CurtisRider

Turns out the old relay wasn't working and the brand new one was stuck so it was always on, I should of checked that but assumed a new one would be all good. Now to raise the suspension to get on the ramps and MOT ahoy for the Porsche...

Sodding tyre companies using impact guns on wheel bolts... I now need at least 2 of my wheel bolts removed (locking ones with spinning outer rings), my tool broke removing one so I'm just paying VX to remove all 4 as the tool is £36 (maximum of £90 for all 4 extracted, should be less they reckoned). This is all so I can replace all for 4 discs and pads as the fronts are VERY worn now. I would weld some bolts to them and extract them myself but I don't have the time or a suitable welder near by that I can use. My Porsche also needs a puncture repair and its MOT is due Saturday... the horn doesn't turn off so I need to investigate that as currently the relay is out to stop me being a rolling horn noise. I've done a bunch of other repairs, so hopefully it'll be fine after that is done. Fudging cars, why does it all come at once

When you think about it £670 to tax and insure a first car is still very cheap, most people pay in excess of £1000 just to insure a car. Unless you can find something else as cheap to insure then that would be a sensible choice to go with the 306, pretty sound cars with that engine if you can handle the looks and frenchness.

I've potentially got a single phase motor sitting at my parents place but ideally I'd like to keep the 3 phase set up for the reasons above (also buying a new single phase motor and starter would cost as much as a VFD anyway!) That's great Ed, thanks for your help! I'm not looking for the cheapest solution (although the lower the cost the better of course!) so I'd happily pay the extra £30 if its necessary/beneficial. I have also been offered a S/H rotary one for £100 that is suitable, so it seems I have a few options! I'm hoping to get the lathe back to mine this weekend, so once it has been reassembled I shall investigate further, I also need my big ass belt sander to sell so I can actually have room to fit the lathe and that will also pay for the convertor. I know it all works as I used it a few times at work, so that's a start!

I've seen about just running one phase, you can spin the chuck and then switch on the motor to get started, but as you said it runs at reduced power-may not be an issue as I won't do much serious stuff with it to start with. That looks like a fine temporary measure but ideally I would like to make full use of the old beasty! Another option is to use another 3 phase motor as a generator effectively but that all seems a bit too much faffing! That would be great if you could ask Ed, thanks!

I have acquired a lathe, it is 3 phase and I do not have a 3 phase supply. I have seen various convertors online but I'm confused. There seems to be older rotary ones and these newer VFD units which can be had for seemingly low prices but i'm unsure as to the safety of these units as they seem to be supplied from varying quality suppliers/there are fakes on the market. Has anybody done a conversion like this on here? There is loads of information online but so much conflicts tat it would be nice to hear from somebody who has done it and talks in less complicated language :$ I have also wondered about fitting a single phase motor instead but like the idea of potentially having an E brake and variable speed that a VFD could offer me. Le motor: Le lathe:

Haha! I see now!

Prawn, is there a functional reason for your skirts to be smaller for the first few inches? Or is it purely a style thing?

OHHHH which Saab wheels? I've been looking into them as I noticed nobody seems to run them and they are cheap! Interested to see how you get on with filled mounts, I've tinkered with the idea of filled gearbox ones since I got it but was worried it would vibrate too much

I think mines beyond a strip and re grease! It was great whilst it worked

I got out the machine polisher today, I didn't realise how contaminated my paint was... The car certainly looks a load brighter now after a good clean and polish

Well I'm glad I didn't replace the bushes on my dropper... the stanchion has bent and cracked Back to a normal post I go! XT cranks now fitted over the Truvativ Stylos I have had for years, what an improvement! Not bad for £16 and a new BB for £15

So after my concerns about my radiator fan not working on the Astra, it turns out my thermostat is stuck open and has failed as the car sits at 60 degrees most of the time (they don't have temp gauges, I found out you can access the temp via a menu hidden on the radio settings). Easy enough job, I had read of people spending over 4 hours to do this...took me 30 mins. Annoyingly VX decided to make a housing that couldn't be taken apart to just change the thermostat, so this aftermarket Circoli unit costs £35 vs £5 for a normal stat! Now to get my air conditioning charged and maybe i'll have a car that works properly again...

Are you sure you cleaned them well enough? There may have been contaminants on the surface you painted, paint doesn't need much of an excuse to come off!

We have two UP minis and I'm building a third (just need the electronics stuff). Incredibly fun and useful machines, got one sitting on my desk right now

£50 for a new one for mine Luke, can't grumble! Greetings, that video has been about a while but yeah it is amazing. I teach Design and Technology, which is often dubbed as the subject for thickos and we receive many students who struggle massively at anything academic as well as the naughtier folk who actually tend to be amazingly creative and talented in the subject. Unfortunately (and fortunately in other aspects) D&T has become less about making and increasingly more academic, alienating students like the lad in your video who obviously has massive talent but would suck at an exam paper and therefore would look rubbish on paper and struggle to find a job as easily as somebody with great grades who may not actually be as able to apply the knowledge required for exams into a real life situation. It's quite upsetting watching these students 'fail' thinking they can't be successful, and regardless of how much help and moral support you give them, they struggle to gain any self belief (not helped by a lack of support at home). The education system is flawed and that's one of many reasons why I'm trying to find a new career.

So that's why my AC was leaking... Fitted, along with a errmmm 'refurbished' secondary fan motor (oil the hell out of it, spin it with the drill and test for 30 mins), the main fan barely ever kicks in so this should be fine

Ha ha I love those little fixes, I had to do the same to mine as I had bent it when dropping the subframe

I had a bit of a 'I want to die' moment. The car went back together relatively smoothly apart from the engine was sitting a bit wonky due to the engine mount and clutch arm hitting parts of the shell, eventually we managed to get that sorted though! The engine started first time! This was of course very exciting, so imagine how disheartened I felt when I went to dip the clutch and there was nothing, no resistance, just as if the cable has been disconnected. I looked about, nothing looked out of the ordinary until I noticed the fork shaft was poking out a bit more than usual. Inspection plate off and to my horror the release bearing had come unclipped and the fork shaft popped out of place. I'm not entirely sure how that happened, but I was gutted as I thought I would have to strip the car down yet again to reconnect it all. Fortunately I managed to use a screwdriver and pry bar to wedge back the fork and then an old bent nail on the end of some mole grips to reclip on the clutch release bearing... SUCCESS! The car changes gear perfectly, and drives a treat. A few jobs to do now: Align steering wheel Heater valve needs moving slightly as it hits the coil Reverse lights aren't working tighten alternator belt Fuel pump starts running as soon as the ignition is on... not sure how that has happened? Didn't do that before! Rear exhaust section is knocking on the rear ARB Unfortunately I discovered a hole in my wing and a hole in the drivers floor, so I need to weld those up before my 150 mile drive home today

That'll explain why it wouldn't go into gear... Massive thanks to George, what should have been an hour or so of refitting the engine turned into about 5. He perservered and helped me, and tried not to laugh at how retarded I am, legend

My engine is now out, the clutch is very mangled! The new one has arrived so hopefully I can get that fitted later today (got other jobs to do first). Nothing in there looks untoward so fingers crossed it should be fairly easy to reassemble once the input shaft is back in (that'll be the hardest part). Reassembly is about 3-4 hours so hopefully tomorrow i'll have it running again.

My cheapy dropper is suffering from bush wear and has become very wobbly now, I have serviced it regularly but that has made little difference. Fortunately bush kits are £15, tempted to copy them up on CAD and get some made in something more hard wearing

I used grease, think it was a light smear of copper grease. It wasn't the spline, one of my clutch springs has broken and just showed its munched up face when dad and myself were faffing trying to 'free' the clutch disc. So my story as of yesterday, I thought it was a cable issue and happened to have my ramps with me so tried a roadside repair It wasn't possible and the heavens opened, 8 hours later (vs 3 for the actual journey) I was back at my parents place After lots of help from the club and suggestions on here, I finally found out my clutch spring had broken....damn. So instead of using my workshop (uneven floor and not much room for the crane) I cleared a space in one of the other buildings. So half of the stuffs out, now to drop the subframe and then whip the engine out, I love this job....

New thoughts regarding my clutch issue... maybe the clutch plate is sticking on the splines and therefore not able to release from the flywheel? If that is the case then If I release the clutch cover bolts a few turns to make room I could potentially spray some solvent cleaner up there and clean the splines as well as use something to slide the clutch back and fourth a few times whilst the pedal is down?

That's the weird thing, it's as if my clutch is stuck on, starting in gear makes no difference