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1

General Car Chat / New calipers... What colour?

« on: 18 February 2026, 22:18:33 »

So, the new calipers have turned up. They're complete except for pads, but they are totally bare cast iron.

Beautifully finished, but a blank canvas.

First thought is to simply lacquer them with a high temperature gloss, which would give them a nice gunmetal finish. Alternatively, aluminium/silver. If I were to pick another colour then I would consider the body colour which is flint grey...

Open to suggestions for coating the calipers...

2

General Car Chat / A simple disc and pad change...

« on: 12 February 2026, 14:33:43 »

...yeah right

You know you're in trouble when you have to cut the pad retaining pins off because they're too bent to push through.

Pad warning light has been on a while. Got the pads and new discs because, well, you know...

Turns out the warning was on because a seized piston was making the opposite ones work harder.

Needs a new caliper and my thought process is to fit a pair.

3

General Car Chat / Disco Sport TD4...

« on: 04 February 2026, 19:18:45 »

Any good?

Bro is looking at one as a potential purchase... Apparently it's a TD4 180 manual. Reviews suggest that the 180 was auto only?

He's looked at a CX5 as well, but not sure what the alternatives are.

My instinct would be to run away from both but for different reasons.

4

General Discussion Area / The latest Epstein case files...

« on: 02 February 2026, 09:58:36 »

Seem to have set off another bout of amnesia...

It must be wonderful to have so much money that you "can't recall receiving $75,000" but can remember asking the questions in Parliament that it paid for

Also, resigning from the Labour Party is little more than virtue signalling. He should be stripped of his title and privilege.

The current baunch of Labour MPs are no better .. when asked about the pictures of Mandy in his pants, his reply was to not be hasty as the events happened over 20 years ago as if that makes it alright

5

General Discussion Area / The curious case of the missing wheel...

« on: 29 January 2026, 00:47:12 »

Source: YouTube https://share.google/Uuy280zwzuzaAxUML

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flookaside.fbsbx.com%2Flookaside%2Fcrawler%2Fmedia%2F%3Fmedia_id%3D931426792572936&tbnid=CvRDWBwsx8GTQM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Faviationgallerys%2Fposts%2Fba274-a350-1000-lets-be-clear-about-what-this-actually-looks-likethe-axle-nut-is%2F931424622573153%2F&docid=qoivRM8p6lUhsM&w=1080&h=1350&itg=1&hl=en-GB&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm1%2F4&kgs=a41d3e779e00746f&shem=bdsle%2Cisst

There's a few questions going to be asked about this:

When the wheel was found?
What was the decision process that allowed the flight to continue apparently blissfully unaware?
What caused the wheel to fail?

The final straw was probably the turn onto the runaway as this particular wheel is the one that would have had the most scrubbing. The rear pairs also take the bulk of the landing force on the Flying iPad, which is something in itself as most landings on it are brutal. Watch it on a big screen and there are a couple of flashes of sparks from the brake pack as the wheel failed leaving the runway.

6

General Discussion Area / Greenland. From a joint Danish and Greenland perspective.

« on: 17 January 2026, 14:55:32 »

https://youtu.be/RkZRh84y-ik?si=y2SbAbJO4nNaNEaJ

7

General Car Chat / 2009 XF 3.0 petrol project

« on: 26 November 2025, 05:33:58 »

Apparently needs an alternator.

However car starts runs and drives without too much issue... Battery light intermittent.

Couple of questions...

1. Does the alternator actually need to be coded to the car?
2. Yes or No to 1, can the regulator be replaced without too much drama and are they available?

Any alternative likely culprits?

8

General Car Chat / Best paint for door cards

« on: 06 October 2025, 23:35:30 »

So the new door cards for TPC aren't quite the same colour trim as the ones fitted. The panels are textured vinyl on a foam layer covering an epoxied fibre board. Each colour is a separate piece of vinyl when originally assembled.

An example of the current trim, but medium grey instead of cream:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314881596956

And an example of the colour of the new door cards:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166733719117

To address the obvious question, Mercedes only made a handful of SWB S Class with rear door blinds, so parts are like rocking horse poo and the door cards are unique to the cars with rear door blinds which makes getting an exact trim match is akin to finding a V8 Omega convertible for sale. Hence grabbing the parts as they're available. The hard plastics and armrests will be swapped over.

The basic panel is an exact colour match to mine, but the area behind the pocket and the top edge are black rather than grey. Any suggestions for recolouring?

I am thinking possibly the poly carbonate paint you might use on an RC car as it's both durable and flexible, Tamiya  PS-5 being my first thought... but it's the first time I have recoloured anything other than hard plastics. I have used Tamiya TS paints to good effect for this, and they stood up well in my Omega when I was using that as a taxi.

9

General Discussion Area / Importing some parts from Spain. Question.

« on: 01 October 2025, 14:08:35 »

Confused.com

So, found a pair of used door cards for TPC at a breakers in Spain.

Seller has agreed to sell them to me if I arrange shipping.

That's fine, and have found a courier company who will collect and ship them for a reasonable price. However seller is asking for me to complete the customs paperwork.

Would a CN23 suffice? Obviously I am not a business and the parts are for my personal use so getting an EORI form that they're asking for seems excessive.

10

General Car Chat / 03 Fiesta 56k

« on: 29 September 2025, 15:56:37 »

Anyone with kids of a certain age looking for a first car project?

Mate has acquired a 3 door Zetec.

Very tidy body, needs a clean and the bumpers are scuffed. Big issue is a head gasket leak at cylinder 3.

No rust on it.

11

General Car Chat / Mercedes ML 280 CDI Project.

« on: 08 September 2025, 23:56:32 »

So, what does £600 buy you these days?

Well, an 8 owner 2007 ML280 CDI with 7 weeks MoT and 204k miles on it might not be top of everyone's wish list, but horses for courses

Basically the garage that my mate uses for all his bits and bobs had bought it from a customer when it looked like their bill was going to far exceed the value of the car. They used it as a dog van for a bit and until it started to, er, have issues. At which point they offered it to my mate. After a quick test drive, he was all set to break it and asked if I could help strip it. I felt that the issues, whilst not exactly economically viable in the scheme of things, weren't insurmountable and felt it had at least another year in it... So having a soft spot for high mileage sheds and being the total idiot that I am, I bought it from him

The good bits:

2 ok tyres.
Starts, runs, drives and stops.
MoT until October.
Aftermarket shin breaker

The not so good bits:

2 knackered tyres
Aircon inop
Osr tail light out
Number plate lights out
Fuel gauge inop
Radio inop
Absolutely minging inside
Some cosmetic issues
Bodged wiring for said shin breaker
Interior light burnt out. Literally.
Auto lights not working (see above).
Surging at low speeds.
Oh, and a stretched transfer box chain... Sounds like a machine gun if you stomp on it.

And that's just the things I knew about...

12

General Discussion Area / I'm lost.

« on: 23 August 2025, 23:07:29 »

Got home from a 3 day trip to find out our beloved Tibetan Terrorist had to be put down on Thursday afternoon.

Thank you Koko, life won't be the same without you.

13

General Car Chat / Anyone older than 55? Take note...

« on: 07 August 2025, 09:06:11 »

https://empofish.com/new-july-2025-driving-licence-rules-for-over-55s-in-the-uk/

Snidey bastids.

14

General Discussion Area / Gaza famine...

« on: 26 July 2025, 00:06:29 »

Fact or fiction?

https://www.instagram.com/p/DMdH3aRt9xG/?igsh=MTQ3MHJ4MHFxeGxvNg==

15

General Car Chat / '58 Corsa D 1.3cdti Q

« on: 23 July 2025, 22:51:05 »

Does the pedal trick work?

Looking at one for a mate, got an EGR cooler coolant pipe leak and an EML on.

Coolant leak should be easy enough to find, if not access to fix...

EML is apparently a pressure sensor, but need to try and identify which one.

Car on question has 161k on it so presume that it's seen something vaguely reassembling maintenance over the years.