TheRecklessEngineer

Saturday: Ate ice cream, drank beer, pondered Megasquirt, 4 barrel injection and how best to fit coolant temperature senders into a pipe. Sunday: Went sailing.

More for the shopping list then. Cheers guys!

Ive got a series speedo being run by a rangie autobox, with rangie diffs and 33" tyres. Quite understandibly its a very long way out - at least 30%. Anything I can do to correct this? Tip-ex on the dial is the favourite at the mo (mainly cos its the cheapest).

"Zebra" gave me: "Make fun of Zebra"

Well, I managed to get it out by pulling by hand. Of course I cut my hand pretty badly (still have the scars 2 years on) and managed to puncture the rad. Fortunatly it was during the TD -> TDi conversion and was the TD rad....

ATF is less agressive than the military approach - they use brake fluid! Very good on carbs apparently

Get your engine nice and hot, drain and remove fuel filter, refill with ATF fluid. Rag the **** out of it in 3rd gear under load (I find the motorway on ramp near yours good for this). Put your foot to the floor and keep it there with the engine on or near the limiter for a good 20 seconds. You will get lots of black smoke, but it will clear. Then take it to the MOT

Yup. Thats the idea - ive got the military jerry can holes on each side of the rear tub. One is going to be refrigerated - can just about get a crate of beer in it Shouldnt take long until even the cheap nasty stuff is drinkable Cheers for the help...ill let you know how I get on

Ive been doing some hunting on the net. Seems I can just attach an expansion valve and evaporator. So...anyone around Soton got either hanging around? Folding beer tokens on standby.

Now my hybrid is on the road, and its nearly summer, I need something to chill beer ...Im planning on using bits of an air con system from a RR to make a mega fridge, and have a few questions.... Ive have so far acquired an air con compressor, radiator, and filter. As far as I can tell I need an expansion thingy and a condenser (+ some switchy electrics on the clutch for temperature control) to make it chill stuff. Is there anything else I need? What sort of pressures are involved with air con systems? High pressure bit? Low pressure bit? Can I use a series oil cooler as a condenser? What do the wires do coming out of the filter? What happens if I leave the compressor running accidently? Any chance of overpressure? What sort of pressures are involved with domestic fridges? Would it be better to gut a fridge and simply use my air con compressor instead of the original? Anything I havnt thought of?

Ive only had one nasty breakdown (well...more of a breakoff than a breakdown) SIII, 2.25 diesel hammering down the A31 in a dual carriageway section. Really pleased that I had managed to get it up to 65mph, sun was shining, roof was off, lovely day. But...the bonnet catch decided that after 30 odd years of holding on to the bonnet it was finally going to let go. And it did - bonnet stayed up for about 5 seconds or so just so I couldnt see what I was going to hit as I carrered off the dual carriageway onto the verge thanking God that I had rebuilt the brakes recently. It then detached itself and landed in the middle of the dual carriageway, fortunatly not hitting anything on the way. When I got it back it was suitably flat. I have kept it as a trophy - it is now part of a bar, suitably named "Zebar" after the "Zebra"... Some people say its Murphys law...I just reckon im cursed.

Motorbike tax disc holder it is then. Cheers guys!

Ok...ive got a soft top, which I dont intend to have on for most of the summer... So how do I stop chavs from nicking my tax disc? Suggestions so far include a motor cycle tax disc holder bolted with allen bolts to a flap or wing....Any others?

Yeah, twas one of these computerised jobs. The tester didnt stop laughing all through the test

Well im hoping you guys will appreciate it, cos my housemates dont! "Looks just like it did before! Its an auto..oh dear.... Why is the air filter poking out the side? Why does this rail move?" Grrrrrrrrrrrr! Rangie chassis/running gear (3 different rangies), 3.5 v8 with autobox, 109 body work...from 2 different vehicles - both ex MOD. As soon as it stops raining the whole thing is getting a paint job back in the original zebra stripes! Lovely to drive...but not when its p***ing with rain cos there is no roof! Ill post some photos when its painted.

2.5 n/a diesel is pretty bullet proof. 99% it is something simple...fuel cutoff, glow plugs. Make sure its turning over QUICKLY with your foot on the floor! Even year old diesel with suspended water should start it!

It is (was) kinda silvery on mine.

Managed to demolish a wall with my 109. Barely scratched the bumper.

Oh I dunno...could be applied to cruise control...or perhaps electric radiator fan speed. :S

Dare I post a photo of my hybrid....

If you are any good with linux...try one of these: www.gumstix.org Have a look at the waysmall computers...and the price. PICs are dead easy...but its hard to make them do anything complex. Tried implementing a PID controller on one last year...failed miserably (but mostly due to servo phase lag and bad sensors....)

Rather than muckin round with temp senders and all that, I match mine up with a system of resistors either in series, or parallel with the sender depending on whether it reads high or low. Also works for fuel gauges (ive had a rangie sender working on a series gauge) It does of course mean that you need to know your engine is at the correct temperature...

Its not going anywhere near mine My zebra makes far more noise than that thing anyway.... Interesting reading this thread....I had a similar problem with my v8 in the summer. Drove me nuts. Turned out that I hadnt done the nut up properly on the points connection in the dizzy.

Yes, but you need to make sure ur PC has a composite video out. Some come with s-video..you will need an adapter to convert this to composite (basically just a plug...all of £3 in maplin) You may have an interesting time with power...inverters are all very well...but if you want sound, you will need some very good isolation to avoid the buzz they will put into the power system. Dc-dc converters exist, but are pricey. Have a look at http://www.mp3car.com and http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/In-Car-Computer-CarP...1QQcmdZViewItem

How about a wireless one, on a tripod, that you can set up somewhere externally so you can get a view of how close/where obstacles are in tricky terrain? Might be easier than the waving hands of a winch bitch.... 2.4Ghz senders/receivers arent that pricy. Probably run the lot from a PP3. Just need a tripod...