Mike_Mac

You should only be able to plug the right connector into the correct socket - they're all designed individually plus the connectors naturally fall into place next to the right socket.

Allows for gradual escalation of threat dear boy!! Back in those days we were only peacekeeping. Not like now!

Signed - we're taking over from 16 AA Bde later this year and I'd certainly want to know the lads we're certain to be sending back are properly looked after.

Agreed and it wasn't a go at you at all - just the fact that it would take a very ballsy person to take that type of bloke on unarmed rather than just take the easy self-preserving option - panic and run ASAP. In a crowded bus you do have more options to grab someone, but you also have no opportunity to create space if you have to - which means if it goes wrong you're stuffed. My only genuine experience with a knife-armed person was fine - but then again I had an assault rifle and was able to move back and make ready, so he very quickly put it away again and was arrested!

Have you ever tried to take down someone with a knife - especially a large 'combat' style one? To do it properly you would need to be very used to working with the other people involved - not a load of strangers on a bus - I wouldn't step forward first unless I was sure his back was turned. Add to that the fact that the guy appeared to be in a highly agitated 'frenzy'? One of the first things to learn about tackling someone with a knife is that they are holding the only safe bit. You will get cut up taking them on - generally very badly unless you can totally immobilise the knife arm immediately, or have a very sturdy leather jacket etc that you can wrap around your arm to try and take the force out of it. That's including if you are skilled in some form of martial arts, unless you too have a knife and even that's no guarantee. I think what they did was brave enough - would you want to be the bloke who this guy remembers held the door shut on him when/if he gets out?

If you are still interested I know of an absolutely genuine mint white untouched auto TT in East Devon. Off the top of my head it's got UK Alloys, Brakes and bonnet and it's only done around 50K miles (IIRC) and is well within your budget. It's owned by the mechanic who works on my TT and he's a thoroughly sound bloke, as well as being very picky. If you're interested then I'll PM you my number and I can give you the full spec and ask him if he's still wanting to sell?

See below. You'll still need to have a converter for it to be accurate, but it gives the car a UK look and allows you to get rid of the 112 mph faces that some companies fit on the cheap without having to remove your speedo needle. This one's needle has been properly re-attached and is accurate. I wa running it in my car for the last year until I managed to get hold of a complete UK speedo, which already has a Uk face (funnily enough!) I paid around £30 delivered for that UK face and more for the complete UK speedo I replaced it with.

The lack of shadows gives it away, but it's a really good idea.

I need to make room and clear some of the bits that are clogging my house up. For Sale is: 1. SpeedM8 speedo converter. Works in a similar fashion to the Thor unit. Cost me £65. Comes with instructions - £20[ - SOLD 2. J-Spec Speedo with UK dial face. Ideal to fit in place of yours for a fully UK spec look. - £15. - SOLD 3. UK spec instrument cluster. Comes with Rev counter, black plastic surround and perspex dial cover but no speedo dial and the fuel gauge has no dial face or needles. worth more than a fiver just considering the bulbs that come with it. - £5. - SOLD 4. Folding mirror switch. - £5. 5. Mirror adjustment switch. - £5. 6. Lower Dash Panel (under the steering wheel) with hole for fog light switch. - £2. 7. Rear boot blind restrainer x 2. - £2. All items do not include postage. Once I have your address I'll let you know exactly how much it is and add that to the total. If using Paypal then add 4% on top of that as well. Please note I'll be away and uncontactable from Monday through 'till ~ 1st Aug, so I may be a bit late in getting back to you.

I've just rebuilt my AMD based PC and updated to SP3 while re-installing all my programs - no problems here with anything.

But then again these will be the same people that will think that Fast 'n' Furious was 'well Wikid, innit!' eleventy1111 etc. I'd have taken it as a compliment TBH.

Then Politicians (don't mind which party - I can't tell the difference anymore!)

I totally agree with you. It'll get to the point when commanders on the ground (who have enough on their plate) are more concerned about conducting a Risk Assessment rather than planning the conduct of an Op.

Soldiers and others in the forces are always going to buy and use their own kit - even when what is provided is good enough. This is because the commercial kit is sometimes better than good enough (mainly boots etc), because of personal choice and what you prefer (webbing, sleeping bags etc) and sometimes because it looks 'well Ally'. With those two from 29 that were killed I will say this - Firstly Osprey is a sweaty bastard to wear in the desert and most of the lads only wear it when going out on the ground - not necessarily when in a Sangar, which has a lot of force protection. Secondly - the whole Para helmet thing has been going on for ages. Paras and others who have them use them in place of the combat helmet, which is heavier. This is despite the fact that Para helmets offer little ballistic protection and are designed to be worn during a drop, then discarded on landing and replaced with the combat helmet. Standing Orders for states of dress and protection try to balance risk vs comfort and to claim that it is the hierarchy's responsibility to ensure that everyone is wearing the right kit at the right time at all times is a load of bollocks. If you see someone blatantly taking the piss then yes - you pick them up for it, but largely it is left down to personal choice with most things, as the lads are big and ugly enough to look out for themselves. Deploying on Ops is an adult environment and the Taliban, funnily enough, do not follow H&S guidelines. Everything you do out there is a compromise between functionality and safety. You could cover a bloke in armour until he falls over, but there will always be something that can kill him. Therefore, to try and attach blame at all times in a shooting war is crap. The people conducting these holier than thou enquiries need to realise that sometimes it's down to fact that the other side play to win as well and there's fuck all you can do about it. In War people will die. All you can do is make sure it's as difficult as possible for the other side to do it easily.

It is also being sold for parts after an accident (by Keron) and the back bumper was knackered and only good for scrap anyway. So all those on the 'Tool/Plonker' bandwagon can get off now - it's not going anywhere.

PART 2/2 12. Insert a bulb into the blank hole and attach your converted symbol strip. See 005 and 005A. I created a symbol strip by using one from an old Celica dash I had and cutting it to fit. I also had a bespoke one made by Thor in powder coated steel, so the choice is yours. both are shown in the picture. 13. Now you need to supply the positive feed to the bulb, using the already in place FEED wire. The pictures at 006 and 007 show where you need to insert the bare wire into the connector. 14. Now you need to wire up the switch. The wiring diagram shows what the various pins on the switch control. The Positive and Negative pins connect to the original RED and BLACK wires. The second spliced RED wire goes to the backlight pin and the original FEED for the fog light conversion connects to the feed pin. I used very small, insulated female spade connectors on each wire to connect them to the pins and this worked very well. See 008. 15. This should leave you with a UK fog switch that is backlit when the headlights are on, sends a live feed to the foglights at the back and the bulb on the dash simultaneously when the switch is turned on, but only if the headlights are on first. 16. Now you need to test it all and then work your way through everything making connections good, insulating them and ensuring the wires are routed clear of obstructions. JOB DONE This was typed up by me thinking through it in my office, so there may be mistakes. If so then PM me and I'll put them right.

PART 1/2 Right! Now that I've had a chance to get some pictures I can post up a quick guide to how I did it. This should leave you with a working bulb blown warning light, two brake lights that can be used as rear fogs, connected to a UK switch mounted on the dash and a proper illuminated rear fog symbol on the RHS warning light strip. All connections should be soldered and then insulated. I stripped my insulation off to take these pictures, just before anyone picks me up for bare wires! I would suggest that at the same time you re-solder the RHS warning light panel's connections, as they will probably be brittle by now and the extra movement won't do them any favours. The steps below assume you have no rear fog light wiring at all. If you do then join in where suitable. Also I'm not saying that how my wires are connected up is the best way. I worked within what the original coverter had put in (badly). I will explain as I go why I have used the connections I have. REQUIRED Screwdriver(s). Soldering iron. Solder. 3-5 different colour wires (must have red and black + 1 other at least). Bullet/spade/ring connectors. Crimping tool. Insulating tape/heatshrink and heat gun. UK fog switch. RHS dash panel with blank for switch. Converted RHS warning symbol strip. Sharp knife and file (Leatherman is ideal) Spare warning light bulb. PROCEDURE 1. Strip out dash panels. 2. Remove RHS warning light block. [see Wiring Diagram and pictures for a visual aid to the next steps] 3. Attach RED wire to positive feed of the gearlever backlight. See 001. this gives you a positive feed that is only active when the headlights are on. 4. Attach BLACK wire to earth (I used a screw into the transmission tunnel and a ring connector). See 002. 5. Feed RED and BLACK wires behind dash and leave them behind where the UK switch will be mounted. 6. T off wires from both RED and BLACK wires about 5 cm back from the switch end. The new RED wire needs to match the length of the original and the new BLACK needs enough length to comfortably reach the warning light panel. For ease of identification this is where you can use other colours for the Teed wires, but the choice is yours. 7. Run another wire (not red/black) from the boot (leave plenty of slack) through to behind the RHS panel, using the trim to conceal it. This is the wire that will FEED the fog light conversion at the back and, once connected to the switch, it will only be live when both the switch and the headlights are on. 8. Once you've done this T another wire from the switch end of the FEED wire and run it to behind the RHS warning panel next to the second BLACK one. This will provide the positive feed and the BLACK will provide the negative feed to the bulb we are going to install, which will only activate when both the switch and the headlights are on. 9. Now you have a FEED wire installed you can carry out the fog light conversion. Ensure you use the instructions with resistors in the circuit, so that the bulb blown warning still works. See: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=80479&highlight=fog+light+conversion (Cheers PixelFill BTW!) 10. Now you need to strip the warning light block (resolder the connections while it's apart). You are going to install the fog indicator in the furthest right blank slot. Due to the way the rest of the panel is earthed you will need to CAREFULLY strip the copper contact strip from the negative side of the bulb hole and then attach a BLACK wire in its place. See 003. 11. Attach a connector to the bare end of this BLACK wire and a corresponding connector to the bare end of the Teed off BLACK wire that's waiting behind the block. You will need to carefully file a gap for the wire to pass through to avoid snagging the warning light block. See 004. This will allow you to connect the BLACK feed from the main wires to corresponding one at the back of the block. This extra connection will allow you to easily remove the top panel without disturbing the lower wires if necessary. TBC...

You're right - you do need a telltale light. I've already done this mod by using an existing blank bulb space on the RHS warning light strip with a specially made symbol strip that has a fog light symbol on it to cover it. The whole thing is connected so that it lights up when the switch is on only. The wiring needs to be a bit different, as the RHS symbols use a negative earth, but it's easily worked around. PM me if you want to know how and I can take you through it when I've got time at the weekend.

Any chance of a clip of how it sounds, as this will probably be what I'll get when I change my backbox.

Simplest job to do on pretty much any car. Massive benefits in terms of longevity, yet still people are too lazy/ignorant to do it. There are plenty of engine flushes around that'll remove built up crap from your engine. I've been using Wynns on my runaround car, which had taken similar treatment and it's economy has been getting better and better with each flush. You can get a petrol engine compatible one too, so I'd give that a go. Really shifts the crud.

Sorry for the long reply too - been away all week. I'll take it. Costs less than just a new O/D switch from Mr T! PM me your details and how much it'll cost to post and I'll Paypal you.

Final bump before the 'Bay.

Lower dash panel still up for grabs - looking for £10 posted. Anyone?

When you say auto lever complete do you mean with all the connectors for things like O/D, Manu, etc complete and not cut? Could you possibly post a couple of pictures and if it is complete like that I'll be happy to take it.