Mick Day

As long as the oil you are using is to the appropriate API grade, probably SL or SM, then the oil will be OK whether semi or fully synthetic. However be aware that certain (most?) synthetics are not proper synthetics. If the OP gauge is reading OK suspect a failed WL sensor. The WL sensor may be adjustable & that adjustment may have "slipped". If adjustable it can be adjusted with a small allen key.

Do the lights work? If not you have an earthing problem, best to check your engine earths etc anyway. Next: make up a flylead about 2 metres in length. Use some thickish wire & if you don't have any double up some thinish wire. Fit a female lucar connector to one end; remove the solenoid wire at the starter & connect the flylead to the solenoid. Touch the other end to +ve of the battery. Starter should now engage (make sure in neutral!). If the starter doesn't operate there is something amiss inside the starter.

No it isn't Nifty's car. Nifty's was for sale here. It may not have sold.

Nifty's car was for sale a while back; did it go? Would be a similar spec engine & we all know Nifty!

If I'm not wrong this car is with a well known dealer in Gloucestershire? Been discussed before. Plenty on Pistonheads including what looks like a brand new build with a Zetec engine. If it's what it says it is it could be a very good buy for £17500. here.

Norman’s right: a couple of hours with a wire brush & some Hammerite & the front suspension would look so much better. But hang on a minute what you’re seeing here are all the warts. What’s better a cosmetically tarted car or original condition? If you look under most 3-year-old tin-tops you’ll see surface corrosion similar to this on exposed suspension parts. So if this is the 1st car you’ve seen DON’T BUY IT! Get out & see some more & compare specs & condition. The ideal car would be to your spec/colour/interior but this may be difficult so some compromise is necessary. If the car has been garaged & not deliberately driven in the wet then that’s another bonus. Don’t worry about track-day use as this is what these cars are about. A nice thick history wedge detailing every nut & bolt purchased along with good evidence of maintenance is what you’re looking for. The ideal vendor is a club member, preferably knowledgeable, & has owned the car for a while. If the car is known to others that’s a good start. Buy on condition not mileage. And yes get someone along from the club to hold your hand & stop you buying the 1st car you see. The 1st car may be the right car but you do need to get a feel for the cars & someone else can help. And yes get along to your local meet. Good luck.

It looks as though you'll be needing new rear disks as the piston will have damaged the disc. I wore a rear pad down to the backing once, new pads installed & the very slightly scored disc wore that pad out in half the time. New discs are cheap though.

I was tempted between the Zumo & Nuvi 660 back in 2007. I bought the 660 because it had more of the functions I would use. I reckoned that plastic bags were cheap & if I trashed it I could always buy another more up-to-date Nuvi. You really should look to see what functions comparable Zumo's, Nuvi's & Tim-Tims have & decide based on that decision. After my trip this summer any new sat-nav will have to have the ability to save more than 1 way point!

I've been through quite a few tyre combinations for both track & road. For the past few years I've been using Yoko 48's on 13" wheels & for me they work well on track & on the road. Just completed 2400 miles in France, Italy & Switzerland on part worn 48's & yes it is possible to get reasonable heat in the tyres on the road, especially some of the mountain passes we enjoyed. Arrived back with 3mm tread left in pouring rain on the M25. The tyres never missed a beat & there was plenty of standing water around: just be gentle with throttle, brake & steering inputs & they'll do what's required. George Polley website for Yokohama offerings: here. Best buy from Polley are 21's in 185/70/13 profile.

Try these very helpful people: Performance Braking Ltd Singleton Court Business Centre Wonastow Road Monmouth Gwent NP5 3AH 01600 713117

Why do you need a reversing light?...........

When this happened to me a while back I very carefully dressed the "cratered out" holes with a small hammer so the metal was as flat as possible. I then refixed the wing using these: here. The trick is to dress the metal as best as possible & then carefully drill for a suitable size well nut. And yes I now use plastic bolts.

By the look of the photo it is a separate water/oil cooler & not an intercooler like the Laminova. Neat packaging though. On second thoughts it may have been more user friendly to have separate interchangeable units (still side by side) connected by brackets. So if the water rad gets holed one doesn't have to replace the oily bits at the same time.

Hmmmmm............ why would a change of viscosity change the oil temperature? Most high oil temps in a wet sump K series 7 is due to the crank hitting the oil. Change to a dry sump & oil temps plummet. Thicker oil is more difficult to force through narrow bearing gaps so in theory it should heat up more. ??

Bracing the diff?

Yes...... On my 1994 De-Dion, which must be v similar to yours with an over-the-top bar, I've always run on the 2nd to softest setting as recommended by CC. I've never seen fit to bother with it although Gary May recommends no rear ARB. I'm running a fairly stiff front ARB (red bushes) with wide track. One word of caution: those who have run an over-the-top bar in the stiffer positions have often ended up breaking the bar......& puncturing the fuel tank!

Try these people for a repair: here Or if you are fed up with a mechanical gauge try: here for an electronic unit.

That's a very profound statement. I think it was Stirling Moss who said: "An OP gauge gives all sorts of indications to the health of one's engine; a warning light just tells you it's time to buy a new engine!"

Before rebuilding you really need a diagnosis. What caused the engine to go bang in the 1st place?

Standard discs, front & back are Triumph Spitfire. Available from CC or any other good motor factor, for about the same amount of money. However it makes sense to support CC because if we don't....................

Make sure whoever you take it too can carry out the various adjustments. I took my 7 to a "bodger" a while back & asked for -2.5 deg front camber & zero toe-in. The LHS camber was different to the RHS & there was toe-out. Plus they totally rogered my upper ball joints. A total waste of money. Take it to a specialist who deals in Saab.

I think you could be right Dave, but they certainly stop the car. When they wear out I'll try something different. The 01 front & 1144 rear is probably the way to go. Cheaper too!

Before moving to Pagid front (RS15) & rear (RS14) I used to run Mintex 1144 (or Green Stuff) in the front & standard in the rear. Fronts are 4 pot Alcons. The 1144 in the front & standard in the rear gave a good balance but the rears wore out in 12 months with heavy use. I wouldn't be surprised if the SLR had standard rear pads as standard. Darren will know. Oh these people are good for brake advice/supply: Performance Braking Ltd Singleton Court Business Centre Wonastow Road Monmouth Gwent NP5 3AH 01600 713117 Edited by - Mick Day on 16 Jul 2009 14:32:59

They are probably the standard Ford pads. Cheap as chips & guess what? Available here Call Darren on 01322-625811.

Do a Google on single wire alternators: I came up with here. "First off, realize that the alternator needs field power in order to generate. Unlike an older generator, the alternator's tiny bit of residual field is not enough to get things rolling. In a conventional setup, power is applied to the voltage regulator from the ignition switch. The voltage applied to the voltage regulator and field is also the reference voltage that the regulator controls to. The regulator excites the field at whatever level it takes to keep the voltage at the input terminal at 13.8-14 volts. That means the output terminal voltage of the alternator may be (much) higher, depending on the voltage drop in the wiring between the alternator and battery. If the vehicle has an ammeter, then there will be voltage drop across that in addition to the drop through the wiring. The one-wire alternator must - by definition - regulate its output voltage. The designer of the regulator has to allow for some defined amount of voltage drop through the wiring to keep the battery at the desired 13.8-14 volts. If the resistance in the alternator circuit is higher than what was anticipated, then the battery will be undercharged. If the resistance is lower, e.g., a short, fat wire directly from the alternator to the battery, then the battery may be overcharged. My experience with a number of 1 wire alternators is that the terminal voltage is set to 14.2-14.5 volts. Two issues for manufacturers here. One, while an individual's mildly over or undercharged battery may not matter much in the big picture, for an OEM, having this happen to thousands of cars would be a warranty disaster. Second, to keep the charging voltage at the battery correct, a different regulator with different wiring compensation would be required for each model. A logistical and cost nightmare. The other major consideration is field current control. A conventional alternator draws full field current when the engine is stopped. The reason it doesn't drain the battery is that the field supply is switched off with the ignition switch. Since the switched field power isn't available to the 1-wire alternator, engine stop and start to turn the field off and on must be inferred from other parameters. The 1-wire regulator detects engine stop by the cessation of AC from the stator. This is reliable. Engine start gets a bit more complicated. Since the alternator is not generating until the field is applied, engine start must be detected by other means. With the regulator I commonly use, this is done by looking for the dip in voltage associated with engaging the starter motor. If it sees a dip in voltage, it applies field and looks for stator output. If no stator output, the field is cut off again. The problem is, to be sensitive enough to detect engine starts under all conditions (such as when the car is rolled off without engaging the starter), the voltage dip detector has to be pretty sensitive. In experiments I have done, I've discovered that the small dip caused by switching on a single 50 watt driving light will trip the field on. That means that the field will be momentarily turned on from a wide variety of conditions other than engine cranking. It won't be on long but it does consume some battery power. Again, for the individual user, this isn't much of an issue. Most 1-wire alternators end up on hotrods and old cars with few accessories and usually none that draw impulse current with the ignition off. At most, if the dip detector ended up too sensitive or the car has some load that trips it regularly, the only consequence would be an occasional dead battery. Having this happen over millions of cars would, for the OEM, again be a warranty nightmare. The 2 wire setup neatly addresses all these issues and so the OEMs stick with that design."