on the filler cap and sat in the bottom of the tank. Firm braking caused it to slosh about, get drawn into the carbs and give a massive amount of stuttering/misfiring -usually at junctions/roundabouts. I only finally diagnosed it when the thing cracked a couple of piston rings two days before our wedding day -and we were meant to be going to France on honeymoon in it. The petrol/water mix was drained off and new rings fitted, but only after we got back to the UK: we now have happy memories of taking a Mini Metro to France -not quite the same. I had by then lost faith in the car and sold it shortly afterwards.

Many years ago a friend had a leaking windscreen seal and used a product called 'Seek'n'Seal'. A quick Google found this: Acrylic Impregnation Miracle - Seek-n-Seal ™ - Acrylic C120 by X-Seal . If the link doesn't work, search for Acrylic C120. I haven't used it and have no connection with the company. But it might solve the problem. Or not.

With all that booze in you, you'll be like an alcohol thermometer: 6ft 4" in hot weather, 4ft 2" when it freezes...

The 67.5p pump is for dispensing two-star, which went in motorbikes, I think. My memory is a bit hazy, but didn't some low-powered cars run on three star, most on four and performance/luxury cars on five star?

There are vinyl cutters on e-bay for a few hundred pounds. We had a Roland Stika at work, which was a handy piece of kit and ran off simple software.

I re-tapped mine 20+ years ago and it's still fine. But it's so long ago I can't remember what I used! Probably a slightly larger metric thread.

Perhaps he didn't want to do it?

In the end it was a very corroded (crunchy/crumbly!) female bullet connector that joined several earths together; it sits just below the grille and despite being swathed in insulating tape, must have got wet over the years. The insulation on the connector had bubbled so presumably the increased resistance had caused some overheating. And of course the mounting screws for the sidelight/indicator had seized and needed drilling out... Fortunately the old (and original?) flasher unit works perfectly so the spare -which may not even be the correct one!- can go back in its box. Why do half-an-hour jobs take four hours?