I had noticed you were in one of the teams. Good luck! Done it twice but never again... once in a GT6 and once in my Herald both with my daughter. It is pretty hardcore but probably ok with a team of 3! Will probably see you at the start as I usually help with marshalling at Knebworth.  Mike

Here's the right way to wire an FIA cutout. This when it is in "disconnect" position.   Ofvthe four contacts on the base, one pair is 'on' and drains anybresifual current from the alternator to.Earth via the 1 Ohm ceramic resitor.  The other is 'off' and disconnects the ignition coil.   The main switch for the high current, starter etc circuit is in the conical base of the switch, and is quite separate. John

A mate has asked me to join his RBRR 25 entry  so there will be 3 of us in team VAM Very Amateur Motorsport.  In an Acclaim  any hints and tips welcome. 

Fitted these to several cars over the years mainly for anti theft, but nice to know you can kill the power if needed in an emergency, track day etc. Fitted one to the Vitesse, then a couple of years ago whilst sat at lights the car died. Baffled, I started to tug at wires under the dash and found the fault to be the cut out switch. There are four spade connectors two of which split the coil/ ignition wire. When wobbled the engine would die. When you turn the red knob to the ON position, the switch is spring loaded pushing in a plunger that then makes the connections to the back of the spades. The spring load was forcing the switch apart, so the terminals were barely making connection. The switch is riveted together so I drilled them out and used a couple of nuts and bolts instead, pulling the two halves tightly  together.  I then had second thoughts, put the switch to one side and bought a new one. Three years on yesterday, going up a long steep hill in busy traffic the car died. Fogoten about the previous event, first thought was no fuel, the gauge was showing empty, but I had only recently put petrol in it. Managed to roll the car backwards out of a red route and parked up. After a bit of head scratching and tugging of wiring, the fault was again with the cut out switch, same issue as the one previously fitted.  Found the original switch that I had replaced the revits with nuts and bolts and fitted that.  Seems these are not up to daily use, as turning the switch on, puts it under load from the spring, slowly forcing it apart.  I think replacing the rivets with nuts and bolts will solve it. Could have been dangerous if this had failed going down the motorway. Managed to wire the switch up wrongly by holding the new switch in the same orientation, and swapping the wires over. Turned out it was upside down, so wired the live through the resister to earth. Thought I could smell something, put my hand under the dash briefly! that confirmed the resister was hot enough to melt some plastic insulation. Just a white porcelain type block, don't know what's inside or if I've knackered it or not.  

Hello Nick                  I have sorted the prop shaft out and there is only a very slight bit of play in the CV end the other end seems OK(but that is repairable) There is probably more play in the Diff and Gearbox? It did not make any funny noises when on Spitty I was just making upgrades?? Its yours if you want it? I am a long way from you but how about this for a deal I will see what shipping would cost and if you think it is ok I will ship it to you and you make a donation for the shipping to a charity of your choice? Roger

Depends on what is meant by difference. In a presidential system the 'supreme leader' generally has significantly wider and greater powers than that of a parlimentary system. UK Orders in Council are much more restrictive and restricted than US presidential Executive Orders. At least to date anyway. And whilst the UK Cabinet system of elected MPs is more or less one of collective responsibility (depending on the personality of Prime Minister and their relative strength), the US presidential cabinet system of personal appointees is far more magisterial. And certainly far more divorced from the legislature, Congress and Senate. Ironically the US president is far more like the absolute monarch they claim to disavow than the British PM and even more so the King. There are also far more routes available from outside Parliament, within Parliament and from within the party to remove a Prime Minister. A general election, even possibly a by-election, a simple majority of the House in a no confidence vote or even a significant minority of their own MPs will do it. As has been demonstrated many times over. The President on the other hand is effectively separate from his party and the legislature and can only be removed by impeachment which requires a super-majority that has never been achieved in US history because it is just too difficult. The party has no meaningful way to remove a president they don't like and the only way the US voter can remove the president, other than waiting for the term to expire, is to shoot the b####d. Which they seem to attempt with remarkable frequency.

It has been argued (by John Stuart Mills amongst others) that had the Constitution been written just two generations later, the solid virtues of a Parliamentary system would likely have been adopted by the US, but fresh from victory over the British, the original framers believed they had a better system. But is there any practical difference in the indirect election of the supreme leader between a democracy and a constitutional republic? Neither completely satisfies the absolute choice of the electorate…

Fair summary.  In other news, the car is back here (temporarily) which gave us the chance to repair the “prolapsed” passenger door window mechanism which had managed to spit off the link bar. More seriously, checking the oil revealed that it’s gone from midway between the marks, to barely on the stick in about 120 miles. Doesn’t appear to be leaking. It also doesn’t obviously burn oil either - though it must be! The plugs show that no.1 is burning oil (which is odd because it wasn’t showing when first inspected after purchase). Compression testing shows 140 psi on #1 whereas the others are all around 150psi. No obvious heavy breathing…. No odd noises - it’s mechanically very quiet. Rate of oil use seems astonishing for a single (mostly) cylinder, without obvious smoke or even oily smells…. Pretty irritating whatever.  

This was mainly about cleaning as they were a bit flooded…. The warmth is just a bonus - except while refitting the plugs, when it isn’t. 

Thought about the cleaning part not the heating though.