Not brushed but Mipa bumper textured paint is what my hard top is painted in.

I`ll have to have a closer look at that then - Thanks 

Hi Dave,

You might remember a while ago I was considering going green and looked at the "Mazda Spirited Green Metallic".  It is a lovely colour, but I think I should warn you there is a lot of coats required to make it that colour and depth - if I remember right with base coats, top coats and laquers you are looting at around 10 if not more.

Another colour work considering is the Vauxhall Grasshopper Green used on the newer Corsa

I think whatever colour I go for is going to be many layers to make it work - but at least its ordinary paint, and considering what I have just been doing, should be relatively easy to do

To many layers of paint you will need an even bigger engine!

Re the black under wings I just used Halfords underseal as the sidepods had too much yellow (yes Hugh, I know, sounds impossible) in the underwing area.
Just masked an edge and brushed it on, looks good and seems pretty resilient

Only thing to watch is the can says dry in 24 hours, it takes a bit longer

Re the black under wings I just used Halfords underseal as the sidepods had too much yellow (yes Hugh, I know, sounds impossible) in the underwing area.
Just masked an edge and brushed it on, looks good and seems pretty resilient

Only thing to watch is the can says dry in 24 hours, it takes a bit longer

Another one to look at - Cheers 

Dave I can accept a little black can actually help make the remaining yellow look pretty good by constrast - just don't spent too long on Dave's post reading about exotic shades of green in case it's contagious !

The new Audi TT has a new Green looked great when i passed one yesterday.
i did contemplate Green for the buggy (Viper) as my old Sirocco was the same colour, but now that viper green is all over the place. I currently have a Bay window Van in the workshop for a re spray. RAL 1023 Yellow, will need shades on to walk past it   

As some of you know, I had a few issues at Stoneleigh with my Throttle linkage jamming open and not returning. I had never been happy with the way the springs operated, and after my return journey, I decided to strip it all down for a much closer inspection.

I am currently in dialogue with Eurocarb, and will let you know how that one pans out - but they know I am far from happy.   

The linkage as fitted was indeed silky smooth in its operation, but never seemed to react very quickly. I put this down to the use of Rose Joints instead or conventional bearings, but I figured that as Eurocarb had supplied me this kit as the "premium" version, and assumed that they knew best. I had always been led to believe that Rose Joints were for use with axial and lateral movements, and not rotational and I think I have just been proved right.

I have since learned from Rob at Eurocarb that CSP are actually aware that these Rose Joints are stiff, and its this stiffness that is causing them to be dangerous. Here you can see that they are so stiff that they do not return nor move under their own weight of the heavy end, and this is supposed to allow high speed and rapid shut off for the carb?





And that is the same for both rotational and axial movement





The smooth bar at the end is supposed to slide freely inside the Rose Joint, and I guess that this is to allow for any heat expansion as the cylinders move. So the bar should slide in the joint, and the joint should also be free to rotate. I think I can hear Peters head exploding in the background as he views this one. The sheer gravitational weight of the joint should spin it instantly downwards, and not let it hang like this.





Closer inspection shows why the sliding bar is oversized, and that is because the thread has not been completely machined off, and the grooves can still be seen. Using a threaded section as a rotational bearing is just a recipe for disaster, as it will allow dirt and debris to eventually creep in.





One of the vertical links felt a bit "gritty" and upon closer inspection, the internal coil, that acts as a bearing retainer can be seen to be very pitted and not of a smooth shape as required for correct operation. 2 out of four of these ball joints were of a similar state. Again, this is just bad quality control.





Looking at the right hand end of the hex bar, something tells me that fitted like this with the spring under tension, that it should not be possible to allow it to sit flat on the deck for a photograph. The Rose Joint has also seized in place.





Closer inspection of the internal bearing surface shows the culprit, as it is badly pitted with a poor surface. This is supposed to be a brand new bearing that has now done 150 miles on my car.





I think you will agree that these pictures show a very poor quality product, and virtually every single piece has failed in some form or another. I am more than aware of the consequences that could have happened as a direct result of this had I not managed to bring the vehicle under control.

I think CSP and Eurocarb should both be hanging their heads in shame over this, and I will let know the outcome, because you all know me too well to know that I will not be leaving this here.

Will you be sorted for germany? There is a bell crank center pull linkage off the DCNFs here and a selection of threaded bar and joints to make up rods, you could borrow that with a wednesday or  thursday am fit if you have no confidence in the new stuff

I`m frantically playing with grinding pastes and machinery at the moment to see what I can cobble together - not given up yet 

How about a rose joint with a bolt throught it with a nut clamping it firm then use a drill to spin the joint around in the housing whilst applying fine valve grinding paste to the mating surfaces

You been spying on me then 

Throttle return is so strong now, it nearly took my fingers 

Hoping to get it in my mates garage tomorrow to get it balanced properly   

My CSP bell crank joints were similar very tight. WD40 and a spin with a drill improved it.

As some of you know, my trip to IBW was cut short due to yet more carb linkage issues. I had spent ages working on the linkage to get everything moving as smoothly as I could, and I was somewhat speechless after covering around 300 miles to find that my throttle was again stuck fully on, and the emergency stop I was trying to make nearly didn`t happen. After removing the linkage at the A14 Services, I soon determined that I now had a new problem, and this time it was the shaft of the left carb that now felt "gritty" and very rough in its operation. Not great for a factory refurbished unit. We decided that it would be foolish to travel across the continent like this, and rather than wait endless hours for an AA truck, we turned off and headed back down a thankfully quiet motorway.

After limping back home, I opened up my emails to find a very apologetic mail from Eurocarb, with an offer of compensation over the issues I had been having with the linkage, and they were somewhat stunned when I reported that one of their carbs had now also seized up on me. I was offered a full refund on the spot, (but I actually wanted them), so they offered to collect them at their cost and take a look at them for me. Whilst I will openly criticise the rubbish CSP products that they sell, I cannot fault the aftersales service from Eurocarb, especially Rob, because in less than 48 hours after collecting these from me, they were returned, rebuilt with new shaft and bearings, and ready for use.

I phoned today to say that I could do with one of their 4 way carb balancers to set them up properly, and no sooner than I had put the phone down did I receive an email showing that one had been dispatched to me free of charge for my troubles.

A shame it happened ibw weekend but at least customer service is good,  they obviously want to protect their good  name.