chrisw

Hi all, I've decided to go for a timing chain job whilst I have access to a proper hoist and a decent sized garage. I've pulled the engine out and am picking up the parts today for the job. However, I have taken the exhaust manifold off which I am now realising wasn't such a good idea. One of the studs snapped but there was plenty of thread left so it is out now. My question, are stainless steel studs recommended for replacement? If so, where can I obtain some from? catch of the day:

I was sanding down some rust from my crossmember the other day and I managed to get some specks stuck in my eye! I have just been down to the hospital where a nice doctor fished them out with a needle. Not pleasant and a lesson well learnt.

changed the window regulator which I have been putting off but with the hot weather it was unbearable. It wasn't too bad actually except my drill bit was pretty blunt. I used 4.8mm x 16mm rivets. Might change the drivers side one now to cure the dreaded rattle when it is open.

is that better, I can't see them from my end

7 liter V8, nice!

The blonde one was nuts. She was giving it plenty of throttle but then Plato was having to say brake, brake, BRAKE at the appropriate points! That's why they then let her jump straight into a race spec ferrari and try to roar out of a car park onto the track! Probably had bugger all steering lock which would give you a shock setting off like that. It was the perfect outcome from a TV point of view. You could just see this big snigger all over Platos smug face, classic.

Wrynose and Hardknott both go from the Duddon valley, which is the most deserted valley in the lakes. At night it is very rare to meet someone else on the road but in the day it can be a nightmare, mainly because there are loads of idiots who are not used to such tight roads, do not know the width of the huge 4x4 they are driving, are incapable of reversing in a straight line and don't seem realise that you are allowed to have one or more wheels off the tarmac. If you fulfil any of these criteria I would give it a miss :) Chris

I was staying in a hostel just past Wrynose pass two weeks ago. The flat bit down the valley after you come over the pass is absolutely mental as you can see miles ahead yet it is twisting and rising/falling all over the place. Watch the rocks (don't cut!) and sheep though. Definitely worth a blast and then go over Hardknott, the steepest road in England. Chris

I buggered one of those laserline splitters from Halfords as well. Machine Mart do a stronger version which did the trick for me but it was a close run thing. Many people claim you can rap the knuckle of the joint with a lump hammer to make it release. Even if it doesn't release it it should certainly loosen it a bit. Be careful to only hit the bearing hounsing part of the knuckle. Chris

The technical help section of the corrado club of canada website has them: http://www.corrado-club.ca/ Chris

fixed a stuck boot lock barrel by dissassembling and greasing. snapped some plastic and scratched some trim in the process . then fitted new bonnet cable and replaced the snapped plastic bit on the drivers side with a metal piece. then sanded down a little rust spot and repainted. Ropey finish but at least it wont get worse.

It is a smaller screw (8mm?) than the rest tucked away below the reservoir. Only a tiny dribble comes out but it makes a difference. Worth doing the clutch slave cylinder as well.

Hi, a lot of people seem to have this problem. 2 bleeds is not that many if the system has been drained, try a couple more. Have you done the master cylinder as well as the ABS pump? I ended up doing two full flushes and a couple of standard bleeds as well before my pedal was back to normal. As stated, make sure the fluid level doesn't drop too low when you are bleeding as you will introuce more air and possibly damage seals. I think it is just a case of keeping bleeding until you get the air out. Chris

Hi, a lot of people seem to have this problem. 2 bleeds is not that many if the system has been drained, try a couple more. Have you done the master cylinder as well as the ABS pump? I ended up doing two full flushes and a couple of bleeds as well before my pedal was back to normal. As stated, make sure the fluid level doesn't drop too low when you are bleeding as you will introuce more air and possibly damage seals. Chris

I didn't need to replace any brake pipes until I dropped the rear axle to do the bushes. I mangled one of those removing it so I go some new ones made up for the four rearmost pipes. I can't seem to get the hang of undoing them without mangling them so I won't offer any advice. As far as the regulator nuts go, if you are replacing them you could cut the pipes and tap a 10mm 12 point socket onto them.

Hi all, I just had some rear brake pipes flared for me at a VW specialist because my cheapo tool could not seem to manage 'bubble' flares which is what is required apparently (http://volksweb.relitech.com/brakeln.htm & http://web.dimebank.com/tech/BrakePlumbing.html), rather than the double flare which my tool seems designed for. A couple of Q's: He gave me copper-nickel pipe for the 3 long ones and copper for the v. short one (he had run out of c-n). He said copper will bulge a lot more than the copper-nickel and should reduce sponginess. Is this a significant difference? I am sure the two long pipes from front to rear are currently copper so I would have thought chaning these would be a big benefit if he is right. I gather neither the copper or the copper-nickel is the same as pure copper pipe (which should not be used) ? What is the guy in the second link above (worth a read) on about when he talks of 'Bundy' tubing? Is the Bundy the c-n stuff and the copper is the 90-10 c-n 'British' stuff he is on about?! (yeah I know it is confusing) He also said to make sure I use a pressure bleeder as heavy bleeding with the brake pedal is liable to damage the master cylinder seals. This is the first time I have heard this and it is a bit worrying as I have had mammoth bleed sessions with the pedal in the past. Any confirmation of this? Chris

This guy has a few methods: http://www.allpar.com/fix/alignment.html The thing is you are trying to measure v. small changes in a system with a lot of potential errors. I think you can easily use his pin method to measure toe to less than half a mill (if you are careful!) on a tyre radius of about 30cm or so. This will give a toe resolution of roughly 0.2 degree. Any better than this you need to extend the radius you are measuring the deflection at or use a more precise measuring technique than a tape measure. A good length stiff bar clamped to each wheel would be good but any imperfections in the wheel rim or bar are going to be critical. I think you should do a wheel runout check and pick two spots on the rim with the same runout***. I see no difference between this followed by manual measurement with a well mounted stiff bar and what the garages do with lasers. Whatever they are doing it isn't interferometry and you will be able to do better if you take your time and calibrate your stuff properly. Camber is more difficult similar principles apply. You can measure camber surprisingly well with a plumb bob and a ruler on a stand. You are looking for the wheel deflection from vertical. Each mill of top to bottom difference will be about 0.1 degree or so. An hour isn't a lot of time for the garage to make a whole series of precise measurements and adjustments in controlled conditions. I wouldn't be surprised if some "4 wheel alignments" are not as precise as claimed. I have used the fishing line method. It is very fiddly but I think you can potentially achieve excellent results. Once you have two parallel lines running down the sides of the vehicle you can view by eye whether the front wheels are toed-in or out relative to the line. Adjusting to zero toe can be done very accurately if the fishing lines are super-parallel to start with. I reckon you could achieve +-0.05 easily like this. I did read a really good write up of this method on the web, do a search. Chris **** There has to be at least two diametrically opposite points with the same runout, even if your rim is bent as a banana.

Dropped the rear axle, ready to hammerite and change the rear bushes. N/S fixed brake pipe was mangled undoing it so I will replace these and the flexis and the suspension mounts whilst I am there.

The outer ones are rock solid but there is obvious movement on the inners. No particular knocking on hard acceleration though.

Hi, I've been trying to trace knocking noises (like everyone) and have noticed there seems to be a lot a play in the inner cv joints. If I grasp the driveshaft by the inners, it can be moved up and down about 1mm or so. Is this normal or is it time for new joints?

Tiz true. Saw it on the local news yesterday. They were basically scanning every car (even the police are not allowed to do this) with a laser gun, and writing down any reg's which were speeding. These were then passed to the Bill so they could send you a warning letter. Thankfully, there is no way they could prosecute based on this. How would they like it if someone followed them round noting any infringements of either criminal or civil law and sending a letter to the police. Chris

This was a nightmare for me. The hex on the strut rounded on one side so I bolted a metal bar to the flange through the holes the rubber cover is held on with and used this in conjuction with a deep set ring spanner (that I still had to grind a bit off to ensure a good fit). Vice grips just weren't holding it, some numpty had done it up far too tight.

It will only test ok if it is actually plugged into the car I think

Anyone done this then? Where did you get your guages from?

Before you jump to conclusions, this code could be from ages ago. Clear the fault codes, take the car for a decent varied drive and try again. Mine had this and another code first time I tested it but the car has had loads of problems fixed since the last time it was tested. I cleared the codes and they didn't come back. Chris