Choppa

On the S3 the binnacle stays where it is bolted and the three sections that comprise the dash unscrew from in front of you as you sit in the drivers seat. Screws for the side sections come out from underneath the pod, screws for the central panel are in the corners and a couple hidden under the dimmer knobs. Take great care when removing the plastic surround that goes over the speedo and rev counter as it will have probably been (or become) stuck on the upper edge where it touches the underside of the binnacle and the plastic will be very brittle. Once this is off you'll be able to undo the metal plate that holds the central dials and shift it around so you can get to the bulbs that need replacing. The LHS and RHS sections can be moved once the screws have been removed from underneath. The lower edge of this central plate isn't particularly smooth so use something to protect the leather when you are moving it around. Also it might be the perfect time to replace the bulbs for all your gauges with green LEDS, they are much brighter than the filament bulbs, but they don't dim, unless there are dimmable ones on the market these days.

Might also be worth checking on the float valves in the carbs, to see if they are set to the right height and that the needle valves are in good condition and working as they should. If they need replacing get the ones with Vitron tips from somewhere like Eurocarbs.

Just been released after a week in hospital being treated for an inflamed gall bladder and a septicemia that came as part of the package! My problem was with "sludge" blocking things up rather than a gall stone. At its peak in the ambulance on the way to A&E the pain was indescribable, but I can attest to the effectiveness of morphine as a pain killer, the AMG (!) cocktail of antibiotics they gave me, and the quality of care available on the NHS. Still have a drain in the gall bladder waiting for them to do some tests to see if it's going to drain normally when/if the tube comes out, and if they intend to take the gall bladder out. Amazed that they regularly remove them as a day patient using keyhole surgery, which is the likely scenario for me I expect.

Very interested to hear your verdict on the beam from your LED headlamp conversion once it's on the road again.

Two photos of my 86 S3 N/A, one before resto and one after showing that mine never had a spring fitted

HML has had a batch made that run the wrong way round so when fitted to our gearboxes the CWP teeth mate on the correct side!

I've got tickets for the Sunday, oh well!

I seem to remember Sparky and maybe LotusFab have experience with sorting wiper motors in the past. I think the wheel inside the wiper motor whch controls the side to side motion needed to be swapped out from the old motor into the new one. Sparky will know what else was involved

It's the plastic pin things with a spring attached that gave up on mine, they distorted slightly with heat from the contact over time. I swapped some pins over from a different switch and all good ever since.

Look for "chicken beak" knobs for amplifiers etc on eBay you might find something in among the listings on there that might be suitable. Obviously the chicken beak ones are not what you want but the people that have those on offer usually have loads of different styles available on their eBay stores

Nice site! You might wanty to check the text on the storage pricing page, the text for 3 of the 4 options on offer is the same and the second most expensive option comes with the least amont of services.

To be fair he's selling a composite roof for £950.......

...and probably nobody on the magazine is either!

I'm still interested, perhaps mine could stand in for the S300

Is it deffo in Grantham? If a gap at the front end of the list needs filling I could bring my S3 along but it's a 4 hour drive from my place according to Google Maps, so wrong car and a likely early start, can you put me down as first reserve.