Well booked it back in today, took time off work to get there and back. Luckily my mother works over the street so i borrowed her car to get back to Nuneaton to work.
Came over this evening after it was fixed and adjusted.... it was exactly the same! They seemed a bit annoyed but finally decided to take it into a bay and i showed them what was happening. They said they hadn't noticed that, and on the test drive there was no knocking again.....that's because when i got there my rag was still tied to the strut
I can't afford to take any more time off now, so its going to have to wait till saturday

I'll have to cut up a coke can to protect the damper a bit more.
on another note....
It was the first drive in the wet on the way home as well......i think wider wheels and tyres are high on the to-do list!!! It was spinning and sliding all over the place lol, had to be very ginger and VERY gradual putting any power on a bend! It certainly felt quite different in the wet, and as much as i love controlled sliding I can't be doing it all day long, especially when this a distict lack of control

More expense lol.
What should i go for though :chin:
For improvement, i reckon 6 or 6.5 width, and 14" just so i can do the GT brakes in the future.
Clearance may be an issue with the lowering though, so i'm going to have to suck it and see I guess!
Any recommendations on tyres and wheels (yes i know, 1 million threads

but this is not just another tyre/wheel thread lol)
Cheers peeps
Kristian