geoffbeaumont

Cheers - in that case I'll just go ahead with the one I've got. I take it it's not worth taking the heads off the dodgy engine and having a look to see if they'd be any good to replace Jimbob's? Looks like my engine is out of the woods now, anyway

Rudi Thoelen won the last G4 Challenge - doesn't look anything like him. Nearest looking competitor is Shinichi Yoshimoto, but I don't think it's him either.

Hmm, the composite gasket doesn't have holes for the bottom bolts - the edge of the gasket is half way across them Is this normal, or have Town & Country sold me the wrong gasket? If it is right, do I trim the gasket or leave the bolts out? Not keen on the latter - I know they don't do anything, but I'm not keen on having empty bolt holes in my block.

Cheers. Hopefully get it all back together this evening

Quick question - do you use the same torque settings for composite gaskets and stretch bolts as for tin and non-stretch? Obviously, leaving the outside row at 1/3 torque per normal practice now.

Phew...escaped the helicoiling! Took the head off today and attacked the sheared bolt - started drilling it out, and after going up a couple of bit sizes it came loose, so we drifted a torx bit into it and it wound out using the cordless drill. What a beautiful sight that was! Got to get some new bolts on Monday (I'm not making that mistake again...), then she should be back in action. As far as I can see I got away with just blowing the head gasket - there was obvious leakage from the cylinders either side of the sheared bolt, but the head is still flat and the liners are still in place. If it's cracked the block, there's nothing visible, but I guess I'll only know that for sure once it's all back together.

MM 4x4 had some a while back for under a hundred - recon I think. Depending on the price might be worth a try? You could always phone them up or email them and ask what's actually done during the recon. I doubt they do them themselves, but if they don't know for certain the jobs been done properly you can walk away.

Cheers - PM on the way. Maypole is an area of South Birmingham, but I'm actually in Northfield. Having read up a bit on ceramic sealants, my guess is he didn't flush the coolant out after he'd added it, so it's solidified in the smaller coolant passages.

The bicycle is broken - some oick buckled the back wheel when I left it in Maypole after cycling there to get a lift while the car was still in bits. Still rideable, but only just Besides, 25miles down the M40 on a bike...? Hmm, don't suppose Simon CSK will be heading down this way again any time in the near future? That might just work out rather well - if I could refurb that and drop it in my car, then if my heads are okay I can pass them onto a mate who seems to have wrecked his with ceramic sealant (see the start of this thread). Heads aren't too much of a problem - it's more if I have to replace the block - although I'd rather not start putting major new parts on an engine that hasn't been fully refurbed.

As is usually the way with these things, having bodged it back together to get it on the road again I haven't had time to do much with it since...I did have a go at doing the helicoil through the head, the drill bit only just reached the top of the sheared bolt, so it's a head off job which means I need a clear weekend to do it (whatever one of those is...). It started out running fine and gradually deteriorated - on the way up to the borders for Wheels in the Woods (yes, I have been cautiously using it as little as possible ) I thought I was going to be coming back on a recovery truck - then on the actual event and all the way back it ran fine. Guess wherever it was leaking from got blocked up. All good until I forgot I was supposed to be driving with kid socks yesterday and applied heavy right brick as I pulled out into fast traffic on the motorway - sudden drop of power and now it's running rough again Hopefully I just decoked it... Anyway, all that is pretty much just an update - I'm not going to really know what I'm dealing with until I get the head off, so I'm trying to work out what my options are if it's bad (I've cracked the block/slipped a liner/botch the helicoil). Obviously if the head is wrecked beyond a simple skim it's pricey but fairly straightforward to replace it (I presume if I fit a new one I should do the pair?). What am I looking at if I have to replace the block? What should I expect to pay for a used 3.9 or, if I have to, 3.5 (I'm guessing anything bigger is rarer and attracts a significant premium)? How much is it likely to cost to have the block changed, assuming I can strip it down that far and have it towed to the garage? Any extra if I was to shell out for a long engine? Negotiating a decent price for my lodgers knackered escort could end up being an attractive way out...

Does it leave detectable traces in the tyres? B)

Set of simex, position wheel on eco-terrorist, floor accelarator and dump clutch. Sorry...

Careful - you might upset Michelle, and then we wont get our proper graphic! The whole theme on this forum, including the header, is makeshift at the moment - I believe Michelle is doing a proper logo (as opposed to the quick hack of the Invision logo that I did...), but we're concentrating most of our efforts on getting moved to somewhere a bit more stable than Canaca's ropy servers. That said, I don't think we're planning on changing it too much - a lot of people seem to like the clean and 'professional' look of this theme. Mainly because it makes it easy to get away with skiving in the office!

That's a thought...no way I can afford a 'proper' winch anytime soon, but a hand one? I only need something for rescueing myself when I screw up (so not very often, obviously ). Have to look into this.

Something like this? (Blatantly nicked from: Magnesium Elektron) Hmm, wonder if they'd do me a set of tubular manifolds like that?

Ditto - I spend quite a bit of time up there caving. Well, I should do - haven't been up much this summer. They really should give me another reason to go there and spend tourist money

Nige, with your taste for OTT metalwork, maybe try a shipbuilder?

You need to speak to white90

Photos from Wheels in the Woods here - here are one or two highlights. 'Fraid I still haven't got myself a decent camera, but Dad was using a better one, so hopefully I'll have some decent quality shots in a few days. Spectacular scenery: Routes from the very easy: To the more taxing: To the downright interesting:

Do it the old fashioned way - a still over an open fire Can I come and watch the explosion?

Where is it then?

BP garage on Longbridge Lane (Birmingham) was closed, with out of use tags on all the pumps, when I passed it on the way back from work. Sadly I'm on LPG now - I got to work from home last time on account of having no petrol for the car

Thanks guys - it was a good day out. Great views, mix of very easy and quite challenging stages (there did seem to be a bit of overlap between red and black routes...). Dad says he's bringing his Discovery as well next time. Should have some piccies shortly. Only had to be rescued once (Dad was driving, so I'll blame him ) - I think we could have got out under our own steam, but there was a fair chance we'd have rolled instead so we opted for a tow.

It's all a cunning plan to keep the server load down

Monkey see, Monkey do... Or naming and shaming the cretin responsible for todays outage. That'll be me then Sorry guys - I changed the forum to use the new www.lr4x4.com domain without check with Trevor (lr90) how he'd got it set up. Things didn't quite meet in the middle and you went round in a loop and finished up back on the home page every time you tried to do anything. Unfortunately the admin site was also affected which is why it took us a few hours to get things back up and running (I couldn't just change it back how it was). I'll go sit in the corner with the dunce hat on...