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This is a discussion I've had any times with my dad who is a tyre designer for Michelin. In his opinion there was a difference many years ago between the budget and premium brands but that has narrowed hugely and a lot of the premium brands such as Michelin are made in China now as well. If he didn't get his for free he would buy the cheaper ones. Go on the ratings and reviews rather than brand or price. I'm currently running landsail on my ls400 and three A on my Honda. Both have been fantastic. Just my 2 pence

Overall the process seems well thought out but a few pointers: 1) Pre wash - I would say this is an optional step and personally would forego it. There's no significant benefit to using a pre-wash unless the car is absolutely caked in 3 months of motorway road salt etc. If you think about it logically, using the clay mitt will add much more in terms of fine marring to the surface than washing a car that hasn't been pre-washed. 2) Use a standard shampoo - DONT use/buy Ultra HD shampoo - it has wax in it which may potentially interfere with other waxes and their water behaviour as well as making the claying stage less effective. Ideally you want something thats a pure shampoo and doesn't have any added extras. Additionally, its overly expensive - something like Carchem 1900:1 shampoo is what you need - its the best pure shampoo on the market atm, cheaper and lasts absolutely aged as you only need 10ml in a bucket. 3) The tar/iron removal should come before the clay stage 4) I can't see any Iron contaminant removal - remember that these embed into the paint and therefore you only sheer off what is on the surface with the clay not whats embedded into the clearcoat and these tend to grow in diameter as they rust. 5) Be careful with the polishes - Paint is likely to be super soft so I'd use the 3M blue first and work up if needed. Clean the car with IPA to remove polishing oils. 6) Using SRP or any other AIO after the 3M is a waste of time and product - by the end of the 3M polishing, you shouldn't have any defects left - using SRP would do nothing to add to the finish. Just to add, skip the Meguiars Ultimate Polish - its an AIO and extremely filler heavy akin to SRP. However, unlike SRP it contains oils whereas SRP is polymer based and therefore you can put a wax or a sealant on top and it will last extremely well. With Megs UP, a wax will stay fine on top but a sealant will start to lag within a few weeks. Additionally, a recent test on DetailingWorld suggests SRP is still the king with regard to performance and a sealant such as carlack has been proven to be compatible with it whereas UP can be problematic with regard to what you can slap on top of it. One of the reasons for SRP's success is it does the job at a good price and isn't fussy about what goes on top. 7) The wax itself depends on what you want it to achieve. Im a fan of the Soft99 range. Fusso should last about 6-8 months but the main hype is its beading and chemical resistance not to mention its £25 or so. On the other end, their show wax called Authentic Premium will last for 3 months but give you a great show car shine as its fortified with gloss enhancers and will make flake pop.

very nice and nostalgic, mine was AM db2/4 or Alvis td 21 convertible 1962 lovely car local doc had one .wouldn't sell when I came out of forces .now I just keep dreaming

Thought I'd start a new topic, rather than take the thread about classics, in the ISF section, off track. I was conversing with bigrat about 3 litre Capris, and the reg no of my old one sprang in to my otherwise empty mind. I visited this excellent site LINK , and found that it was no longer on the road. As other numbers, from my many previous cars sprung to mind, I also looked them up, including my 1961 frogeye sprite, bought as a stop gap banger, in 1972 ish. Here's the result Registration: 172JTX Make: AUSTIN Vehicle status Not taxed Tax status Tax due: 01 January 2008 MOT status Expired: 09 November 2007 First registered February 1961 Year of manufacture 1961 Engine size 1100 cc CO2 emissions Not available Fuel type Petrol Colour Red So, it looks like it was on the road till at least 2007, so 46 years, with a chance to reappear again maybe. By the way, regisearch is much better than the official vehicle check, for old vehicles, as my frogeye never appeared on the government site. What's the longest life you can find for one of your old motors?

Just checked my 1996 Lexus LS400, still going strong! 144,000 miles! MOT due in Decembert Vehicle Information Registration: P136APG Make: LEXUS Vehicle status Tax not due Tax status Tax due: 01 March 2018 MOT status Expires: 04 December 2017 First registered August 1996 Year of manufacture 1996 Engine size 3969 cc CO2 emissions Not available Fuel type Petrol Colour Gold Vehicle type approval Not available Wheel plan 2 axle rigid body Revenue weight Not available Tax exempt No Tax band Not applicable Tax - 12 months £245.00 Tax - 6 months £134.75 Tax - 12 months DD £257.25 Tax - Monthly approx £21.44 Tax - Single 12 month DD £245.00 Tax - Single 6 month DD £128.63

Drove to Germany in mine in `72. Down to Munich and Stuttgart,back up alongside the border (then) to Wolfsburg. Across the Border near Magdeburg and along the corridor to Berlin.East German Border Guards on motor cycles at every exit with machine guns strapped to themselves. Drove up to Checkpoint Charlie and was given a guided tour of West Berlin by a Texan who had just finished duty and boy was he impressed by my "stickshift" Back to Wolfsburg for a guided tour of the Beetle production line, then back home to Wirral.3000 miles in two weeks....the stuff that dreams were made of !! Regards John

No problem with common grounding.

Big fat. Here's one for you

My Wife has just returned from her first long distance drive in the car. 150 mile round trip to Leyburn. Before she left I set the MPG to 0 and left the car in Normal. She doesn't know the difference between a Hybrid and a Horse so just drives it like a normal car never uses Eco or Sports mode or bothering to lift off to engage EV going through villages.. The Computer showed 57.5 MPG for the trip. I was impressed.

Looks like you've already decided on something else, but I'd just like to confirm that Autoglym UHD Shampoo is indeed a "pure" shampoo and doesn't leave a coating behind. It's really good stuff btw. The bucket foams up ridiculously well just with a tap fill and the suds are really thick and last forever. Like, literally forever - they'll still be there many hours later! I haven't tried too many different shampoos (simply because the bottles last for years at a time), but UHD is definitely my favourite so far. Each time you dunk the wash mitt in the bucket it gets properly loaded-up, meaning you can do a lot of coverage at a time. Expensive? Maybe, but it's a 1L bottle and I managed to grab it for £12 during a special offer. I find that the G3 Clay Mitt works just fine with soapy water, so no real need to use a dedicated clay lube. I just frequently dip it into whatever's left in the wash bucket when I use mine. For a proper clay bar, I would definitely use a spray lubricant though. Unless you already have some in your kit, I'd look at an alternative Tar Remover. I'm not really a fan of the AG one. Something that comes in a spray bottle is way quicker and easier to use.

Yes 1:1 with water should be good for the IPA. The process looks spot on. TBF you could have got away with not purchasing the clay lube - carchem shampoo is great mixed with water in a bottle and thats what I tend to use now. With regard to Fusso, put 2-3 coats on and it should last for a fair while. Using Aqua wax would be fine on top but remember that the beading properties are those of the top coating, therefore if you put aqua wax on, you won't be getting the brilliant beading from Fusso so I would be inclined to leave that out just in case.

Phillips extreme vision is what I've used in other cars. Bright, white and seem to last ok for a brighter than standard bulb.

I'll tell you what was fun, my VW Variant. The fun part was seeing if it was possible to drive more than 10 miles without something else falling off!

I've started a new thread in the lounge, so as not to take this one too far off track.

@mikeyv You've prompted me to do some searching later now 👍 Big Rat

Mine was blue, with black vinyl roof. Checked reg online, and looks like it died in 86, though must have been resprayed red at some stage. Registration: OAK52M Make: FORD Vehicle status Not taxed Tax status Tax due: 01 August 1986 MOT status No details held by DVLA First registered October 1973 Year of manufacture Not available Engine size 2994 cc CO2 emissions Not available Fuel type Petrol Colour Red My first MGB did better, though changed from harvest gold to green. Registration: PWR701K Make: MG Vehicle status Not taxed Tax status Tax due: 01 May 2014 MOT status Expired: 17 July 2013 First registered May 1972 Year of manufacture 1972 Engine size 1798 cc CO2 emissions Not available Fuel type Petrol Colour Green

@mikeyv Yep you are absolutely right, personally I think the GXL was the best of the bunch, a friend had an Orange one black vinyl roof, mine was Fern Green all over. IMO one of the best engines ever let alone in its era, I seem to remembering the Essex V6 was original penned for a diesel, which was why it was such a torquey motor. I loved it. Big Rat

Good question, I think you may be right, mine was 73 'M' plate, twin round headlamps. Didn't the 'E' have single oblongs? EDIT:- Just googled capri 3000E, and it looks like you were right, just the earlier version of the top spec model.

@mikeyv Capri 3.0GXL nice very nice had a 3000E, can't remember the difference between the two, was the 3.0 GXL slightly later ? Big Rat

The Lexus configurator gives the red leather in the RC-F as "Red Leather" LA31 and in the RC F-Sport as "Dark Rose" LC33.

I had 2 capris in the past, both were amusing. First was a Mk 1 2.0 GXL, the old v4 engine so it was one of the first, which I really liked, though by the time I got it it was a bit rusty and then a few years later a 280, which was my first ever company car.... The 280 spent most of the first year in the garage, long list of faults, I think Ford were using up the last of a whole bunch of part bins with it. Once it got sorted out it was good fun though. The combination of dinosaur suspension, a reasonable engine and an LSD with no traction control made getting away from the lights in a hurry very amusing at times. First time I ever had a tank slapper in a car....

The key word here is FUN. Some cars we purchase to do a job, e.g. People Carrier. But a classic choice, or "fun" car must be something that puts a smile on our face - one day that could be a Rodius? But I doubt it.

I had two MGBs in the 70s, both roadsters, both reliable, and, the crucial bit, great fun with the hood down. Hood up, in bad weather, not so great. They were a bit of a heavy steer, but so were a lot of it's contempories. I never understood the popularity of the GT, as there were far better cars, at the time, for the money. My Capri 3 litre GXL springs to mind, huge fun.

Or Fabian of Scotland Yard ? (Bruce Seaton ? ) Regards John

Strangely the tyres I am testing are "Three A", and as yet I cannot fault them, and better than the Yokohama's. My next set of tyres "in about 2 tears time" will probably be Landsail. With ratings of "B" for wet grip, "A" for fuel economy, and a noise level of 69db on the 245/40/18 size. I would be interested in the ware rate of these if you have any information? As you say tyres today are manufactured in many different counties including the top names being made in India, China, and Malaysia. John.

Wife threw the multimeter away saying I never used it - it was 20 years old (and bright yellow) and Id used it once in my life The 12V socket only turns on when the car turns on, I believe the 55 and 06 plates had permanent lives but the 08 appears not to so should be OK to use that I think

Just looked into this for you Robb and you are correct, it does indeed say it doesn't leave any coatings behind. Having said that, it appears to be very expensive for what you get and remember that this is a retail product not available in trade sizes. From what I can see, it just suds up better but the cap is 10ml and you need 6 caps for a 15l bucket (extrapolated from the instructions which state 4 caps for 10l bucket). TBH the Car Chem Luxury shampoo concentrate (LC261) suds up perfectly well - remember the trick is to use high pressure water to force air into the bucket and create even more suds than it already creates! I believe its got a few titles under its name as well which can be seen here: http://car-chem.com/store/car-care-exterior/car-wash-shampoos/luxury-car-shampoo-concentrate-500ml Mine is actually this version as I wanted a tailored product but its the same shampoo just with different scents (I went for bubble gum lol)- http://car-chem.com/store/tailormade-by-carchem With regard to iron removal, its just a spray and you spray it all over the car including glass and leave for 5 mins or so (dont let it dry though) and it'll turn purple indicating all the iron contaminants. I'd recommend Carchem Revolt, Bilt Hamber Korrosol, KKD ferrum and Iron X - they all work the same and in my eyes atleast, seem equally effective. A video in action: Technically Soft99 Fusso is a sealant but it also has wax like properties. If you're after good gloss and longevity, I don't think it can be beaten. Dont worry about light/dark - testing suggests there's not much difference between them. The light seems to give more gloss though and is easier to use. This review explains it well - Theres a section which shows Fusso being compared to FK1000p in terms of chemical resistance using Meguiars hyper wash which is designed to strip waxes - Fusso seems to take about 4 hits before completely dying off whereas FK1000p took about 2

Hope you'll be putting a claim in to Lancs County Council Pawel. I would never take the mick by claiming for small problems but what you've suffered is a major expense that is completely avoidable if councils carried out the maintenance that they should. I'll hazard a guess that with a name like Pawel, you come from either Poland or the Czech Republic? Every year since 1991 my wife and I have been driving from Preston to both those countries (and Slovakia too) for our main holidays. We've toured north, south, east and west and all points in between and we've seen a major reversal in road conditions. When we first went, their roads were terrible and ours were much better, but now it's completely reversed - their roads are far better than ours. EDIT - just dawned on me that your screen name of wildPOLISH sort of gives it away! Well, today can only get better for me

sadly the Dunlop DZ8 s or whatever they were are no longer manufactured and we Ls400 owners are having to source an alternative ! Malc

Wow! Yes! They came in the dead of night and did the whole of our cul-de-sac - never happened again. My father had one of those! Memories! The charge notes they plastered to the windscreens were a nightmare to get off I remember.

You're all forgetting the biggest cause of flat batteries, the dreaded clip on parking light.

I would never buy part worn tyres, but I am also not a tyre snob. There are some very good "cheap" tyres on the market, and some very bad expensive one's. People tend to believe if your paying a high price they must be good. There are some tyres called "Landsail" that were tested against some of the so called top tyre brands by a German tyre test company. The Landsail tyres held up in all respects coming in third place in 20 brands. I am testing some cheap tyres at the moment, and I am currently nearly half way through the test. I can say without doubt the tyres I am testing would exceed most peoples expectations for wet, and dry grip, handling, and although still at limited millage the ware rate appears very good. I would rate them above the Yokhama's that were taken off the car. Yes there are some bad tyres out there I agree, but they are not always the less expensive tyres. A few years ago makes such as Kumho, and Hankook were frowned upon. Now they are there with the other so called best. John

I think it's a better system than in the past. Those that can afford the >£40,000 car new pay the higher tax. Those that can only afford the older, less efficient, cars aren't forced to pay the higher rate of tax. It shouldn't make it difficult to sell in 3 years time. In general, a £40,000 car will cost £20,000 in 3 years - an extra £620 tax over 2 years is insignificant compared to depreciation. Those for which £620 is an issue won't be on the market for a £20,000 car.

update.... the car drives exactly as before, brilliantly smoothly etc ...... that darned expensive balljoint eh ! makes zero difference perceptively to the drive etc Malc

Another day another modification! Lots and lots happened recently, managed to get a spare hour today whilst my wife and daughter had an afternoon nap so get my new custom steering wheel and carbon fibre controls fitted. This steering wheel not only looks amazing but feels even better really adds something to the driving experience again another modification I am over the moon with!

ns rear UCA / wishbone / ball joint is not available as a pattern part... unlike the front ns UCA which he replaced with a pattern part two years and 20k miles ago and still performing well. and I see at similar cost to this ....... BUT if Lexus supply, was going to be about @£500 ( per side.) My indy thoroughly investigated all options before having to settle on Lexus supply ..... he knows how to save me money where he can and with best quality ( hopes ) pattern parts. I'm happy I have had a brilliant job done by my very trusted mechanic. Now for another 22 years and 200k miles Malc

Very well written @matt8 Time to stop worrying and start enjoying the car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfDeAMGN090#action=share https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSfwxOdHO68#action=share