Prace bets now!

I bet you're sitting there cursing at it at 4pm :-)

Mike P

Heh.

As it happens all went well.

Just the cooling system to overhaul now.

Taking a chance on the fan switch, 'cos I can't get to it......

I predict a mishap with the cooling system. (c:

Yes, well, you're right, 'cos I told you.

Little plastic hose connector has snapped off the side of the rad.

It's the hose that exits at the top of the radiator and returns to the expansion tank.

60 second epoxy hasn't fixed it - so I'll browse what's available at Halfords when I go to get some more coolant, after I lost half of it on the drive due to that stub breaking off.....

Sounds like time for a new rad . :(

Tim..

Possibly.

Araldite metal putty stuff seems to have done the job.

Something had to go wrong, didn't it?

I wish I'd picked somewhere else to bleed the system now.

Still, it appears to hold up OK. But I won't find out until later in the week when I've got a new hose clip and run the system up to pressure.

Glad to hear it. I serviced a friends Clio today. Just *why* did they put the oil filter there!?

Mike P

I've repaired broken rads with Araldite metal putty before and it's held up ok at least for a few months until I've fitted new rads.

Mike P

Aye, but I really don't want to risk a trackday with a weak cooling system.

A new rad. is only 85 quid, delivered and only 1 bolt to remove the old one, so I've ordered one.

Hopefully it'll arrive before next weekend.

Very true. I'm doing a full service on the 33 on Monday - any tips?

Then next weekend I'm going to take a couple of days off and do the cambelts. Wifey got me a load of tools for my birthday so I think it's about time I put them to use instead of paying someone else to do it .

Mike p

Yours is an 8v, so the plugs aren't too bad. On a 16v it takes ages, 'cos there's no clearance between rocker and inner wings.

Can't think of anything that'll cause you major hassle, to be honest. Even the cambelts are supposed to be a dead easy job.

Might be worth sourcing the proper Golden Lodge spark-plugs for it - although we ran ours on Bosch - the GL ones are supposed to be 'better'

- although how you measure that I don't know. You can usually pick 'em up on ebay.

You won't be able to get HT leads off the shelf, can't remember where I got mine for the 75, but it was an online supplier at less than half the cost of OEM.

Rotor arm and dizzy cap etc. all available at Halfords.

Heh. I quite enjoyed my day of spannering the 75. Been a long time since I did anything myself - and I realise why now. The 75 is a dream to work on compared with the more modern stuff I've owned recently.

I was going to wax my car today but in the end decided I couldn't be arsed wading through the gazillion different types of car care product available to the discerning would be hairdresser so I treated myself to a new pair of windscreen wipers.

Oil, dizzy cap,rotor arm all changed. Plugs looked spot on so I've left them in for now while I see if I can get a set of GL for it.

Any recommendations for brake pads? I've just discovered that the ones I've got on it fade terribly when they get hot.

Mike P