nmt_oli

Ive had no probs with mine so far! using it on street, so got the harder one. havent had any grip problems, and doesnt seem to be wearing much.

mostlyharmless42@msn.com does it work with outlook? just msn/hotmail doesnt any more and i like outlook!

Thanks for the feedback! As usual they were taken with my phone! photobucket randomly resizes, so thats why they arent all the same size. They are all good enough quality to use as a desktop background on my 15" monitor at 1024x768. The actual pictures are a bit bigger than that- its a sony ericson K750i with 2 megapixel camera! Some of my favs: -Nick (prawn) making freds bike look like a bmx -Freds face when hes gapping! -Nick (manning) sidehopping.

nick on freds bike! hilarious!

fook me! a game that i would actually pay decent money for! As amazing as it is, i think when its released a lot of people wont be leaving there computers for a LONG time! lol.

Trailstars used to be a common sight with trials riders at one point! ahh back in the day! make sure everything is in reasonable nick, tight and lubed. either get new pads and set up you rear V-brake, or get a rear maggy. I would also reccomend some rigid forks, but as has been said- long ones. Just get out there and ride, theres loads of info on here, and youl prob find some people in your area!

Im surprised no ones mentioned cider yet! ok, strongbow has a reputation as being tramps piss but i find it easier to drink than lager (get less bloated) and much prefer the taste of cider. Unfortunately hardly anywhere has good cider! I really want to get over to dorset and try some of there mega potent brews- ive heard of ciders that pubs will not serve as a pint because they are that strong! were talking 15% + here! I am also partial to a double whiskey, lemonade and lime. usually have Southern comfort, but need to try a few more out. With lager, i do enjoy it for a couple of pints, but it bloats me too much. i also prefer the lighter ones (grolsh, coors ect.). I can't stand cheap stuff like carling and carlsberg .

i laugh at your puney grinds! i have Plaz's 9pretty sure there CRMs on a ceramic rim and i can't see ANY wear after 5 months! and i do mean ANY wear, i had them off and there perfectly flat and still got marks where i slipped cutting grooves into em (not like prawns already with groovs).

most likely the 2nd nick, but there may be other reasons! i didnt want to jump to conclusions!

why you selling dan?

All you guys running german number plates- do you put them on just for show/pics or do you keep them on the whole time? Have you ever been pulled over? I know the letters probably just about conform to dvla standard, but the D in the blue box won't!

have you reset the limit screws on your mech properly, with no cable or chain installed, and then correctly adjusted your shifter? you will DEFINATELY need to limit the movement of the mech, and only 6 of the positions on your shifter will be useable. basically, pull on cable while up shifting to slacken cable fully, make sure shifter is in 8th gear (smallest cog). now undo the cable from the mech, and use the H screw to centre the jockey wheel over the lowest cog. Now with your hands (easiest done by removing chain, but can be done with chain on) move the mech over to the 6th cog, and adjust the L screw until you can no longer push it past the last cog. Now reinstall chain and cable, lightly tensioning cable with shifter still in 8th. all gears should now be just abotu perfect, and just need a test ride and tweak.

It is possible, but you need LOTS of good snow! and it needs to stay cold. slush will be crap/turn to ice. i dont htink it would work very well in the UK- maybe somewhere you can ski yes!

Im not too bothered about all the tech stuff with firefox- i just love the no popups and TABBED BROWSING!!! tabs alone is enough for me to want it.

I might come along to this, depending how moving my stuff out of uni goes on saturday. Fred, if i do go i can give you a lift to pay you back for taking me to pompey

don't see any probs! i should be there!

woo! car running again. Changed oil and oil filter, replaced plugs, changed airfilter and modded air box so its not getting air from the wing but the front of the engine bay, also removed the broken breather pipe conecting airbox to rocker cover, which was also sending oil up into the filter. blocked off the hole left on the airbox, and installed a breather filter on the rocker cover- bling bling lol. Put some fuel sytem cleaner petrol additive in the tank, and is all SOOO much nicer. stopped the lumpy idle, revs better has better power and should have better economy if the new airfilters stopped it running rich. also got the cd player in place without wires breaking! (its crammed behind there!). That and the JBL 3 inch dash speakers is better than stock- but obviously not amazing. have disconected rear speakers as there as fecked as the front ones were and jsut rattle rather than play music! As funds are tight, and i want a stock look, im very tempted to just replace the 4x6s with jbl's in the back and see what its like. don't want to fling speakers in the shelf, as it will be going in and out a lot with bikes. i would love an 8inch sub, maybe a 10 in the back, but have no money, and cant be arsed to route the cabling right now! the other option is to install my 5" components i have spare into the doors, and wire them up to the rear terminals of the HU and keep the front outputs going to the dash speakers. if i can then get a some bass blockers for the little dash speakers, the sound stage should be pretty good, and itl have a bit more thump. needs time, creativity and probably dash removal to feed the wires into the doors though

Can anyone help me?? giving up on cambelt for this week- it looks ok, and is tight, and just went through reciepts and it was done in 98/55k so should survive another couple of weeks until i know exactlyhow to do it, and gather all nessesary bits together. Need to source new drain plug or plug washer for oil change in the morning, and a bit of ruber pipe so try and stop this oil behind the airfilter! An one know what the 1/2" dia rubber hose that runs from top of rocker cover to right side of 1.6 8v airbox do? mines split! Ive got oil on the carb side of my filter, so i presume its something to do with this! Im not sure if the new airfilter will lean the enigne enough(black plugs- lumpy runnign when cold, strong smell of unburnt petrol form exaust), so may need to adjust carb a tad too. will see.

Calm down nick! i was asking you as it was a general question and you are the person with most mechanical knowledge that i know Seriously, if anyone knows where i can get a step by step cambelt walk through id be most delighted! just had a thought i may need a new rocker cover gasket if i take the rocker cover off to set TDC Ahhh! very tempted to just replace everything, do oil and filter change, clean and sort airfilter to stop it running rich and continue driving like a granny until i have a bit more time on my hands (and the knowledge) I now know how lucky i am ownign a mini! any problems, and a search on google or one of the good forums will almost certianly come up with a very detailed step by step, probably wiht pictures! Get a golf, and i cant find anyhting! the haynes manual isnt even as good as the mini one

Sunday

Anyone know any decent VW forums? Ive been struggling a bit getting to my cambelt, and come across a couple of things that need sorting on the way, and i could do with being finished by tomorrow ngiht! The haynes manual isnt being very helpful. Ive moved the alternator, removed drive belt, removed waterpump pulley and taken top half of cambelt shield off. Ive also taken all the bolts out of the crankshaft pulley, but theres a central bolt holding it on, and i need to remove this to remove the pully and hence remove the lower cover. This central bolt is a star type, not hex, but fits in a "drives on flats" socket. It just wont budge, which ever way i turn it! If you turn it, its turns the engine, so stuck it in gear, now turns the wheels! got assistant to hold footbrake on (cars on axle stands) while i turn, and it just wont go! the belt looks ok, so if worst happens, i will put the stuff back and do everything else and do the belt another time. Also, when i removed the airfilter, there was a load of crap on the inlet side, and a load of oil on the engine side of the filter . I suspect this is why its been running rich! Theres a pipe which looks like it needs replacing that goes from the rocker cover to the engine side of the filter housing, i think this is something to do with the oil in the filter- what does it do? Why is there such a long intake pipe, and is it worth routing away from the innner wing? there seen to be other wierd things along the pipe too, so i don't just want tot get rid of it! this cars older than my mini, yet feels too modern lol! i would hate to work on a properly modern car!

Yes file down the axle! If you file/machine/grind flats onto an axle, then it will fit into the dropout, and still have thread on some of the axle across the whoel length.

I think so!!

Woooo! Thread taking off nicely. Picked up the car today, and blimey its a goodun! needs a couple of things but guy was totaly honest, has been the family car when first bought and 2nd car for a good few years (hence low milage). Genuine 1 owner, 82k miles, FULL history and reciepts- VAG history until out of warranty/MOT time then exclusively a single local garage! Drives very nicely, smooth good power, no smoke. Can be a little hesitant to start. Lots has been done to it, and it was MOTd end of jan, tax till october and even came with 3/4 tank of fuel! All that for a bargain £450! Bad points: Fog lights in grille have been removed as one was smashed and wouldnt get through MOT with it, so there in boot, just need a replacement for one. couple of scratches on one side, a couple of rust bubbles on the other side and tailgate- don't look serious and theres a lot more metal compared to a mini! Cam belt has never been changed, so am going easy on the engine till thats done. needs a service- oil, filters ect. I was planning on doing this anyway, good practise on a car you don't know. Exaust looks/sounds a little worse for ware, but it got though the MOT so is not an immediate concern. Feels like bushes may need doing (a bit wooly on the steering and handling, especially at speeed) but this is to be expected on a 18 year old car, and i was planning on polybushing it anyway. Will give it a good clean later this week and get a haynes manual and get servicing before i do any mroe major driving in it. The long run back should have done it good anyway. Some other nice cars in this thread!

Haha! nice one nick! Nick- im not disowning the mini i just need a reliable daily driver and this is a damn good deal- and much better than a broken pug 205. I don't have the money or the no claims to mod the golf- its a 1.6, so its staying standard. only things im likely to do are relay the headlights so i can run brighter bulbs, and maybe replace suspension bushses and such things that are likely to be worn on an 18 year old car.