Martin S

After 18 months with my U.K. GT car I only just realised the other day that with the radio on, the bottom button on the steering wheel control that switches radio station up or down, if you push and hold it it does a radio station search instead of flicking to the next pre-set channel!

Or it could be the clutch release bearing. If so it will probably cause no issue at all and only go away when the clutch itself needs replacing and a new bearing is fitted as part of the clutch kit.

PM sent.

Now sold! Thanks, Martin.

I have a brand new HEL stainless steel braided brake line kit that I bought for my 2003 U.K. car with Brembo brakes, if there are any different kits. Never been fitted, still in the original box with all fittings and clips. £50 including postage to mainland U.K.

The V.A.G. 1.8 turbo engines can quite easily be tweaked to give big power, and survive the subsequent abuse they get, so it could well have been a very fast car you were up against. But it'll never sound or look as good, or, being front wheel drive with big power, be as be as nice to drive as a 350Z! It's not all about straight line speed, in my opinion.

I followed the guide on here a couple of months ago with, so far, great success. I was very nervous at first as I'm ok with engines and stuff but wasn't sure about stripping an electrical unit like this. But it was nowhere near as bad as I thought, and I'm glad I did it. Here's the guide on how to fix it; viewtopic.php?f=35&t=21318&start=0

I put some Deep Purple on the dukebox in my local tonight, to remember a great musician, and a great band, R.I.P. Jon Lord.

My other half has got an MR2 Roadster, and I'd have to agree. Cracking car, chassis is fantastic, and the steering and gearchange are a joy to use. Driving it always puts a smile on my face.

I had one for just over a year / 10,000 miles or so and I loved every minute of it. It was superb to drive, great to look at, fast, and mine required very little work to keep going in the time I had it. The reason I sold it was the fuel consumption, I averaged around 12mpg most of the time, and a few tanks of fuel gave me 10mpg, and it didn't make a lot of difference how it was driven, but being stuck in stop-start town traffic was the worst. Engine rebuilds can be a lot less than £2,000 if you catch it before a rotor tip fails completely, and there are warning signs, but a lot of the time people don't notice those and drive them until they go bang. Great car. This was it;

It's a large, fairly powerful engine with little venting for hot air. The more power an engine produces, the more heat it will produce, it's why supercars are generally covered in vents and ducts. I'm sure Nissan will have adressed the heat issue plenty enough for a standard car, at least, so I wouldn't worry about it. A couple of cars ago I had an E30 3-series BMW with a turbocharged BMW 535i engine, it melted the abs sensor wire on the inner wing! Not enough cooling / venting / shielding!

It is 71.5mm outside diameter, 64mm inside diameter.

Another success, started mine yesterday afternoon, put it back togerther and in today and the left door speaker now works again! Many thanks HampshireRob, I never would have got this done without your great write-up!

A couple of cars ago I had an E30 3-series. I'd fitted and turbocharged an E34 535I engine, and I put a '316' badge on the boot, so you just never know what's under the bonnet!

Hmmm, for £59 I might give that a go, seeing as I'm quite local to Brands. Did you actually learn much?

Also, check for corrosion at the rear silncer to rear exhaust pipe join.

I would look carefully at the tyres first. Jack up each corner, spin the wheels and check for bulges. I've know a few cars that have had a 'wobble' and it's turned out to be an oval tyre.

I was at Santa Pod with mine on sunday and found I got quite good results (obviously not the ultimate best time for the car) being kind to the car by letting the clutch in swiftly at around 2,500rpm to get it rolling and then quickly getting on the gas. They are torquey enough not to really need a full bore clutch-dumping launch. I had similar symtoms to your's with a 200sx I owned a few years ago when the clutch hydraulics had an internal leak. The actual clutch was fine but when launching the pedal was slow to return, it was the seals in the slave cylinder worn out allowing fluid to pass by, but with no external leak.

If ironhide doesn't end up having it, I'll take it off your hands!

I'm not sure I go quite that far, but I do look for wide spaces where the risk of door dings is less.

Getting a car up ramps can involve a bit of clutch slipping to keep the speed down, which heats it up, I've also had the smell when putting cars on ramps before. I suppose it is wearing the clutch, but such a tiny amount, unless your putting it up on ramps every day, I still wouldn't worry.

I wouldn't be concerned at the occasional smell from the clutch, I get it after a hard launch and have done in many other cars too. It's not a pleasant smell though!

Two cars that come to my mind straight away are; Vauxhall Monaro - 5.7 or 6.0 V8, and quite a common and simple one too, looks great, sideways fun etc. A work colleague of mine has a rare 6.0 VXR 500, the supercharged one. He paid around 17k for it and is supposed to have 500 BHP. It hasn't been 100% reliable, it occasionally goes into limp home mode for no apparent reason, but I think they are generally ok...? Porsche 928 - 4.7 or 5.0 V8, looks great, rare, does 160mph +. Dear to run but you could get a nice one under your budget and put a little aside for future bills. I was very tempted to get a lower end of price range 928 a few years ago, but the price of parts put me off, so I went all sensible and got a TVR instead.

His mechanic changed the fuel filter.... ... isn't that inside the fuel tank on these?

My Z got away very lightly last week, going along at around 60mph, pheasant trotted out of the bushes and 'THUD', feathers everywhere. But all I've got is a small scratch on a headlamp and a bit of crazed lacquer on the bumber. I was down in Devon the week before and the roads were total carnage, pheasants, foxes, badgers, deer, hedgehogs, the lot! I guess they are all coming out of hibernation and / or it's mating season.