Sunbeam

Problem with the cert situation is some certifiers are gc’s, however there are some “C” s too and if they feel like making your life miserable they will. My colleague is dealing with a re-vin of a Land Rover which has a holden motor in it from way back so cert is required. How would you feel rocking up to the cert place of business and having the guy say shit like “I fucken hate pommy shit” and “go get the brakes rebuilt by xyz company. It’ll still fail the brake test though harharhar!” There isn’t an ombudsman for this industry is there?

27 minutes ago, Nominal said:

Did you know QLD has no regular roadworthy inspections? How can it be that the fatality rate there is lower than in NZ?

 

 

 

Canada also has nothing like a WOF. Only time your car ever gets inspection is when you sell it. You’re still responsible for keeping it roadworthy as the cops can throw the book at you if they find your car has bald tyres etc. saw some real flintstone mobiles over there. Also, vanishingly small number of accidents attributed to the state of the car.

1 hour ago, GregT said:

He's north of Rangiora - Ashley. Drop-ins by arrangement. I've been there a few times and he's a GC.

That’s 5 minutes from me. I’ll attempt contact 

Tank isn’t locked. It has a wee dent in it but not bad. Goodparts doesn’t say where they are on the website. Do they discourage drop-ins?

Going to need some bits and bobs for the kdx. Gearbox fill plug snapped off just below the case so need to extract the broken threaded part. Also need a fork leg guard and it has a steel tank with lockable cap?! Must have been pilfered from a kmx perhaps? Any good outfits supply for these other than the stealers? Seems to go very well with a good supply of crisp nangs. Desperate for a good clean and a service though. 

@tortron is right on the money. After chiseling the caked filth off, behold

a repair for want of a better word, of some carnage. I took the stator cover off and a section of gasket was missing too. I’ve put it back on with a generous (cringe) rtv gasket. It looks like the P.O. attempted to deal with the gasket leak by applying copious JB weld to the outside. We shall see how it goes.

Gold anodised wheels no less. Look lush as. Good to know there’s commonality with the farm bikes. Interesting about the headlight. I’ll post a pic when I’m home next.

You sick fool. Respect.

Bring it. We don’t need more 2.5 tonne bloat boxes.

I have a 1986 DR200 I got for $0.00. It’s complete and for its age the plastics etc are tidy and unmolested. I’ve had it running and it sounds ok. There was some glitter in the oil by the looks. Brakes, suspension are all chooched. Is it worth spending a dime on these old things? Could easily hit $1k in bits and bobs without even looking at the motor or rear shock. Engine leaks oil profusely and may have a hairline crack in the bottom of the case, dunno. @tortron you’re the expert on these?

Try acetone with the atf. Otherwise take the crank out and bash the pistons with a steel drift. Wood absorbs too much power from the hammer. Sounds brutal, but the pistons and bores are already rooted anyway at this point. It’s a tractor engine so the marks should bore out for new oversized pistons with meat to spare. I had to use the agro method on a Fiat block to get a piston out. Moved pretty quick once the wooden drift was abandoned and didn’t even break a ring in the end. 

Thanks! 

I can confirm  BMW M57 is the shiz. Bone stock is 220hp and 500nm. Almost zero issues with mine in an old X5 with 375,000km. A starter motor and one injector in it’s whole life. I would shudder at swapping it into something else though as they are very electrical, which is not my jam at all. Land Rover peeps are routinely doing it in the UK though.

I personally don’t like doing this on slip joints but beggars can’t be choosers.

Also I have new rubber hangers so I thought I’d accelerate the stretching process. Yes, that’s an old battery..

12 minutes ago, Alfashark said:

Further semi-EV news, the '23 Prius is a genuinely good looking car - As far as modern appliances go.

Would happily hoon one.

Agreed. Second hand / parallel imports only though. Chyoda isn’t selling them here. However they will sell you a Yaris cross ew I just threw up in my mouth a bit.

6 hours ago, kws said:

They're excellent when used properly and aren't shitty high km worn out imports... That's his own fault.

When used a certain way, yes they’re brilliant. I got the old man into an eclipse cross phev and he loves it but he has the perfect use case in where 90% of travel is within the battery’s capacity so he’s winning. People using PHEVS for long trips are getting shafted imho. I groaned inwardly when the RUC for EV/PHEV was announced not because it wasn’t needed - it bloody well is, but it really needs to be all vehicles at the same rate (in weight classes). I understand this is the ultimate aim, but in the meantime I feel the scheme advantages HEV owners and dumps on PHEV owners. Example: going through my fuelly app and seeing what the Toyota Aqua cost me per km is the same as what my EV costs me (maintenance notwithstanding) My mate with a new model Outlander PHEV is going to be taking an unlubricated pineapple every time he drives up to the family farm. Whew that sounds like a rant.

2 hours ago, locost_bryan said:

Apart from Bart's lawn of despair, would many "amateurs" buy a lot of petrol for lawnmowing and chainsaws?

Yep. Me in spring about 20 litres a week, which I consider a lot.

Crikey!

Did a bit more today between farm chores and ferrying kids around (to be fair it was for dirt drift karting which I enjoyed as much or more than the kids). First job was to grind off the bottom tacks so I could tweak the end of the pipe down a bit

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Then it was time to trim and hang the rest. This took a few goes. Main pipe section is ok

Over the diff is good:

The rear “muffler” hangs pretty good too, but could do with hanging a few mm lower which is just a small adjustment on the clamp

It’s the bit where the front pipe should slip into the first muffler that needs a tweak:

It surprises me how much just increasing the diameter of the pipe affects ground clearance. I have 105mm under the front of the first muffler. This is now the lowest point on the car. Also, the hand brake cable is quite close to the pipe- the bare steel bit, not the rubber sheath which will limit my ability to lift the muffler for more ground clearance. Is there a minimum clearance for cables that I need to be cognisant of for WOFs?

Pop the cam cover off and check for sludge. SR 18/20 heads sold like hotcakes at the wreckers I worked for 20 years ago due to rooted cams from no lube