Turbocharger

Lara - I've no issue with the new rule, I think it's a good thing that people can't dodge the rules just because a towbar isn't a suspension component or a body mount... I just don't want the rules to apply to me, now, because I know better. I think I will tidy it up with Herr Grinder, and then stitch / puddle a plate over the top for this year, while I contemplate new crossmember / galv chassis options for next year.

Proximity to a towbar - he says it came in last year. Besides which, I took the towbar off last year to get a pass because it looked "a bit crusty" and I promised it'd be repaired by the next test

Sorry to discount the sabotage theory, but they've been loose for a while - the tell-tale radial rust streaks from each stud give it away. I'd echo all the talk of torque above, but also make sure the hub, wheel and cone mating faces are clean, or else you'll see the torque come up while you're still compressing dirt...

MOT time again, so I had a poke around underneath the LR before Mr MOT got there. I tickled a pinhole with a screwdriver, with the following results... Plus another patch on the front dumb-iron, not so neatly prepped but it'll be fine just sitting on top. This year he failed it for having non-obligatory hazard lights (it's a 1984 truck) which don't operate with the ignition turned off - I can just disconnect the switch - they're not testable if they're not fitted. However, his HSS hammer has found some more holes, and particularly he's spotted the crusty bit on the lower face of the crossmember that I was hoping he'd consider ok. Now that looks like a right b'stard to chop out the lower face, remake it and then reattach to all the strengthening ribs above. The proper answer is probably a new rear crossmember but I'm moving house in a week and I only have evenings to get the truck back on the road, so realistically we're looking at heavy-duty bodging to re-present it for test. What would you do?

Argyll & Bute?!? It's certainly clocked up some mileage since it was built!

Si, Be careful. If you sign it off as safe and up to or exceeding OE spec (think asymmetric brake calipers) and then the vehicle has an accident, they'll come knocking and you'll be thinking about retrospective professional liability insurance. If you do put anything in writing, be sure to specify exactly the parts that you're certifying and detail their fitment, orientation and fitness for a particular function - this covers you against 'user error' eg horrid side snatch loadings to a perfectly adequate static recovery point. In terms of format, I'd specify the vehicle reg no, chassis number and body type and then detail the modifications by description and with photographs, talk about the likely loadings and then describe your opinion of the suitability of the design, with a little bit of maths in an appendix to show that the design of a modified part is suitable for a representative load case. Then move on to the next modified component, and conclude with a summary of the mods and a caveat that all your calcs are +/- 100% and that you don't accept any responsibility for material error, failure or injury thereafter. Me, I wouldn't touch it for someone I didn't know, sorry. Cheers John MEng(Hons) etc

To my mind, if it's not strong enough to take a clout on the ground now and then, it needs attention. Otherwise, stick to OE for strength and design.

Why don't you answer lots of puerile questions on here with long-winded answers? More seriously, get an all-day all-areas bus ticket and go ride around the countryside - day out in Bristol via Taunton by bus?

I believe he might have a message asking for a price for a new battery for my battery hen. And a separate message asking about extreme ironing. And a separate message offering a job lot of orange paint, going cheap. That goes some way to rebuke my treatment on the Scorpion stand last year...

... which leads us to an obvious conclusion - fit a Merlin

Sikaflex? :)

Charlie - I'd be asking more questions about what's in the 'box of tricks' because, unless it's very clever, you'll be drawing the vehicle loads from just one battery and that's not good for it.

I tend to pick up a washing-up bowl, £1 max, and then use a funnel to put the old oil into the bottles that the new oil came in. Cheap, simple and I can just throw away the bowl instead of cleaning it out etc.

It's a risk assessment thing. If your tester isn't familiar with every type of 4WD system he could inadvertently shoot your truck through the end wall of his garage. If he can get a satisfactory brake test by another method, why take the risk? Those who think they understand the systems can use the RBT if they want. My rear axle has a TruTrac and I always forget to mention it at MOT time. It once tried to climb out of the rollers which caused that garage's power to trip out. He was particularly miffed because the workshop radio had lost all its presets.

Three cheers for an independent internet forum where we can discuss this kind of subject?

It's for this reason that commercial operators are measured on their 'first time pass rate'. The MOT test is a measure of roadworthiness at the time. He won't tell you when your oil needs changing or that your clutch is starting to slip - if you want to keep your big complicated machine in good order, service and maintain it to a schedule or pay someone else to do so.

As was said above, a microwave momentary switch behind some vinyl or fabric, or even a magnetic reed switch so you need to be carrying a magnet to operate it? Worth bearing in mind that it's a very short amount of time required to get a Tdi running by bypassing any such security device (although I'm obviously not going to post up the method, intelligent criminals only please...)

I'll be the first one to ask - when is it? I've a nasty feeling I'll be moving house.

None will give the perfect (two switch) answer, but if you're not drawing big currents then the yellow, black (ignoring the S terminal, "no idea what that bit does so ignore it" - Electronics 101), and green ones will do what you want. The orangey one gives a nice extra contact for the jumper wire too...

My brother is younger than me and will borrow either my Defender or my MG. He had the MG on his drive while I was in America, and when I came back he spoofed me that he'd binned it, but I didn't rise to it. When I hear voices outside the house, I peek out the window to make sure they're not near the LR. Nuff said.

Unless you've got a private supply of waste oil, I'd suggest you look closely at the price of buying the oil to use as feedstock. Bulk buy is 80/litre at the best rates, plus using £2k-worth of kit to turn it into biodiesel, or 103ppl for straight diesel with far fewer of the quality worries. If you're doing it for environmental reasons, it's probably worth remembering that you're buying B5 at the pump and will be moving to B7 by September anyway. If you run a chip shop and are only getting ~5p/litre as rebate for the waste oil, it makes sense. I can speak with some authority; the Chipper bus is one of my projects in work.

Yeah, what cipx said. Get a sprung relay and use the current to hold it closed.

C'mon, spill the beans - what're you making. We want to see the fag packet drawing, the CAD model and photos of the raw materials...

C'mon Al - as Fridge said once, you're getting to the point where you've got enough space and tools that you can just walk in, press a button and the car assembles itself

Don't swap the earth over or the planet will start to spin backwards. Be careful opening the control box too - with an uneven number of wires there's always an electrical imbalance in there and it'll either suck electricity in (your watch and mobile phone stop working) or spit the electricity out (lightning bolt from the sky). Sorry to be the bearer of bad news - stick with the hydraulic winches, electricity's dangerous. You can't see it, smell it or taste it but it'll kill you on contact.