Mark

You have a hammer the same size as a Mog? I think that would count as a BFH.. Also if Andy jiggling generates that much force, remind me to be in another county when you do this!!! Alternatly, make him sneeze - this always seems to generate a lot of force when it happens under a vehicle... the bridge of my nose will testify to this! Mark

Not sure on the safety side of my suggestion, but I have always found that applying both static and shock loading more effective than just shock loading to undo tight stuff... ie In your setup Al, I would be inclined to do something like attach the bar to the nut, and then a big ratchet strap between the other end ans something good and solid. Do the rat. strap up so it is applying a good static load to the bar, and then apply a shock load (ie jump on it, hit it with a BFH, open the speacialist magazine... etc). Mark

Good stuff is out there. Try searching on eBlag without any category restrictions (ie all categories) and make sure you search for mis spellings. I got my virtually brand new Butters 175A Single phase machine for £200 as it had been listed as a musical instrument! Also, if you go and look at a machine that has little interest on eBlag, wave cash under their nose, and they will often sell it there and then, and kill off the auction.

Makes a change from being stuck behind a JCB doing 20mph! Mark

I would guess it is more a question of know what the material under the galvanising is. The glav won't change it, but you need to make sure you are using the right grade steel to start with. Mark

The sykes pickavent type is really the best. heres one on eBlag: Brake pipe flaring tool (There appears to be two tools in the photo. The bit you need is on the left. The other bits on the right look like another flaring tool of the cheaper variety...) They are usally kinda above your price range, but if you are lucky you might find a second hand one for your budget. I bought a very good copy of the sykes version (pretty much identical) brand new for about £100 and it is excellent. Mark edit: heres another one on eBay

Yep, the user 'ashtrans' is actually Dave Ashcroft, of the afore mentioned ascroft transmissions in real life. Who'd have thought it eh? Tyres? Youe could spend both of your spare two weeks just reading about them on here!!! Have a quick search and see what you can find! Mark

You could go soft top -that would remove a chunk of weight, and also bring your CoG down. Am running a sumo trackrod and drag-link after bending my standard track rod first time out - a normal steering guard wouldn't have helped. Not bent them as yet and I have no intention of adding a steering guard. Mark

I have the Koken catalogue at home. They do some very nice socketry and accessories. Can't help immediatly though. Edit to say I found something on the ko-ken website : ko-ken Go to the Catalogue, click on Hand Sockets > 1"(25.4mm)sq. > Handles & Accessories > Handles and you should be prestened with this at the bottom of the page: I belive Difflock are dealers for koken tools, as that i where my catalogue came from. I daren't think about the price though..... Mark

Sounds to like there is just a lot of carp in the drum. I would take the drum off, give the inside a good clean and refit, and readjust the brakes. The damp is probably causing the surface of the drum to rust slightly, at which point the rubbish has enough meterial to gunge up the pads and cause them to bind. Applying the brakes the first time will clean off the rust on the drum surface, so you don't get it again until it's been wet ans standing for a while. It is definatly worth having the drums off, and giving them a good wire brush round the inside anyway. Cheers Mark

Moved to the Int forum, as it will benefit from a wider audience. A bit OT for Tools and Fab too... Personally I would stick with the manual with a 200TDI for reasons already stated. I have also been known to drive a 300TDI disco, and found it utterly underwhelming. The V8 will benefit more from the auto as it has more power to spare, and dosen't have the same engine braking charactersistcs as the deisel. Cheers Mark

Top work!!

I don't have one, and probably ought to, so I would buy an lr4x4 one... Mark

Don't discount the Halfrauds stuff. Thier pro range of boxes are excellent value. The black ones are very nice, but the bigger red ones are still very good. Don't get confused with some of the cheaper ones in there these days, they seem to have started stocking some of the really carp ones, but their Halfords badged ones are really very good value. I have two, and they get used well. Wait for thier sale and they are often a third off... Snp on would be very nice, but for a weekend mechanic I don't see how you can justify the expense - and belive me I can uusually justify (at least to myself) when it comes to tools! Mark

On the Lightweight I had a NATO, Front and Rear: On the Disco I now have the NATO hitch attached to the bumper. Sticks out a bit, and unless it's swivelled sideways, it catches on the door, but you really cant beat them. Don't have a picture of it at the moment. For the wales trip, I had a loop welded to the top plate of a tow hitch, and attached in the same way. It worked, and got used a couple of times, but the nato is a better solution. Mark

Same here - HX4700 with a Compact flash GPS - means I can take it out of the car and use as a handheld gps too.

I like that Idea. Whilst I doubt I would contribute much to the competetive part of the team (other than maybe as a ground anchor), I would be interested in marshalling. Cheers Mark

Seatbelt mounts are both rivetted and bolted. They bolt down (Torx head bolts) to brackets under the floor that tie back to the chassis, but they also have a single rivet into to the floor, presumably to stop them spinning around. Cheers Mark

Yep that is the site I used before I got into doing mine. Mine was sooooo far beyond that in terms of corrosion though!

Mark, I did this job in february and it is a bugger when you have as little amount of floor left as I had! In answer to the question, my enquireies with paddocks turned up the correct set of parts. The Flat floor strengtheners are ASR1187 and despite the parts catalogue saying TA onwards it is lying. You need both of the flat ones, which are the ASR1187 parts, and presumably you need the floor panel as well? I needed all the side panels too, but rather than pay for the repair sections (£35 a side ) I made up the sections I needed from some flat plate and some lengths that I had folded - a bit more work, but much cheaper. I wish I had teken pictures now, but I was working damn hard ready to get it done ready for the forum trip to wales. Hope that helps. Mark

I would say that for a vehicle that spends most of it's life on the road, then the gaiters are a good idea - keeping a lot of the carp off the swivel is a good thing. However, for a predominantly off road motor, then they will cause problems as they will hold onto the rubbish - especially the rubber variety. Personally I wouldn't consider the rubber ones, and have the leather ones fitted to my IIa. </2p> Mark

I'm with Si - I have an elcheapo variable solar powered one from eBlag which even shipped from the states worked out cheaper then the same helmet from a uk seller - about £30. Works for me, and has done for a couple of years now. Mark

I believe models like the Garmin Nuvi can have other sofware loaded on to them via the smart card, and as such could run tom tom or memory map. I am afraid I do not know much more than that about them, personally I use a PDA with Tom Tom for road navigation and memory map for offroad work. Mark

Two Phase??? Never played with one of those... I once made a 4 Phase box, but you really don't want to know about that! Mark

woohoo! I shall consider myself brown-nosed... pm on it's way... Mark