G.Lewarne

Replaced all three wiper blades with new Valeo units. much better wiping than the bosch on there before and totally silent.

y'all don't have forcefields?

1) someone dinged it with a trolley (or something) in Tesco, rear wing area 2) reversed it into the corner of the skip someone badly placed behind my garage today I cant have nice things

is that a new design membership card?

rear disc shields just had to go - luckily the inner plate and caliper bracket were in great shape or it would have been £££ to TCB for new ones

after fitting a new front set of KYB shocks yesterday (after the "fakes" debacle), I finished the job properly with another full geometry alignment. Pleased to report front and rear are all in the green, car drives great ...in fact...better than ever if I may say so myself. feels super planted, firm and tight

don't worry debs yours are all fine., I just remembered a couple other differences On the fronts, the genuine ones have the droplink attachment plate exactly as in debs picture. on the "fakes" its a single small piece just welded at the end

would prefer not at this time, I want to see what their response to my email is look at yours and you see a sticker AND the KYB part number & "made in japan" stamped on the outward face of the shock. The top "plate" around the piston should be silver not black and be a flat disc with tacwelds. The weld around the very bottom of the shock where it has the hub plate pressed around it - it should be a continuous weld all around the tube, not just a few spot welds. that was all the more obvious differences I could see

So just over a year ago I completed a front end rebuild comprising, amongst other things a new set of KYB shocks - purchased from an online supplier of reasonable reputation I recently went over a crater on the M5 at 70 mph and damaged my passenger side shock (blew the seal). So, to be thorough I bought another pair of KYBs from my trusted local supplier which were sourced right from KYB uk. Imagine my surprise on extracting said blown shock and finding a totally different brand under the KYB Excel-G sticker - they are actually "Optimal" made shocks which seem to come from china and are the same basic make as most of the cheapo "rebranded" shocks out there. I guess faking the KYB sticker and box wasn't difficult..... don't ever buy Optimal shocks. even the one on the undamaged side was totally fecked after just 1 year. 10mm free play up/down on the piston, squeaky seals, virtually no rebound pressure left, hard and soft parts along the stroke -oh, and rusty too. I am usually very diligent when I source critical parts, but this time I was caught out and thought I would share the experience. ps - with genuine KYBs at the front now and known genuine KYBs at the back it doesn't half ride stiffer ! its like its on rails

its hard to say - you cant really judge someones enthusiasm, mechanical aptitude and preparedness with the usual short introductory posts. I think I remain positive with a hint of caution. Certainly I think its pretty fair to be blunt about some issues such as preface 140 oil issues.

how on earth did you manage to crack it?

all the ebay ones seem to be more expensive than from a local place too? I paid 7 quid each for mine with all the requisite makings on them and got them in minutes of handing over my paperwork.

I always look for the usuals in higher miles. Rust, brakes & suspension (usually fooked), belts/chain and oil history I accept that other things will be well on their way to knackered such as clutch and exhaust even if they seem ok on the test drive I dont think I've ever bought a car which didnt have totally scrap brakes

id love a Toyota Bicycle

Got my replacement AC compressor, courtesy of member Spaff Came off his 35k mile car, bearings are all still SUPER smooth and it feels pretty much new. Needs a little tidy up on the face of the magnetic clutch but its superficial only. Bit of a clean and it will come up a treat before fitting, new o-rings & gas re-charge. He was kind enough to include the three mount bolts, plus one surprise small bolt of unknown origin. (hope his engine doesn't fall out) It was wrapped in a Sainsburys shopping bag so he is obviously a little more upmarket than my humble Lidl fayre

when I have to bleed on my own, I use a bleed tube with a one way valve on it. I also put a thick blob of really sticky grease around the bleed nipple (once loosened) and really work it in to seal it from air being sucked past the threads. I only wipe it off when ive tightened the nipple back down.

having thoroughly degreased, brushed, washed and hand dried every nook and cranny of the engine bay last week, today I went to the pound shop, bought a couple spray bottles of cheap degreaser and a small stiff nylon brush. Went to town degreasing and cleaning all the underside of my engine bay including the gearbox, steering rack, sump and all the underbits I could reach. Without undertrays this is dead easy Now, the end result may not be "detailed" and I haven't polished any of the aluminium bits, but im very impressed with how clean everything has come up. You can rub your hand against anything in there now and no dirt comes off. Should make future engine work and leak detection easy if I can maintain it like this. what has surprised me though is how nice the engine block, rocker cover, even the belt tensioner came up with just minimal scrubbing

sent you a PM

go on...

I updated my thread in gen7 area! if its stupid but it works, its not stupid http://www.celica-club.co.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/185407-sand-gravel-or-just-fix-it-somehow/&tab=comments#comment-2356893

Hallelujah Hallelujah HallelujahHallelujah Halle-lujah that feeling when you fix something that's been bothering you for so so long!

is definitely a boy! My car is Kirk (my cars name is literally Tiberius, as in James T) - im the enterprise being taken for a ride. Strange sexual innuendo not implied.

in my tired and bleary eyed state I read that as "Minecraft drill" and "shitting wheel"

Ive not bothered with primer on fresh new/recon calipers. The plating seems to bind with the paint fine and keep the corrosion at bay. I think its just super thin and wears off fast which causes the problems if you leave them "naked" Saying that, on ones I haven't painted and the plating has worn off, I find that a quick scrub with the rough side of a scrubby sponge thing keeps them looking decent and takes minutes when washing the car. I never painted my new rear calipers on my 7, and they are nearly 2 years old and still look "new" with just a scrub once every couple weeks or so.

I think its a very thin playing. I always give new calipers like this a few coats of anthracite colour vht from an aerosol. Great finish and lasts, mostly