MG
The Classic Marque

Fascinating diesel info.

My friend reversed into his own car transporter trailer tow hitch at night, putting a dent into the bumper of his recently purchased secondhand modern. This incident happened at the the workshop yard of the firm who had just serviced said transporter and had just asked my friend whether he needed guiding to couple up the trailer to collect it; my friend had d...

I too only tend to use a torque wrench on things like heads and other critical things and I have never used one on wheels of any description.

Mike's comment about ring spanners reminded me of something my uncle told me. He worked on aircraft in the FAA in the 50s and 60s and apparently they were allowed to use rings to undo things but to tighten them they had to use open enders and you wer...

Thanks all, as usual ingenious, informative and interesting responses and some just epic!

That pic of Flip is superb as is Anams very clever testing method torque wrench against torque wrench.

I am also normally of the school of careful hands, torquing up carefully by feel and evenly in stages with as others have said saving the torque wrench for cylinder head nuts and a few othe...

https://tinyurl.com/5ha635ab

Not good news. 'Private equity' is a euphemism for 'load it up with debt that gets immediately paid out as dividends to the new owners, slash costs, sell off any good bits then allow what's left to fail leaving employees without work or pensions'.

I'm with Les on this. In the old days I only used a torque wrench (borrowed) for cylinder head nuts/ bolts. The rest was done by "feel". If you weren't sure you got a more experienced mate to check.

Roll on to moderns with ally wheels - definitely best to use a torque wrench. I confess to having a generic one from somewhere like Screwfix - never had it or its predecessor calibrated. B...

I am not against it as a car, I tried it in Shanghai two weeks ago, I just find it ridiculous in this day and age. Speed limits are getting lower, traffic more dense, yet cars are getting bigger, heavier and much more powerful. Do we really need 300+ bhp cars. I can do a 350 mile drive in my TD, TF, E-type Jag, MG TF120 or modern Toyota Rav4 Hybrid, in exactly the same time, why, mainly because we...

Whereas the modern pattern replacements are (like the uppers) a sloppy fit on the bolt, and the inserts are a tad too long so when butted up against each other the special washer does not cleanly locate in the bracket. A really good heave on the ratchet is needed to distort them enough to get the washer to close up onto the bracket, and it's difficult to ensure the step cleanly locates into the ho...

Now the lower inners. The original ones are snug on the bolt and the inserts are the perfect length so that when tightened up the shoulder of the located washer fits into the hole in the mounting bracket.

Wow! They look great Bob!

You could get a job at Dowty! If we need a new prop for the Chipmunk I'll be in touch!

I hope your model flies well.

Spot on Jud.

Once you have done over 800 mph over the ground, you are not impressed by some immature knob who thinks he is really a thrill seeker by going 100 mph in a 70 mph zone, zipping around the law abiding citizens.

Give me a TD on a lonely winding road any day.

Regards, Tom