threepot

Put the car in the crusher, walk away with £150. It's just a tin money box, but you never get the money out. Change your outlook. Maybe buy a French car just for a laugh!!!

I think some poeple get abit anal about number plate law, really the plate has to be in the correct font, and the correct colour, and safely fixed to the car.

I've had loads of plastic and glass lensed light units apart. 140 degree's in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes makes the glue nice and soft. Sometimes you have to have a 2nd or even a 3rd oven session to get them unbonded all the way round. But I have spoke to loads of chroming/coating businesses all over the place, and nowhere can re-chrome a plastic inner reflector. If they are metal then you can get them re-chromed.

This is where I normally say something about taking the sump off and cleaning out the scum.

The hero in the drivers seat! He who dares not brake as much and comes out of all the corners pointing in the right direction.

Sarcasm is pretty witty in my opinion

Half the problem is everything under the wheel arch gets stone blasted all the time.

When it comes to skilled automotive engineers in dealerships there is a catch 22 present. They will only employ young people with qualifications in the automotive area, e.g. BTEC 2/3 or NVQ 2/3 in Vehicle Maintainence. But spend a couple of days round your local colleges Automotive workshop and you will realise a fair few of the lads who do those courses are not pushing IQ's of 150 And the lectures are prone to teaching a syllabus which is geared to pass rates which is not challenging their top students - pass rates supply funding in the modern FE college. Quite often, the lads who are quite experience before they start college drop out through boredom, more often than not they have been doing all the stuff they cover at college with their dad, uncle, brother etc for years. No one can do 2/3 years at college, then from nowhere be any good at fault finding. Yes they can drop oils, change brake pads, put an exhaust on, change a spring, swap a wheel bearing, fit a CV joint etc - some better than others. But they have not had some fantastic experienced mentors to work beside year on year - that is where good mechanics often come from. It takes decades of challenging jobs to become good, and that isn't decades of servicing and wear n tear parts replacements. There are some good guys out there, but I think they are a minority in the industry. I hope I have not offended too many garage workers here

I've polished quite a few alloy items for various cars. Problem with lacquering polished alloy, is where/when the lacquer peels if totally ruins the finish, and now you have an ugly bit. You can't re lacquer it without being able to see the ugly bit in the mirrored finish. Removing all the lacquer is less than ideal, and difficult to not damage the polished finish. The lacquer often peels because there is nothing to bind to as the metal has such a smooth surface - its like trying to paint glass. It is a bit of a pain polished alloy items - but they look very nice. All I do, it just give items a quick little coat of autosol every 6 months or so and they stay mirror finished.

Make sure you get any wax products out of the scratch first though or the paint won't bond. Good luck

Yep, good soldered joints as the signal created is between 0 and 1 volt. Boring old normal wire of the same gauge. Clip it back nice so it doesn't melt on the exhaust.

Although you will not make it disappear entirely, if you get a touch up pot of paint to match the vehicle, then thin it down a bit with thinners... You can pull some into the scratch with a cloth, brush etc, then pull a bit of rubber to remove the excess. Wait for it to dry. Rub back the "over spray(spill)" Then touch it up again if you have hollow spots. And polish back. This will hide the undercoat/primer/metal line you can see as the "scratch".

Carbon sticker wrap the bonnet? Put a bonnet stripe on it? These wax lip stick things take the stare off big scratches. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TURTLEWAX-COLOUR-MAGIC-PLUS-BLACK-COLOURED-WAX-WITH-FREE-CHIP-STICK-/131046181904?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Car_Care_Cleaning&hash=item1e82f60c10

Diesel and Paraffin mixed together is very good! It's an oldscool secret

Diesel and parafin mixed together is one of the oldest tricks in the book for penetrating oil - way before plusgas was on the market. WD-40 is almost useless in comparison. Diesel is a very funny liquid, as it tracks into gaps that are beyond tiny, like threads.

Impact gun, heat and plusgas are my best mates.

Get someone who REALLY knows to have a look at it. Takes very little to asses the wear state of an engine. Get it on the bench, take the sump off, part a couple of big ends on it. Take off the rocker cover, remove a couple of cam caps. With engines an old saying rings true.... better the devil you know, than the devil you don't!

Gotta say I'm one of the cowboys who use cable ties on CV joints. It's not ideal but it is easy. Saying that I've not had a cable tie fail yet though. There are varying grades of quality when it comes to cable ties mind you.

True, there are a few good guys out there.

Main dealers make me chuckle, I've actually applied for a couple of technician jobs over the years and always been rejected. I guess I'm not useless enough to meet their high incompetence standards.

Swarfega is a bloody brilliant idea! I'll remember that for the future. Jet wash / steam cleaner works great because it really penetrates deep into the carpet getting all the soapy muck out, but make sure you don't rip the carpet because if the jet is too narrow and you get too close it will destroy it. Works wonders on floor mats and rugs too. You can make an old skanky set of mats found in a scrap yard come back to like brand new.

You'll get all that oil out of the carpet. You can even get black dirty old oil out of carpets. I use a jet wash, flash multi-surface cleaner and fairy liquid. Take a while though, but the carpet will come up amazing.