Pierson

1983 according to this.

All you need to know about the correct pronunciation. And it'll help you breathe more easily. Pierson

If I did move forward in an impact I'd be far more worried about losing my left patella on the ignition barrel....

There shouldn't be an issue with removing the lenses, as you say they should only be held in place by the two screws. Perhaps try a gentle 'rocking' motion (vertically) whilst pulling gently. A point to note: the lenses are handed (L/R), as the central plastic divider has different size cut-outs to straddle connectors in the base - when you come to fit the new ones bear this mind as they won't fit upside down Go on - ask me how I know that....! D'oh! Pierson

Definitely noisy when depressing the pedal. My Audi needs a new CRB - Audi tells me that it's £66.00 for the bearing and £1,200-worth of labour to fit it... Hence the car's not going into an Audi main dealer to have it done - but an indy which will replace the entire clutch system including the clutch slave cylinder for £820. Pierson Edited by - Pierson on 21 Nov 2013 14:45:48

Quick hi-jack re. wiper motor - forgive me: Does the standard item have an electrical connector or is it somehow hard-wired into the loom, please - anyone enlighten me? TIA, Pierson

Tim - please add one more unit to my existing order to make three in total. One as a spare seems eminently sensible... Pierson

Simon - you have BM. Pierson

Thanks again Tim - I'd very much like a pair as per our communications last time around and as signified by my reserve list status. Pierson

Hi Mankee, hope you're well. You don't say what time of day this was but I was heading A140 northbound towards the monthly club meeting at Scole on Monday evening, around 6.15pm-ish. I have a yellow S3 but the FIA bar and wheels are the same colour-matched yellow, too - could I have been travelling at such warp speeds to have bent the colour spectrum perhaps?! Pierson

My Audi was originally shod with Pirelli P Zero Nero 225/40 18 92Y's and I was very impressed with their road-holding, handling and wet-weather capabilities. Unfortunately they seemed to wear very quickly (c.10-12k mostly motorway-ish miles) and weren't exactly cheap to replace. I switched to Falken 452's and lately 453's which are about half the price (around £95 a corner) and I've found them to be impressive in the wet and almost as good in terms of handling. They're not as soft so aren't quite as good as the Pirellis but this has meant that they last somewhat longer (c.15-18k miles). Perhaps it's the relative width/sidewall ratio (40) of the tyre but I've found both makes to suffer from aquaplaning when getting close to their tread-depth limits in torrential conditions. However, I still wouldn't hesitate to recommend Falkens. Pierson

Nigel doesn't mention the vintage of his car so he may not have a switch on the brake pedal, but if his is an older car he'll have a pressure switch in-line with the brake circuit instead. These can fail reasonably frequently and can be swopped in and out without having to bleed the brakes (if you're quick with the swop...). Nigel? Pierson

Thanks. By way of clarification: The conditioner attaches to the battery via a two-prong (+ve and -ve) plug and matching socket, which when 'broken', enables the cable to be left permanently attached to the battery but the conditioner to be disconnected. The conditioner is a Halfords own unit and came with two sets of cables, one to connect and leave (as I have done) and the other with sprung terminal clips which can be attached as required. As I don't need the second cable I cut off the plug and wired this as the fly-lead attached to the poles on the back of the accessory socket. I can hence disconnect this when I need to leave the car on the conditioner but re-connect the plugs when on the move to power the socket. This is how I know the wiring to be the same gauge. However, I don't know how to determine what the wiring is capable of carrying - will it be stamped/marked on the cable itself (I haven't as yet checked this)? Pierson

So... One year on and I have at last managed to get around to fitting a 12v accessory socket so I can charge my 'phone, etc. It's a marine-grade socket which I've attached to a fly-lead which terminates in a plug to match the lead/plug which attaches through the bulkhead and directly to the battery terminals. This has an in-line fuse on the +ve side. The latter has been on the car for some time, used as the plug-in point for my garage battery conditioner, and has worked faultlessly for years. However, the 'phone/USB plug worked only until it blew the in-line fuse which upon inspection appears to be a 3 amp (violet in colour) blade. Is this a simple case of upgrading the in-line fuse to, for example, a 10 amp? All of the cabling is uniform, including the new fly-lead I've attached to the accessory socket. If so, will there be any potentially adverse effect to the conditioner if I upgrade the fuse? Sorry to say I really wasn't paying sufficient attention in Physics all those years ago when we studied electricity... TIA, Pierson

I'm afraid I can't provide a definitive answer to your question, but as my Caterham yellow car was a 1986 delivery it's at least 27 years. I suspect it's considerably longer than that, too, as yellow was one of the original gelcoat 'standard' colours in that era and before. Hopefully someone will be able to give you a more precise answer. Pierson

My 6-year-old Banner kept on a conditioner did precisely the same last year, no apparent warning of its impending demise, it simply failed to charge despite the conditioner suggesting that it was 'conditioned'. 5 + years for a battery is pretty good going, even if looked after properly - bite the bullet and buy a new one. Pierson

I disagree - haven't you been watching Ed Milliband's career? Pierson

Thanks all - much appreciated. Pierson

OK, thanks - at least I know that a suitable product is available. Don't suppose you have a part number? Pierson

I have a very early de Dion chassis which uses drums on the rear axle. The car is running Mintex 1144 pads in the standard front calipers but does anyone know if Mintex produces a similar compound/efficacy shoe to fit such a drum? With the 1144's up front and realising that most of the effort is directed that way the current braking is good but I was wondering if replacing the rear shoes might deliver a further improvement (road use). I've had a Google trawl but haven't turned up anything pertinent thus far. TIA, Pierson

I have the old-style recirculating water heater - the low, flat black box type, c.1986 which has given up the ghost. Does anyone have a serviceable heater motor they have removed from their car that they no longer want, please? Pierson

I eventually managed to tie back the brushes using a combination of tiny rubber bands and cotton, re-assembled the thing and now nothing works . What a horrible piece of design. I'll see if anyone has one going spare in the Wanted section... Thanks for the advice. Pierson

Thanks for the replies thus far. I've tried to wedge the brushes apart with a paper clip in the hope of then retracting it through the top of the case as the spindle locates but to no avail - I'll try the cotton trick. I had seen the MR2 replacement thread and that may ultimately be the way to go - but I'd like to try to fix the existing motor first. As said, I don't want to ditch the heater, yesterday's Carrotland autumn blat underscored its value... 😳 Thanks again - any other 'tricks'? Pierson

I have the older style flat-box recirculating (i.e. non-fresh air) heater in my '86 Crossflow. The fan has been noisy for some time and yesterday took to operating only on the second speed setting. I've removed the heater lid and then the heater motor, but in splitting the two halves of the moor casing to clean and lubricate the armature and the spindle I'm now stuck with trying to re-assemble the two pieces. In the top half there are two opposing spring-loaded brass pin brushes which make contact with the commutator - but being spring-loaded, how do I seat the end of the spindle in the cap and 'force' the brush pins over the commutator? When I try to do this everything in the cap falls out and/or requires reseating. There's insufficient room to get fingers (or anything else) in there to keep the brush pins apart. It's one of those jobs I wish I hadn't started... Anyone help, please? TIA, Pierson

Mark, Racetech do a smaller central mirror - this one: Here seen at DT However, I can't say if it uses a similar fixing to the one Caterham supply. I have the Racetech version and it attaches to the stem via access to a very small hex-headed nut which can be reached through a small hole cut into the top of the mirror housing - 'fraid I don't know what size it is. It's easy to access and also to remove the mirror housing (complete with glass) itself with the right Allen key but it's also possible to lose the hex nut inside the housing - which is a right bugger. Trying to a). extract it through the tiny hole or b). relocate it through its mounting hole in the base of the housing isn't much fun... I don't believe Racetech to a carbon version however (I may be wrong on this point) - but it would certainly improve forward vision as it's substantially smaller than the Caterham unit and with convex glass still very usable. Pierson