Bling

What's the backside look like? Looks a little cold as the edge of the slugs isn't melted into the base material. Just guessing anyway, could be wrong, backside will give the answer.

Are there any rules against selling machines you have built yourself? I have a wheel polisher which is safe enough to use... But if you're a fuckwit I'm sure it could wound quite nicely. It looks like that above but imagine an axle being spun lol.

I'd flick them a message. Checked my previous orders and it says warehouse NZ. But NZ Toyota can't order the parts so I really doubt that is accurate. USA order may ship direct from Japan rather than between warehouses first maybe.

Try another NZ address? I just added the top light to cart and it makes no mention of the shipping issue. I haven't hit go though, so perhaps that happens when you place the order.

edit, saved all my cart items and left just the light. added the other two items and shipping stayed the same. I'd still not be 100% convinced they have stock. But i'd try another addy and try again.

They ship to NZ fine.

Are there items listed anymore? Mine used to show out of production or similar. 

32 minutes ago, Nominal said:

If the RUC applied to petrol vehicles, then there would be a drop in the $/l petrol tax.

The govt would reduce the tax? That doesn't sound right haha. 

Not if they put RUC on petrol too. Which would make driving a car pretty unaffordable for a large chunk of people. If anything I think diesels would become more popular. Cheaper than petrol without the limitations of your typical budget EV. 

That would make sense, desirability wise.

'97 here, just took it slow as you suggest. But who wants to flat tow fast around town anyway.

They've only just implanted some changes, so being the government, I wouldn't expect anything else to be changed anytime soon. Haven't looked at the other parties policies, but it would be an unpopular one to lead with so agree^^

Flat towed my old auto rav4 to mechanics 8km low speed. Thrashed that thing for years and no issues, so it can't be too bad if the above rules are followed. Wasn't it's first tow either as I helped the original owner tow it home after it sheared the cam pulley off the cam.

I have a less than 50% success rate on parts being available, certainly doesn't stop me!

Just don't get your hopes up too high on them being available.

Pretty detailed video that may be of use.

Is that a new thing? I thought car manufacturers always copied each other.

On 18/07/2023 at 11:05, locost_bryan said:

Hopefully they've cleaned up all the spelling mistakes from when they transcribed from the old manual records with the office girl's/ salesman's crap handwriting. 

I doubt that, so any numbers would only be a rough guess really. Especially as so many cars are registered as odd ball things. Cool to get a vague idea though on numbers.

Suspension looks good. Might want to check with your certifier about the amount of shock that needs to be threaded into the strut, pretty sure it's 50mm as per your manual. May have been thread diameter too though... been a while since I crossed that bridge. Just handy to know as that will drop you another 20mm.

I think we can comment in here? (mod can delete if not, seems the go though).

That thing has come up MINT! Gotta be better than new now. Anyone that even mentions chequebook isn't someone worth talking to. They clearly don't understand what it's like to have no time to complete such a project. So I wouldn't let any potential haters worry you. Getting that bike back on the road and immaculate, is a million times better than it sitting in a shed getting no love. Well played, awesome bike.

How thick is the dome for 300m?

Watch hours of YouTube with people doing such repairs. Then spend course money on getting some metalwork tools you see them use in the videos. Then practice a lot on old panels etc. 

I would have done a course if there was something available and actually covered the sort of repairs you'd do on cars. Couldn't find any so did the above. Have a pretty basic set of tools. Snips, shrinker/stretcher jaws, small 3 in 1 folder/roller. Started with just snips though, so the rest is to make repairing things less painful. 

Practice is the biggest thing. If you have the money to do a course and buy tools, then that's even better. But if not, I'd put more value in tools you have forever.

35 minutes ago, RXFORD said:

Have you used them? If not then comments like that are a bit shit. 

No I haven't. As I said I wouldn't as if I see someone say they got a raw deal, and got ignored by a company, it's a pretty easy decision for me to not. 

Thing is, if you drop the ball as a business, you fix it. I have messed up in the passed and gone back and fixed it, it's the right thing to do. Ignoring people when contacted about issues is "a bit shit" as you put it. If someone claims to provide a service at a premium price, you as a customer should expect a quality result, no?

I'm not bagging the company, just clearing stating I would not personally take anything there. I think that is a fair comment to make. Each to their own though. Everyone makes mistakes, as I mention though, it's how you fix those mistakes that matters. I think it's fair for me to say I wouldn't use them based on someone elses experience.

+1 for just getting busy with scrapers on it yourself / mates as RXFORD says.

1 hour ago, zep said:

As long as the underbody is good and they don't fuck up the panels then I'd be happy.

Quite optimistic given the review on here. I wouldn't trust them with a wheelbarrow let alone a car. 

Not sure on that one. But yeah you have used all of the paint lol.

11 hours ago, mjrstar said:

Looking for something small SUV type thing for maybe 20k-30k to spend wife is keen on a Ford escape, but these appear to have a dual clutch trans..

What else is out there which is  2016ish onwards similar sized shaped box on wheels but runs conventional torque converter auto. It seems difficult to tell from specs and reviews, but a lot of stuff in this era is DSG. 

There will be something I haven't considered for sure. I guess I could get a second SQ5, but that seems like an odd thing to do.

Mazda use normal slushbox, cx5 (2017 onwards for new shape) or cx3 if smaller is suitable, just avoid diesel. Neither are SQ5 spec though...

Could depend how much distance you need from the ball to the flat section. Could cut a flat bit of plate so it's a nice tight fit around the shaft below the ball. A U shape piece, if the thickness allowed, that might be strong enough to be the tongue. Could always weld more plate on the sides under the plate when installed and rack is level. Could still slip it off when not in use. But when in use it uses the force of the bolts to hold it all together. Shouldn't be able to move as it will be jammed against the whole diameter of the bar.

I have a similar, but not quite as bad problem. The tongue on mine is minimal around the back of the ball. So if my rack doesn't work i'm just going to make a small metal plate in a donut shape and bolt it between the ball and tongue. Same sort of solution to the above, but my plate won't need to be as thick as it's supported.

I'm not looking deep on that one, as it's hard to keep a track of the shenanigans. I've watched too many videos by that guy and his coverage of whole cities sitting empty. That situation, and these cars existing, is another topic all together. But the fact they have paddocks of perfectly  good electric cars just laying waste is the main thing. They would go well on our roads, ship them over I say.

This is nucking futs. I remember seeing the bikes stacked high as far as the eye can see. But it seems they do it with electric cars too...