bazz54

Well the first line of your post say the guy is doing a rubbish test, but the last line of your post agrees with his conclusion that heating beats all the stuff in cans. You've doing nothing to convince me that it is a rubbish video, simply that you have your own opinions and don't want to change them. Testing the effectiveness of releasing agents is hard to do (I've done some tests myself) and the guy in the video is clearly not working in a professional lab, but as someone who does work in a professional lab, I don't see that he's doing a bad job. If anyone can point me at a technical paper published in a peer-reviewed journal, I will happily look at it with all due respect. Regarding respect for experience, I'd remind you of this. Throughout the world, and for thousands of years, "medics" argued that if people were ill then you had to bleed them to let the bad stuff out. This was going on in Europe right up to the end of the 19th century. When was the last time that you heard of anyone being bled? Opinions are always interesting, though sometimes no more than old wives tales, and some data goes a long way.

I would not be surprised if someone comes along and offers their opinion that nothing beats Plusgas. Why do you think your opinion carries any more weight than theirs? Having bought my first can of WD40 when it first appeared in the mid-1970's, and having tried various alternatives since, I'm not at all sure that any one is that much better, and that's why I look for test data. Do you really think the guy staged his tests, which seem to suggest that a homebrew mixture of acetone and ATF compares very favourably with any of the commercial products? I would point out to you that for very little money, you could get a full chemical analysis of any of these products, and if any of them was exceptionally good, there'd be copy (probably from a far-eastern country) on the market PDQ. That's not opinion, it's a fact!

The same guy has got another follow-up video where he decides that Seafoam Creep is the dog's danglies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8dkGzJWtg&list=TLPQMTgxMjIwMTllRjTDoHprQA&index=1 That's on ebay at £13 - just bought some. @jim7564 has the silkolene product been tested against anything? Data beats opinions everytime... that's my opinion, though I have no data on that

This is one of my pets subjects - wd40 v PlusGas, and similar comparisons. This YouTube video is the best comparison I've ever seen. Most of these products are only achieving a minimal effect. The American "Liquid Wrench" seems to do well - anyone ever tried it? Note the safety warnings over acetone/ATF homebrew -damn right! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUEob2oAKVs

Autoglym do an Alloy Wheel Seal aerosol and I've used it and think it dose help. I last used it on some re-wheels which were fresh back from the powder-coaters and they do seem to have stayed quite clean and just a wipe over seems to get lots of dust off.

I do have a set of winter tyres for my saloon and I'm quite happy with them in all conditions and on tarmac. I think that they are Goodyear Ultragrips. I do only use them during the winter months. I live out in the sticks, and in the bad winter of 2010 there were a couple of days when I couldn't get to work. I asked an American friend of mine (who had been in the military and stationed all over the US) whether he had experience of winter tyres and he was very positive about them, so I got some.

I know very well I will me in a minority of one here, but I've got Dunlop Bluresponse on my 7 because they are quiet . I've reached an age where I have no interest in going around bends, exploring the limits of car and driver, and the one negative quality that most people agree the 7 has is bad road noise. Those tyres are specially aimed at low noise and I like them for that, and don't have any perception that they are lacking in respect of grip, ride or whatever.

Yes, that's what I used to do... but it didn't always work first time and it could get a bit scary. The pressure plate springs seemed to cope with being jammed under load, but the car only had a 1300cc engine with limited torque so the clutch was not required with deal with great loads. My Celica stays off the road when there's any ice/snow/salt about, but I'll use it if those three things are absent.

It has been known for the clutch friction plate to stick to the flywheel when it hasn't been operated for a long time and be quite difficult to get it to un-stick. I used to put a block of wood in front of the driver's seat which was long enough to keep the clutch pedal depressed.

If you go to Citywheel, make sure you have CASH! Plastic is not accepted . I know someone who's been going there for years and is always happy. I had a set (standard Gen7, but badly corroded) alloys done there in May of last year and they are fine.

For an astonishing £20 a wheel, I quite like this outfit in Brum https://www.citywheelrefurbishment.co.uk/

I'd plan to do the job in a number steps; concentrate on a limited area(s). There's quite a few days work in doing the whole floor. I did the back end one year and the front the following year. The primer I recommended needs 16 hours to dry, some others may be faster, but it is probably best to work on two limited areas at once so you don't get held up. Have you looked at the various previous threads which point out the particular areas on the rear subframe which are the problem parts? I'm pleased to say that 2019 is going to be a largely paint-free year here , having been busy over the last 2 or 3 years.

Yes. the jacking points are best, but if they are rusted, you'll need to move the stands slightly to the side. What Bumblebee says is all good. The bits of wire come off the brush at hellish speed, and a few of them will go through ordinary clothing. As automotive men, and women, we are called upon to do these things, like salmon swim upstream to spawn!

Celica with sill covers removed

This is type of brush I normally use https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-80mm-x-M14-Crimped-Steel-Wire-Cup-Brush-For-Angle-Grinder-41444/301927977938?epid=26012039447&hash=item464c4f53d2:g:uC0AAOSwj~VcwTVj It's worth buying a decent quality one; cheap ones can be badly balance and just don't last. The sill cover is the strip of plastic that is at the bottom of the body and runs below the door from the from the front to the rear wheel arch. IIRC, it's held on by 6 platic clips on the underside, remove these and then I think it slides off to the rear. Beneath it is the important welded seam between the floor pan and the upper body shell. As a minimum, you will probably see some rust around the jacking points, but some owners find much more.

Has anyone taken the sill covers off yet? There well be rust starting under there too.

£2.6k is mega money; is the car worth that much? What did the MoT tester say about the condition at the last test? The thing about rust is that it's hard to tell how bad it is just by looking at it. Sometimes it doesn't look bad when it actually is, and vice versa. On the Gen7, we know now that the rear subframe tends to be the first thing to get you an MoT fail. Until you start to brush and poke it, you don't know what you've got. I have a low mileage 7 which is now 17 years old and I've spent a lot of time doing the following; clean as best possible with a wire brush on an angle grinder paint using zinc phosphate primer* (at least 2 coats) apply topcoat* I never use underseal; I think it just hides what's going on, and I'm really pleased with the outcome of what I've done on the 7 and the same was done on my 21 year old family saloon also. Regarding*, for quite some years now I only ever use the zinc phosphate primer made by Johnstones and the top coat on that is Johnstones metal cladding paint. I first discovered Johnstones when I bought some "Red Oxide Primer" from Screwfix and found it was brilliant stuff (the term "Red Oxide" now only refers to the colour of the paint, though in the past, it referred to lead-based paints, which are now illegal). Looking in to it, I found that it was actually made by Johnstones, and I then found a (one-off) seller on ebay offering 5L cans of both the primer and the top coat at a knock down price. Those are pretty much used up now, but money well spent.

Agreed, a good road car should not make any great amount of noise, except in Chav-land.

Thanks for suggestions guys. I've never been a fan of K&N, but it's surprising they are the only people to add the nut, though I suppose you do pay for that. Changing the filter a couple of days ago, I started off with a clamp thing made in the US by Craftsman tools and that was just slipping, so then I went to an old Draper "bicycle chain" thing, which worked, but is damn fiddly. Time I got something which is works first time and every time!

I've got three different filter removal tools and all are a PIA. I recall someone on the forum recommending one tool as the dog's goolies, but cannot find the thread. Any suggestions please? B

One problem with the way the machines test for leaks is to put the system under vacuum, isolate it and see if it looses the vacuum. But when it's actually in operation, the system is at quite high positive pressure. Therefore, some people including me think that the vac leak test is not convincing. At the moment I am replacing the condenser on the family saloon. I'm now at the stage where I'm trying to convince myself that I've got the right rubber O rings for the re-build. I will definitely be testing it by pressurising it before I get it charged. That car is 21 years old and it's just getting to the point where finding spares is starting to get more difficult. What should I be buying for the Gen7? Already have the rear sub-frame.

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.