Young Thrash Driver

No need to do an engine swap, you can get one ready to go here.

Ugh kids is why coffee stopped being effective

Are you finding your morning coffee doesn't wake you up any more? Want more punch from your cup of joe? Switch to drinking it on an empty stomach before 5am... yeeowww!!!

You should probably just leaf it alone Sorry

Just idle curiosity- I am aware a lot of newer cars brought in ex Japan have Japan specific buttons here and there

Does the Leaf also have Japanese language on interior buttons?

trademe, they are known as an ELM327

All of it! INPA, SSS Progman, NCS Expert, DIS, EDIABAS, the TIS... there's a whole fruit salad of abbreviations Very kind of you to offer but I am in the Bay of Plenty

When your shiny new diagnostic software won't install because the CD was damaged in the mail. Sigh... I hope the 10GBP for downloadable software isn't throwing good money after bad

Wow that dude is awesome, I like the mods he has done

Yeah, it's nearly as far away as Aucklanders see the rest of the country as being

Bummer, we will all miss the large amount to time you put into helping us out. Thanks.

I don't think I am missing the point. You are free to replace your own airbags. The rest of us are free to do the same. If we are worried about our vehicles safety, or safety systems, we are free to buy a newer better engineered vehicle. You cannot retrofit newer airbag technology to an older vehicle. In your 1984 example any "new" airbag would be old stock (unless you want to restart manufacture of old obsolete airbag technology) and so would be past your supposed age related safety point. If it became known that "old" airbags would be unlikely to work, despite passing their self check whenever the vehicle is started (per WOF requirement), then maybe your point is valid. Until then, the 1984 airbag is considered to meet todays requirements as it is assumed to be totally functional, and because it was fit for purpose when it was manufactured- note this is in line with the rationale that allows classic cars on our roads, despite no crumple zones, headrests, seatbelts, collapsing steering columns, traction control... or airbags.

Airbags will not be retro-fittable to cars not already designed for it though. My old Lancer GSR had an airbag, many other Lancers of the same generation had none but fitting an airbag to them wouldn't require anywhere near the expenditure/effort as fitting one to say my father in laws Capri. Remember not all old cars were or are required to be retro fitted with seatbelts.

Way off topic now, but interestingly this has long been an issue in the aviation industry, to the point fake parts were found on Air Force One. Richard seems to be looking for a government led solution (legislation?) for the problem of aging airbags, this is a nice idea but ignores the many cars out there without airbags and no real focus on safety in their design, are all the old Chevs Caddys and Fords going to be declared unroadworthy? I feel that as modern cars tend to have a more finite shelf life, the problem of ageing airbags isn't really worth worrying about- and like brake fluid, while not mandated in law to be looked after, the vehicles owner is welcome to buy new airbags as they age. Really, the discussion is pointless until someone can prove "old" airbags are somehow dangerous/ won't function correctly, all that has been presented so far is speculation they may not work. In the pharmaceutical industry, drugs are tested for efficacy after a certain shelf life and this is what dictates the "best before" date, ie Panadol will still work when it has expired, but the manufacturer has not tested it past however many years so they cannot guarantee it will work, thus they advise you to throw it away. Who can say the same principle isn't being applied here.

I ended up getting one of the blue, K-line cables with an additional OBD adapter from BCcables. It arrived yesterday so I am hoping to work on setting it up over the following week. It took just over two weeks to ship from the UK, if anyone is interested.

Per the large rain dump we just had, what gooey stuff do people use to reseal the vapour barriers in their E39 doors?

@3pedals may have some anecdotal (or even actual) evidence in the area of airbags not functioning due to age

pre children Fathers Day gift to yourself! @dirtydoogle

There is nothing to stop you putting new airbags in your car, is there Richard?

The life expectancy of a fighter pilot was greater than any Stuka pilot, that's for sure. As for life expectancy... there was a war on. If you were going to die it may as well be in some cutting edge contraption like a stressed skin low wing monoplane!

I have always been curious, what does the H stand for? Looks like you'd need to be the good Lord to get this thing going, too...

Stuka Pilot is on the "to read" list, I am slowly working my way through all the books by wartime pilots I can find. I wish my eyes had been good enough to do something like it for a job!

Me too! I downloaded it. I felt guilty as it was such an awesome read so I made a donation to The Missing Wingman trust. He is a motivational speaker amongst other things now, there are videos of him speaking on Youtube which are also pretty incredible

I recently read Sled Driver by Brian Shul, seeing a Blackbird would be very cool