Gazzar

In fairness, that's quite a modification. I'd imagine they have jigs with the standard chassis rails on them, so you'd be talking about cutting 4 bespoke chassis rails from scratch. Longer steel sheets, and then the job of sticking them together on a special jig. So, if they are busy I can see why they'd give you a rich quote!

Quick one, I've a rear tub which has a fair bit of alu corrosion where it was mounted to the rear crossmember tabs. What's the best way to tackle this? Once refitted the corrosion will be invisible, and the back will be plated so there'll be minimal strength issues, but is there a way of repairing the damage? What kills the corrosion in the metal? I'll be putting a barrier material between the steel and the alu on refitting. Would hot alu spraying do the job? G.

SO, he used a td manifold set, and bodged the fittings. Okay, suppose it would work, but it's a lot of pressure in there on a turbo manifold. Not pretty, though!

One aspect I've raised with the MEP is the compensation arrangements, when hand guns were banned the owners were told they were entitled to compensation - we should raise the issue. The Treasury is rather protective of its revenue and is very influential - If Mr Osborne learns he has to pay out 2 or 3bn to disgruntled motorists then he'll be most unhappy. Think of the LPG conversions that will have to be reversed, the hands free car kits, the cars with seat covers, the list goes on, and on! G. PS Eric Blair - a little known writer - used the pen name of George Orwell.

Right, I'll edit the various emails I've sent and send something off to them, I'll put it to their queries helpdesk first, something along the lines of " what am I going to do with my landrover - the EU want me to put the horribly inefficient petrol engine back into it and I won't be able for afford to run it? I've had an interesting reply from another one of the MEPs - as soon as I get her approval I'll post it up here, but in summary she said "don't PANIC!!" and that it is really at a very early stage. I still think that we need to be very active on this - I know that the permanent civil service just love introducing these ideas - keeps them employed and keeps the masses downtrodden and manageable - I also suspect that the narrow historic definition is to clear older cars off the road so they are replaced with modern cars, all of which will have a remote kill switch and monitoring fitted under other proposals. I suspect that the historic tax class will be restricted to apply to cars attending shows only, and the like. I'm Paranoid, I admit, but with reason. Eric Blair - how right you were. G.

Will they ban hand free car kits? LPG conversions? ex-military vehicles? How will they tell the difference between Landrover Sidesteps and non- landrover sidesteps? How about kit cars? Will there be compensation, like there was after Dunblane and they banned handguns? It's all very worrying?

Nick, sounds like you know what you are doing. What can we do to help? G.

It's how I was taught to do it, many years ago, by my dad.

odd, I thought the modern filters are fairly reliable. A spot of grease on the seal and spin them on and tighten with an oily rag. Any chance there is damage to the mating surface/or the threaded portion is misaligned? G.

Now, here's a question, will you be allowed to use a galv chassis when the new EU regulations come into force - banning all non factory modifications?

Nothing much to tell, when I fitted the di200 I tried to make it look as series as possible, series filter, and breather set-up with filler at the side. All of which leaked like sieves. So, with the turbo going on, all those modifications are being reversed - back to the disco tdi200 fittings. G.

I wonder if coating it with silicone grease or vaseline would work, rather than oil? I'd be concerned that the oil would leak as it's pushed by the gear oil escaping. Perhaps not?

Just sent an email: Dear Top Gear, Our Beloved EU has seen fit to try to ban ALL modifications from original Factory Spec, not only for new cars, but retrospectively for older historic and mundane cars. All non-works modifications from independent race teams will have to be reversed if the car is ever to go on the road. No more non-works Subaru, privateer rally Escorts, no more Hi-Luxes converted to cross the English Channel! It will probably mean the end of the small car manufacturer (no more Atoms) as they won’t be able to manage the paperwork to grant approval. Please help to stop this, in the interests of the British Motoring Heritage we all enjoy. Regards,

I share your ambition, I do 4k miles a year so I'm determined to get leak free. First stop - the tdi: so far I've got the oil filter to stop, next is the cyclone drain back, and then the rocker cover. All in good time. G.

Now, THAT'S interesting, I've been thinking about the same problem, I've just replaced the selector seals myself, and can report no improvement. I was thinking about something similar, but haven't done anything about it yet. Please keep reporting! G.

Good to know. Not had any problems with the blue box - but I do buy carefully, no bearings.

I'd worry about the 1 shot - the needle rollers in the UJs need a fair bit of lubrication. The army used to use leather gaiters over the swivels, my Ltwt has them, and the balls are spotless.

I've just emailed the MP /MEPs for the area with my own letter raising the issue - only one response so far and, with his permission, I quote: From William, Earl of Dartmouth, Dear Gazzar, Thank you for writing to me about the EU's latest move to tighten the screw on motorists in general, and the owners of historic and customised vehicles in particular, by means of further modifications to the MOT-test, which require (Art.3(9)) that "the parts and components of a vehicle comply with its safety and environmental characteristics in force at the time of approval, first registration or entry into service". This will effectively put an end to car-customisation. The Regulation appears to exempt "vehicles of historic interest", until we look at the definition of such vehicles, which states (Art.3(7)) that "'vehicle of historic interest' means any vehicle which fulfils all the following conditions : - It was manufactured at least 30 years ago, - It is maintained by use of replacement parts which reproduce the historic components of the vehicle; - It has not sustained any change in the technical characteristics of its main components such as engine, brakes, steering or suspension and - It has not been changed in its appearance;" This will effectively ban historic cars from the roads. Like its predecessor (Directive 2009/40/EC) the Regulation enforces the "Vehicle-Type Approval" requirements, issued by the United Nations Organisation. The Regulation also delegates, to the EU-Commission, the ability "to adopt acts" and to exercise "implementing-powers", to modify the Regulation further, at the EU-Commission's own discretion (Art.18) and requires that test-results, from all EU-states, be collected centrally (Art. 14) UKIP will, of course, oppose this regulation in every way possible. Unfortunately, the opposition mounted by UKIP's 13 members at the EU's "parliament" is rarely supported by more than 60 of the other 740 members, and indeed, the Parliament has rejected only two of the tens-of-thousands of proposals, which the EU-Commission has made this century. The UK-government could refuse to implement this particular Regulation, because "vehicle-testing", surprisingly enough, is - as the Regulation puts it - "a sovereign matter"; but the chances of our pro-EU government doing that are, I would think, nil. It seems most unlikely that this Regulation will not become law, whereupon the only way to repeal it will be to repeal the European Communities Act, which is the basis of all EU-authority in the UK. The repeal of this Act is UKIP's central aim. Yours sincerely William Dartmouth The man seems to have grasped the nub of the issue. Update - just got a holding letter (from a human!) from the MP.

I've done 4,500 miles in my 200di (series) this last year - 3 trips to Ireland and one to the highlands. I'm putting the turbo back on as I need the extra HP when towing, but other than that, it's been great. Mind you, I changed all service items when I did, recon injectors, and pump, new frost plugs, new seals, new timing belt etc. But once the engine has good compression and good oil pressure it should keep going for a long time if serviced properly. G.

Very sensitive to overheating, these K series engines, or so I'm told. If you've fixed the rad and you keep a hawk eye on the levels and the gauge, then you should be fine.

Snips? G.

in gear clutch down, with no engine noise. G.

How does the 6 compare with the R380? Stronger? Higher top speed? Lower 1st gear?

Find a hill and switch off the engine!

Ah, yes, that's a problem. I'd do some work on it myself, but as I've three pairs of alloy tops in the shed waiting to be fitted, it's not so much of an issue for me. G.