Chris Wilson

OK thanks for checking. Still looking!!

OK, great, thanks. Justin now replied to.

Available still, one just went to a second buyer in the US very recently, I will reply personally tomorrow, thanks.

Cut it out and refabricate. Many race cars in higher end formulae have to have various parts crack tested regularly. These bits are often very expensive and hard to source, or require jigs making to recreate them. Catching stuff before it fails altogether can save a lot of money.Repairing them or making a jig or accurately measuring from a cracked but otherwise intact part is far easier than looking to recreate a now mangled bit of metal, sometimes crack testing even saves lives. Having said that the FIA have an ongoing issue with late formula cars that use carbon fibre parts whch can fail catastrophically with no warning, with nothing showing amiss on an X-ray. An elderly X-Ray machine is also very useful for reverse engineering potted electrical stuff. In any case, anything dangerous running on 50kV plus is just cool to have

Yes, race car driveshafts and wishbones, gears, gear shafts, flywheels, those sort of things. Not as my mate suggested to check drugs were adequately packed to avoid airport interception....

I have an optical medical one, but it's fragile and the power supply (two big halogen bulbs and a hefty transformer in a steel case) weighs a ton and if it's knocked when on a bulb often goes. But it will focus and has a 45 degree head so I can see piston tops or valves and seats, and it will focus over a fair range. I would imagine some of the better digital ones are much easier to use and tougher these days. What I *DO* want is an X-Ray machine and my pal who is a vet is getting rid of their old one that's in storage. He's a bit worried about the `elf n safety issues so it may have to be sold as parts (with a fag packet re-assembly manual) I know it still works as he's X-Rayed me a couple of times when queuing at accident and emergency didn't appeal!

I ask because they have a TT propshaft in with worn out middle sliding splines and fixing this would entail making virtually a complete new shaft with an available sliding spline arrangement usable with the stock centre support arrangement. They are not sure if it's even economically viable to do this. Thanks.

There you go, spend a fiver to spend 2K on fixing stuff you would have been better ignorant of

With endoscopes now so cheap even for half competent ones you can cause yourself much angst for little money by peering into box sections through grommet holes.

My mappers both use electronic stethoscopes bolted near the top of the block, inlet side to verify actual det and compare to the graph from the sensor(s). They then map according to the sensors once they know they work and when they work. You need to force it to knock (carefully) to know things are seeing real knock. That needs care and experience. MOTEC have videos of knock sensor usage. Nice work there good luck!

You need to undo the two 12mm hex nuts on the studs to remove the sensor. You really need a scope to make sense of the O2 sensors or on a VVTi a scan tool that will read the early OBD2 data. I use a Carman Scan, not many will read them. To be honest once you wrestled the thing off you might as well just renew it. Forget all the soak in vinegar crap...

Taste the water, if it tastes very sweet it's engine coolant and the matrix is dead. Don't let a dog in the car they will lap it up and it's a killer, maybe to a cat, too. The air con can only produce water externally when in use and the water from the heat exchanger defrosts, a drain should take ot outside the car. the air con uses no water INTERNALLY. Often the water valve is sticking check everything it's not a job to tackle twice....

You can get (although hard to find) a double length banjo bolt for the fuel filter and tap off there or use it as a fuel pressure gauge point. Many aftermarket FPR's are total junk, be wary!

Check the ALT-S fuse in the under bonnet fuse box. Check the wires CAREFULLY where they leave the alternator plug. If neither of these are broken I would suspect the alternator itself.

I may be interested in the propshaft but feel the price is a bit heavy. If we reached an agreement would you be happy if my propshaft people were to examine it? Thanks.

I need a complete twin turbo manual six speed or automatic propshaft in good condition. There must be no wear on the centre sliding spline coupling. Can have collected on a given weekday by DPD on receipt of payment. Thanks. Please e-mail me direct at [email protected]

Jag XJS has to the easiest matrix to change. Glove box liner out (six screws) disconnect hoses, remove heater box end cap (two screws) pull old matrix out, push new one in, replace cap, replace hoses, refit liner, refill and bleed coolant 30 minutes tops... Some Mercedes have two matrices, buried totally behind the dash, one each side, depending on model they make the MKIV Supra look like a walk in the park... madness, these things should be easy to change, like a main coolant.radiator. Renault V6 GTA's are terrible, too. Must post photo of the old matrix from a MKIV I did quite recently.

Well, it's a LOT of work to change them, especially if the car has a lot of aftermarket wiring behind the dash that is not documented... (you know who you are, lol). So it makes sense to use a decent matrix.

I have a sample one here at £350 plus VAT, next ones are £500 or more, they are tricky to make due to the size of the end tanks, being double flow, and needing bespoke pipe connectors.Plus the cores are very efficient and again, bespoke. But if you like heat and live in Scandinavia....

Yes, but they are expensive I'm afraid. Very expensive...

Have to give my local Toyota people a telling off, unless these are things Toyota have started to re manufacture. Good news though, they are something that would be hard to recreate.

Most direct acting overhead cam, and soe indirect acting use hydraulic buckets for long term quiet running and less maintenance. the shimless bucket4 pot Toyotas went that way as they turned a LOT of revs, plus there may be some assembly cost savings with them.Most race engines that haven't got pneumatic valves use shim under bucket (tiny top hat shims that are very light). Older Vauxhall 4 pots used tapered Allen screw adjustable buckets, which seemed reliable and made valve lash adjustment quick and easy. They never caught on, possibly cost or weight being the issue. What I sometimes do is buy only thick shims and surface grind down the side that sits in the tappet, or grind the valve stem tips to give correct clearance without a vast and expensive inventory of shims. You can do the same with shimless, buy only thick ones and change clearance with valve stem tip grinding. You MUST be ultra careful not to take too much off the valve tips, firstly to avoid getting through the hardening and secondly to make sure there's no interference with the retainer collets or the bucket to head. I thought only the Beams 4 pot Toyota (similar to the MR2 engines, but Ti rods and trickery within) used shimless buckets but maybe the late 2S-GTE used them, too? I know the Beams shimless buckets fit the 2JZ lumps The only real point in using shimless is on 2JZ's that turn huge revs, where valve train oscillation or bounce can cause the relatively heavy shims to get flicked out. Same with Ti retainers and top hats, Ti galls on steel and can cause issues, Serious race engines treat them as throw away at rebuild time..

AFAIK they have been discontinued for a while and making new ones is far from trivial due to needing an accurate inverse flare where they O ring on to the cores. Not to mention tight bends over very short distances. I'll post a photo of the last heater matrix I changed after hack sawing off an end tank. Talk about clogged up...

A snapped stock AB? Really? Never seen this, nor a stock road spring. Office chair material aftermarket ARB's? Several.

Very, very sad to get an e-mail telling me Rob of Liquidart has died, a true character who only quite recently lost his wife. I had no idea he was even poorly and I know many here will join me in a wish for such a nice fellow to rest in peace. Life can be very cruel. Not an e-mail I had expected to receive, another larger than life Supra enthusiast has shown our joint mortality, my sincerest condolences and sympathies to his family and friends everywhere.