Nigel B

#17 I had that issue with my old (live axle) Seven. In my case, it was caused by driveshaft splines that were a bit loose in the diff. My current car doesn't exhibit any clonking at all when you come off & on the throttle at low speeds, so I don't think it's a case of TADTS.

The compound is thick & waxy, so it tends to stay on the mop. Strands of cotton from the mops do fly about a bit, but I found them reasonably easy to tidy up!

I bought one of these kits, with electric drill mounted polishing mops & different grades of polishing compound. It was very effective & I managed to get a good finish reasonably quickly. I find you have to redo it periodically however, to maintain the shine. https://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/polishing-kits/steel-stainless-steel-polishing-kits/steel-stainless-steel-kits-for-drills

Amazing! They're imposing looking beasts.

I saw a Wiesmann a few years ago, also German registered, parked outside a hotel on the Isle of Skye. I didn't get to hear it, sadly. The military vehicle is an Alvis Stalwart, I believe. I only know because there's a chap on Pistonheads who is bravely restoring one!

I don't think it's simply a case of 'TADTS'. Mine hasn't ever exhibited any clonking noises.

#149 I love the chain gang Fraser Nash. Great spot! I was sitting outside a pub in Winchcombe last autumn & saw a Fraser Nash burble past. Not too far from Burford, so perhaps it was the same car?

I'm very well thanks Peter. I was out for a blat in the beautiful Scottish spring weather yesterday!

Peter kindly emailed me the above instructions when I fitted a Tracsport to my car. I can vouch for the fact that they work a treat!

You can simply unbolt the dedion ears, no need to undo the hub nuts.

It is! I was aware of their existence, but I'd never seen one 'in the metal' before. I have to confess, my first thought when I pulled into the car park was 'Mark 2 Jag!'. Closely followed by 'hang on a minute...!' They've actually made a new version recently.

A couple of interesting spots from last autumn. From the sublime to the ridiculous, perhaps? Not one, but two Lancia Fulvia Coupes in Moffat in the Borders & a Mitsuoka Viewt, near my mother in law's in Sussex. I LOVE the Espada! What a stunning car.

#3 Ah, fair enough! I was misunderstanding... I did wonder what an axle casing spreader was!

I took the diff out of my 2002 Ital axle car a few times & I found once the driveshafts were out & the diff bolts undone, after a bit of a wiggle to detach the sealant, you could pull it out easily enough.

Deleted, as I completely misread the question!

Yes, I realised the Titan was behaving a bit oddly at about 4,500 miles, so I've already covered over three times that mileage with the Tracsport. It feels very robust & I have every confidence that it will continue to provide good service for the foreseeable future.

Yes, the diff is still great! No problems at all. It's covered about 15,000 miles now.

I should add, I'm a fan of the Gunson EazyBleed too, although as others have said, I don't fill the bottle with fluid. I just use it to pressurise the head space. I think they work very well.

#14 Hi Peter! No, I didn’t have any problems with fluid getting pushed out through the threads, or air being sucked in through them. I found that, inevitably I’d introduce a small amount of air when the pipe was initially pushed onto the bleed nipple, but that would very quickly make it’s way up & out of the master cylinder reservoir & after that, no further air bubbles would appear. I guess the pipe work is much shorter & less convoluted than with the brakes, so trapped air isn’t so much of a problem. I think the worst aspect of the job is the awkward position of the bleed nipple, hidden in the bell housing.

https://www.frost.co.uk/v-5-diy-reverse-brake-clutch-bleeder-phoenix-systems-2104-b/ I find this an effective tool for bleeding the clutch. I originally bought it to bleed the brakes, as I was having problems getting a firm pedal, a couple of years ago, but it works well for the clutch too. The advantage of reverse bleeding is you're pushing the fluid upwards, in the same direction that air bubbles naturally want to go, or that's the theory anyway! As you're pushing the fluid upwards from the bleed nipple, you'll need a small syringe to periodically empty the master cylinder reservoir. I found it a pretty fool-proof & non-messy method & obviously you don't require an assistant for pedal pressing purposes.

It looks normal to me. My rear ARB is also pretty close to the wheel rim. With regards to how it's adjusted, I think that's down to personal preference really. Rear ARB adjustment is just one aspect of suspension set up, so it's a bit of a 'how long is a ball of string?' type question. I've tried various front bars & all the options with the rear bar & I've discovered I like the rear bar set quite stiff, but a lot of people on here seem to think the best option is to throw the rear bar away. I think that would make my car very understeer-y! Ultimately, I think you'll have to experiment with it & see what suits you the best.

Interesting post! I wish I’d found the Blatchat posts that suggested the adjustable front arb’s softest setting is stiffer than the Caterham orange bar as, after much experimentation this year, I reached the same conclusion independently. I fitted an adjustable front ARB from Meteor Motorsport last year & I’ve since replaced it with a Caterham ‘orange’ bar, which is definitely softer than the adjustable bar on it’s softest setting. I think the Meteor Motorsport adjustable bar is a good product & it’s beautifully made & finished, it just wasn’t quite right for my needs. I’ve been using my car on the road for the past couple of years, but I may do a track day or two next year, in which case I’ll probably refit the Meteor bar. I think having the ability to fine tune both ends of the car is useful, but for me it’s a little too stiff for road use. How did you find the handling of your car with the ‘green’ front bar fitted? That sounds very stiff to me for road use, but if a stiffer front bar works for you, then you’d probably find the Meteor adjustable bar ideal.

I find noise cancelling headphones help a lot! The only problems I had were a non-functioning fuel gauge (caused by a loose connection at the back of the gauge itself) & a rather alarming rattle from the rear of the car that turned out to be a loose brake calliper bolt causing the pads to rattle about. That one could have been nasty, but luckily I quickly realised that it was probably brake related when I noticed the rattle stopped when I lightly rested my foot on the pedal whilst traversing rutted bits of tarmac. There was also some random, rapid clicking from a relay under the dash. I suspect it was caused by moisture in the flasher unit after a couple of days of rain. It went away when the sun reappeared. I thought it behaved itself pretty well, given I covered about 2800 miles on the trip.

I have a 6 speed! I'm not sure it makes a huge amount of difference, in practice. I just adopt a slightly lower cruising speed...

Hi Peter! Yes, you're right! The trip was originally planned for 2020, but didn't happen for obvious reasons. It was worth the wait though & we had a fantastic drive through the Netherlands, Germany & Switzerland & back through France & Belgium. The Caterham took it all in it's stride, with just a couple of minor glitches to liven things up. I enjoyed it so much I'm thinking of venturing across the channel again next year...