scubapics

Still looks a little lighter on the bottom to me.

Cheeky Bugger Its the GP Wing from the Mini GP. I've had my JCW converted to RWD... Maybe.. Not. Ok. Its all for looks Good on you! Nice to see you have a sense of humour.

Now that the formalities are out of the way, what's the point of a spoiler on a front wheel drive car?

Try Fortis. Swiss watches, automatic, and you won't find many in the UK. http://www.jurawatches.co.uk/collections/fortis-watches/products/fortis-flieger-chronograph-watch-5971111-l-08-ft-008

My preface lift is rubbery. Sounds like yours was refurbished.

Hey jinxy, looks good. Is that a rubber paint to give the same feel as OEM? The first thing I did when I bought my Z was to order a new grab handle. The company I used is no longer in business and the part had to be sent from Japan. It wasn't very expensive.

Just to concur Megs Ultimate Compound does a decent job. You do need a DA polisher and some pads - say 1 cutting pad, 2 polishing pads and 1 finishing pad. You probably want both 4 and 6 inch pads to cover large areas and tight areas. Make sure you thoroughly clean first and then claybar to remove all surface contaminants before polishing else you will just be adding more scratches. There are some good guides on http://www.detailingworld.co.uk.

Hello and The best thing to do with the cd skipping problem is stop using it. Instead modify the unit to take an mp3/iPod/iPhone which is much more versatile than a cd player. It does mean that you lose the ability to play tapes but why would you want to anyway?

Try Cambridge Coachworks in Crowthorne.

Just because the MOT man says the discs are corroded does not mean that you should replace them! All brake discs will show some sign of corrosion - usually on the edges where the pads don't touch them. If I get something like this on my MOT, I ask them to explain exactly what they mean. I've had this advisory before and questioned it. The response was "nothing to worry about, it just normal corrosion on the rims of the disc". Well why did you put it down as an advisory then was my response and I got a shrugged shoulder response. Take the wheels off and have a look yourself. Look for pitting on the outer and inner faces or significant corrosion on the faces - it will be obvious if there is any. Ideally you should also have the thickness of the disc measured and replace if they are under or at the minimum thickness for the disc. Better still, go to a trusted garage and ask them to check the discs for you. They probably won't charge you or very little - worth it for peace of mind. Just don't tell them about the advisory or they might try to fleece you too! No doubt someone else can advise more...

Hello.

I get about 24mpg from mine on country lanes to and from work. I also avoid any traffic queues by travelling a bit further to avoid them. So around town you will get a lot less.

He's being asked to be a guarantor for rent not a mortgage chaps.

Here is my guide for disassembling the door mirrors without the need to cut any cables. 1. Remove door mirror from car. There are other guides that cover this so I won't detail that here. 2. The cable can be removed from the connector which will allow the cable to be removed easily with out cutting any wires and also makes disassembly much easier. Here are a couple of photos of the cables in the connector. Don't assume that all years/models have the same colour coding - make sure you take photographs or write down the wiring order for reassembly. Note the two black wires have the same key coding. It does not matter if these go back reversed as they are for the heating element behind the mirror glass. 3. The connector has two clips. Each clips is held in place by two latches. Unhook the latches using a jeweller's screw driver. 4. Remove both clips. 5. Each wire is held in by individual plastic latches inside the connector. These latches need to be levered away from the wire/metal connection. The latches can just about be seen in the photograph. Use a small flat bladed jeweller's screwdriver the lever the latch open by just a millimeter or so. Holding the latch open, the cable can be removed from the back of the connector. The wire should slide out with the lightest of effort. Any more effort than this means the latch has not been released and if you continue, you will break something. Make a note of which way round the wires goes into the connector as it will only latch in place when inserted the correct way round. 6. Remove the rest of the wires in the same way. 7. Remove the black insulating / water proofing tape from the rubber seal and cable. 8. The rubber seal is not glued or screwed in place. Just pull it away from the mirror bracket and pull the cable through. You may wish to wrap the cable ends with tape to prevent them catching on anything when pulling the cable through. 9. Remove the cross head screw from the mirror bracket (next to the faded black/white label in the photo). 10. Now remove the cover plate using a jeweller's screwdriver in the drain hole. No force was needed - it almost fell off. 11. Remove the three cross head screws shown in the centre of the photo. 12. The mirror bracket should now be free of the mirror housing. Pull the cable through the mirror bracket to complete the separation. 13. Put some tape over the bottom edge of the mirror housing to prevent it from being damaged. I used two strips of masking tape. 14. Releasing the mirror from the holder can be a bit daunting at first. Looking though the gap you will see two slots in the black backing of the mirror in which you can place a flat bladed screwdriver (not a jeweller's one this time!). The screwdriver fits between the black mirror backing and the white mirror holder. Now lever the screwdriver handle towards the mirror or towards you if the mirror is facing you. This will pop the mirror off the holder. 15. Repeat for the second catch. 16. Here is a photo of the released mirror. The final attachment is just two slots. Slide the mirror out then disconnect the two spade connectors of the heating element. The cables are not polarised so no need to worry about which way round to reconnect them. 17. Now remove the three screws that are behind the white mirror holder through the circular holes of the white holder. Two on the left and one on the right. 18. The motorised mirror holder can now be removed. Flip this over to see the two connectors on the back. 19. The connectors can be removed by levering off with a small screwdriver. They pop off with little effort. Alternatively you could leave these connectors in place and move on to the next step. 20. Remove the last two screws inside the mirror housing. 21. Finally remove the last two counter sunk screws from the underside of the mirror housing to release the hinge motor. 22. Pull the hinge motor assembly and cable through the housing, sit back, have a cigar, the job's done. Put back in reverse order. Don't forget to put some new insulation tape on the cable/rubber seal grommet to prevent water ingress.

There is a slightly better method that does not involve cutting any wires or pulling the cable loom through the motor. To separate the mirror housing from the door bracket you need to remove each wire from the white door connector. On wire end of the connector are two clips, remove these using a small flat bladed screwdriver. Each clip has a catch on each side. Just lever these over and the clips will come off. To remove each cable, again use the smallest jeweller's screwdriver and pass it into the opposite end of the connector of each wire. On the connecting end of the connector the connecting holes are along the outside with holes to place a latch release tool (jeweller's screwdriver in this case). Placing the latch release tool inside will raise a small plastic lever of which the metal connector latches against to prevent it from being pushed or pulled out. When you get it in the correct position, the wire will pull out without any force. If you are pulling hard you don't have the latch released yet. This is from memory. I will be removing the mirror on the weekend ready for the body shop on Monday along with bonnet, front bumper and spoiler so I will take a couple of photos to show you exactly where to put the screwdriver.

What are the replacement discs?

ASK.

Don't bother. Use some planks of wood and make a long stepped ramp to raise the front of the car to get a trolley jack on. Or, use one plank of wood per normal metal ramp to reduce the angle so that you can drive up onto normal ramps. Put some supporting wood under the planks to take the strain. You need something approximating scaffolding wood. Most DIY stores do them and you can get them to cut them to size as well.

Good idea, might help with child obesity making them walk a bit more too Good point! I would use a parent and child space that was at the far end of the car park. Maybe I could actually find one to use in that case.

Also people with children old enough to walk who park in those spaces are arses too. As are those that park in said spaces and the kids and Dad stay in the car whilst Mum goes shopping. The Meadows in Camberley is an excellent example of inconsiderate moronic people. Plenty park all the time in the spaces for disabled people who clearly are not disabled in any way. I've even seen a white 350z parked in one on two occasions. But that's today's society for you. You see it everywhere, even on forums...

Chaps, I know it is annoying but it's really worth taking a deep breath and holding back the anger all on this. You wouldn't want to end up in the situation where that chaps father in Waterlooville is where two thugs regularly hop over the wall and vandalise property. I could easily see some form of knee jerk reaction over this inconsiderate parking could turn into a lengthy war of retaliations when it could be avoided. If you don't know who parked there, just go knocking on doors and ask politely or honk your horn until someone comes out. Everyone gets worked up so quickly and heavily these days. Have a cadbury's caramel or some chill pills folks. Life's too short.

Misread jump for bump - sorry.

You should never jump start a car that has catalytic converters as the unburnt fuel in the exhaust can ignite and destroy the converter(s). There is a procedure on the forum somewhere that tells you how to get the fault code using the ignition key. That will help you identify the problem.