cletus

i would recommend using some different hubs to start with. sounds too hard to get it to work safely

not sure, i have heard a rumor hes packing it in as well and i spoke to alex gee today, he is going to be off for 6 weeks for an operation shiiiiit

will depend on the certifier as long as there is minimal material removed then i cant see a problem

if you are talking about re drilling te axles/hubs, just drill in between. will only work if the back of the hub is flat and doesnt have cast-in gussets or access holes to get to other bolts etc changing the wheel pcd is probably easier with pressed in inserts like above. arrow wheels do it

stink. i liked your truck.

yes. the plan was to get our own inspection premises sorted but that got put on the back burner when mark got suspended, as that halved our income, plus having to cover some of his work (main customer needs me in there pretty much every day, sometimes its 30 minutes, sometimes its 4 hours, and i dont know how long i have to be there till i get there) has screwed my booking system for 6 months, plus i am busy because of the shortage of certifiers. the main reason for needing 1D is over the years, more and more things have been re classified as having to be done by a 1d certifier. ie a ute with drop spindles didnt need 1D up till a couple of years ago

17mm single hex socket usually works on those if they are not too tight

that little radiator is probably the culprit.

well there you go i learned something today it doesnt change the actual spring rate, you are correct has a similar effect though. i have set up many sets of coil overs where the spring had a lot of preload and a stiff spring, and the car rides and handles badly, has zero droop etc. loosen the springs so you can turn them and set the height with the strut length, doesnt try to kill you going round a corner any more

cars with aero are a different kettle of fish though a road car with no droop or huge spring rates because of excessive preload can be nearly as bad as something with no springs

might be worthwhile checking to see how much bump steer it has as well. from memory they are a bit terrible when slammed

does it always try to kill you with the same wall? or does it try to kill you with both sides of the track.

the fart retention system? probably not so bad in a wagon, but in a ute, the lack of air flow and no carpet was a bit unpleasant/hot at times

+1 for chemiweld in a shitbox car you dont plan on keeping forever i got another 6 years out of a civic of my grandpa's cause i couldnt be bothered fixing a BHG, had to put a bottle in every 3 years mates VL went for 2 years with the same issue getting caned every day it does bung stuff up though

this. there is the possibility of doing things outside the manual (welding to a casting/forging, welding a steering component) via getting it approved by the TAC. but- you would have to have some very good reasons/no other options to do it, and proof that it could be done properly. the fact that it ticks two of the 'dont ever do this' boxes i highly doubt they would approve it

keep the reciept so you can show the certifier

not easily. welding steering parts is generally a no-no what brand of stuff are you looking at?

haven't in the past, but wouldn't be surprised if they do now

^that. not pool noodles haha

you can shape the plates to match the floor

VWs are allowed a 1 spline drop from oe, i checked with LVVTA a while back about that otherwise, everyone is in the same boat- no more than half a degree over oe spec. even if positive camber was the original setting

that is going to be a headache. none of those commonly available plastic battery boxes could be considered 'sealed' looks like they have just copied it direct from the hydraulic suspension part of the HCM, (it mentions pump motors must be isolated from the fuel system)

been doing boring things like fitting a headlight relay, found while doing that the wiring to the dip switch had been warm and melted a bit, i hadnt been using the lights much cause i was worried about melting the headlight switch with the extra current draw. ( i pinched the semi sealed beams out of the ute before i sold it, these have headlights that are unique to VG/VH and some other english thing that makes them super hard to find and usually only sealed beams that are barely brighter than the park lights) also tidied up the wring under the dash and removed some no longer needed wires and stuff and got back from a drive today and decided to change the tail pipe. when i changed the rear muffler i made a tip kind of like an E49 charger has, it turns up at the end, i made it curve up with the shape of the rear panel, looked good but was also good at staining the boot and bumper with 318 breath. so i cut a slot in the rear panel and made a twin 2 1/4 tip which sticks out a bit more to keep the shit off the back

also in a holde with a chev, if its got headers you may be better to put the brake lines on front of the crossmember rather than the original position otherwise they get too close to the headers usually 3/3