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Mar 25, 2021 21:39:45 GMT
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Sorry to divert the conversation slightly but does anyone know the answer to my 'belt around seat' question? If needed I'll swap the seat over tomorrow and have it retested on Saturday before appealing. Thank you for confirming, that was my understanding. Having just put it all back, due to the design of the OEM seat belt stalk I can't route the belt through the inboard hole of the seat to clip it into the retainer, so it has to sit outside. Do we know how this stands up to the MOT regs? Can always put the standard seat back in but far more of a faff.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 21:37:15 GMT
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Sorry, I missed that part of your previous post and jumped straight to the link. That was a point I intended to make earlier; where is the definition of a belt of incorrect type? Similarly I've read on many forums and information sites that the twist buckle doesn't carry the proper approval, as blackpop says, but I can't actually find that written on any official document. Assume it must be somewhere, and assume it's correct by way of Schroth making a point of designing their "road legal" harness to have a red push buckle and be ECE approved.
My harnesses are 5 point, tempting to remove two belts and see what they say. He'd probably give it another Google and find one of these posts about the buckle as evidence.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 20:39:05 GMT
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This is what I was looking at yesterday but it doesn't correlate with crockpots reference. Section 7 is for belts and while it doesn't specifically state anything against harnesses, buckle types or anything like that, it does refer to these tables. I think I'm supposed to conform to B, so it needs to be a 3 point or disabled belt, which I guess is where harnesses fall foul.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 20:29:24 GMT
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And on the subject of igor's post, this tester went off on one about how I don't understand the amount of responsibility testers have, how if he passes it and I crash and die then it's on him. He didn't appreciate being asked why he'd rather I drive a roll caged car with only a 3 point belt. I wasn't going to argue it because if the rules are no harnesses (IF) then he's right by the book to fail them regardless of logic, but don't feed me horse manure about it being for my safety.
Sorry, this guy pushed buttons. Also came out with the, "well I could also have failed it for X, Y, Z", "you shouldn't have a roll cage", "I could also fail the belts (harnesses) for excessive movement" i.e. Because they're wrapped around a harness bar (properly).
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 20:22:46 GMT
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Do you have a link to the manual? I have to admit that when I looked I couldn't see anything in the document on the gov site that meant it was a fail, yet every forum conversation I've ever seen says that harnesses do not carry that standard to pass an MOT (except for those few that are ECE marked).
I would like to take it up with the tester, or centre manager, because to justify his decision he showed me his phone where he'd googled it, and it came up with an extract from a forum that says the harness needs to be BS approved. I would have thought he'd refer back to the actual MOT regs. Conversation moved on rather quickly and I forgot to come back to it.
The tester's attitude on the day did stink. He initially tried to fail my bottom shock mounting nuts for not being a nyloc or other locking type. When I pushed back on this (because it's all the OE Mazda hardware) he got really shirty, looked it up and then conceded. Also failed the brake pedal for not having a rubber cover despite it having a Mazda dealer fitted aluminium pedal cover with raised dimples, for want of a better description. I know in the regs it allows for this too, but from experience of arguing unrelated fails with previous testers I thought it was easier to buy a £5 pedal rubber than argue with his interpretation of excessive wear.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 13:50:05 GMT
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I've just had a look at the mot regs, there's nothing I can see that makes harnesses a fail. According to DVSA as long as they are bs marked and not just FIA then they are fine. This was the issue, not BS marked. The only ones that are, are 4 points with the road car style buckle with red button. I wouldn't be happy using them on track given the lack of ASM design. I've now found Schroth make a proper harness but with a red button and ECE approval, and you can add crotch straps to make it 6 point, but they cost the thick end of £1k so will need some saving up. Hopefully more harness manufacturers start making similar ECE approved designs if it starts becoming more of an issue. Interesting point about a factory car with inertia belts and harnesses, as I though this was against regs too. Has to be one or the other and has to be BS marked or equivalent.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 13:42:50 GMT
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Thank you for confirming, that was my understanding. Having just put it all back, due to the design of the OEM seat belt stalk I can't route the belt through the inboard hole of the seat to clip it into the retainer, so it has to sit outside. Do we know how this stands up to the MOT regs? Can always put the standard seat back in but far more of a faff.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 25, 2021 12:57:08 GMT
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My track car was caught out in the MOT yesterday for having harnesses and failed for 'belts of incorrect type fitted'. I'm putting the factory 3 point inertia belt back in the drivers side for the MOT.
Please can anyone with knowledge of the regulations confirm that having inertia belts with buckets seats won't fall foul of the regs? Providing the belts are routed correctly through the holes so that they sit on the body correctly.
Also, whether removing the passenger seat entirely will negate the need for the passenger seat belt, even if I leave the eyelets in the body but no part of the belt remaining?
Thanks in advance
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 24, 2021 17:14:02 GMT
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I won't be using this lot again. They used to be pretty good, the kind of garage you could have a chat with and would use the rules sensibly. They were bought out a year or two ago and I think the old staff have slowly moved on. Funnily enough this has coincided with a heap of negative reviews (I now know) so it's probably not just me nor an isolated occasion. Pedal rubbers ordered for £5 a pair, should arrive Saturday. In the mean time I'll clean my nice ones up (seem to remember they're something fairly sought after and worth a fair bit). New number plate ordered from Halfords I'll pick up tomorrow. They only seem to do the standard oblong size so I'll stick that on temporarily and buy a more suitable size online, but still confirming to UK font and sizes etc. Online suppliers don't seem to be able to supply and deliver within a week. Finally, I dug out the standard seat belts (because 30 year old inertia belts are far safer to use with a cage and bucket seat than 5 point harnesses!). It shouldn't take long to swap them over, just a bit fiddly with the cage in the way and having to remove the harness bar. I'll take the passenger seat out altogether rather than mess around swapping that side over. On this subject, new harnesses were on the list just not a priority. There's nothing wrong or unsafe with mine, they're just a bit stiff and a real pain to adjust. So I got looking for some road legal 5 or 6 point harnesses, and to my surprise there is one that fits the bill. Schroth make a 4 point harness with individual shoulder and lap belts, and with the latch functioning in almost the 'normal' way, but operated by a red push button to keep the MOT man happy (and they're ECE type approved), then you can buy crotch straps to convert them to 6 point. The only problem with these is a pair is going to cost in excess of £760 all in. That's more than I paid for the car! Still, do it right do it once I guess.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 24, 2021 11:20:13 GMT
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Bu66er indeed!
A difficult pill to swallow, this one. It failed, not on emissions surprisingly (have narrowed the misfire down to water ingress into no2 sprak plug recess) but on: Front number plate not reflective - I'll begrudgingly accept this one, it does look noticeable flat this year so I'll replace it, but it certainly was reflective. Has been on there for 6 years. Both front seat belts not of correct type - they're harnesses. I know this is probably correct use of the regs but ffs, I have a cage, bucket seats and it's a track car. They are in great condition and not freyed, fixed in with all the right hardware. Brake pedal missing its anti-slip coating - it has some kind of JDM studded metal pedal covers that it's had since coming into the country 15 years ago. Again I know it's probably technically correct by the regs but f sake. It's not like the pedal rubber has disintegrated leaving a shiny metal surface.
The guy's attitude was pretty awful too, "well I could have failed it for X, Y, Z too but I didn't". Examples being the harnesses being able to freely slide across the harness bar, he's already failed the harnesses so not sure what relevance that has. Something about it having a roll cage. He tried to fail it for having the wrong nuts on the front coilover bottom mountings, but when I protested that it was the standard Mazda hardware he conceded. The guy was a tool.
Anyway. I'll order a new front plate, new plugs while I'm sorting that out anyway, a couple of pedal rubbers and I'll stick the driver's side seat and seat belt back in and take out the passenger side altogether. I'm not even sure I'll be able to put the factory seat belts back in without removing the cage. I'll probably check that out first to be honest and if not find a different MOT tester and take my chances.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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The loneliness of the MOT waiting room when you know your car's about to fail because it started running on 3 on the way in
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 22, 2021 10:32:06 GMT
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This looks clean! Shame the paint on the early cars suffers so much.
Love the look on the new wheels. If you don't mind me asking, how much were they? I've wanted a 'road' set of wheels for a while with a bit more presence than my current Weds but struggling with choice and budget. Thinking some chunky Watanabes, SA3R/MS03s or Work Equip 40s at the moment - your car is pushing me towards the Wats! Very helpful to see how 7" ET0 sits as well, think I'd need to go for around ET20.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 21, 2021 23:30:29 GMT
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Started Saturday morning with a bit of deja vu when Faceache told me it was 6 years ago that I took the MX5 for its first MOT under my ownership It was almost perfect but I'd decided to push the MOT back a few days to Wednesday. Probably just as well I did. Nothing major, just the little bits not going to plan. The new clips I'd bought for the front arch liners looked good quality and were a very close match to the original, but the hole for the screw was one size too large meaning the no10 ACME screws I'd bought didn't 'grab' enough, and the no12 ACME screws I had weren't long enough. In the end after some messing about I decided to use M5 stainless dome-head bolts instead - these grabbed nicely, won't rust and are a little lower profile too incase a tyre gets too close on track (shouldn't do on these wheels to be honest) Unfortunately these seem to be too short or weren't grabbing in the bottom mudflap mount, and the replacement screws for the mid mounts (different to the rest, goes into a rectangular stand-off block that locates into a square hole in the arch return and expands as the screw goes through thus securing it) were 10mm too short, so not expanding the fixing which kept falling out. So I've had to order some long stainless hex-head screws which should do the job. Not the end of the world, just frustrating that things don't fit properly. Remaining air guide bolts and the troublesome tow hook bolt sorted. Undertray back on and looking decent. For some reason I had a random undertray bolt left over, not idea where it's come from! Moving on I changed all brake discs; nothing fancy, only standard Blueprint discs but they seem to have a good reputation in MX5 circles for providing good performance and taking track abuse. The set coming off are the same and have done well (barely used actually just a lot of surface rust from standing outside). The other advantage is they're pretty cheap. Adjusted the handbrake and re-bled the brakes with Mrs8925 on the pedal just to be sure, and I'm pleased to say the car is now back down on all four wheels for the first time in a year. Oddly it came as a shock to see how small it was, for the whole year it's been on axle stands at full extension and now looks so small and low, especially next to the van. Tried to set the headlight level using a big sheet of MDF. Not really sure if it's where it should be or not. The adjusters weren't noticably moving the beam much and because all the plastic retaining clips are chinese repros, as that's all I could find, they don't fit into the housing brilliantly and pop out when pressing a screwdriver in to them. I'll have to see how well they do on the road and try to find the proper parts. Not sure if Moss would be able to supply them, assume they just buy in and resell the kit complete, or whether Hella would be able to provide new ones. I think they're some form of BMW clip, pretty sure I managed to find new genuine ones at one point but wasn't sure of the source and they were something like £4 each, and I'd need 12, then I lost the tab and couldn't find them again. All other parts tested and I think I'm ready for Wednesday Finished off but clearing the garage again as I hadn't put it back together since the painting, and it was making me itch. I'll start painting up the badges this week and will see if I can do a refurb on these PIAA fog lights that came with the car. Probably quite marmite and I'm a bit indifferent to them, would just be nice to make them useable again. I last secured them with stainless bolts but didn't realise they fix to the aluminium inner units rather than the external plastic housings so they've all seized and are properly refusing to budge. I might also see if I can revive this Dcuatro headlight cover which has been a pain in my for years. I'll probably try to strip it right back using fibreglass friendly marine paint stripper and do a bit of research into the best products to use to prep and paint it.
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Last Edit: Mar 21, 2021 23:36:01 GMT by oli8925
Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 18, 2021 23:22:23 GMT
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Oooooooh I need that Starion!
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 18, 2021 14:34:59 GMT
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I have thought about it but feel the orange a) helps to break up the monotony of white a little, and b) keeps it looking a little more retro. I may pick up a second set to play around with.
Or I keep thinking about vented TSIs, but can't find any I'm 100% set on aesthetically.
MOT booked for Wednesday morning!
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 18, 2021 14:20:02 GMT
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I'd agree with the last few points. It's all very well concentrating on the welding first but, if it's stored outside, there's little point in tackling the rust until you fix the source of the problem. These things rust from the inside out, so the insides of your replacement panels are going to rust up in no time at all if it's still leaking into the inner structure.
I would get a replacement rain rail and a drain brush, makes sure any water than runs down the hood is exiting out of the vehicle rather than in it. The drain tubes have a little rubber flap (poor excuse for a valve) in the bottom at the exit from the inner sills. This often gets stuck causing a blockage, or debris gets stuck at the restriction. This causes a build up of rain water in the tube which leaks out at the join into the inner sill. Or as quite often happens someone gets too zealous with the brush and disconnects the pipe from its connection inside the sill/quarter. Then get a cover or half cover to give a first line of defence that you're not going to be precious about. I wouldn't think about replacing the hood until the dirty side of the bodywork is done. Just my 2 pence.
Also check the ribs on the sills either side of the jacking points, they should be drain holes but often get squashed or gunked up and need to be cleared/opened with a screwdriver. Not unheard of to have closed holes and sloshing water in the sills as you drive.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 17, 2021 21:28:18 GMT
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Found a spare hour or so today to tick a few items off the list. Started off undoing the progress I'd previously made by separating the front bumper from the body again. A bit of a silly reason, the ends of the bumper have an 'ear' moulded into them, a metal plate with two captive studs sit against the front side of the ear with the stud protuding through it rearwards. The studs pass through a return on the front of the wings, an opposite return on the inner wing, and are secured with a pair of nuts to bring it all together. The plates are loosely held to the ears using three small plastic clips, in my rush to get the bumper on in Sunday's fading light I thought I'd lost the clips so used so trim tape to hold them in place (didn't work but not really needed anyway). In order to continue with the other remaining jobs I needed some other fasteners that I couldn't find but knew weren't lost, a quick rummage in the garage found them in a separate box for some reason along with the clips - so for no practical reason I loosened everything off again to put these little clips in that aren't really needed. Sometimes I dislike myself Following this, and with my newly found fasteners, I installed the clips securing the front bumper air guide to the front panel. I didn't really pay these enough attention on removal to notice most of them are completely stuffed, so will look at getting some more in the near future. The air damn itself was cracked, missing retaining tabs and the remaining fixings were seized, so this was replaced with a new Mazda part with stainless fixings. Front tow hook reinstalled with 2 out of 3 bolts, the third appears to be crossthreading so I've left that until I can pay it some more attention. That'll be a fun job considering there is barely the space to swing a short spanner in this area. Next were the arch liners and mud flaps - not much to say here except I soon realised I was missing a few fasteners and retaining clips so new items have been ordered to arrive on Saturday. Just annoying I can't stick it back together completely now to be honest. Still, nice that it's looking cleaner and more complete. (Sorry, camera exposure settings seemed to go haywire in the rain) Had a bit of a head scratch about the mud flaps, not too happy with the fit at the top, wondered if they should go behind the liner and up tight against the wing but it wouldn't fit that way. Don't remember having the same issue previously but they were genuine flaps torn to shreds, these are IL Motorsport reproductions so maybe that's the issue. Later in the day, thanks entirely to the sunshine, I came back out to try to do a bit more. I was feeling very concious that a headlight was still missing, exposing one corner to water ingress (stupid as it's exposed anyway being that the headlight lids don't seal against the body work, so all in my head). First job was to replace the sidelight looms while I still had one accessible. The connectors include a push clip that attaches to the inner wing, unfortunately that hole is over the chassis rail so you can't get to the underneath to press the tangs in and release it cleanly. What ensued was a considerable fight to get them out but evenutally I won, the new clips are included with the new loom so I could be a bit violent. Thankfully the driver's side I'd already covered up with the headlight didn't put up as much of a fight. Next the passenger headlight was fitted which went largely without issue althought it needed a bit of persuasive force. On removal the pivot bolt had seized so I had to bend the tang of the headlight out of shape to remove the unit from the car. I'd bent it 95% back into shape when I refurbished them but it obviously wasn't quite right so needed a bit of extra gentle persuasion. With the lids on it's still not quite right but close enough for now. Both still need some final adjustment, although I think the bonnet also needs some adjustment which doesn't help with trying to line everything up by eye. Very glad that it's looking like a car again...I guess the neighbours probably are too! Still remaining: New brake discs to go on Front arch liners/mud flaps to sort Undertray back on Final bleed of the brakes & set handbrake MOT Alignment Few final cosmetic bits
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Last Edit: Mar 17, 2021 23:43:16 GMT by oli8925
Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 15, 2021 21:06:59 GMT
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Thanks all, I think I'll orde some detail brushes and play around with flowing nicely into the crevices, thinning it if I need to.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 15, 2021 20:35:22 GMT
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Of course, it does help if you put the headlight pivot bolts the right way around Right hand unit installed, only remembered after that I should have left it off until I'd replaced the sidelight loom but nevermind. I've still not worked out how you're supposed to tighten the rear outside lid retaining screw without scratching the wing. Decided to leave it there and wait until daylight to do the final adjustments.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 15, 2021 19:19:56 GMT
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Mother , I didn't even snooze! Oh well, I don't even have the big brakes yet so they would just have been sitting in the garage very useful to know about them though so thank you, I'll keep my eye out for another set
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Last Edit: Mar 15, 2021 19:20:31 GMT by oli8925
Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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