G.Lewarne

my friendly factors - even though they have known me and my cars for YEARS - had to have the physical documents in their hands to make me the plates. It only takes a couple minutes though and I was in and out with my new plates for 7 quid each in minutes.

Any company "following the rules" need your v5 and license and enter those details on the dvla database when issuing number plates

alright - good to know, thanks

Ive been fed up with my cracked and damaged number plates looking skanky so I got some new (completely standard) ones made up. Got the rear one replaced without drama. However, on fitting the front I put a permeant crinkle in the reflective backing just to the right of the last letter. Its pretty obvious and looks crap Since I have already had two new plates made (and registered with the dvla) will it look dodgy if I get a third one made up to replace the one I crinkled? it would mean a third plate swap being registered with them in like 3 days..... ? or should I just keep it now because the crinkle isn't infringing on the letters.

gave him a full service. Fresh 5w40 full synth, oil filter, air filter, plugs, MAF clean, recalibrated my throttlebody (stop screw was slightly off optimal), ECU reset. Oh and replaced both my rear stop/tail bulbs as one exploded last night. And this time I treated him to a brand new...……..sump bolt washer (free from my local T) Also attempted to replace my main beam bulbs, but gave up. I will need to remove the headlights. I could do it in situ but I cant quite get the electrical connectors unclipped EDIT: got my main beam bulbs changed! didn't need to remove the whole headlight units either. didn't realise they were twist'n'pull on the HB3 type. They come right out with the connector still attached for easy swapping

Bought a new hosepipe so gave the car the clean of its life Bodywork shampooed twice, underside of bonnet, stiff brush shampoo, then degreaser into all the nooks and crannies and gentle rinse of engine bay, chassis, topside of front subframe and floorpan and cleaned the front struts by hand. De gunked the wheel arch lips to squeaky clean too

I used blutac

Will run fine on basic fuel

popped off sill covers. Sighed. After only a year since I did it last a LOT of mud/clay/gunge had build up again and was making contact with the sills. Cleaned everything up, treated, primes and repainted entire sills again. (put pics in thread in gen 7 area) Muck sure does build up fast under there.

hmmm, that's a third I hadn't considered. Even the two parts guys in my local dealership say it different to each other

ive seen some old US tv adverts, and obviously I have heard it said by other people over the years, but what is actually right? is it CELL - ICK - AH or CE - LEEK - AHH ?

cleaned and repainted: rear trailing arms rear ARB camber arms rear crash bar sill seams front subframe front wishbones front underbrace radiator support bar Front caliper brackets all brake disc shields I used the same paint as I put on my new rear subframe as its held up perfectly and is even still shiny. Hopefully this will keep the crust at bay for another couple years. Also replaced the front droplinks again! - one was knocking badly and was only a year old. Its nice to have lovely shiny underbits again after the snow and salt wasn't kind this winter.

how much fluid did you push through after changing the flexis and the calipers, and are you certain you got all the air out? Are the rears imbalanced ? (would be looking at drivers rear because of the diagonal circuits) Also, did you bleed the rears after doing the front end work? The front hard lines to the MC and ABS units are pretty short and it wouldn't take much fluid loss from disconnecting the fronts for air to be introduced into the system which could travel around the system The hotter wheel may just be because that side is working harder than the other if there is air in the system, or it could be pads, slider or piston sticking as AMS has said.

i personally wouldn't go with the sock...can hide damage from quick look over. Its not really rusty springs you have to worry about (unless they are REALLY crusty of course) its the ends snapping which can happen to even brand new ones. one bad pothole and PING As for extra paint, I did give all of my underbits a second coat of paint before fitting all my new stuff - after 10 months it hasn't really helped because it all gets blasted from wheel cast off anyway. Already got the old surface crust starting

you will never, ever see the front spring plates though. Maybe the topmount visible part in the engine bay may be worth some awful colour though

for a laugh, I would paint those bits some awful lurid colour (like neon pink) just because the only person who will ever see it is MOT / Mechanic guy

replaced both front brake caliper hardline brake pipes to the engine bay with new OEM, bled with 5.1, scrubbed/treated and painted rear hardline U bends in the wheel arch. Sorted for years

Keep, strip for parts, profit

cheaper too I think, eh

thanks mate. when it comes time to get tyres, is a 215/45 OK on a 7j or is that pushing the width a bit?

Kev, what sort of impact am I having compared to stock wheels and tyres on my 140 running 7j with 215/40 profile ?

buy it back and sell it for parts on here, probably get more back than it costs to repurchase it.

you will almost certainly have structural damage at the back - you see the biggest ding in the bumper? the rear crash bar is literally just millimetres behind that part of the bumper (in a non damaged state) so it will be crumpled there, at least. shows how strong the chassis is though!

finished my brake overhaul and rebuild. Got all the new stuff on the front yesterday, got the rears done today. amazingly didn't have any issues with the brake unions at the back, was concerned about that as those pipes are right in the firing line from tyre spray. Fully flushed through and bled with new DOT 5.1 brakes feel and stop fantastic now, better than ever even though only 10 miles on all the new discs and pads