Conor

Motorcount, Tony. £70 for a pair of Monroe Heavy Duty gas ones or at least they were when I bought mine from Driffield branch. They'll tighten up the rear no end and give a nice firm ride without being harsh or having any of the weeks of fannying around with adjustables.

My wifes' bosses wife does book-keeping and payroll for small companies on a self employed basis. Charges £25 an hour for it and is stacked out with work. She does it all from home apart from going out now and again to visit clients.

Aldon Ignitor, Tony. It's what I had in Christine. Did 12000 miles without issue and coped happily with 7000RPM. Good thing about the Aldon is that it all fits in the same place that your points do so no holes to drill and if it ever does pack in, you simply whip it out and put the points back until you can get a replacement. The only thing that gives away the fact its there is two wires running out of the dizzy instead of one so it'll keep your engine bay looking like it should. I can come help you fit it if needs be. £80 odd quid and cheaper from Burton Power than buying direct from Aldon.

You're optimistic. I wouldn't have even bothered trying to save the inner wings and just cut them out, either spaceframing the front end or fitting new ones. I had a 307E that wasn't nearly as bad as that and there was a whole load of hidden stuff.

Why will they have to pay you a months wage? If you choose to leave, you're only entitled to your notice period if you work it. If they fire you on the spot or make you redundant they have to pay your notice period. But as you resigned, they don't have to pay you a month. It won't make any difference to any references they give you and it won't really make things look any more favourable on job applications.

It already is, or at least in haulage. Mate 1, works as a lorry driver mainly in portacabin/caravan transporting: Three weeks ago, rings me telling me he's next to be made redundant after a steady trickle of redundancies in ones and twos over the last 8 months. Today he rang me to tell me they'd just taken back on the last 6 guys they laid off. Mate 2, self employed courier: Phones me 3 weeks ago saying he's on the bones of his arse and looks like he will have to fold the business. Two weeks ago, phoned me to say it's gone mental. Still like that now and so mental that he asked me to do a couple of jobs in my car.

Looking at the explanation he gave above, I can well understand. I called my red laser "Christine" for the very same reason.

That's because some of that plastic is HALF A DECADE OLDER than some of the newer OSF accepted stuff (Brooklands Capris) and a lot of it is at least TWENTY years old. Hell, every Series 1 XR3i, RS16i and RST is OLDER than my last TWO capris.

i don't know were this mif about big horse power pinto/x/flow/atmo cossies drive like s**t because they don't if there tuned correctly all this big cam/big carbs make driving horrible is bull. glyn do what you fill is best for you. you no my view Mine comes from owning one in the late 80's in a competition Escort I had which I used for clubman rallying that was just a tad under 200BHP. Had to let the cars in front get off some distance before setting off. Whilst cam profiles may have improved a bit, the main things involved in tuning them to this level have remained the same - wild high lift cam with quite a bit of overlap and not a lot under 2000 RPM.

Today I took my MK3 Mondeo in to get the rear subframe bushes replaced with some polybushes I bought. It's a garage I use a lot and trust implicitly - I've taken every Capri I've had there as well as my family runarounds and they get MOT'd there too. They've never polybushed one before. Bloke who was actually going to be doing it was adamant that they needed glueing in but I told him to trust me that they didn't. Told him the best way to fit them and that the whole job should take about 2hrs. Anyway, 2hrs later the phone rings and the job is done. When I got there the manager asks where I got them from. Both the mechanic and the manager had a discussion about them with me. The mechanic was chuffed at how easy they went in as the proper replacements are a sod to get lined up square. Both of them thought they were far better than putting rubber ones in as it meant the ramp wasn't tied up for 24hrs waiting for the glue to dry either and the fitting time was quicker. The only thing I said was to make sure that they didn't go for the really hard ones as the average punter might find them a little harsh if they noticed. Worked out that with parts and labour, it's about 50% cheaper than getting the job done at the local main dealer with Ford parts and the polybushes should last at least 2-3 times longer. Upshot is that it is now on their system as a 2hr job with a fixed price and they're going to recommend it to customers as they seem to get a fair few in.

Get a reconditioned Pinto from a good reconditioner. I got mine from Specialised Engines in Grays. Whilst it was being fitted, I put a new clutch, water pump, fuel pump and Aldon Ignitor electronic ignition on it. Quite happily coped with commuting 160 miles a day, 540 miles a week for a month and averaged 300 miles a week outside that with a few 350 mile round trips to the Pod and a couple of 600+ ones up to Scotland. Utterly reliable engine. Never used any oil and it was just a case of putting petrol in and going. Returned 36MPG all day long and even managed to return 33MPG on a trip to Santa Pod with 4 people in, a boot load of fuel and 3 trips up the strip.

That's mad. Up here in poverty stricken East Yorkshire, they're booking 7-10 days ahead for the mechanical side and 3 weeks ahead for bodyshops. That's pretty much every garage in the county. There's loads of garages advertising for mechanics/panelbeaters. Maybe it's because we're poor here so tend to fix em rather than just get another.

A 200BHP Pinto is going to be as undrivable as the Essex currently is. I get the feeling that's kind of playing on his mind somewhat.

I'll tell you a story. I bought a 2.8i for its performance last October. Seriously tweaked engine that was virtually undrivable below 2000 RPM and then you held on for dear life above it as all hell broke loose. I sold it 3 weeks later because even though when it was on chat it was unbelievable, unless you went out in the middle of the night when you could guarantee no traffic, avoided town or drove everywhere 2 gears below what you'd normally use in order to keep the revs up (which made you deaf), it was nigh on undriveable. I basically had to drive round town in 1st or 2nd gear. For me, it destroyed any enjoyment I got from having a blast out as most of the time was spent having to compromise for its shortfalls. As a car to stick on a trailer, take to a drag strip and blast up the 1/4 mile it was absolutely brilliant but I couldn't go for a run down Scarborough seafront in it and I missed being able to do that. If it were me, if you really want the V6 burble I think I'd be putting in a milder cam, something like a high torque one instead - an equivalent of the Pinto FR30/31 or FR32.

Top man.

As a Capri owner, I've felt the same about the MK1/2 Essie crowd in the past, on here and in the mags where it seems to be the case that if you don't have an essie, it ain't worth a toss. Capper owners have to produce a car three times as good as an escort to get a look in. Take Scotch Corner as a prime example. It was started by mainly by our Capri forum as a meet for us with others free to come along but at the last one, the CF mag photographer spent most of his time drooling over bloody Escorts and I heard more than one comment from the essie brigade who were pissed that they weren't invited to the Capri only pre-meet photoshoot.

I'll throw something thing into the pot on this.... 2005 Mustang. Instant classic the moment it left the production line. Park one of those babies up and it gets every bit as much attention as a 1965 one. Some things are just right from the off however a Focus ST is not it, no matter how nice the colour.

Sums it up. It's a rolling age thing. We think xrwee essie/jellys aren't classics and just boy racer cars but the generation after us who grew up with them as kids will think they're classics.

Saw the motor parked up..thought you'd got lost.

If you decide you don't want it, I'll have it. Got serious withdrawl symptoms and I'll do it on the "Steve is first on the list to call if I decide to get shut" understanding.

So that's what the thing about Mrs. RG was about was it?

I think you've hit the nail on the head as to where the line needs to be drawn. MK3 Essie shape derivatives (RS1600i, XR3, XR31, MK1 RST) and early 3dr Coss's and maybe Saffs. There are even fewer RS1600i/XR3/XR3i's about than Mk1 Fiestas. It's a double edged sword. For me, there was no better sight on that day than seeing a Focus RS and that Mondeo ST24 getting its backside caned by a MK1/2 Essie, Capri or Anglia.

So what age limit do you put on? 1983 to stop the jellymoulds? Well that also rules out 2/3 of Mk3 Capri production run, any 2.8i Special, all Brooklands and some MK3 Grandads. Or you make it 1987 in which case, MK3/4 escorts, RST, jellymoulds and RS Cosworths still make the grade. Or you make it RWD only in which case, the MK1 fiestas get ruled out. No easy answer TBH.

Where were you hiding? Didn't see you or the car on Sunday.

Was indeed a cracking show. Best I've known it for the past few years and definitely better than last year despite me having to be a member of the great unwashed.