Greetings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsv7STjqtQI

Ok I'm properly pissed off right now. Last month I bumped into a Fiat Punto, caused a minor scratch on the rear bumper, my car was fine. The Punto was new, the owner was a 2X year old who got really emotional, after exchanging details and a few phone calls she said she wants 120 quid or she's going to do it through the insurance. I decided to do it through the insurance after doing some research which wasn't good enough. Because now I have to pay an extra 70 quid premium on EVERY car I own throughout the next year. That's kind of annoying but the worst thing is that since my dad was the co owner of the car I bumped into the punto, he is also going to have to pay this 70 quid premium. And he's currently insuring 3 cars, like me. So that's 420 quid for a stupid scratch. I've calculated that throughout the last 4 years I've spent about 3 grand on insurance and had no claims (yeah, insurance is pretty cheap over here) and now that I've had a tiny claim they are going to steal an extra 400 quid from me. f**king retards.

I think there's always a small vacuum in the system. Had it in all my cars. However, the suck Prawn was talking about is so massive that it's actually difficult to remove the fuel filler cap.

Sounds bang on, this was the first longish drive considering the car is now registered. Also I had more fuel in the tank so that would probably speed up vacuum build up. Going to try and figure out why this happened, I think someone might have blocked off the vent pipe. Is driving without the fuel filler cap a good idea or not?

Yes, a picture full of ridiculous bureaucracy This (+ around 4 extra documents which I only found out about in the DMV) is what you need to register an import in this country. In total, around 30 pages and well over 60 stamps - usually 2 per page or more. Retarded. Either way it's sorted, registered as a 2 seater with a cage, bucket seats and racing harnesses. About the camera, I've got a GoPro but for on boards I find a nice prosumer HDV camera is a lot better. Better sound, better exposure. Thanks a lot for the offer, much appreciated! Going to work on the cage mount tomorrow, need to eliminate the vibrations. Also need to find out why the fuel tank isn't venting properly and fix a few other things.

Did you guys know that a stuck fuel tank vent valve can cause the engine to stall? Removing the fuel filler cap on the way home saved me from a 5 hour walk....

Will probably do that, sounds like a good idea. However, I bought a tripod for 2 quid and a clamp for 1, result: The ball can actually be tightened and it didn't move one bit over 20 miles on a bumpy road, only problem is that the camera vibrates at higher speeds. Need to replace the rubber with something harder, perhaps that will help.

It's not a stereotype, I think that on balance Rockmans fail more often that Echo for example. Then again Rockman also have some strong frames in their line up. Personally I'd go for the Echo because it's pretty much perfect in every respect other than appearance. It's just a simple frame that is designed to do it's job as well as possible.

Just been to a doctor, he prescribed a gel and something to swallow and said it should improve within the next 2 days, if not I should go and see an optician. Either way this thread has been really helpful, calmed me down loads at night. I don't mind pain as much when I know what's going on, otherwise I tend to panic.

I thought hospitals were open 24/7. This one had a bell on it which said ring after 10pm but nobody came out. Rather like Tom Cruise. Besides, I didn't know where I was going, just stopped at a petrol station and asked for directions to the nearest hospital. I've never been to one before.

Thanks a lot people, it's almost definitely that. I feel comforted knowing what's going on. I finally found it in me to drive to a hospital, took ages because I couldn't see where I was going. When I arrived I found the hospital was closed. An hour later things started to improve and I managed to drive back safely. Now the pain is still there but nowhere near as bad and I can see clearly though light sources still glow. I wasn't looking directly into the torch, merely holding an exhaust so he could weld comfortably and we were chatting away. This exposure probably lasted around 15 minutes. What I did notice though after taking a shower was that the skin on my face and neck was visibly darker than the rest of my body. Anyway, lesson learned. Will never allow for this to happen again. Thanks again. edit: oh and thanks DrDroom for the tips, not sure I want to try the teabags because I'll end up staining my whole bed, but will definitely remember to keep the sunglasses on and not rub my eyes. I've managed to avoid that so far so should be ok.

Something is happening to my eyes, I can't go to the hospital because I can't drive in this condition, I can barely see. There's a severe burning sensation on my eyeballs which has been getting worse for the last few hours. I've had mild pain the whole day since I was talking to a chap who was TIG welding at the time, maybe some gasses got into my eyes. But it all went tits up a few hours ago when light sources started glowing and the pain got worse, now I can't look at any light I'm writing this in sunglasses, my eyes either get used to being closed and opening them hurts like hell or they have to be open all the time. I'm freaked out, nobody nearby to help, not going to call an ambulance because this is probably not that serious, any idea what might be going on? I can't think of anything that could have triggered this apart from this TIG welding which did cause sore eyes but nothing even remotely close to what's happening now. Help. Hope this makes sense, I can't read back what I've written.

Interesting thread but I don't believe in ghosts one bit.

Does anyone have experience with DIY roll cage camera mounts? Any recommendations? The one above looks super neat and really cheap but I doubt the ball mount can withstand the weight of an 800g camera?

If someone told me this was shot back in 2002, I would probably believe them. Really oldschool riding style.

Good call. I eventually decided to remove the steering wheel to see why it has play (moved up/down/sideways) and found it was missing a spacer ring which judging by it's shape was quite important. Transferred it from my other E36 (along with the number plates) and went out for a 20 mile drive. Steering is a lot lighter now but I still think something is wrong. Going to replace the pillow balls before taking any further action. They were apparently so tight that the macperson strut was rotating on the spring. Since they have been jammed full of copper grease which has helped a lot but I think that under heavy pressure there could still be a problem. That's the last thing on my list, after the camber plates have been replaced. There could be something wrong with it, I had the same problem in the old car from which I transferred both the steering rack and the struts. I have another rack somewhere so it's just a matter of swapping them over. Either way, 20 miles later I just adore that car. I've never driven anything with so much throttle response and usable power, it literally pushes you into the seat in top gear at 1000rpm and will pull hard up to 110mph. It's an unbelievably astonishing car and I haven't even managed to test it in the corners yet. Can't wait till the drift day on Tuesday, a tight track is exactly what I need to test this monster properly.

So after spending over an hour trying to figure out why the steering is so heavy I still have no idea. I've found that: - Steering has a similar feel whether you're driving along and turning the wheel or stationary - With the front wheels off the ground, it's not that much lighter - There's very little difference with the front wheels off the ground between the engine running (assist is on) or off - It takes quite a lot of strength to turn the wheels by hand and there are tight spots - There's a strange squeak coming from the steering column, could be nothing though To sum up I have no idea what's going on. Guessing something could be really tight, but can't figure out what.

Didn't you buy D2 coilovers just last week? What happened to those? Car's back from a sort of MOT, passed. Now I need to figure out why the heavy steering. Got a set of new camber plates wating but might have to machine some bushings because the ball is way too big. Anyhow.

Why are you getting rid of that Nick? Looks like a really nice seat that. edit: never mind, didn't notice this page

Meh, in my mind if something is worth a certain value, it sells for that but there are exceptions. Last year I bought a set of 19" wheels for the big car, paid 300 quid. They are worth 700 and I know that because I briefly wanted to get rid of them and that's what I was offered. This year I bought a set of original Motorsports for 140 quid or so. Sold them for almost 400 2 weeks later. With the first set, the seller was in a huge hurry. With the 2nd set, the seller didn't know what he was selling and I was the first to make him an offer before he had even put them up on ebay. So my point is that you can be lucky and buy something really cheap that's worth more, but it's very difficult when the item is being auctioned and a lot of people have seen the auction or are already bidding. Either way I think you got a good deal.

Wow, an argument. edit: out of interest I checked the prices this end, average is 300 quid, these are 500. Some come with tyres, some don't. Doesn't really change the price.

Are those BBS's really worth 800 quid? Should start a business exporting them to the UK if they are.

Doesn't have to be, you've clearly stated what you're looking for and in that case being biased doesn't really matter.