Ask a Shiter

[Dippy]

I was thinking airlock, try topping it up with the front of the car raised and engine running when warmed up so thermostat should be open.

[gm]

trackday takes it toll on teh brake padz

 

 

done less than 1500 miles ! I won't be buying them again

[HH-R]

They've not been the same since asbestos was persona non grata.

[twosmoke300]

What make were they ? So I can add them to my "shit list"

[skattrd]

What make were they ? So I can add them to my "shit list"

 

I was just thinking the same thing.

[sierraman]

I've had a belt on an old Sierra loose a tooth, fortunately it did this turning the engine over so all it did was knock the timing out and for some reason damaged the rotor arm.

[DSdriver]

it was a friend, she took advantage of one of these cheap MOT's only to then be charged a re test fee of 15 quid, she was miffed that they didn't even take her car back in.

 Would she have taken it back for a retest without having the work done? Nope. Answered.

[gm]

What make were they ? So I can add them to my "shit list"

Pagid - to be fair, they had done two trackdays plus road miles and they performed pretty well on track, no brake fade even though I was hammering them. I've replaced them with Brembo which were the same price but include the clips and springs, I shall report back how they get on.

[Guest Breadvan72]

I was thinking airlock, try topping it up with the front of the car raised and engine running when warmed up so thermostat should be open.

 

 

Excuse to buy Trolley Jack!  

[Landy Mann]

So one of my friends inexplicably wants to use my Land Rover for her wedding transport (not the main vehicle - I hope...).

 

Does anyone know if it's legal to fit a second number plate as shown? Not obscuring my existing plate and not imitating a proper plate in anyway apart from being the correct font, colour ect... And yes I do know that this is excessively sad... I've never come across any truckers having problems with their CB handles on plates in the cab window.

[The Moog]

Anyone know how to remove the rear tailgate lights on a v40?

[Richard]

So one of my friends inexplicably wants to use my Land Rover for her wedding transport (not the main vehicle - I hope...).

 

Does anyone know if it's legal to fit a second number plate as shown? Not obscuring my existing plate and not imitating a proper plate in anyway apart from being the correct font, colour ect... And yes I do know that this is excessively sad... I've never come across any truckers having problems with their CB handles on plates in the cab window.

EDIT.jpg

 

 

I've been to a wedding where the main vehicle was a Land Rover.

 

P1040769 by RichardB5, on Flickr

 

I think it's possible to get in bother for a second plate but I think you'd be fine for the day.

[Asimo]

Reliants that Princess Anne didn't have.

Is a Kitten a four wheeled Robin like a Rebel is a four wheeled Regal or is it all more complex than that?

* Bill Boddy (Motor Sport editor) owned a Reliant Kitten, I wonder what hppened to it? Edit - He reckoned it was the only car of the day that could achieve both 60 mpg and 60 mph (not at the same time though)

[Bfg]

"Is a Kitten a four wheeled Robin like a Rebel is a four wheeled Regal or is it all more complex than that?"

 

I reckon that's right.. the Rebel and Regal had 700cc (or was it 750cc ?) motors while the Kitten, Fox and Robin had the 850cc. The Kitten and Robin shared very similar styling lines and possibly had common doors / mid body panel shapes. 

 

The Kitten and it's pick-up style sibling - the Reliant Fox were actually pretty good little cars.  Don't know ..perhaps the Fox just for the Greek market ?   Either way they had usable bhp and were very thrashable.  Their all-alloy 850cc motor was derived from the Austin-7,  and so I understand, following on from that racing club.. were quite tunable.  The cars handled, steered and stopped OK too.  Physically too small an interior for me otherwise I'd have one as a rusty-free runabout.  

 

Stevens Cipher of 1980 used the Kitten mechanicals, which I think really pissed BL's exec's off when CAR magazine voted the Cipher as their 'most economical' that year, instead of BL's all new Mini Metro..  (Stevens Cipher : 100mpg or 100mph). BL of course spent a little more on product development than Stevens, and hoped to cash in with headline marketing..  Perhaps coincident but Tony Steven's business and career seemed to face brick walls at every turn thereafter.

[saucedoctor]

Landy Mann, on 03 Mar 2016 - 6:53 PM, said:Landy Mann, on 03 Mar 2016 - 6:53 PM, said:

So one of my friends inexplicably wants to use my Land Rover for her wedding transport (not the main vehicle - I hope...).

 

Does anyone know if it's legal to fit a second number plate as shown? Not obscuring my existing plate and not imitating a proper plate in anyway apart from being the correct font, colour ect... And yes I do know that this is excessively sad... I've never come across any truckers having problems with their CB handles on plates in the cab window.

 

You'll be grand, especially as JUST MARRIED is clearly not a VRM. I Policed a few 12th July & OO parades, where vehicles in the procession wear their Lodge numbers on additional plates. No issues, including driving to and from the parade. We did stop a red Nova once, the rear plate of which read "HAIRYHOLE". The lad didn't know, one of his mates had made up one of those sticky, trailerboard type things and stuck it on his motor. His face was a picture when I peeled it off and handed it to him.

 

Pulled a few wee bastards with swirly/tribal plates, though, but that's different.

 

 

[Bfg]

loserone : "SWMBO's K11C micra was treated to a new* exhaust a few months back.  It sounded like it was blowing, but I couldn't see or hear any leak.

 

Took it back to the garage which fitted it, and they could also find no leak, but agreed with the noise.  They returned and exchanged the backbox, thinking it might be a duff baffle or something.  The noise remains.

 

Prior to this escapade, she was getting 290 miles from a tank, but now only 250. 

 

What gives?"

 

I'd wonder if perhaps there's a constriction within the pipe,  especially if at the very beginning / the first attachment flange to the manifold.  If so the garage needs to change it - for fear that the exhaust gas back-pressure may cause combustion imbalance between cylinders or other damage (perhaps from super heating).  Don't supposed they'd want to be liable for the engine, simply for the sake of putting another on and sending the defective item back to the maker.  

 

Bottom line is that she's paid for something and it isn't right....    consumer protection, etc..

[LC Torana]

PAINTING VERBOTEN!

 

When a car is showing rust through bare metal like that, and painting ist verboten, what do you do to stop it rotting while you preserve the patina?

• Do you just wax it?

•  One chap told me to go over the whole car with WD40 - you can buy it by the drum, but I'm not keen on that idea.

• Or do you rub rust converter into the bare spots with a cloth, and then wax it?

 Purely asking academically, of course.

[Pillock]

Would she have taken it back for a retest without having the work done? Nope. Answered.

She might if she was a VOSADVSAWhoever inspector.

[fatharris]

 

When a car is showing rust through bare metal like that, and painting ist verboten, what do you do to stop it rotting while you preserve the patina?

• Do you just wax it?

•  One chap told me to go over the whole car with WD40 - you can buy it by the drum, but I'm not keen on that idea.

• Or do you rub rust converter into the bare spots with a cloth, and then wax it?

 Purely asking academically, of course.

 

 

That's how they preserve military aircraft - still do to this day, although it's not WD40 any more - but matches the specification entirely at a lower price.

 

Oily rag wipe down periodically? Proper patina then, you'd be top pineapple.

[Bfg]

 

When a car is showing rust through bare metal like that, and painting ist verboten, what do you do to stop it rotting while you preserve the patina?

• Do you just wax it?

•  One chap told me to go over the whole car with WD40 - you can buy it by the drum, but I'm not keen on that idea.

• Or do you rub rust converter into the bare spots with a cloth, and then wax it?

 Purely asking academically, of course.

 

 

Answering academically, of course...

 

Clear varnish it ?

 

wd40 would be a pain every time it rubbed off on clothes,  and that rubs off on 'er indoors. 

 

rust converter generally changes ferros oxide to black.. which would loose the authentic rust look ...in favour of the less fashionable burnt-out-wreck look 

[LC Torana]

Answering academically, of course...

 

rust converter generally changes ferrous oxide to black.. which would loose the authentic rust look ...in favour of the less fashionable burnt-out-wreck look 

except (hypothetically) if the car was black anyway...

[Bfg]

Question for Electrical gurus

 

Can any tell me are AGM batteries worth the extra money on a 1974  car.?  

 

Thinking is ; that the gel batteries (if they are the same as AGM ??) I use on my old 6v motorcycles do not loose charge when left standing through the winter, whereas lead acid batteries do.   Also I've read that a if lead acid battery is run down beyond 50% charge - then it never fully recovers.    BUT .. then I find that even new gel batteries on my bikes never seem to carry the same power punch..  (I use two 6v gel's in parallel).

 

Varta offer a five year guarantee on their batteries, but are other brands as good.?

 

Can you advise what alternative batteries I might consider. for example I spotted something about calcium.  Is this something that differentials types like Varta's Silver batteries

 

I wonder do Gel or AGM batteries need a different changing power regulation than my bike's dynamo with Lucas regulator set-up gives, or indeed what the alternator / regulator setup of my Shitroen Ami 1-ltr will be dishing out.  ?

 

Thanks, Pete

[jonathan_dyane]

My GT-550 got an advisory for a weak horn at the last MOT. The bike only had a single horn but I had previously observed that there is a horn bracket on each side and all of the other GT-550's I've seen have a pair. I therefore bought a pair of cheap chinese horns and fitted them. Unfortunately however the first time I used them in anger the long burst blew the main fuse and I ground to a halt feeling quite the twat.

 

Questions:

 

1) How much current (amps) does a motorcycle horn typically draw.

2) Can I determine the current draw of my ill-chosen new horns from measuring the resistance?

 

I hatez electics...

[burraston2006]

I has a spring getting fit regime in place:

Cutting down the fags from 20 tailor made a day to 20 rollies, parking the car in the street rather than the drive( so I have to walk an extra 5 yards a day) and using the upstairs toilet rather than the downstairs ( better reading material up there).

My question is: Should I have this for brekkie:

 

Or this:

 

[Rocket88]

Both...................combined.

[Andrew353w]

My GT-550 got an advisory for a weak horn at the last MOT. The bike only had a single horn but I had previously observed that there is a horn bracket on each side and all of the other GT-550's I've seen have a pair. I therefore bought a pair of cheap chinese horns and fitted them. Unfortunately however the first time I used them in anger the long burst blew the main fuse and I ground to a halt feeling quite the twat.

 

Questions:

 

1) How much current (amps) does a motorcycle horn typically draw.

2) Can I determine the current draw of my ill-chosen new horns from measuring the resistance?

 

I hatez electics...

 

 

I hope the following helps: 

 

Single horn or double horn? Maybe one is missing!

 

Some car horns can draw 20 amps, which is quite a lot of current, and I suspect bike horns would draw the same amount. To give you an idea of how much 20 amps is, a normal car headlight on main beam draws about 5 amps, so the horns are using FOUR times the power of your headlight! The calculation is done my dividing the wattage by the voltage; a 60 watt headlight draws 5 amps, as 60 divided by 12 is 5. Are there any numbers referring to wattages or amperages on the horn box? if not, the quality must be suspect.....

 

 

It's possible (given Chinese build quality-or the lack of it...) that the wiring in the horn is defective. A decent multi-meter is useful in diagnosing faults, but in the absence of one I would try connecting the horns directly to the battery, (thus avoiding any damaging of the bike's wiring) but put an in line fuse holder in the circuit, with a 20 amp fuse, so you end up with a wire going from the battery to a fuse holder, then a wire from the fuse holder to the horn. Touch the wire to the battery's "+" terminal and the horn should sound. If it does and sounds nice and loud, with a steady tone, then the horn is functioning correctly. Problem number one solved!

 

If your horn(s) are drawing power in the order of 20 amps you MUST have a relay fitted. A relay is a device that allows the small switch on your handlebars to handle the huge amount of electricity going to the horns. If the horns do work properly without the bike's wiring then there's no reason why the horns should not work properly when a relay is fitted in the bike's wiring. I'm happy to offer more advice if needed. I cannot emphasise the usefulness of a decent multi-meter when working on vehicle electrics!

[burraston2006]

I thought about that but I didn't want to be even more of a fat bastard!!

[mat_the_cat]

Question for Electrical gurus

 

Can any tell me are AGM batteries worth the extra money on a 1974  car.?  

 

Lots of info here:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/absorbent_glass_mat_agm

[D Spares & Tyres]

This is my old Shogun.

 

Like a lot of 4x4s of that era is has some nice lights in a normal place.

 

But they are blanks. Apart from the reversing and fog lights. The actual lights are in a very vulnerable place on the bumper as with most others.

 

Why would you design a car like this? The only explanation I can think of is they they would be too high to be legal if they worked.

 

Am I right?????

[Pillock]

I thought you were right, I'm sure I asked the same question when the Maverick/Terrano2 first came out and it had lights in the bumper despite having a large cluster in the bodywork.

 

However, surely those lights that are "too high" are no higher than those of a Mondeo estate, Mk2 Focus etc.