Turbocharger

I'm no help to you, but what're modern LED lamps like now? LEDs ten years ago produced a reasonable amount of light but it seemed to 'fade' quickly with distance, so the effect was a sphere of light, enough to read a paper by if you were close but not enough to use as a headlight, for example.

I'm off to Spain on holiday for the first two weeks in September. Does anyone have a set of LHD headlights for driving on the continent that they'd lend? I'm baulking at buying a pair for £30+, though I wouldn't object to loaning some for a tenner, or sharing the cost with someone who'd use them afterwards?

I built a model in Excel last night, so (if my maths are right): The vertical ram force is the cosine of its angle, so greatest when the ram is near-vertical. The tension in the links also rises (and becomes more evenly shared / less biased towards the lower link) when the mechanism is near vertical. The lifting force is roughly (12-13kg) constant throughout the movement, until the ram goes over-centre near the top. The lifting torque will decrease as the mechanism rises, but then (because of the load) the load should reduce too. End result - I think it'll be ok. I should find out at the weekend, then I'll post some pics.

I don't think that's true - when the links are vertical, the ram will be vertical too (because its mounts are immediately above & below the 'lower' link bar) so there won't be a resultant. I've played with the maths on a whiteboard today and I think the best method is vector diagrams, and the answer is "it'll be reet".

Which is about where I got to - it needs to travel from horizontal (as shown, assisting the full weight of the mechanism) to vertical, where the "weight" will be much smaller as it goes vertical, so I need a lower force - I think it's going to work. I know the ram is much stronger than I need - hence the shallow angles to tone it down a bit because I don't want to catapult the whole truck around the garage when I release a catch. I could just drill several holes and try the ram in different positions... but I can't do that until the bits arrive and "scribbly maths" curiosity got the better of me in the meantime. The real measurements are 530mm horizontally, lifting about 9kg at the worst case (horizontally) and the ram is 350N (35kg) ish. The ram position is adjustable to taste.

I'm struggling with brain fade so I need a second opinion. I'm making a parallel movement linkage. The left side is anchored and the right side can rise and fall. I'll use a diagonal gas ram to assist the lift but I want to know how much it'll lift. Am I correct to consider it as torques at the right-hand side? Eg F y = L x Or am I completely on the wrong track?

Where's the miniature paper spider?

I say give it a go and let us know what you find. Vac pump etc can be solved with ancillaries so if the drillings for front and rear covers are the same then its just pistons going up and down in metal.

Yes, and I just bought 5 litres from S&A for the Elise, no probs with the transaction.

And don't forget you don't need a reverse light for the MOT, not a testable item.

I'm taking the Ninety to Santander and driving back over the mountains and up through France at the beginning of September. Can anyone recommend any very gentle offroad routes? Any good sources for maps etc? I've got 1000 miles in front of me, it's not an offroad holiday so I'd rather abstain than pop a halfshaft etc but if there's something 'too scenic to miss' then it'd be a shame if I was in the area, so to speak.

I made mine and I'd just add a wrist-rest if I was making another. And possibly an indicator that it's not a grab handle, to avoid disaster for boarding passengers. http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=73045

Anyone? Or am I alone in expecting branded parts to have a name on them?

Long time no surf - I've still got my Ninety, but also another toy with a K-series engine. I ordered "4x Champion genuine OE spark plugs" from a well-known supplier to the marque, and I received four plain plugs (with the Rover part number) in blank white boxes: I contacted the supplier, who says they're genuine Champion parts. Does anyone have any experience with these infernal vapour engines?

Lucky I spotted this - and that I never delete any photos! Here's the same text again: The old wiring was a mess, with an assortment of fuses in the wrong ratings, some mains-plug fuses and a couple (ahem) of blown ones wrapped in tinfoil. I pulled the big bracket out and trimmed a little of the strengthening rib across the bottom to clear the new fuse boxes... Holes are added to take the mounting screws (although one was too close to the edge and became a slot - no matter), so next is the heart-stopping moment of snipping into the main loom. It's this stage that has put me off the whole process for two years or more. I transferred the wires across one by one to the new fuse boxes, methodically and slowly. I didn't label any of the wires, just kept them in order and moved them one at a time. And here's the installed creation. In Blue Peter style I'd labelled each slot while the backing plate was on the bench, and this method gives me space for a few spare fuses at the bottom. If I'd thought ahead I'd transfer the wires for the other four fuses onto the spaces at the bottom of the new board, but I've got no idea what they do (although evidently only the top two do anything noticeable because they're the ones that had fuses in them - any ideas?). It was also a good opportunity to tidy up the wiring for the stereo which has hung loose in the footwell for the last eight years

What injectors were you running? There's no aux spray to omit like on the old IDI engines.

We're starting to use LED headlights on new-build buses - for the hours they run, the labour and issues that a bulb failure causes, and to get us out of the woods with prohibitable defects, they're starting to make sense.

I have a tool chest mounted on a shopping trolley, with the welder underneath it and the gas bottle on the back. I too had 'spanners akimbo' so I tried an alligator-teeth rack, and eventually bought a clip-in rack which holds them fast. The alligator rack is surplus, you're welcome to it for £pennies to the forum. If you find everything slops around in a drawer, try a: closing it more gently, or b: buying more tools.

I spent a very greasy day out laning today, but was advised that the Fosse is now closed at Easton Grey. Sure enough, a little Googling confirms it was TRO'd and gated in June 2011. A great shame, another example where the mindless few have spoiled it for the responsible majority, and apologies if it was discussed here and I didn't see it. The issue is that this is one of the few points on the Fosse with a gradient, and a bridged river crossing. However, some mindless off-piste driving has cut up the areas either side of the ROW, and led to some people fording the river at this point too. Since it's a SSSI and a former Roman settlement on a named Roman Road, this obviously drew disproportionate attention from the authorities. They tried notices, fences, concrete dragon's teeth - all to no avail. It's a shame that they couldn't have used the type of voluntary or time-bounded TROs that have worked so well in the Peak District, Lakes or in south Wales, rather than closing the route permanently and with gates which will require maintenance. Sadly the track record at the site has shown that even concrete will just get winched away by the mindless few.

I'm not sure what I posted originally anyway! Here's some of the early VGT pics I've got - they're in no particular order, no commentary and not necessarily of the finished product:

Back from c300 miles offroad around the Peak District and Cotswolds over this festive holiday, and I'm completely sold on the tablet idea. The mount performed faultlessly and I can see where I am, whenever I'm there! The camera works well too - here's a sample of the in-car vid from a lumpy bit near the edge at Stanage: And here's a shot taken from the car behind - they complained when I rolled the rear screen down because they couldn't see the map any more. A 10" screen is perfect on the LR dash in my humble.

I'm using the .qct maps directly wih an Android app called MM Tracker, it's about a fiver but works on my HTC and my tablet, and it's a cracking app too - it has map rotation and night modes etc, which my PC version of MemoryMap never had. It also uses the mobile network position (on the phone) to augment the GPS Well worth a few quid if you have the maps and an Android device.

After some research I went for the Transformer with a keyboard, on the weak excuse that I can use it for work too. There's a new version coming out in the new year (Transformer Prime) which will undoubtably be better, and make the Transformer prices fall

I've experimented with moving maps before, on a laptop with an inverter and on an Android phone. Both had their limitations bu it was a revelation compared to refolding a 1:50k OS sheet in a Defender cab on the move. Further thought plus an early Christmas present delivered the most modern answer yet: a tablet PC, in this case an Asus Transformer. The attached images show progress from angle iron to a dashboard mount, with soft points to avoid damaging the tablet and some design cunning to let the camera see out of the windscreen too. Now I've got maps, internet and the option to have a Bluetooth webcam watching the winch, rear wheels, inside the snorkel - who knows?

Its chugging along well, plenty of low down luggability. Cracking appears to have calmed down since I braced it too. It now needs me to for the bigger intercooler which I have had for 8 years(!) before I start playing with the fuelling again. You're welcome to come and have a look if you're in Glos.