Hey, i'm going to be servicing my car myself, putting iridum spark plugs in changing the oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, changing the downpipe, putting a new rocker cover gasket in, and generally giving it a good going over, any tips for the up and coming MOT and for servicing it? anything i'v missed out that i should do??

make sure you only use BKR6EKC ngk plugs, the ones with 2 earth electrodes. nothing else is good enough. even the fiat/lancia plugs dont compare (yes i've tried recently, and threw the fiat ones in the bin).

you'll all laugh, but i'll tell you anyway, make marks with black marker (NOT PENCIL!!) on the sparkplugs to show you where the earth electrodes are. when you fit the plugs make sure they are tightened so that there are no earth electrodes inbetween the fuel and spark. i.e. have the back marker lines at 3 and 9 o'clock so that there is a clear path for the fuel to meet the spark at 12 oclock.

if the oil filter access panel is stuck to the engine understay you can use a crow car or similar to lever it out at one side, so you dont need to attack the 2 rusty screws holding it on.

also, try using a can of engine flush. its great stuff. and only use castrol synthetic 10w40 oil in the engine.

also you might as well stick some castrol synthetic api-gl5 gear oil in the gearbox, you'll be impressed by the difference it makes.