Been Using Issue 33
Yet another instalment from the Carry On comically named range of CarPlan workshop products was called into use recently. This is Lick My Battery – yes, really – and is a lightweight gel that you spray onto your battery terminals. It prevents corrosion, keeps out moisture, promotes a better ...
Been Using Issue 32
When I finished off all the jobs I needed to do (read: all the jobs I was prepared to do) on the van last month, the last job was to replace the plywood floorboard in the passenger footwell and stick the rubber mat back over it. For this I used ...
Been Using Issue 31
This isn’t for delicate work. This is for “grab a brush, throw as much of it onto the metal as you can, and hope you can keep the rust out by sheer volume of paint” work. I used it on the passenger side floor, on all the welded repairs I’d ...
Been Using Issue 30
This is No Nonsense Zinc Galvanising Spray from Screwfix. It’s simply aerosol paint with a high zinc solids content, which goes on smooth and has a lovely matte silver finish. I was using it on steel patch panels prior to welding, and as a primer for areas I’d scrubbed back ...
Been Using Issue 29
As you’ll read elsewhere this issue, I’ve got a wee spot of welding to do on the old LDV Convoy that takes me to shows and races around the country. Attacking the job at this time of year means that rain is stopping play quite frequently, so I was looking ...
Been Using Issue 25
Summer is here! You can tell this because it’s belting with rain. It seemed like a good opportunity to test out a new product I’ve been sitting on for some time – Chipex Aquaphobic Rain-Repelling Screen Wash. These water-repellents have been around for a while, and the best known – ...
Been Using Issue 23
If you’ve been following the on-going epic saga of Project Blue Meanie’s fuel system, you’ll know that it’s been giving me some headaches. Fortunately, this is one item that was smooth, pleasant sailing from the outset. I switched from braided rubber hose to three-eighth-inch ‘kunifer’ pipe for much of the length of the car between tank ...
Been Using Issue 22
Last month, during the Blue Meanie’s alternator conversion job (or, as it turned out, half a job), I had to attach a circuit breaker to the inner wing. This normally means a nice, easy nut’n’bolt, but that means that, should I ever have cause to unfasten it, I have to ...
Been Using Issue 21
Latex garage gloves are a great idea; at least they are for those of us who don’t wear our greasy fingernails, skinned knuckles and overspray-flecked hands as some sort of badge of honour. The only problem is that they’re not exactly the hardiest creatures – put a good twist on a screwdriver, or find the ...
Been Using Issue 20
While I was changing the intake on the Blue Meanie, I found that the intake gaskets, despite having only been on the car for a couple of weeks and barely 20 minutes of running, were welded solid to the heads at the coolant passages. Gosh darn it, I said, or words to that effect, ...
Been Using Issue 19
Once the Blue Meanie’s engine was installed and finally ready to fire, job one is ignition timing, and for that you’ll need a decent quality strobe light. This Sealey TL85 fits the bill. It has an inductive pick-up that clips over the #1 spark plug lead, and decent crocodile clips that ...
Been Using Issue 18
It’s finally time to load the rebuilt engine and ‘box into the Blue Meanie! And one tool that makes the job a whole lot easier is a good load leveller, such as this Sealey LS501. It hooks onto your engine crane and uses either chains with bolt-able brackets to attach ...
Been Using Issue 17
As I said last month, I’m not exactly the most diligent when it comes to car care, but recently I found myself with a few minutes to kill, so I thought I’d try this new plastics cleaner. It’s called Dirtex Factory Finish Interior and Dashboard Cleaner, and supposedly works on ...
Been Using Issue 16
I know many of you will have a car care, cleaning and detailing regime that involves an arsenal of cleaning products and a strictly timetabled process. I don’t; my cars are lucky if I bung a sponge at them twice a year. So, when this stuff crossed my desk it ...
Been Using Issue 15
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll read about my trip to France. Now, I truly hate what my mate James describes as “sat-nav zombies” – the sort of people who need a sat-nav to get from their bedroom to the bathroom, and place the sat-nav ...
Been Using Issue 14
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… Recently, I had to fit a new outer door handle to the old van’s passenger-side door. It’s only plastic, but has to operate a really complex series of levers, pivots and rods to actuate the door lock, so when I put the new (second-hand) ...
Been Using Issue 13
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… Having finally reached the stage of assembling the stroker motor for the Blue Meanie, I needed something to pre-lube the friction surfaces that wouldn’t run or dry out during the extended period of engine building. So, I reached for the Lucas Oils High Performance ...
Been Using Issue 12
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… Remember the Holey Toledo project? It’s dropped off the radar a bit over the past few months, but don’t worry, it’s still here and still occasionally gets worked on! Most recently, we were trying to get the bootlid finished – we welded a new ...
Been Using Issue 10
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… “Here, test this.” “What is it?” “It’s a sheet of bendy, rubbery stuff.” “Oh, gee, thanks, triffic.” Ah, little did I know. What I’d just been handed was a Form-A-Funnel and, yes, it’s a sheet of bendy, rubbery stuff in an odd shape, a foot or so long ...
Been Using Issue 9
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… Well, strictly speaking, I haven’t used it. Lucas Oils gave me a can of their latest super-spray – Diesel EGR & Turbo Cleaner – to test, but I don’t have a turbo car, and the only diesel in the household is an old Transit ...
Been Using Issue 8
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… Last Autumn, my old torque wrench finally gave up the ghost, when the bit that actually sets the torque came unscrewed and various bits and widgets pinged across the workshop, never to be seen again. The remainder of the wrench was destined for a ...
Been Using Issue 7
Sealey Cleaning & Decarbonising Brush Set Recently, I finally stripped my 302 block down to its bare bones. I was planning on having it hot-tanked anyway, but though that I might be as well to run a brush through some of the oil passages beforehand. For that, I got this handy ...
Been Using Issue 6
This month, I have mostly been using… BSealey Spark Plug Installation/Removal Tool VS1591 As I mentioned last issue, I recently changed the spark plugs on the U1K Lexus, and, on the 1UZ-FE V8, the spark plugs live down long tubes in the heads. That’s where a simple tool like this comes ...
Been Using Issue 5
This month, I have mostly been using… CarPlan Bright Spark Last month, I mentioned that I’d changed the rotor arms in the U1K Lexus’s dual distributors, and that the engine appears to have been built to discourage such actions… Anyway, with the dizzy caps off I thought I’d better give them a ...
Been Using Issue 4
This Month I Have Mostly Been Using… … Sealey’s AK7112 Disc Brake Pad Spreader Tool. Recently I had to do the rear pads on the U1K Lexus. I removed the calliper, praying that it wasn’t going to be one of those daft wind-back pistons, and thankfully it wasn’t, but that still ...
Been Using Issue 2
This Month, I have mostly been using… Carlube Absorbent Granules I’ve used sand or sawdust for such spillages. Sand really doesn’t soak up oil, and all that happens is that you end up trying to sweep up oily sand. Naturally, you’ll get some on your boots and the only thing that’ll remove ...
Been Using Issue 1
This month I have mostly been using… A rather beautiful 3M pot-gun paint system. This glorious professional gravity-fed gun uses an ingenious system of interchangeable pots so you can switch between paints or colours with the minimum of bus and fother. Mix the paint you need in one of the disposable plastic ...