Monkey Boy 1

That's handy to know as it's only a dozen or so miles up the road from me. May give them a look sometime

got a couple of things, My new CCUK membership card for 2014 & a set of brand new rear shocks. Just need my car back so I can fit them & the new drop links

It's already been done. It's called 'Modified Live' ( or as I call it Chav Fest) and it's held every year at Snetterton race circuit which is about 5 miles down the road from me. The Police, for some reason keep well clear if the circuit. Looking into this, Suffolk Polizi are pretty hot on Exhaust noise , so are Devon & Cornwall Police

To me, form the sound clip it sounds like injectors..if the sound is coming from behind the throttle body. Most cars sound like that to a certain extent Is the sound even all along the engine from the timing belt end to the gearbox end (Front to Rear) ?. If it were tappets, (one was out of adjustment) then you would have an area of the head noisier than the rest of the head.

The MOT noise proposal has been kicking around for a year or two. To be honest, I don't think it could be implemented. The only figures available to be quoted for exhaust systems are 82dB and that is for a Drive By test involving an approved tarmac surface, sound equipment, radar.and to be able to accelerate the vehicle from 30 to 50 MPH under hard load. From memory that is in 2nd gear foot flat to the floor. In MOT stations would have to do a stationary test as laid out in ISO5130. BUT and this is a BIG but, what about the vehicles which don't have a rev counter ? These cannot be tested.as the Police officer admitted to me in court Also an MOT station would have to have a designated area clear from buildings, obstructions & other items which could cause reflection back to the microphones. Weather had a big part in the testing too. Windy and rainy days would cause the test to become void, If the Police cannot test correctly, (and they are meant to uphold the law) then how are MOT stations going to be able to test correctly ? In my research into this, there is only one dB figure which seems to be quoted which ALL testing houses, VOSA & Police seem to agree on, that is the figure of 99dB set for imported vehicles to pass the SVA test which allows the vehicle to be registered for the road in the UK, (Who is saying VOSA are correct ? ) MOT stations do at present check for noisy exhausts, but that is purely subjective. If the MOT tester thinks the noise emitted from the exhaust is louder than that of a standard vehicle of that age then he/she can refuse a pass certificate. But as we all know, you just find an MOT station which is more sympathetic towards performance vehicles.

No,because you are in gear and the clutch is fully engaged - No slippage of clutch plates. The only way the clutch can wear out is when the flywheel and clutch friction plate are at different speeds, This happens in the moments your foot is on the clutch pedal going through the momentum of gear change. or while you are attempting burn-outs.

On the way to work yesterday it felt like the car had turned into washing machine on full spin with a full load in it. The caliper incident had ripped off all the wheel balance weights. got wheel balanced yesterday evening and all is back to norm now

Know a couple of guys in the trade and they usually quote between £100 & 150 per panel, so 2 bumpers & a bonnet for £400 is pretty much in the ball park.

Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious is there an acronym for Toyota ?

The drive into work this morning was not as scary as last nights drive home and I have no clunking noises from the front suspension as I had before (probably the caliper was making the noise all along) but one thing I did notice was a lot of wheel vibration. I've proably knocked a balance weight off the wheel, this made the drive uncomfortable at anything above 60mph. Mind you the wheels are long overdue for a change as it is not really worth refurbishing them. (too many scrapes & pot holes) and I fancy going black rather than silver. So off to check with the head of the financial dept. of Household Monkey. (she will probably say no ).

Already done. Checked both sides

On mine it was the carrier bolt that went 'walk-a-bout'. I think it's about M12 x 1 (metric fine pitch) so not your bog standard thread. :Luckily I had 4 spare ones According to a data sheet I found on line the torque figure should be should be 79 ft/lb or 107 Nm. I clearly had missed this when faffing around with the calipers the other month. Type: Bolt Dim: Length: Head: Hexagon Grade: 79 Ft-Lbs 948 In-Lbs 107.11 N-m Connects: Caliper Mounting Bracket To Steering Knuckle Years: 1990-1999 Note: T180/T200 - FRONT The smaller M8 bolts which hold the caliper to the caliper guide pins are Type: Bolt Dim: Length: Head: Hexagon Grade: 25 Ft-Lbs 300 In-Lbs 33.9 N-m Connects: Caliper To Caliper Mounting Bracket Years: 1994-1999 Note: T200 - FRONT Guide Pins Bolts

I have no idea yet. Droplinks def. Need changing but it may well solve some of the noise issues. Just calming down after all the thoughts of what could have happened have gone through my head. Luck escape I think.

While driving home from work at usual duel carriageway speeds I heard a 'clonk' underneath the car.as though I had run over something. I did the obvious thing and slow down a bit, turned the radio down to see if I could hear any untoward noises.All seemed OK. About a mile further down the road my steering wheel started to vibrate a little. My thoughts were possible puncture. but as I was less than I mile from home I would risk the drive and then have a good check over the car in my drive way. I turn into my road and there is a banging noise from the front, off side, This is the side that I knew I had an issue with a drop link, so I thought it may be that...... Oh how wrong I was. On turning into my drive the car came to an abrupt stand still. The wife was out side and said 'Oh My God, what the Hell was that bang from your car" I get out and have a look.The initial clonk was a bolt falling off the car, not any old bolt but the Caliper upper mounting bolt. The bang the wife heard was the caliper moving & wedging itself on the wheel rim. I count myself very lucky it happened at very low speed.and I had a replacement bolt in my box of spares. The moral to this story is that when you do work on your car, double check the torque on all your fixings. I had replaced the calipers a couple of months ago.

Iain, I have to agree with Dave from Fensport on that. Harder bushes will make the ride feel stiffer as will any 'Sports' upgrade to the suspension. Larger diameter wheels in their nature need lower profile tyres, this gives you less 'give' in the side walls meaning you have a harder ride. Lower springs will give a similar result. less movement in the suspension travel means higher rate springs (stiffer). Pilly bushes also will give you a harder ride. The Axial, radial, torsional & conical rates will more than likely be higher over a similar movement. Major motor manufacturers spend millions on suspension design & analysis. I know this as that is one area I am involved with at work, mainly on the testing & measurement of suspension. A small change in rubber hardness can have a dramatic change in handling. Mind You 95% of the drivers on the road may not notice the difference. When, however you do notice a difference you have probably gone too far. We are not test drivers, so wouldn't know where the limit is (even though we would like to think that we are all prospective Touring Car or GT car champs). At the end of the day it's down to personal preference and cost. If you want to renew all the suspension bushes, and can afford it, I would go OEM. If you budget is small then go for what is practical. Something that has big wheels and slammed low to the ground may look better than standard, but the consequences are in the ride feel.

May even need a bottle of Miracle Glo to help your bulb mature

So have you have de-decaled it then Simon ? I kind of liked the JPS fag pack look, quite destinctive.

Oh, something else I DON'T like is the Bloody ABS system, been having an intermittent fault for ages which I could not rectify, now the ABS light is on permanently. Really p1$$ing me off now. Need to find someone local to me who knows about the Celica ABS and who doesn't charge the earth for looking at it.

Mon to Friday 19 mile round trip to & from work, Friday I popped over to Wroxham (of Norfolk Broads fame) to get a quote on wheel refirb. (50mile round trip) then on Sunday a little trip to Snetterton for the Brit. Superbikes. (10 mile round trip.)

Sorry to say, but I only really noticed Celica's when I was on the search for a sports GT about 4 years ago. I have been involved in the motor industry for many years and a car enthusiast for as long as I can remember, but the Celica just seemed to have passed by unnoticed to me. Anyway, on the search for a sports car (mid life crisis car) I needed to tick a few boxes before I decided what to get. It had to have 4 seats due to having kids, it had to look good, be able to be used for an every day car and be different enough to enjoy and be within my £2500 price range. I didn't want to travel too far either. There were a few cars which came within the radar, they were Hyundai Coupe, Mitubishi FTO, Honda Civic, Integra, Prelude, Lotus Eclat, & the Gen 6 Celica. The Lotus was off the list very quickly, even though there is a lot of Toyota underpinnings to the model and I work for the company, a good one was way above the £2.5K limit. The Honda's were also quickly off the list, again the Type R would have been the ones to go for but again the price tag was a little high for a good one. this left the Hyundai, FTO & Celica. I was very close to getting an FTO, but then a call from the wife said she had found a car on Autotrader which I should look at. It was a ST202. I had never really looked into the Celica, so a quick chat with one of the guys at work who I found out was a previous Celica owner made me look into them a bit closer. Anyway, a quick phone call to a garage in Boston, Lincs and I was up there to view it with my teenage son. On arrival, he said to me 'Dad you must get it'. After nearly 3 hours looking over it, under it, in it and driving it. It came to crunch time. As I was deliberating on whether to purchase her or not, Mr & Mrs Fat with their oversize fat kids turned up and said "Come to view the Toyota". With that, a cash deposit was thrust into the sellers hands and the deal was done. It was towards the high end of what Celicas were going for then, but ,,,, Hell. I have loved her ever since. She has been easy to live with, very reliable, except for the brakes. The only things i have done to her in the 4 years of ownership, apart from the usual service items are brake caliper replacement, spring replacement & radiator replacement. Within 2 weeks of ownership I found CCUK which has been a Godsend on info and experiences. There is a great info database with owners past & present. To me, the 6 is one of the better looking 90's cars on the road. Still fairly timeless in looks. Their stance, if slightly lowered can still look aggressive enough to make heads turn. The build quality is pretty good, though some little things can be niggly. poor quality door cards & some plastics let the car down slightly. under body fasteners are made out of crapalunium and headlights are poor compared to modern standards. Boot space is compromised by the spare wheel sticking above the boot floor surface, but overall I still could not find another car to replace her (apart from a ST205)

What I DO like is that I found out I can still get all my fishing gear in the 6 even with a rear cross brace fitted. What would be nice is some more electronic gizmo's, trip computer or the option of traction control but there again it is a 17 year old beastie and I still love it's fairly basic set up.

New radiator, Hope this one last longer than a year & 3 days

More power would be nice, as Jan & Shaun said about the rain coming in as soon as you open a window. The lack of a trip computer, but there again being basic does have it's advantages. Also the poor brakes. Apart from that, I love it

I think it may only relevant to the case in question. But the way the authorities can manipulate information to their gains as they did in this case and which i have seen recently in a different case, but not involving me thankfully .... who knows.

For this, the offence is non-recordable criminal offence so there will be no criminal record. (deemed not to be a conviction for any purpose other than the purposes of the proceedings in which the order is made and of any subsequent proceedings which may be taken against the offender )