Jonny-Jimbo

That is true to a point Marcus, but of course a lot of tyres are made with different compound tyres - at least I've found on my 540 and my colleague has found on his go-faster Fords, that if the tread blocks are worn down there is almost no grip, and I assume that's down to the harder rubber of the tyre carcass not gripping as well as the tread rubber?

If you want to be sure and get a quick swap done you could just get a set of reconditioned ones and send yours in after as exchange.

When my mates did a sprint day up in Scotland at a small track called Kames, one lad had a Punto, and was the only one driving hard because he'd bought a set of part worn tyres and chucked them onto a set of steelies he'd picked up at the scrap yard for a few quid. Meant that he still had his good tyres to drive home on. So, part worns DO have some use. However, you don't know the history of them so I'd never put them on a car and use on the road.

Rest assured Tim, it's a case of WHEN I get a 205GTi, not if. I also would like a 309 Goodwood, but they're even rarer. My ideal would be a white 1.6 GTi with red carpets and red seat belts, or a red car. An old Scout leader of mine had one and I remember bombing through the Breacon Beacons in it on the way to a weekend camp. Hilarious fun, and pretty quite for the time. Not bad now either. However, I was looking at the rally cars as they tend to be cheaper than a standard road car, if a little rougher round the edges. A friend had the 205 1.4 XS, that was pretty nippy too, not seen a Rallye in years, and even the 106 Rallyes are daft money now.

That's what I meant John, the car was a later shell claiming to be an earlier car, and it was across the divide of what was historic and not historic. Plus as the MSA had already rumbled it was a late car, I wouldn't have had a hope in tell of applying for log booking again and try to get it in as historic...

Just like when my Mum said 'Why can't you get a radiator that works in reverse so it makes the room colder?' 'Because cold isn't something different to hot, it's just a lack of heat energy.' 'That doesn't explain why though.' The other one was she doesn't believe me that walls push back when you push on them, and the image in a mirror is the same distance behind as it is in front.

Trying to think where rollpins are used on the cars... door hinges... gearshift remote to box on an Acclaim... Certainly an unusual find in a gearbox. Daft question, but it was definately on there when the plug came out and it didn't get picked up off the floor?

It was one of the sticking points for me on the car actually John; it was advertised as one thing, and they'd tried to log book it, but failed because they were trying to pass it off as historic, but because it was a newer shell they couldn't. Apparently the early and late GTis have different dashboards and aren't interchangeable, so it's very obvious if a car is or isn't early etc. I was mainly interested in it as a stupid winter car (it came with both mud/gravel and winter tarmac tyres that were road legal-ish), but there were a few other bits I didn't like either - the welding on the cage feet was suspect, the wiring wasn't good and it didn't come with any seats or harnesses (the ad had said it would). Essentially, it didn't add up to what they were asking. Then, as you'd alluded to, as I read it I knew there would be issues log booking the car either as an early or late car. I'm sure I'll find the right GTi at some point...

Richard, if you want to do this event, it might be worth seeing if one of your other co-drivers can do it with you. I asked AJ at the weekend and she's quite keen to do it if she's free. We'll probably be in the MX5, but it'd be cool to see a few Triumphs bombing about the capital.

Hi John, Sorry, I didn't see your reply to this thread. The car in question was a Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6, but built into a newer shell, just to be confusing. Anyway, the seller and i couldn't come to a deal we were both happy with (looking back now I probably should have just gone for it as it was a good price even if the car was a little rough round the edges), and I tried contacting various people in the MSA and no-one got back to me at all with answers about log booking etc, so the project fell by the wayside sadly.

But really boring for us reading it

How much was it John, and where did you buy it from?

Richard - not sure if AJ is up for this event. If we did it would you want to do it in your car or mine?? That is, if mine is in one piece? I'm still waiting to hear back from Joe though.

I've emailed the organiser, John Gilbert, and he's very happy for members of CT to enter this. He says there is no motorclub affiliation needed to enter, so anyone can have a go. His email is uhulmc@k3g.net, and he can send regs out.

That link doesn't work Ferny - well, not for me anyway. I'd rather repair, as there's nothing really wrong with them. Plus, it's been about 5 years since I did any fibreglassing. As I have to get the Ginetta rebuilt this summer it'll be good to get some practice in. Anyway, I fibreglassed them last night, and the resin set pretty quickly as I mixed it strong - Remounted the two door card halfs together and back on the doors too. I also rebuilt the gearstick was it was sloppy and horrible, and just as I was about to test drive it it started raining. Damn.

I've once again got AJ's MX5 in many bits. This time to try to sort some annoying rattles in the door card. At first I thought it was in the door, but it seems it might actually be the door card itself. The MX5 door cards (as with many manufacturers) are made of different pieces joined together - there is a plastic moulding at the top which is screwed to a fibre-board lower section, then as usual a bunch of fir-tree clips around the edge to attach to the door. The bit in question is the fibreboard. Where the screws mount the two halfs together the board is badly damaged, and there is a split in it too. What would be the best way to repair it? Soak the ripped areas of the board in Araldite, or use fibreglass and resin to bond it and recreate the bits of the board that I can then redrill the mounting holes in? Any pointers? (Not this kind )

That should be on a small aluminium plate on the side of the bulkhead. There will be a small tag that is painted body colour - that is the body number, and not really that relevant. The Commission number is that the DVLA records as the 'chassis number' for the car... and just to confuse matters further, there is a small metal tag welded to the front crossmember of the chassis under the engine which is the chassis number, but like the body number not what the DVLA record. Also, I don't think anyone else answered the original post directly - the rocker cover is the original steel type. It's very thin. The aluminium one is a cast and machined unit, much thicker material. Going by the colour, it MAY be a 'gold seal' factory replacement engine, but I can't remember how 'gold' the 'gold' paint was??

Could it work in the same way as undoing the crank front bolt and turning over the engine on the starter to knock it loose? So tool on the flange and another one on the nut?

Richard, we'll see how things go - Joe is keen too, having lived in Woolwich for a year, however his fiance needs major spinal surgery which could happen any time in the next 6 months, so until they have a date he's not signing up for any more events with me. Alex is umming and arring at the moment, but if she decides not to I'll let you know. I agree Mike - on Saturday night I drove from Sunbury to Ealing (so not QUITE in the city) and without all the cars it was quite a nice drive passed Kew etc. I can't attach the regs, so if anyone wants them I'll email them I guess??

It wasn't a complaint. I was explaining the situation we found ourselves in, and a suggestion of how to avoid it in future. Remember I do run events as well, maybe not to the same scale, but there were 60 people involved in last years summer treasure hunt and I do EVERYTHING apart from the catering, so it's not like I'm not used to having to deal with these things - however, if someone makes a suggestion which could improve the event I listen to it and take it on board if possible. Essentially, yes, I am happy to do the organisation of the awards for RBRR, if we can make the paperwork side of it work - Living n Coventry would make it very difficult to share paperwork etc unless we're up to the point of online applications for the next event.

Hi all, As a lot of the rallyistas etc on here are from the south east I thought this might be of interest. I have been told of a night time treasure hunt rally that runs in the City of London over the weekend of the 21st/22nd May (from memory). It starts at midnight and ends at 5am to avoid other heavy traffic. Anyone is welcome to enter in teams of up to 6 in any four wheeled vehicle. I was thinking of entering in the MX5. It could be a great way to explore the city. I'll put more details up when I have them, but from memory the entry fee is in the region of £20, which includes the correct 1:10,000 map and romer. If anyone is interested I'll post more details.

It's still possible to find NOS carpets on ebay etc, although usually they seem to be the smaller bits, and rarely are they the main floor carpet.

Just a suggestion; There was a breakdown of communication for the 2016 run which meant that AJ got a picture frame rather than a tankard. She was really looking forward to getting said tankard though and is unsure what she might do with a picture frame. I'm not sure how many of the women that take part actually want picture frames? Maybe AJ is the odd-one-out, but it seems maybe a little bit off to make assumptions on what someone wants based on gender. Therefore, I suggest on the entry forms you could add a little check box that says something like; 1) Main Entrant - Jon Fallowell. Souvenir selection; Tankard [ ] Picture Frame [ ] Other option? [ ] 2) Second Entrant - Alex Joslin. Souvenir selection;  Tankard [ ] Picture Frame [ ] Other option? [ ] 3) Third Entrant - Joe Bloggs. Souvenir selection;  Tankard [ ] Picture Frame [ ] Other option? [ ] That way people just tick the box of what they want and organisers have a confirmed list too, everyone get's what they want, and the organisers have a hard copy of peoples selections.

Hi all, The photographer has now released the photos to me - I'll share them all with you in due course. Here's a few taster shots though.

Expert Clues (Not for the weak of heart... lessons learned and all that)