bazz54

From what I know about ceramic coatings, they are often used to stop metals oxidising at high temperatures, e.g. turbine blades, but I'm not sure that thin coatings of ceramics would be very tough or impact-resistant. Could this actually be a polymer coating which contains ceramic particles for re-enforcement?

Could be that they put a small amount of ammonia or something similar in it; it will help with cleaning the screen. Halfords -20'C is scented with pines; that sounds reasonable.

Forgot Tesco, the nearest one is some distance from me. -23 is not bad and it's a fair price. The one thing I hate about the Halfords -30' is that its scented with cherries...awful!

I’ve just run out of windscreen wash additive, so have been looking at what’s on offer in various places. There’s lots of “ready-mixed” stuff that says it’s good to -10’C . I think I’d prefer something better, allowing for the wind-chill on a moving car. You can see a comparison of various water/alcohol mixtures here https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ispropanol-water-d_988.html For -20’, you need ~50% alcohol and for -30’, ~70% alcohol. This all assumes that the mixtures just contain isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Many may have some methanol or some glycol in them, so this is all approximate. In terms of local “off the shelf” products, the only stuff I’ve seen going to -30’ is at Halfords and in fact that’s the stuff I’ve been using. Usually, I mix it with an equal quantity of water, so that will be good down to -16 or 17' and that’s been fine over the last few years, but with the advantage that if hell really does freeze over, you’ve got the neat stuff already stashed in the garage. Alternatively, you could buy pure IPA off ebay and make your own, remembering that it's pretty flammable.

In the film "Dr Strangelove" (made back in the sixties), when the crew of the B52 bomber realise the plane is too badly damaged to make it back home, each one checks out his personal survival kit. This consists of; - One forty-five caliber automatic - Two boxes of ammunition - Four days' concentrated emergency rations - One drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills - One miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible - One hundred dollars in rubles - One hundred dollars in gold - Nine packs of chewing gum - One issue of prophylactics - Three lipsticks - Three pair of nylon stockings. I think we need something similar ?

I can think of one car that's even more gutless and that's my Rover Saloon, but only of the driver's door. Every so often I apply some silicone spray to the rubber guides (don't get it on the main area of the glass or the upholstery). It helps a bit. Going one step further would involve taking off the door cards and removing and fettling the regulator.

1) Lubricate Fuel Flap Hinges 2) Top up reservoir with winter screen-wash 3) Grease Locks 4) Replace Wipers 5) Check Tyres, including the spare, for tread depth/nails & screws/pressure (which will drop as the temperature falls) 6) Lubricate Brake Slider Pins with silicon grease 7) lubricate wiper arm hinges with some light machine oil I've amended #5 so that it reads "Check the tyres including the spare.... I've just done that on my little fleet, and it seems like I may have overlooked the spares... for a 'while'

As many will know, the light output of a headlight goes up sharply as the feed voltage increases in the range 12-14 volts. Considering that even in a new car that there is always some voltage lost between the battery and the bulb, I was wondering what it might be in an older car, as it probably gets worse with age of the car. I did an experiment over the weekend measuring the volts drop in my old Rover 600 (because a gorilla can access the headlights on that car, unlike the Gen7!). I was quite surprised to find there was (near as dammit) 1V being lost. Does anyone have any feel for how typical this may be? I've heard stories in the past about people wiring in new supply circuits to their headlights, using the shortest possible runs of comfortably rated cable, operating from a separate relay. Could be worth doing, as opposed to buying the brightest, and most short-lived bulbs?

We don't have any arguments here; the real point of the thread is to ask the question; how typical is a 1 volt drop on a 20 year old car? Many Gen7's are heading towards 20, and of course, the earlier Celicas will be well past it. Before I measured it, I was maybe expecting 0.1-0.2V, or 0.5V very tops, but never dreamed it would be 1V. This is in a car which starts first time, every time. The electrics in modern cars have become so complex. The first car I owned had just 4 fuses and no relays in it, but modern cars have more like 40 fuses and a bunch of relays. All of the numerous connections are made by crimping cables rather than soldering and as the metals tarnish, it seems inevitable that they will deteriorate. I've now acquired all the bits and pieces I need to wire in an entirely new circuit for the headlights going straight from the main fuse box direct to the headlights, cable rated at 16A and all connectors to be soldered. It will be an easy job to do on the Rover, where access is really good. I got enough materials to do the same on the Gen7 if it needs it, but access to the headlights will make that a much more difficult job if I did want/need to do it. Excluding the cost of the relay, which I already had, the spend was less than £20 (for the 2 cars) Re the idea of a 15V convertor, to supply the current required, I guess that would be quite pricey? I'll settle for full battery voltage.

I’m talking here about run-of-the-mill cast iron replacement calipers. These always seem to be supplied with some sort of silvery finish, and it doesn’t take very long for it to just disappear leaving the caliper to start rusting. The question is just what is that silver finish; is it a paint or is it some sort or plating? I think it’s the latter and if that is so, what kind of paint would you put on top of it? I’ve just painted a silvery one using Hammerite Special Metals primer, which is meant for non-ferrous metals, as that it what I guess the plating is. Any thoughts?

Re service history, some of the best cars you could buy would have no service history because they've owned by enthusiasts who have cherished them and looked after them themselves. I suppose that if you buy any car without a service history, the sort of things you might look for would be; the bills for the parts they've bought The old MoT's online (failure and advisories) Indications that the seller is an enthusiast; can he/she talk about the car in detail, esp the weakness's, I've had both my cars for ages; the prospect of having to go out to buy a used car is pretty daunting .

Use a solution of a bio-washing powder, wipe it over the area and leave for a few minutes, and they should come off easily. Been doing it a long time; not seen any bad effects on the paintwork.

Hard to generalise; depends a lot on the individual car and the individual buyer. For the first time ever, I had to do work on my 2002 G7 to get it through its MoT; viz - remove and clean both front calipers to cure slight binding and replace one rear caliper (£20 off ebay). I think that's pretty good going for a 16 year old car, which then got through the test without a single advisory. However, I've owned the car for 13 years and it has been well looked after. If I was selling it, I'd happily sell it to a good friend. However, the list of issues you present is valid and if someone picked up a car with many or all of those problems it would be "less attractive". That would be particularly true for a buyer who knows squat about car maintenance. I'm not sure I would want to buy any car that was more than 6 years old. I think the 7 stands up well against cars of comparable age.

Well, not actually done today, but last Thursday, we passed our 13th MoT together . Had to do relatively a lot of work this year; both front calipers were binding slightly and needed an oily rag wiped over them. One of the rear calipers looked like it might be past the oily rag stage so that got replaced, but got a good used one for £20 on ebay. After that all OK, with no advisories.

I've always been pretty much satisfied with the brakes on my 140; never thought about making any changes or fitting a stopper. It's only because I had my little 'accident' and let the reservoir drain out (never done that before!) that I'm a bit spooked about it now.

Is anyone a big fan of the Gunson’s Power (Brake) Bleed kit? These things have been around for decades, and I’ve owned one for a very long time, but I don’t have a clear memory of ever having used it on any car. If it works OK for you, it should make bleeding the brakes very easy, but if it leaks, brake fluid could spray everywhere. Today I tried fitting it on to the master cylinder on my Gen7; there is just space to fit it. But as the reservoir has a push-on rather than screw-on top, the Gunson needs to be held pressure-tight over the top with the nylon straps provided and this is where it is less good on the 7. The underside of the reservoir is shaped so that is tapered towards the front, so when the straps tighten they don’t pull evenly and directly down on the Gunson cap, but forward and slightly off centre. So, it might seal or it might leak . The straps supplied seem awkward and oversized to me; I’m going so it I can find something similar but a bit more flexible before I consider using it. (My current bleeding task is OK’ish, after Bleed Round#2).

Yes, that would work for vacuum bleeding; good idea. Did a second all-round bleed on mine last night then took it to a car park and and tested out the ABS, which worked very well (on a very good and dry surface), and it was stopping very nicely with no juddering or pulling. Is it still a bit spongy...hard to say (it is a 14 year old Gen7), but aiming to get the MoT done this coming week.

Vacuum bleeding is popular and I've done it but I wonder about the extent to which you may suck bubbles of air in down past the threads on the bleed nipple. I always cover those threads with lots of PTFE tape, but that seals most effectively on tapered threads rather than parallel. Another option (for one-person bleeding) is to buy one of those little non-return valves (~£1) they use in fish tanks and connect that on the nipple, then just pump on the pedal.

But in the case of a Gen7, it's only a push-on cap. Not sure how much pressure that could safely hold. Maybe a tie-wrap around it would be the way to go?

Well, I clamped the hose and disconnected it from the caliper and there was no leak. But I came back a couple of hours later and the driveway is awash with brake fluid, reservoir well empty. So guess what comes now; yes, bled nsr, osr, osf then nsf and ....it is pretty spongy. So have just been reading the previous threads on this and the issue of the ABS cycling comes up; bugger . What to do next; MoT is looming? Spotted on another forum; best bleed clutch too, as common reservoir.

Not sure if this is the best place to post it; there's a guy on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323238637525 selling Draper brake hose clamps for £4.60 a pair inc p&p. I got 2 and have just ordered 2 more. I had a bad "event" with an improvised hose clamp last week, so decided not to do that again .

Well, at least you didn't call it 'Jean Luc' !!!

Mmmm, well call me a tight-fisted Yorkshire sod, but the Humbrol Enamel at ~£1.50 per 14ml tin seems like a better deal . Two tins will do all 4 calipers. I use Baltic Blue (a metallic Royal Blue, no political inference shall be implied!!!).

Well....while you are in the line, I've just spotted the comment where you refer to your 7 as "he"! Oh no, that cannot be right . James T. never referred the Enterprise as anything other than she. I regard mine as neutral, or female.

Replaced the rear offside brake caliper. The mounting bolts came undone with no great effort but then....the pins were seriously rusted in and all attempts to budge them failed (had soaked them in WD40 yesterday). So, out with my Minicraft drill with a slitting wheel on it and cut my way through each pin in about 5 minutes, and then transferred the pads over to the nice nearly-new caliper from eBay. Minidrills are nearly worth their weight in gold; couldn't manage without one (got two actually ).