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It's a safety, there to keep you from over-reacting.

I've heard good things about Kroil as well from people whose opinions I value although I have not tried it myself. I've had a bit of luck recently with a freezing product called CRC Freeze Off. They also make a more expensive product which I haven't had a go at yet. It takes a bit of technique but it's a darned sight safer than shooting torches hither and thither. Over the weekend I watched someone rap a recalcitrant transmission drain plug 3-4 times with a brass mallet. It worked a treat. The last two methods both have the same underlying intent, namely to 'shock' the components in such a way as to interrupt whatever gunk has initiated their love fest with one another. (Yes heat does that too.)

Oil pickup is available new, I believe I saw it at one of the English sites. There is also a pressure relief pipe (I think that's what it is); it can probably be recreated with steel brake line. Here's a picture of mine.

Eekazoids! Where is the car? I assume not at NJMP. Pretty chilly to be doing laps around these parts just now...

Times like this make me appreciate TacomaWorld. Talk politics there, BOOM -- 30 day suspension. No discussion, no negotiation, no strike one/two, no nuthin'. Just a 30 day punt. The result is a very liveable forum despite being extraordinarily chatty and busy.

Is the center hole in the wheel a close fit over the standoff on the adapter? I.e. is it a hub centric wheel. If not then yes it’s dangerous. In 50+ years of driving I have never routinely checked lug nut torque. Never lost a wheel or even a lug nut. If it were a race car then rhestory would be different of course.

Sir Edmund is blushing.

I'm not a gamer but don't sim rigs jostle the player around?

I too was frustrated trying to latch the bottom fasteners on the nose cone. I replaced the 'coin' style units with 'wing' style that I found on Amazon. They make the task much easier. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBYNHMF?th=1

Simplify. Add lightness.

Will there be refreshments? Noshes? Bangers & mash?

Okay, okay...

I've been on the hunt for an N52 128i for quite a while. Need to be a 6-speed, don't really want all that dashboard foo. So many of the ones I find are N51 though.

The old X3 with N52 and 6-speed was a pretty sweet piece*. Can’t speak for the new stuff. * The 3 wagon was still better

Apologies for the continued topic drift. I used to ride my bicycle ridiculously long distances, i.e. ultramarathon-type stuff, except it was called randonneur riding in my case. One of the challenges encountered in such an endeavor is getting enough calories in to replace the ones going out. It's a great way to discover what food works, and what food doesn't work, at a very personal, individual level. One of the things I learned is that I require proteins, plenty of them. Moral of the story: I'm an unapologetic carnivore. (Hope that passes political muster!)

I went to https://bringatrailer.com/models/ and typed "seven" into the search box. All three categories came up. Thanks for letting us know about this! We can spread the word by posting on FB and in the discussion section of auctions on BaT.

DM sent!

Are you in advertising? Wild guess…

Thanks Vin, I'll check out those sources. The current sump on my car is one of those fabricated units. It's made of thick-but-soft mild steel. My current plan is to pull it off and see about getting it fixed. I might use as an excuse to set myself up with a welder in the garage. As for suspension, I do need new shocks and was planning on height adjustable units. That would help with ground clearance. Even so I plan to hang a guard of some kind down there. I'm tired of this.

Those oil pans won't fit my engine, although the wheels do look like they'd be a handy addition! The car rolls very easily. The issue is getting it on the lift. The sloped driveway makes it so that I don't quite have the horsepower to push it up the ramps. I get it up to them and then have to winch it on.

Tough spot! I hope you find someone. If there’s a waiting list there must be demand.

Color me frustrated. I'm ready to put together a dry sump kit and the vendors don't seem to want to talk to me. I contacted 3, one of which is on holiday until March and the other 2 of which don't seem to want my business because they can't be bothered to reply. Suggestions welcome. In the meantime I need to make this confounded engine runnable again because I need to have an easy way to move it hither and thither because I need my lift and other cars in the garage and the garage is only so big and the driveway has a slight downhill slope which makes pushing the confounded thing just a wee tad too difficult which makes me have to get hoists and ropes and whatnot out and strap them hither and thither so I can manipulate the confounded thing on/off the lift and into/outta other bays. If reading that run-on sentence frustrated you, welcome to my world! I'd settle for a rear sump oil pan for a Kent engine but those seem to be unobtanium as well. Unless I want a monstrous aluminum thing, which I don't. Just a bent piece of steel please, thanks.

I just ordered 7448 pads. They're each 6" x 9", and the most practical/economical choice was 10 packs of pads with 3 pads per pack. I may have a yard sale...! I also ordered a pump-pressurized spray bottle. I get tired of constantly squeezing that trigger.

Thank you for the clarification. I've heard folks who have used WD40 or similar for lubricant, but that would leave a residue as well. I've done a great deal of wet sanding so water makes a lot of sense to me. In this case I would think that more = better, to keep from inducing unwanted new scratches.

Yay! A discussion on how to get a uniform finish on bare aluminum!! Now, when you say "gray" or "green" Scotchbrite pad, is it possible to be more specific? It looks to me as though there are quite a few grays for example. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/metalworking-us/products/flat-stock/hand-pads/ I'm leaning towards the 7448 pad being the "gray" one, and the 6448 being the "green" one, see links below: Gray pad Green pad