guys, how many posts before PM'ing is allowed or do i have to become a paid member?

You should be able to use your PM box already

i can see messages sent to me but cant reply to them. the box is greyed out

Thats strange , unless it's changed or a blip on your account , Hopefully a MOD will see this post and answer or fix it for you , i don't think there is a block on PM's , the only limit i know of is max 10 pm's in one go to stop Spam

That's odd - apologies. According to the forum control panel, your PMs are enabled. Do me a favour - clear your cache and cookies and try again. Then, if that doesn't work, try another browser and see if the problem persists.

ok, i cleared the cookies and had a look but its still the same greyed out message saying i cant reply.
i tried again using firefox and its the same....

ok fella's, looks like its working now. woo hoo!