Wagger

My Red Vitesse/GT6 factory manual has an 'Appendix' which is the last Chapter. PO of the manual updated some pages, but not all. So, some originals are in the appendix, others are in the main sections. It is quite possible that errors exist, for example, in mine, the propshaft lengths for overdrive and no overdrive are transposed. The overdrive one should be shorter. Best way to check is to measure what it is on both sides of the car before chopping anything out, then replace as it was. Some dimensions are are symmetrical. If they are not symetrical check everything possible, maybe starting with the hub centres. However, this assumes that any repairs have been done as original build.

Folk music is great. Much of the best is in Scotland Ireland and Wales with Cornish stuff also surprisingly good. Of course, much of it went to th US and has returned. I also like our old stuff from the time of John Downland. Also Peter Warlock at certain times of year. I don't usually involve myself in discussing any addictive substances, having had many relatives come to a early end with alcohol, and drugs, even prescription drugs.. Prohibition did not work in the US and never will. Too much contraband available combined with too much desire for substances. I have attended AA and AL anon meetings in order to support relatives. My only addictions have been motor bikes, old cars and work. These can also be harmful if they become obsessions. Attending these really opened my eyes as some poor souls are really nice people until they capitulate. If you have an illness that can be cured with anti biotics etc, you can survive forever without them. Addiction cannot be cured without practising 'Positive reinforcement'. This means attending meetings, meditation or finding a harmless addiction to replace the bad one. It has taken me 30 years to understand alcoholics. They are people without an 'OFF' button in the main. Those of us who can have just one drink (or drink in moderation) are very lucky. This was not meant to be a criticism or lecture. Just needed to explain my experiences. With that, I'll go and pour a can of Ethanol and top the car up. Loads of thread drift once again. Perhaps we need a therapy page. NO! Just go and drive the Triumph.

I consider myself very lucky to be born where I was and when. I did not have to serve National Service (Poor elder brothers did in the forgotten Cyprus war in 1955). My USA opposite father in law to my son served in vietnam. Poor devil returned with PTSD that lasted until he died aged 59. Post WW2 there was a wonderful community spirit in rural places. Most of us had no gas, no hot water and some no electricity. We never had to look for something to do and grew up capable of maintaining most things. I have survived in spite of wrapping load bank resistors in wet asbestos. Wore no gloves or masks back then. Inhaled fumes in the plating shop where the roof was dissolving in the fumes. The enormous paint shop was at one end of a huge sheet metal shop. No proper extraction or curtaining. My hearing was shot by the age of forty. Speed cop shouted a warning at me whilst overtaking me to catch an even faster biker. We both were just verbally cautioned. We went to Brighton for our entertainment. It was exciting then. Now, I avoid it like the plague.

Actually, in 1962 we were shown the graphs of Cancer v smokig and that put my year off it. In my reunion group this year, only 3 out of 20 ever smoked. Those after us, mid 1960's just ignored all of it and the drug culture began.

Sorry that this is long and drifting, but I have been away for a week. My son used Ethanol fuel for ten years in Oregon in new and classic cars. JLR and old british stuff. No problems with the fuel or the hoses. They knew the spec of everything out there. Here, we are less fortunate. Just returned from the Isle of Wight visiting a friend with a 98 year old mother before the inevitable happens. No pot holes over there but I stuck to their main roads avoiding Newport whenever possible because we were in the Motorhome. However, some roads have fallen into the sea. I booked a special offer back in the New Year, so the price all in for four nights was £220 for ferry and Caravan club site. The trip was a 'Practice' at using Ferries to Ireland in case I decide to go. However, I have no passport, so that will present a problem I fear even going to Belfast. I fail to see that anything is better since Brexit, but cannot see either if it would have been better to remain. (Cannot test that can we?) Some around us had holiday properties in the EU and could spend the Winter in a warm place. They voted out and now have sold their properies at a loss because they cannot go there for very long. Everything was better in the 'Old' days for me anyway. Job hopping was a doddle. Minor offences received warnings without compulsory fines. Fuel was cheap, as was beer, bread, milk etc. You were encouraged to do all of your own maintenance and it was easy to find good tradesmen via recommendation. You knew the source of parts and could avoid rubbish. People spoke to one another and most were polite and had some form of table manners. Wish I could go back and do it all again. I'd buy a motorhome and fit a small motorcycle on the rear and just go whenever possible. Hindsight is wonderful but almost useless eh? Lloyd.

A good idea, especially if you label all for reference. Saves loads of time when fault finding.

Straight sixes will vanish in a few years I fear. The Triumph engine survived in the Rover SD1's that had an overhead cam. Shame that the british straight sixes came to an end. very few marks now make any except BMW and Mercedes.

The most exciting BMW that I ever had was the four pot 2002 tii. Same performance as a Dolly Sprint but more reliable. Just as with Triumph, the four pot versions usually handled better. The M3's were four pot originally. However, if you want a smooth cruise car, go for a six pot.

I tried aged 16 to supercharge my moped by fitting a ram air tube so that forward motion forced air into the carb. It blew the fuel back the the tank, so useless. Gravity feed. There is no pont in having turbulence before the air is mixed with the fuel. Swirl in the intake after the carb is desirable but not exactly the same as turbulence. Of course, some 'Moderns' have the dreaded swirl flaps to mix fuel with air as it enters the cylinder. Fine until bits break off and jam valves, pistons etc.

It should like Vintage and Veteran. Veteran as in about pre 1910. My Vitesse is 1960's Vintage. Colin's Z3 is amongst those of. 2000 Vintage. Most of that era can be sorted relatively easily. Forget anything after 2005. Far too complicated.

Colin, when I first had an E60 five series in 2017, all forums were full of de-catting procedures and egr bypasses that would fool MOT inspectors. Looks like yours is an example. These cars will pass without Cats and by passes as the fuel management systems are quite good. However, it usually requires re-mapping to gain more performance. I did block the vacuum tube on my E46 3 litre diesel's EGR valve to stop it fouling a replacement inlet manifold. It improved fuel economy (surprisingly) and pickup after decelleration. The gunge in the first manifold dissolved the ultrasonic welds and the manifold split under turbo pressure. I bolted the replacement to prevent recurrence. The deposit was over 3mm thick on the old one.

Congratulations on a really good .publication. I usually read it in two evenings, but there is a bit more in this one. This would sell easily off the shelf an maybe encourage the younger driver.

No grease access on my prop. Not even a plug. The front end has more rubber mounts to absorb vibration. I inherited a Vitesse with the prop wrong way round. It vibrated less when I reversed it.

The sliding spline should be at the front (gearbox) end. Is this the case with the picture shown?

At least live axle cars have a relatively constant distance and angle for the propshaft to accomodate. Unlike cars with sprung axles. The choice here is a long Prop with no overdrive, or a shorter one with overdrive. Long prop will have less of an angle to cope with, but may vibrate more if the sliding spline begins to wear and throw out. Many later cars use a two piece propshaft and the angles are even more extreme. Maybe you are worrying too much.

I have used BMW breakers near me for used spares. Euro Car Parts and GSF for new parts. My local BMW dealers occasionally do a free health check which includes a full jet wash as they won't have dirty cars in the workshop. If I time things right they do a diagnostic check for about £50. My friendly mobile mechanic then does the necessary if I cannot fix it. I have only spent around £1k on my 520D in four years. (20,000 miles) Most of that been on Runflat Tyres.

Don't despair Colin. There are some good BMW forums where you may find a solution. There are some clever guys who can program out some features and there used to be plug on bits that would 'Fool' the system into believing all was well. Quite how useful Airbags are on a CV I cannot suggest. I know two people thrown clear of a CV car who would not have survived if they had been wearing a belt. This was before belt wearing was compulsory.

Most posh BMW's have a plastic under tray beneath the floor which hides the rubber bungs. I had a Five series 530D with a Pan roof with blocked drains and it wrote loads off by flooding the spare wheel well that contained all of the relays. PO had that sorted but the stupid drains have valves at their exit that block with sludge. I removed these leaving all pipes open. In the case of the floor and the 2 in thick foam, I cut a rectangular section out, removed the invisible floor bungs and dried the foam before replacing it and hiding the joins under the over mats that were the same colour. Secured with velcro before I part-exed it for a 520D with a solid roof. I pushed the bungs out of the floor within a week of obtaining it. Two years later, parked on a steep camber, heavy rain flowed down through the heater ducts filling front and rear floor areas on one side of the car. Had to cut the foam and carpet out again repeating all learned before. I now do not park on a slope or a camber if I can avoid doing so.

Under the foam there will be some rubber bungs. All of mine are removed to let water out. It is not a convertible it is a five series estate. The water came in through the heater ducts during Pissing hard rain parked on a slope sideways. Soaked front and rear floor. I have cleared leaves and muck from the drains in front of the bulkhead. The foam will take years to dry. I cut it away and made a false wooden floor made like a mini pallet to keep the carpet off the floor. Now I have to suffer road noise generated by the open holes. May replace some of the bungs.

It may be worth connecting a voltmeter across the battery leads when disconnected. If there is no voltage present, all should be safe. Connect a bulb across it if charge takes too long to decay.

Do you know any mobile mechanics who have experience of BMW's? I worked on my 2001 330D many times without disconnecting the battery. Nothing went beserk even when repacing window winders. I did disconnect the door airbags on some occasions. Never had to wait any period of time before reconnecting the battery either if I chose to disconnect it. There is a fuse that can be pulled to stop the light coming up. However, It disables some other 'Safety features' and nothing shows when you turn ignition on. My favourite mobile mechanic fixed all properly with my 330D, then a van reversed into the side of it within two weeks writing it off. Very annoying as it was the best car ever owned by me.

It will be one of the connectors under the seats, BUT, you will need a reset tool. Had this on my 2001 330D.

That is why I stick with Diesel BMW's. Never had to replace an exhaust or cat in sixteen years and 200k miles. Over here there are many illegal exhaust systems going undetected. Empty cats etc and bypassed EGR's.

It is sad when you cannot find your old car. My first (a Riley 1.5) went grass track racing when I sold it in 1971. Both of my 1600/6 Vitesses were beyond the capabilities of most when sold in 1976.

Mechanically, just make sure that the pulley aligns with the others. You may need a different tensioning arm if you cannot modify it. It will be trial and error with belt length. I did mine in two hours and followed the instructions that came with the kit wrt connections to the Voltage Regulator box. Electrically, the original Dynamo for a 1600/6 was 25 amps. Most of the alternators can deliver at least 40 amps. When you have succeeded in fitting it, turn everything on with the engine doing about 2000 rpm and measure the voltage across the battery. It should read 13.2 to 14.5 volts. Check the temperature of the thick wire that connects to the alternator. If it is too hot to hold, replace it with wire of about 1.5 times the thickness. You may choose to fit a different fuse box at some future date. That can help with current sharing and fault finding. Do not fit higher rated fuses than those originally fitted unless you uprate the wiring.