You are correct about the thermostat - the water should not be circulating through the rad until it opens. However, to reduce the cooling effect around the engine before and after it opens many people fit radiator muffs. In theory, the engine should get up to temp more quickly before the stat...

Sounds like a nearside wheel bearing to me. I'd chock the back wheels, put the transfer box into neutral and jack up the front end. Remove the front wheels. You will then be able to spin the hubs and listen/feel for any bearing problems. If all seems well, it's always worth looking at the...

I fitted Wipac crystal lens units and a boomslang type harness (think it was paddocks own brand). There is a great improvement when used with decent phillips bulbs or similar. The lights are now on a par with many new cars.

I'm running it off the original sender. Although the resistance is a bit different to the durite one, it seems to work well. The low fuel warning light still works too.

I fitted an oil pressure gauge in the spare space, with matching fuel and temperature gauges from Durite. If you think about what is critical to keep the engine healthy, that leaves the battery voltage and boost. As long as the engine is pulling well, you don't really need an accurate boost...

The last caps I bought are a much harder plastic than the old rubber ones. They seal really well, in fact I need a mallet to get them on. Might be worth a look on line. I'm pretty sure they came in a blue bag.

Something at the back of my mind says this is a wiper switch fault. The park action needs a live feed, which I think is a solid green on my older vehicle.

Good to hear you got a result.

Ah, looks like you have covered everything drum related. An odd one, especially as it only started after replacing the drums.

Ditto - I must have gone at least 20k on the mix. It's a bit thicker than EP90, but not much.

I fitted a self adhesive Ring high level light. Has stayed put for years - but it would be dead easy to make a little bracket to bolt onto the door.

Sounds like your new drums are not fully round. I've had to send sets back in the past - they came in a blue box...

I think you'd need to fit the seat belt rail (for soft tops) to give a high enough point for the belt to fit over the shoulder correctly.

Here we go: good brand, good price: https://rimmerbros.com/SubCategory--Securon-Front-Seat-Belts-Inertia--m-16886

I'll be interested to see the cause of this - the brakes on my 1985 90" were pants too. New calipers, a master rebuild kit and new servo have sorted it and the brakes are now very powerful. I did fit drilled and grooved discs, but I really doubt if they make much difference.

Thanks for this - I have already ordered one from Euro car farts - 40% discount brought a slightly smaller battery down to £76 - the mighty dollar speaks loudly.

Have you tried reversing the connections at the gauge?

Not the matrix then, good. Block off the matrix bypass with a bit of foam, seal around the matrix so that all the air has to go through it and seal around where the matrix pipes enter the heater box. You could even use duct tape as a temporary measure for that one.

Those particular manifold bolts are bastids. I eventually got it moving with gentle chiselling.

They all do that sir...:p