Roy Lewington

Some time ago (I think it was early last year) there were some interesting posts on whether or not to fit an oil cooler thermostat. I decided against, as I was not happy with the thought of it failing in the closed position. Instead I have fitted an oil temperature gauge. Lack of a suitable dash location and the preference for keeping it original pushed me into a small digital gauge which was fairly easy to fit and to remove at a later stage if needed. I bought a sump plug from Matt Lewis Racing (half inch BSP) that took a one eighth npt temp. sender. Online supplied me with a digital temp. gauge. Fitting was OK. I made up a small bracket which slid under the dash. Wiring needed an earth and 12v which I took from the instrument fuse 21. Being digital I did not have to wire in a lighting feed. The twin core signal cable which plugged in at the gauge and sump plug needed extending and I ran it through under the transmission tunnel following the route of the accelerator cable. I gave it a run today for the first time. From cold 8*C and an outside air temp of 10*C it took a long time to warm the oil (only 40* after 5 miles). Even with some fairly spirited driving it only made 55*C. I would like it to be around 80, the same as the water temp. so rather bizarrely I shall now be fitting an oil temp. thermostat as I will be able to monitor the results.

Oil temperature gauge? Small digital gauges are available on line. Roy

How good is your timing gun? I have 3------ and 2 of them are close to useless. Just one more thing for you to consider.

Remember that ignition timing at idle (10 degrees I think) is with both vacuum pipes at the distributor disconnected. You may be including some vacuum advance in your 20 degrees.

Nice tip Neil, thanks for that. Roy

I have wrap but on the chassis where it runs close to the exhaust (looks rather nice in red)!

Take it to a workshop or garage that has emmission testing equipment. The sniffer pipe should be held just above the coolant level steam in the header tank. Any HC reading (hydro-carbons) indicates head gasket trouble. This needs to be done properly, the sniffer pipe end not touching the coolant with the cap off and covered with a clean rag to stop the fumes escaping (not some old cloth off the floor covered in oil and petrol fumes). If you have what looks like salad cream in the header tank it is most likely to be condensation. Good luck, Roy.

Well I guess it is what you preceive to be value for money. To make a decent fist of it with some accomodation I am looking at around £200. For another £70 I can get a weeks holiday all-inclusive in Croatia! I may still go, and to be fair it is not their fault that I live a long way away. Thanks for your thoughts. Roy.

Is it me? Am I out of touch? Just looking at the prices for Saturday £30 (or £26.50 advance booking), oh except the advance booking incurs a fee of £1.95 so a huge saving there of £1.55 which won't even get you a cup of coffee. Last time I went, parking was £10, probably more now. All this so that I can get in to spend more money------ I don't normally pay to go shopping. I see Traders Stands and Autojumble Stands are in excess of £200 each so somebody is collecting a lot of money. Last year it seems 72000 trooped through the doors, you do the maths. Any thoughts? Roy.

Hi Damien, I run my X180 on OZ Rims, 15'' front and 16'' rear. Did you have to change your wheels for the brake upgrade?

Thanks for that, very well covered.

What is the recommended life span for a blue belt? Didn't they have a noise problem with these?

Interesting. I think the conclusion I have come to is Fully Synthetic (to reduce Turbo carboning) with zinc (reduce wear). That leads me to Valvoline ProV Racing 20/50, Millars 10/60 or Classic Sport 20/50. This stuff is not cheap but it's only once a year. On a lighter note, one for the tech boffins out there. What is synthetic oil made of?

Yes, all done with the engine in place.

This was on my winter job list and this time I tried the technique of cutting the old belt in half. All I can say is it worked for me. Armed with a new new blade in my Stanley Knife I found it easy to cut the belt whilst turning the crank with a spanner. With the old belt cut I slightly reduced the tension to slide the new belt on half way. Then---- old belt off, new belt pushed on and tensioned. Saves having to lock the pullies. I don't like destroying things but I had a spare from the previous change. Last time I had a real struggle to refit the aircon belt so this time I fiitted the belts to the crank pulley just before sliding the pulley back onto the crank and bolting it in. Don't forget to orientate the tensioner correctly (swing down). Draining the coolant, removing 3 belts, removing the alloy triangle support and disturbing 3 hoses with barely enough room to reach anything it really is a poor design from a maintenance point of view. I am still in love with this thing but only just!