Domus

Just got your text Tom. Away in Hampshire. Back midweek, will speak then. Can do camber and tracking at BKG South.

Oooooooooo how much for the bottle opener?

Well you live and learn, I must admit a Ridge Dodger on a new piston and liner sounded strange.

Hi Paul The step is a "Ridge Dodger" it goes at the top of the top groove. Any carbon build up on the cylinder edge would damage a full ring so a step is made to allow for any carbon build up. See you tomorrow.

Steve Perks at SPC recommends Fuchs Titan Race SRG 75 And he should know

A LADS top tip is to use a sleeping mat, light and bouncy.

Make sure you are sitting down when you phone him and go to the loo beforehand.

Orange and Black with "Swarfega" number plate.. On a trailer late morning.

What do you want to seal? If you mean seal the two driveshafts out of the diff the only seal is the one pressed into the diff. The splines provide the drive and run in oil. The only other seal would be one on the propshaft side and would need the diff removing from the car to replace.

I struggled with the fuel hose for so long, trying to push open the retainer. Very frustrating. Eventually it broke So I inserted a small cable tie when re fitting, still working fine over a year later. All it does is keep an "O" ring in place, in fact the cable tie might be stronger.

The item in question

Third try

Second try

First try

For the weight conscious The SS ones I removed were about 700g, the Ti ones come in at just over 200g. So another mince pie for me

Forgot to ask. Any more parts on the horizon?

Fitted the stonegaurds today. They do look very nice. The SS ones are only 4 years old but look very tatty when compared to the Ti ones. Time will tell if they keep their good looks. Any tips on keeping the finish as is?

LADS top tip Cut off a short section of Allen key and Araldite it into the plug. Easier to put a spanner on it than to fit an Allen key in such a small space. When the oil runs down you sleeve the level is correct

My stoneguards have arrived. They are fantastic looking things. One more job on the list.

My experience with the Sigma gearbox leak was that it was the top inspection cover gasket that was leaking. Thin metal cover deformed by over tightening the screws and a paper thin gasket is a poor combination. Hylomar on a new gasket, flatten the deformed plate (small hammer on a vice anvil) and re fit using flat washers to spread the load. I also fitted a filler plug to the corner of the top plate nearest the pedal box. If you measure down from the top face to the fill/level plug you can make a dipstick.

Belt, water pump and tensioner all changed today. It was a bit of a faff but nothing too dificult. As has been mentioned some special tools are required. The pin to locate the crank, a flywheel locking tool, a camshaft locking tool and very importantly a long bar with pins to hold the crank pulley and camshaft pulleys steady whilst loosening and re fitting all three pulleys. My workshop manual stated the crank pulley was on a taper but mine was parallel and needs 40 Nm + 90 degrees to clamp it up. Also with the crank pin in place at TDC the camshaft locking plate fitted snugly. A second pair of hands is needed to hold the thing steady as well as for dimantling the tensioners to make the new one manual. We have taken some photos and will either post them with some words on the LADS page or send them to Lowflying, or both.

Be careful. My MX-5 gearbox had three plugs, one drain, one filler and one that retained a spring for a detent.

Many thanks. Hope to do this next week. Paul and I will document the cambelt change and upload it as a LADS blog. Stand by for blurred photos of bloodied fingers pointing in the general direction of important bits.

If that is the case, does the manual tensioner need changing? I have bought a kit from my local factor ready for the job and it of course contains an auto tensioner.

This morning in heavy rain near Gatwick. 160 with a CC number plate (is this a press car) following an Elise in the centre lane. I was in the Boxster going home after a night in Hove after the London to Brighton event.