sepulchrave

I recommend using a four poster, borderline impossible without one.

B8's have internal bump stops, you don't need the OE guff, refit the boot though to protect the stanchion from stone chips.

Most Bilsteins have bump stops built in so you don't need the standard stuff as well. Which ones do you have?

This ^^

If it's a 6V engine it could be the dreaded burnt exhaust valves causing the misfiring.

I'm not worried about the red hot manifold, it's the poor starting and low power after the breakdown that concerns me.

Specifying the heat grade of a plug can be very tricky as I said, often trial and error means using one grade of plug in race one and trying the next in race two then comparing them at the end, generally speaking if a plug is going to overheat then it'll do it during a race, modern engines run so ridiculously lean during the EGR lean cruise cycle that standard plugs can overheat, this is why a slightly richer remap can make such a difference.

You can run the larger gap simply because you're using Iridium, fatter sparks wear plugs quicker but that's offset by Iridiums extreme wear resistance. Some brands have slightly better QC than others which is why we check the gap, the electrode projection and heat grade are not adjustable, often when we hand build a tuned engine the standard plug specs. won't work and there's some trial and error involved in finding the right one. Coincidentally NGK BKR7EIX is a common plug suitable for lots of different engines, I've used the Beru version with good results because it's basically identical but often somewhat cheaper. Engineering practice is not some whispered magic spell involving words of power in the form of brand stickers slapped all over the flank of your favourite show pony.

I'm afraid it looks like the timing may have slipped and some valves have been damaged, ask your mechanic to test compression and leak down to confirm.

Anecdotal brand fairies aside, any correctly gapped iridium plug which meets that spec. will work nicely.

That's too big, it'll ruin the car.

You guess right, to be honest a FMIC isn't really much of an upgrade unless you're changing the turbo and remapping as well.

I bet you're glad you asked for three pages of cut and paste madness instead of asking a simple question!

It doesn't make much difference since any FMIC will be a custom installation, it comes down to whether you're prepared to make up your own hard pipe kit or not.

Simply measure it, they're a standard size.

It's cheap, replace it, there's no possibility it'll be giving an accurate reading after all this time.

Have you replaced the CTS during your 'parts darts' campaign?

Generally main beam is 60W so the increase to 100W is not such a big deal, however the additional heat buildup may be an issue in such flimsy plastic headlight shells, maybe an upgrade to 75W will be sufficient given that the OP lives in Brum and drives a glacially slow 1.2 Putt-Putt.

The wiring loom has been overexposed to value engineering, just repair it.

Pretty much all of them with a named trim spec will come with remote locking, try and get a 1.4 16V they're enormously superior to the 1.2's.

@johnthomas99 I have absolutely no idea why everyone else here is trying to talk you out of replacing an inexpensive worn out part which is known to cause a deterioration in fuel economy on PD engines with no other symptoms. In my considerable experience there are various analogue sensors whose accuracy drifts badly over time, the ECU will not flag a fault until these measurements fall outside accepted parameters, in the case of the MAF this generally means the sensor is reporting greater air density than reality and the ECU is therefore erroneously adding additional fuel to compensate, hence the reduction in economy. Since you don't have a boost leak but you do have black smoke and a drop in MPG then there are very few other explanations that fit the symptoms and the raft of rampant guessing above really doesn't add much clarity.

Stick with Bosch if possible.

Hey, with the weather the way it is, new boots all round will be a good investment and a cheap fix for the problem. However you can ask the garage to give you the two nearly new tyres back and sell them on the bay for a bullseye.

Extremely easy to do and like all analogue sensors the the output gradually becomes less accurate over time until you notice how bad the fuel economy has become.

First check all four tyres are the same size, simple and easy to do.