Practically Classics Forum

I've read that smoke machines are the best way to uncover hard to find vacuum leaks on modern cars, but the price of such equipment runs into several hundreds of pounds. I'm not really in a position to spend that kind of money on a professional smoke machine built specifically for this task, but ...

As you all probably know the airbag warning light will become part of the mot test in the near future. For those that have not heard about this change, it basically means that your vehicles airbag warning light must illuminate and extinguish after a few seconds to show that the system is working ...

Thanks for the replies

The car has done nearly 90,000 miles and the belt was renewed around 18 months ago with a toyota replacement belt. The belt still looks very good and has done about 20,000 miles since.

Steve

I'll try to explain the following fault as best I can.

My sister has a year 2000 Toyota Corolla 1.4 VVTi which has just developed a kinda low audible chirping sound coming from under the bonnet. The noise appears every time the driver pulls away from a standing start and on the move, although it ...

What a Cortina! It is probably going to require some relatively minor work to make fully roadworthy after being effectively stood up for the last 30 odd years, but what a rare (in terms of mileage, originality and overall condition) and unique find this car is. It's one of those cars that if you ...

What can you remember about the various scrapyards you've visited over the years?

I'm referring to the old style scrapyards when cars were allowed to be piled four or five high and you could spend an entire day just wandering around aimlessly searching for that elusive part.

I visited a number of ...

My art teacher had a new grey Ford Orion 1.6 Ghia; many a school kid could be seen looking inside the car. I believe it was an A-reg from memory.

A PE teacher had a silver Mitsubishi Colt before he replaced it with a red Ford Orion.

My physics teacher had a blue Ford Corsair 2000, think it was ...

What vehicles did your friends parents drive?

One of my friends mother owned a brown Triumph 2.5Pi estate car during the early 80s. I can remember having a few lifts in that car.

Another friends mother owned a blue Datsun 120Y, once had a ride in that car to go and see a 'care bears' movie. I ...

1) Triumph Dolomite 1500 HL, 1977, white with beige interior trim. Had overdrive and a webasto sunroof fitted.
2) Vauxhall Cavalier 1600 GLS saloon, 1982, grey with red velour interior.
3) Triumph Toledo 4 dr, 1974, emerald green with grey/black interior trim.
4) Triumph Herald 13/60 saloon, 1970 ...

I loved the N-reg maxi my father owned in the early 80s, so comfortable. Unfortunately it wasn't really the best example you've ever seen and it was pretty unreliable, although in fairness it wasn't very well looked after during its short life. It probably didn't help matters when my father forgot ...