Gridgway

so did you fix it by changing the stat or by bleeding it? Graham

Not an oil problem, an engine problem. Rings probably. Graham

if you are pushing the piston into the caliper and then back out, give it a good clean first so you don't introduce more dirt into it. Also look for suspension bush wear. I have had similarsymptoms with a worn lower spherical bush. Graham

thanks all, put one 13st weight on the spring and measured approx 5/8th deflection. seems to be 300lb springs. One of the 4 had what looked like 300 engraved on it. Graham

I need to work out the spring rates of the springs on my radical (ssshhh). Is there a way to do this with the stuff I have in the garage? DO I just find a really heavy weight to balance on the spring and measure the compression? They are not rising rate. And what does a rate mean? Eg what compression does 170lbs mean? An inch, foot, mile? Tks Graham PS the reader should assume I have a fairly normal set of tools n stuff in the garage, but excluding a spring rate compression tester gadget!

my AVOs from Freestyle had exactly the same effect, I am not that impressed TBH with Gary/Len for creating the problem with not enough droop. Mind you my handling was very pleasant on 3 wheels! You do seem to have an awful lot of roll there Angus. Graham

some very very cynical person posted here a while back! Graham

Glad you liked it! Graham

Sorry Unc F. As Technicolor is a trademark (company, colour process etc), then unless you were referring to perhaps a musical group from Finland (here), your first reference was the one with the correct spelling. Graham

Steve, The ABTW10 is £35 from merlin if it helps... here Graham

it uses the mechanism in the ECU that used to swtich the a/c on/off at low revs in the original rover application if my 7-lore is correct. So it's just latching a feed or an earth. It's probably a symptom of that most common problem - poor earth esp if it comes along with very rough running. Is it an old ecu? Could be the connector block, could be an ecu fault. If you had a friendly SS owner around you could try an ecu swap to see what happens. That might rule in or out the ECU. Graham

the 8's are 1/2inch bore and the 10's are 5/8ths bore. Not sure if that helps. I got some lower wishbone bushes for my rad at www.raceparts-direct.com. They don't list the W's (I got ABT10s) but maybe worth a call to them. Graham

Great, thanks, I'll give them a call. Graham

like the scaffold suggestion, but I suspect that it'll take up more space than I have. Well I think that 500kg is heavy!! Graham

Thanks all for the info. The garage is detached and I am pretty sure there is enough height. It's to lift my Radical onto its chassis stands, so the load will be at a single point. The free-standing lift is just too big for the garage. I used an engine crane to get the Rad up this time, but it's pretty horrible n scary. Also it's very involved to get the car up off the ground initially to get the engine crane underneath. Graham

Steve, got some nice chassis stands for the Rad, but it's a bit scary getting it up (so to speak). SO I am hoping to put in the RSJ and a hoist to make it easier to do. From a bit of reseacrh on the web, I think I need to make use of a proper structural engineer to get it right! Graham

ok, all you structural engineers I want to put an RSJ across my single gge to lift approx 500kg. How big does it need to be (how are RSJ's sized - QB, B and FB?)? ALso how big does the supporting pillar need to be in brick? Ta Graham

Mark, the man you need is "Jimmy" who is J&D Electrical on 07958 328271. He has done quite a lot of our electrics including garage power that came and went sporadically. Graham

Mark, if you need an electrician, the one we use is good. Graham

Been a bad day, needed to go back on the old routine and meds, but the trauma is fading again!

I think I may have been less inclined to *light-heartedly* take the p, if it hadn't been dressed up in a mumbo-jumbo of pseudo motorsport tech/marketing/CSR bulletin speak!! It's true that novices may not know to check the oil a lot on track (although it's oft mentioned at the briefing) nor know what a mechanical over-rev is, but by and large it's common to all cars used on track (well all cars as my wife points out), and not part of some special CSR maintenance schedule. Graham

below the belt or what DJ??!! The cement could've happened to anyone. The reference made Mrs Gridgway laugh tho'! Anyway, I have it on good authority that the cement treatment creates exceptional long life (it only went bang at the end of last season apparently). Besides, my GT3 does use a bit of oil, alhough I can check the level by pressing a button whilst sat in traffic actually! Graham Edited by - Gridgway on 14 Jan 2008 21:39:31

not at all! Interestingly Mrs Gridgway just read the tech bulletin and had to ask if it was serious! Her summary was "so you have to check the oil?" Graham

I was going to post on technical update number two, but thought that just too churlish! So Mr CC, is that the best you can do? The engines are, what did you say..? Hand built, race tuned cossie engines. Need more maintenance you say. Ok I'm with that, tell me more. Oh, they run all day long in races with just a bit of topping up. Er ok. So better pay attention then. Right oh. Check the oil with the dipstick, which frankly is crap, so, pour oil in until it comes out the top. Oh, okey dokey then. And one more thing. Ahh this'll be the super-duper maintenance schedule. Don't revs the nuts off it or you'll knacker it. Excellent, thanks for that. Let me see if I have got it. Bung oil in and don't shag it. Got it. Is F1 this sophisticated? Graham PS Sorry James Edited by - gridgway on 14 Jan 2008 21:32:47

nope it was just running on the standard Minister map. It's not my car any more which is why my memory was a little vague on what the rear exhaust looked like. I decided that with only 8bhp difference, all was well. In fact it was bought with only the rear-exit system so it must have been ok!! Graham