steve

+1 to that. I didn't make it along, but my old man said he had a yarn to you about your car and he was thoroughly impressed with it

I'm surprised that the handle was not oil resistant. Many of the Bahco tools come from the same factories that make snap on gear (files are exactly the same except for the handles)

Is this a mk3 golf style Jetta?

Piazza - What do you reckon your hand tools are worth? Ballpark value? (I'm trying to justify an expensive box but 5K is a lot!)

They look great! How much do you sell pairs of plates for?

Black and gold, or an art deco blue and cream.

Bruce at Prime Autoglass is pretty good - 021 519 005

PowerSpark Ignition in the UK are good and cheap (from memory)

Wow! Kudos to you! That is some next level electronic wizardry right there!

Can anyone advise me on what a AE86 is worth? I'm looking for a new car at the moment, and might get one if I can find something suitable. From what I have seen, it seems to me they have a big range in asking prices. Is there a greater demand for trueno and for the hatchbacks? And is there any advantage with that style (other than aesthetics)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Stephen.

Yeah / close enough it was a Innocenti Mini de Tomaso

I'll give you a hint - they initially had a mini 1275 engine and then later on they got a 3 cylinder turbo Daihatsu engine

It's a Fairthorpe Atomota!

Oh really? I hadn't checked that. Such a lush car. But yes a P1900.

Cox GTM? - Mini kit car

Wait, no, it's a Unipower.

The most common style is the type made by germanplates.com. They are often put on by dealerships aswell. However, I heard a rumour that the law has changed regarding them - A customer at my work had them on his Mk3 Golf and was pulled over by the police, they confiscated the plates on the spot and told him refit original ones. He didn't have any; and bought the car with the europlates on. He explained this to the police officer who didn't care, so he drove around with no number plates for two weeks until the new NZ govt plates were manufactured.

A quick question for all the electricians on here - can you install and run a 15v stereo in a car and operate it with 12v?

I want to strip one of these -

and us the ipod dock and controls in my car. Would it work?

Cheers, Steve

Awesome! Who was the safety inspector? He looks familiar to me.

Cheers to everyone for the feedback. Pulled out the stereo today and found the earth wire eyelet not connected to any ground point. Also pulled out the dash surround and removed the dimmer switch, opened it up and found it burnt inside.

Still not sure about the wiring - the feed is from the ignition switch but i'm not sure if it will melt the dimmer switch again. Might need to source a wiring diagram .

A friend just installed a new head deck into his 2002(ish) Mitsubishi Galant. All looked okay until he plugged in his Ipod and the fuse blew straight away. He replaced the car fuse that was 10 amp with a 15 amp fuse and then there was smoke from behind the dash somewhere near the dash dimmer switch.

Now the dash lights only work for the park lights and go out when switched to main beam/high beam.

Has anybody had this before? Any suggestions for repairing it?

So I have been feeling pretty guilty for a while now about not doing enough work on the Traveller, but here's a quick update about what has been done.

I have had the wheels powder coated and got some new rubber on them.

Put the back ones on the car already but I decided I would paint up the engine bay while the engine is out and I didn't want overspray going through and onto them.

Finally got the engine back together (well most of it anyway) and I got Lee at Minibitz to rebuild the gearbox to paint the assembled engine up for me. Also purchased some Maniflow extractors for it.

Didn't end up finding a Cooper cylinder head for it however Lynn Rogers did port and polish my existing head for me. Replaced the valve guides, got hardened valve seats, head was milled 0.105" to change up the chamber volume. Got Cooper inlet valves - 1.215". Rollmaster duplex chain. New bearings throughout the engine, new oil pump, and put in my MG Metro camshaft.

I ended up replacing the pistons with ACL +0.020" standard pistons and getting the block bored and honed to suit

Found some Mk1 Cooper trims that I will put in at some stage. I'm not a massive fan of brown interiors.

Also got some classic Speedwell gauges to put in - found a tacho that I thought was okay, only to find a even better one a month after.

Got new C.V.'s/driveshafts to match the diff and put new boots and new C.V. on where required.

Got some twin carbs and gave them a quick clean up. Not sure what needle they have, but I can sort that later when it's tuned.

Hopefully I will finish the painting soon and get the engine back in.

Escort Mk1

Sweet starting point! Are you going to make it as a track car or just for the road/occasional blat on the track? Also, are you going to keep it original and roll on 13's or go bigger with the wheels? Good luck with your project!