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My 9 year old daughter was asking the difference between burial and cremation the other day I said if your buried the church sell you a plot, pop you in the hole for a few hundred years Before digging you up when everyone forgotten about you and reselling the plot again Cremation you get turned to dust and you can be put or scattered in your favorite place forever She turns to me straight faced and says "your going in the garage then" Then just carried on with her day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of you will know I went across to France last weekend to sample the French Hillclimb scene. For me this is probably one of the best events I've ever done! I'd found some information on this web site and submitted my entry online http://www.hillclimbfrance.co.uk/ It was very easy to enter, I just needed to upgrade my license to an MSA "National A speed" beforehand which I did at the start of the year. I also had to fit an in-date harness to my drivers seat. For anyone wanting to do St Goueno next year it is well worth thinking about collecting signatures on your "National B" licence at events in the UK this year to be able to upgrade it to a "National A" for next year. There was nothing to pay until I arrived and the entry fee was a meagre 150 Euros. Compare this to most UK events and a weekend entry fee will usually cost in the region of £250 to £300. The other criteria that must be met for all cars younger than 1977 is the driver must wear a HANS device and HANS compatible helmet. I believe the cheaper helmets can be purchased for around £200 and HANS for around £350. All the other gear you need is identical to the UK events (race overalls, gloves, balaclava & race boots etc). You may also consider hiring or borrowing HANS and helmet to reduce costs. The ferry I was advised to go for was the Portsmouth - St Malo crossing. This ferry runs overnight and leaves Portsmouth at 8pm. When you arrive the following day there is just a 1 hour drive from Portsmouth to St Goueno. You could drive the long way down using the channel tunnel or short ferry crossing to Calais but I reckoned there was very little difference in the oveall cost when you consider the extras for fuel and tolls. The long ferry also gives you a chance to relax. My recommendation would be to travel out on Wednesday or Thursday evenings and travel back on Monday. There is a very helpful French lady Anne Lessard who, as part of the organising team, will arrange all accommodation for competitors to the event. It is very cheap considering what you get. We stayed in a Gite, a nice old converted farmhouse about 15 minutes drive from the venue in a picturesque little village. The 3 nights cost us a mere 58 Euros each. st goueno 007 by windy911, on Flickr You can also bring your motorhome to the venue and spend the weekend in the paddock - many of the competitors did just that for convenience. st goueno 010 by windy911, on Flickr Friday commenced with signing on at 3pm followed by scrutineering. The Masters competitors (our group) all had our cars checked over by British scrutineers. Once stickered and numbered up there was a chance to drive the hill. This was a good opportunity to familarise yourself with the long drive down the valley to the start, the long drive up the hillclimb, then the drive back to the paddock. This was the location for the Pre Grille where they assign a number to your car and you then line up on a grid before driving down to the start line: st goueno 017 by windy911, on Flickr Some distances: The total circuit is about 7.9 km or five of your English / Irish miles. Paddock to Start line 3.52 km / 2.2 miles. Start line to finish line 3.067 / 1.9 miles. Finish line to paddock 1.28 km / 0.8 miles.

How do, just thought I would introduce myself and get myself into the Westfield discussions. I'm Matt from Bartington Cheshire, I have a wife, 4 month old son (not good when you buy a new toy) and crazy lab/springer cross. I own a construction company in Manchester, but end up driving all over the place. Just bought a 2.0 zetec Westfield from Tim Ellershaw which I'm picking up this Sunday. I intend to start having a look into track days and race meets etc with my dad acting as chief mechanic (his childhood dream I think?) I'm hoping to find some local meets/club around Bartington Cheshire area so wondered if anyone knows of any? Thanks Matt P.S. Cant wait to collect the car...

Good man. Sorry to get all Mother Hen over this, but I worry about the welfare of the members, especially when it comes to safety critical components that have no extra levels of redundancy. Indicator bulbs are one thing, brakes are another. If you need help, take some photos and let us know.

Understood Scott and I'm absolutely going to sort ASAP. Just seeing if I've got a bit of flexibility in the sequencing. Was just reading that the drums aren't held on with a centre nut so in that case I might tap it off tonight and work out what variant I have.

Frankly, I'd strongly advise changing it now for several reasons: > It's not going to get better, only worse > It's only about a tenner and just 1-2 hours of time > You need to do it anyway > Hassle of having to re-book and do the MOT twice if the leak is visible and it fails the first time > Possibility of it contaminating the pads, necessitating changing the pads on both sides in all probability > Lastly, the consequences if it suddenly lets go - and they do. When I was about 20, I was coming into the garage at home in my Mustang when the brake pedal went straight to the floor. Through sheer instinct, I slammed the car into Reverse (auto box), then Neutral. I nearly went through the gas-powered hot water heater and after that, through the wall and into the kitchen. It was the seal on the near side rear brake cylinder that had failed suddenly - no prior warning at all. Change it now - your life might depend on it.

I will take that as a special request.

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