Talbot

Just remember. The colour brown doesn't actually exist:

Exempt now shirley?

I've always found that the specific fuel station has far more effect than the brand of fuel being purchased. Having worked in many different fuel stations as a student, I can see why too: The pipes that are used to deposit the fuel from the tanker to the ground tanks are not sealed up while they're on the lorry. Take a close look next time you see one and you'll notice they're just sat on the side of the truck open to wind, rain, road spray and so on. There's no filtering between the tanker and the tank.. it all just gets washed in. Also, they do not use different pipes for different grades of fuel. The theory being that a litre left in the pipe on 5000 being delivered is meaningless, but the effect can be cumulative. Also, some fuel stations still use dipsticks to check their fuel level (particularly older ones) which means the tanks are opened up to the weather on a regular basis. Combine that with tanks that have split and let groundwater in, tanks that have been re-purposed from one fuel to another and tanks that have been installed for 40 years, and you have a recipe for grotty fuel. There are certain fuel stations I won't buy fuel from now, as they either have noticeable water content, or block filters up far quicker than others. Some fuel stations I worked in, we just "knew" that certain pumps, fed from certain tanks were better than others, that some tanks we couldn't use immediately after a delivery, as the sudden inrush of fuel would stir up sediment in the tank. etc. etc. It's probably no-where near the same problem as it was 25+ years ago, as many of the worst fuel stations have probably closed now, but having good-quality fine filters on your fuel lines is a very good idea. And change them often. Not because they filter better when new (actually they filter better when partially blocked) but because when they do block, they block very quickly.

Is your driver wearing a tuxedo and a bow-tie? That's remarkably well presented for a racing driver!

This is also very useful when getting in and out of the car. Friend of mine's wife found this out not long after they got their C8 and had a massive bruise on her thigh for the longest time because of where the handbrake was. Having driven it a couple of times, it becomes second nature to pull the handbrake on and then release the lever back to the floor again. Taking the handbrake back off again is just as simple.

I thought it was going to be "show us your work boots as I need some new ones."

This seems like as good-a-place as any to put this... Did I read somewhere that the big yellow ex-megabus Autoshite funbus is no more? What happened there then?

Do that to an XUD and that's almost guaranteed to be OMGHGF. I used to run several of my XUD-powered cars with no pressure in the cooling system, as I had the fans set up to keep the temperature at 90 or below. If you're not exceeding 100, pressurised coolant isn't needed, and if you do get a leak somewhere it doesn't all piss out in an instant. over 100c on any engine makes me twitch.

True, but general experience of XUD engines over the last near-40-years suggests that the manufacturers range of acceptable temperatures is a little too wide, and that having the fans cut in a only-just-over normal running temperature is a very good thing.

The switch-in temperatures for XUDs can be disturbingly high. I'm sure one of them doesn't even switch in the low-speed fans until nearly 100c. And that's the temperature in the rad side-tank, not at the cylinder head outlet, which can be several degrees higher. Experience now tells us that XUDs do not like to be run hot, so definitely check the thermal switch is working, check the fans even run, and maybe wire a switch on the dash to run them. That way the system doesn't even have to wait for the temperature to rise.. it just stays at the right level. IDI engines do generate more heat than their DI counterparts.. that's the whole point, they're less efficient. For the same power output they use more fuel and produce more heat. HOWEVER that doesn't mean it runs hotter.. it just means there is more heat to get rid of, hence the radiator in an IDI car needs to be larger than the equivalent DI car. So the thing about IDI engines running hotter is bollocks. I can see where it came from, but someone clearly cannot differentiate between heat energy and temperature.

Later D1 Offside tail lamp that doesn't have the indicator. For models with the indicator in the bumper only: Free, obvs. No idea how much to post, probably a few quid.

Any vehicle on the road must be in a roadworthy condition. If one morning you come out to find it won't start, or that a tyre is flat then you can fix it there and then, but intentionally doing anything more than that at the roadside is, as you say, technically illegal. Says me, who's done at least two head gaskets on the side of the road now.

This. Once the engine is out, removing the clutch and flywheel is easy enough, and you can also then inspect the rear crank seal and change it if needed. The ring change is fairly straightforward: Twat a chisel into the old ring-gear, break that off. Clean up the mating face. Ring in the oven at 250c. Flywheel in the fridge (Not the freezer, you don't want it to go brittle) Flywheel on the bench. Ring out of the oven and then INSTANTLY onto the flywheel. Be ready with hammers to tap it home. Once home, let it cool naturally. Job done. Then you'll find the clutch is badly worn and needs changing anyway....

Why would you need that? If you heat to more than the 220-250c that is required, you'll lose most of the heat-treatment hardness in the teeth. a few starts of the engine later and there will be not a lot left of the teeth. A domestic oven is more than enough.

I'm not sure if it was a 435cc model, but I have driven a 2cv with very low compression and almost no grunt. It would probably be a close-run thing between that and the Bunion mentioned above. It simply didn't accelerate. At all.