gjm

Unfortunately for my wallet, I'm far too nice! Even the freebie E36 bar I got some time ago I gave away! (Albeit in exchange for the recipient having a look at another car for me.)

There's a guy in Christchurch who I know had one removed from a Touring. I'd considered it, but shipping put me off. You're hardly next door to him, but you are a lot closer than I am! His name is Dan Cain, he runs Veloce Wrecking, and his number is 022 4444 297. [email protected] No idea if he still has it available, but perhaps worth a try?

The steering wheel on our 320d needs attention - we've pretty much worn it out. However, I suspet a CSL anything is likely to be more than we'll pay. But price... Find out what a new component would cost, and divde by two. Review the figure you get a decide if you as a seller like it, then ask yourself if you would pay it. If you wouldn't pay it, there's a good chance others might feel the same.

A good-looking gold PFL E65 being driven by an at least equally good-looking young blonde lady, heading south on SH1 as far as the TK turning, where I started to wonder if I was being followed! turns out the owner lives just up the road from us. Wouldn't normally give them a second look (however nice they are) but this one had the drivers window a little down. Struck me as a trifle unusual - luxury car with aircon being driven on a hot day with a window open?! I'll keep an eye out.

Apparently there have been further 'production issues' with the new TG, pushing release back by (yet another) couple of weeks. And, further 'differences' with the new head host of the show. It seems Chris Evans, one-time famous ginger person and husband to one-time Dr Who girl, Billie Piper, argued against hiring Matt Le Blanc because MLB "is a has-been." Executive producer Lisa Clark has quit after Evans insisted on last minutes changes in content and direction. Lisa Clark was also (coincidentally?) the person who suggested MLB should join the show. Clark and Evans have been at loggerheads for some time. A script editor quit after clashing with Evans, and Evans himself threatened to walk claiming he was being micro-managed. Suspicions are Evans thought he could 'be' Top Gear, replacing the entire previous team and Andy Wilman who was pretty autonomous in his role as producer.

The Porsche 928 uses lightweight aluminum nuts. Very, very light indeed.

Arild had a thing for building non-standard 4x4s. From 1985 thru 1987 (pre the E30) he ran a very quick turbocharged 4x4 Lotus Sunbeam. I think this also had Xtrac running gear, so maybe it was swapped from the Sunbeam to the E30? There are suggestions the M10 in the E30 may have been one of the ex-Megatron units, but I think it was more of a home-grown engine built on an S14. Certainly the Sunbeam was largely a DIY job. The further it fades into history, the more powerful it gets! I recall mention of 'over' 700hp, but later stories tell of 850+ and how the tyres were bolted to the rims to stop them coming off (which is possible - several rallycross guys did this). From a review of the '88 Rallycross championship race at Brands Hatch: "... standing down by the wall at the bottom of the pits alongside the Cooper straight during that cold misty British GP meet, when Martinsen came off Hoppy's Drop and accelerated along Cooper Straight... Sideways through every gearchange, before having to scandie flick it the other way to negotiate the left through the gap to get onto the start line. My mate and I just looked at each other slack jawed and then burst out laughing....."

Just worked it out - that 6R4 is Will Gollop's car. Maybe the world's first (and only?) twin-turbo Metro 6R4. It made something north of 650bhp. Still no match for the power of an M10 in an E30, though!

Drivers who move into the right hand lane of a dual-carriageway for no reason whatsoever!

Double? The beauty of a crash box (at least, where a S2 is concerned) is you can change gear without using the clutch at all. I drove my '62 S2a from Oxford to Norwich (in the UK - 160 miles or so) with no clutch. Started out sweating at how hard it would be, got to Norwich with no problems and didn't bother sorting it for 3 weeks. Setting off is the only difficult bit. This is the one I know of. Very seriously tempted, but I'm almost as big a wuss - I want a roof for when it rains.

Actually, no. I was going to say that's not a S2a, but (of course) it is. I suspect only LR Series aficionados will understand!

I know where there is a SWB 2a with a SBC and 4-speed manual...?

Wuss!

It really doesn't take much water to make and oil look sad. You can find emulsion under an oil filler cap on a cold morning on some cars, where condensation has built up enough to mix with a little oil. Presumably the underside of the oil filler cap is just showing oil, particularly immediately after a drive?

Hmm. A swap with Ray looks a good bet. I'm keen, but my purse doesn't bulge that far. Doesn't bulge at all, actually.

Head gasket is a possible culprit. Any sign of coolant being passed through the exhaust? Exhaust fumes will be more like what you'd expect to see on a cold morning, and can smell sweet. (Sniff your tailpipe! )

There is a fair bit, but the area that counts doesn't vary so much from rim to rim (within the bounds of having the same pcd).

The 6R4 is the only Metro you can get away with saying that about! 4wd, mid-engine 3-litre V6 making up to 410hp, normally aspirated. Lots got turbos for rallycross.

Aye. Forged rims are metallurgically a little different to cast ones. I took 6mm off the inside face of some AMG 18x8 et31 rims to make them and et37. The et31s rubbed on the front of my W124 but 6mm is all that's needed for free running under all conditions.

Me too! You can machine some rims a little to increase offset, for instance if clearance is an issue, but I'd not be considering taking 15mm off! In all seriousness, can you share the details of your conversation?

Sadly the diameters are a bit odd and don't match the normal 14", 15" and 16" sizes. Some people have been able to machine a rim down to a more widely recognised size. Coker were recently still making TRX tyres.

Can I claim for damage to my car (windscreen, paint damage, dents in bonnet) and motorbike (looks like I need a new oil cooler now), and a new visor for my motorbike helmet, given that damage was a direct result of poorly performed road repairs?

I can only think someone made a 'mistake' and resurfaced the wrong bit of road. On the way back this evening, I could see where whole sections are starting to peel clear of whatever is underneath. (Probably last year's 'new' surface.)

SH1 northbound between HD and Meremere. Again. The annual migration of the lesser-spotted working roadworker (working ones do exist, just haven't seen many lately) has reached Dragway Road. Part of the road southbound from there towards Meremere has been lightly scraped, had some black goo squirted on it, and a couple of lorries full of chippings have dropped their loads while driving around. Effect: disrupt traffic to change the road surface. (More on that in a moment.) A friend has lost another windscreen as a result, our 320d has another chip out of the windscreen and less paint on the bonnet. I need a new visor for my motorcycle helmet after being peppered with chippings, and the bike's headlight lens has been chipped... This happened the day after the road re-opened completely, and along the piece of untouched road immediately after the "roadworks" where loose chippings had spread from the working area to road surface that escaped being 'repaired.' Change the road surface? Yup. They've 'repaired' the bit that didn't actually need repairing - the northbound carriageway north of Dragway Road heading towards Meremere. The northbound carriageway approaching Dragway Road from Hampton Downs is an absolute disaster area, and has been for some time. It is badly rutted in places with large areas of surface completely missing. There are potholes, and there are areas where the road surface has lifted away and now moves when you drive over it. Add to that the crap being sprayed around by cars and lorries driving over it, and it's like hell week on the highways for a motorcyclist. Road bike? Enduro is more like it. It's so reassuring that they'll be back to do it all again next year. And the year after. And the year after that...

The 320d has a WoF. I had A.N.Other person replace the front wheel bearings for me, but have also replaced both lower control arms (one needed doing - do both) and both lower control arm rear mounts (may as well, although they weren't too bad). Also replaced the brake sensor cable as fitted to the right rear caliper. Last time I did it I obviously left a little too much slack and it wore completely through when (probably) touching the rim. That won't happen again. Next up - steering rack gaiter(s). One scraped through the WoF, but it will be replaced ASAP.