garybee

Anyone else getting a picture of a slightly 'heavy set' bloke doing a one legged squat, balancing on a spring which he's trying to measure with a rule. Technically that is the way to measure it (a spring tester does exactly this) but it sounds tricky to me.

Assuming adjustable platforms.. Back adjuster off all the way. Put a couple of chunky screwdrivers (or similar) across the 2nd coil down. Grab the screwdrivers (or similar ) on each side and lean down to compress the springs a bit. Pull the top cap out sideways now the tension is released (assistant is handy at this point).Obviously you can substitute spring compressors but the above is quicker if the springs have little preload.

I can see how someone would be annoyed by interferers posting on their for sale thread. I can't see any reasonable person getting annoyed at someone else selling their car in an inefficient manner. Rolled eyes are definitely appropriate at the 2nd situation.

I do also and I won't bother to offer on them as I always suspect the seller is going to be unrealistic. I won't however post on their for sale thread in an attempt to derail it. It appears that there are no rules stating that adverts must have a price. There are however rules about posting to cause other people annoyance. The people posting on that thread to argue with the seller are much more in the wrong than the person they are complaining about.

I hate seeing that on here. It bothers me much more on here than it would on any other internet forum as we've paid to use this so you'd expect people to refrain from such poor behaviour. The other thing that happens on sales threads that I find irritating is the obligatory post by the OP's mate of "Wow, that's such a steal, won't be for sale for long" etc. etc. It's not unpleasant unlike the above though so it's more of an irksome thing than a real annoyance.

Yes, held on using cable ties. You'd have to ask a scrutineer about compliance (or give the blue book a good reading). I know they have been used in race events but that's like saying that something is MOT compliant just because your car didn't fail. They're plenty strong enough either way.

What sort of mirrors are you using? If SPA I designed and 3D printed these. They have a captive nyloc pressed in the back that matches the SPA base.

Happy to be able to help and best of luck with Nitron.

Missed your last post while I was typing. That's disappointing. I have no knowledge of how the Swiss MOT equivalent works. What was the reason given, non standard fit or something about the Nitrons themself?

I believe you're reading the micrometer incorrectly. The bolt you're measuring in the picture is (just over) 7.83mm diameter. the graduations on the frame side of the sleeve are 0.5mm each. The thimble on those style micrometers does 2 full turns per millimetre. It confuses lots of people, whenever I task one of the lads at work with using a manual mic' I end up showing them how to read it. And they're being paid to know that I had a suspicion that you'd find the bushes were larger than you'd measured too. Don't be disheartened, It's pretty much impossible to measure such a small bore with a caliper. Those two issues are why I asked you to try a drill bit as a pin gauge, I suspected we'd find what you did (thanks for going along with it). that means the tolerances between the bolts and bushes are far worse than we thought. Much more believable now that that would be your issue.

The cheap digital calipers are generally very accurate in my experience. I've tested a few against slip gauges and always found them to be pretty much bang on. For internal measurements of small bores however calipers are far from ideal. Generally any errors would give you a dimension that was smaller than the actual size though (unless you were heavy handed) so the chances are that your bushes may well be a worse fit than it appears. Yep, understand that, must have phrased my question badly. In the ends of the shock (where these bushes fit) is there a spherical joint or a rubberised bush? There must be something to allow some misalignment of the bolt through the suspension travel (as the suspension doesn't move through an axis that is perfectly perpendicular to the bush and isn't infinitely rigid). As it's not something that I've had any issues with and I'm not able to see the car myself I'm not sure I'm in a good position to advise. I think there may be something else going on here still and maybe the play is being incorrectly attributed to the bushes. I wouldn't expect even the worst of them to cause the level of noise you describe. In the interest of confirming the measurements do you have an 8mm drill bit (or other accurately ground part) that you can try in the bushes? If not, does the bolt in your picture feel like an interference fit in the end of the bush that measures 7.82mm?

Some of those are really poor at close to 0.2mm/8 thou'. Internal bores of that size are difficult to measure accurately without pin gauges, are you using digital calipers or something else? What material are you intending to have them manufactured from? I'm guessing these bushes sit within spherical bearings so there is no significant load on the bushing due to alignment? Any reasonable lathe will get you down to the 2-3 thou range so it shouldn't be difficult to find someone to make them, particularly as ID/OD concentricity isn't critical. If I were machining them I'd probably want the bolts to hand to get a good clearance. I don't have pin gauges in my workshop though. I mention this in case you decide to send them away to someone.

What are the corner weight figures from when you 'flat floored' it?

Roger - Apologies I missed your post before. I'm not sure I still have it after a garage move but will go and have a look this evening. If not I'll do a sketch and post that up instead.

I made my own to do the same. Stout section of flat bar drilled to match the bolt pattern on the head, welded a bolt on the top to make a hinge, lever arm attached to the bolt with a foot on it to push on the valve cap. Worked nicely. Edit: I'll knock up a drawing at some point.

USB endoscope cameras are very cheap now and surprisingly good. I have one I paid less than a tenner for. Very handy for a quick check of the piston crowns through the plug holes.

You can do a very rough check of the big ends by dropping a bar down the plug hole and measuring the backlash. If a big end is wrecked there will be a delay between reversing the direction of the crank and the piston crown moving. Obviously this is better with a DTI but you can easily feel it by hand with a screwdriver when they're really bad. It doesn't sound heavy enough or rhythmic enough (to me) to be that though. I'd also lean towards something light bouncing around in the cam box.

Sorry to hear of your accident, hope you are uninjured. The answer to your question depends very much on the extent of the damage and how much the insurers value the damaged car at. It's not really possible to answer at this point. What has been damaged (as far as you know)?

You need to see if you're maintaining pressure in the fuel rail. Do you have a pressure sensor in the rail?

I have no idea about what has been included with your pump (if it's suitable for in-tank use) but you can't just use any fuel hose inside the fuel tank. All but the hose sold specifically for in-tank use turns to jelly after a short time. edit: too specific

No problem. It's certainly worth a good look to ensure it's in good condition. Depends how tight you are.

Yours will be this style:- https://www.burtonpower.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=190mm+23+spline+clutch

It can't be the 2nd. Your input shaft will be 1" 23 spline. Edit: just looked at Burton's site. The 1st one (C752AF) also looks like a 7/8", 20 spline friction plate.

The one in my Ginetta (zetec/type 9 ) has no spacer and a short input shaft. Maybe you can fit a long input 'box with a spacer. I have no experience of that though so can't advise.

You can and it's not hard at all. You can also replace the shaft for a short one. It seems a bit of a shame to cut it as apparently they are getting harder to come by. As in previous post, not a reason to pass on the box but would rather you were aware before you tried to fit it.