Turbocharger

The issue is, even if the serials are left on a unit, when you've got your hands in your pockets standing looking at a part in some chap's yard and he wants half the normal price for it "for a quick sale", it's tempting. You know you're risking seizure (or someone noticing that they used to own your winch etc) but money talks too. I've been offered bits in the past which I'm pretty sure are nicked, so I moved on. When I was a student, that was hard - £100 off an axle is big money when you haven't got any. Like everyone on here I could ID my own truck if I was asked to, but when's that likely to occur? We need to enable the fuzz to pick out the dealers and that means quick, universal IDing. Smart water's a good plan - anyone got any links? Maybe a group buy (not like the mig welder / bottle jacks / stoves / whatever it was)?

That's an excellent tool - not sure whether you need all the features (lap timing!?) but it's a sensible way to store photos and sort them by location, excellent. You had a lot more snow than we did down in Derbyshire, glad you enjoyed it.

Well, we had an excellent weekend. Plantpot, Geoff and Erica turned up for some "we're quite warm enough thank you" camping on Friday night and I started at the Quality Hotel (via Sainsburys) in Ashbourne to collect the other members of my group (who didn't turn up - cost me half an hour and twenty miles for nothing). I arrived at the rendezvous with Mike, Margaret (mmgemini) and Martin & Stephanie (M&S) and we ran out across the moor. Martin's shiny Disco2 needed a slight tug to avoid damaging the lane, but that was the only recovery of the weekend - quite a triumph for a group with mostly road tyres. The scenery in the Dark Peak is always stunning and we picked the right day to head out there - not icy and with good visibility. Stanage was a particular highlight, although downhill with the Disco2 and Mike's 110 needed plenty of spotting and good control from both drivers to avoid bashing anything heavily. I've always said that the driver is the one in control, the spotter's just observing really so the damage to the front bumper when Martin ran into .. well, Derbyshire, that wasn't my fault at all. We attempted to go up a lane I've never driven before, but turned back on the advice of a motorcyclist who suggested that taking the Disco up might be a poor idea. The steps of the next lane were a rock-stacking challenge but we got down without incident. I wasn't impressed to find we got out of the way swiftly for the alternating headlights and blue lights coming towards us on the other side of the valley, only to find it wasn't mountain rescue, just a group from Daventry(?) with too much spare time and little regard for the law or common sense. By the time we finished that lane it was dark so we took a run through Tissington Ford and then found hotel, camp site, pub and hotel in that order. The evening was good crack, thanks to a good group of people. It's a shame the hotel had too much money and didn't want ours towards the end of the evening, but we went home and hit the port instead. Day 1 highlights: Sunday's lanes were more timid by comparison, looking more for scenery and pleasant driving than rocky challenges. We saw three buzzards and found a couple of lanes by accident, and then saw Monsal Head from an awesome angle before descending into the valley and on to Bakewell. Mike and Margaret left for the north from the pub and we picked up Sticky for "one more lane". This has historically been where things tend to go very wrong, so Sticky suggested we do one more beyond it, and then cancel the plan due to darkness - good suggestion. The last three were pretty but nothing to write home about after the splendour of the day - until the last 300 yards which was a rutted channel with one rut three feet higher than the other. I was worried about damaging Martin's Disco but he was happy to have a go, and then ran into my brother's Ninety in his excitement. From there we went our separate ways. Day 2 highlights: All of my pictures are in this Fotopic gallery. Moments captured on video: (generally in a Blair Witch style, since we didn't stop to erect the mini railway, counterbalanced camera boom and big furry microphone for proper panning and zoom shots) Disco 2 on Stanage - posted earlier My Ninety on the same part - posted earlier Reddy's laning documentary; the BBC may want to make a similar series? Will crossing Tissington ford in an enthusiastic way Sticky heading into the lean on the last lane of the day Will driving the same section We had plenty of engine-off stops for horses and cyclists, and even walkers where it was narrow and we might be intimidating. Despite that we met some sour-faced miserable b'stards, but also some well informed ramblers who asked where we'd been, what the track was like ahead for them and they wished us a pleasant day's driving. If only there could be more like that... Total damage for the weekend on my car was a cracked headlight (Tissington ford at night), an exhaust stud sheared (don't know, it only started blowing badly after the last lane so I ran home and cut the stud out to fit a bolt before the run to Bristol) and a bad vibration which felt like difflock hadn't disengaged (bounced up and down a few kerbs with no effect, then jacked up a wheel at home and it all released). Absolutely brilliant weekend, thanks Chris, your facilitation of disorganisation was much appreciated. Bystanders could see how little organisation there was from the way all three groups met up in the same place for lunch on the second day... I definately need a CB and MemoryMap for the next one.

Fiver a night, we can negotiate a rate for quantity or extended periods

That rather depends how fast you're going...

FWIW I have a 300Tdi Disco engine in my Defender, a 100A alternator and no heat shield with no ill effects. Well, none beyond a front bearing failure of the last alternator just after a weekend of heavy wading...

Good trip. I'm back, got lost in Nottingham dropping Reddy off and then a steady 60mph all the way. Was it raining? I'll put up my photos in the week, but here's two videos to keep you going... Disco 2 on Stanage, excellent spotting Me, much more controlled Properly tired now, I'm going to sleep well tonight! Thanks to Chris for not organising it, excellent plan for a weekend.

You and me both, but I ran out of time before the forum laning trip, so it's back on the OEM turbo for now...

Well, I've landed at my parents and I may head to Ashbourne after dinner - depends when the happy campers turn up.... .... although I have to say, it's bloody cold outside!

You're a star David, thank you.

Bugger - the list contains many of the highlights of the Peaks. Much better to have seen the notices now than to have driven all the way out there and had to turn round. Let's hope the logging devices and peer pressure etc keep the lanes clear so they can recover and be reopened. There's still plenty to see

Jim - do you find that your normal fuel consumption is better in summer than winter? That's certainly what we see with vehicles in work. 3% is on the edge of measurable - if it was less it could be criticised as 'within margin of error', but more than 3% I'd start to be suspicious about whether you've backed off the throttle to make yourself believe its working...

I know photos of light sources at night tend to be rather disappointing but could you have a go please? I can see requests for Chrissy presents coming up and something like this would fit the bill rather well...

I'm with Sureterm. I listed the mods over the phone - 1984 2.5NAD Ninety with a 300Tdi, auto box, cage etc and they read them back to me with a quote of £280 for me (27, 1 accident in 5yrs) plus g/f on 5000 miles a year. The printed paperwork came through with "Modifications: None" so I rang up. They said "just sign it, we don't use that bit, list your mods on the other bit of paper" but I protested, listed all my mods on both sheets and signed everything. The whole shebang bounced back again because, although I'd listed different springs and shocks, I hadn't said 2" lift which I'd mentioned over the phone. Apart from this messing about though, seems ok so far and the price was good...

Edit: With the forum's ongoing commitment to road safety, please be ready to salute the good men of the law as you leave the A38 onto the A52 at Derby, since they've kindly mentioned that they might be in Mackworth trapping the dangerous criminals who think that this straight, wide, well lit and junctionless road is safe at 44mph! More camera locations here.

It's going to be bloody brilliant. Cold weather's fine, the heater works, but that means a cold crisp day where the visibility will be miles (and the ramblers might be deterred a little... ). I'm really looking forward to standing on Stanage Edge enjoying the view - briefly.

Right, I've PM'd those who are camping to tell them where to go - if you're camping and I've missed you, PM me quick! Did we reach a consensus on Saturday night meals for those not eating the Quality food at the Quality inn?

True. Wouldn't want to bodge the job...

WOW! Julian has created something that looks like Wallace and Gromit should be employing it in some mission-critical role. In my rather extended(!) VGT install this very exciting component will be pivotal ... after the forum laning trip, anyway. I can now see why it took two weeks to get from Goods Inward in work to my desk - somewhere along the line the label addressing it to me got stripped off, so it was an anonymous 'non-bus part' floating around the stores for a while. I need, again, to thank Julian for his charity in progressing my VGT challenge. Now let's see if the whole idea works...

Where are you going to find a 93mm drill bit for your Black&Decker powerdrill? Surely you'd be better off using a holesaw, although you'll still need a pretty meaty drill. Seriously, I'm hoping that most of the magic in the TGV engine is in the variable turbo, so that's the direction I've gone. Can you do something clever with TGV crank + rods and 300Tdi pistons? I'd be cautious about turning your good 300Tdi block into an expensive coffee table. Which reminds me...

Well that's not what I was expecting! Get yourself down to Ashbourne, there's never enough money no matter what you do with it so you might as well spend it... However, I'll accept your withdrawal from my group with good grace - thanks.

Fridge needs to keep the unit ready for return when asked ... but how long does he store it for, and at whose cost? I'd say you should write to the guy offering to store his Eberspacher at a cost of say, £5 a week. Then you can write it off over a period of time (you've got an agreed value because he sold it to you...) and flog it on at a defined future date. If he doesn't dispute your letter then he's entered a contract, in the same way that you immediately bin the new terms for your credit card but they're still binding.

Well, my group isn't just a laning group. It's a sumptuous mix of hand-picked rocks and trees, skilfully blended together with the finest horizontal rain and served at just slightly above freezing temperature for the most piquant sting on your skin. Seriously, we're already up to four in the group but we are starting on the north side of the Peaks so I'll play it as follows: you're welcome to join us but I'd be more comfortable if Sticky or Retroanaconda would be willing to join another group out of Ashbourne on Saturday morning. If not, a group of five won't kill us but it's not ideal. There's still space for a couple more campers so no problem there. At the moment the forecast is for clear cold weather (but that's still 7 days away, anything could change from then to now...)

A mate of mine had a container in a farmyard with a lathe, mill etc in it, lovely portable workshop. After several attempted break-ins he increased security each time - padlock became bigger padlock became integral lock inside a 3mm box welded on the door etc. Finally he got sick of all the messing about, turned the container through 180 degrees and welded a few bars and levers securely onto the closed end to make it look like a door mechanism. The problem seems to have gone away. As was said above, you're only going to slow them down (and convince them they're working towards something worth having). Smoke and excessive noise is probably the best way to go. If you have a 'net connection up there you could have a webcam and an old PC set to monitor a picture and use a freeware screen grabber to save the image to HDD or the web each time it changes. Won't save your stuff but someone might recognise the scrote who took it.

Mike - a shame, we'll have to see who else drops out. We'll send photos Chris W - could you take Mike244434343545689793214572334444 off the camping list and add Sticky, so I know who to PM with camping details.