Jim 123

Drive shafts and A Frame out first. Best to remove diff and carrier together. Leave the long top bolt in until last and support the diff throughout the process from underneath. You’ll need a long drift bar to ease the top bolt out. Best suggestion is to get Jonathan to supply you with the relevant build manual. This will also help for centering the diff and reassembly. Do an archive search on this site as there have been previous postings on the same topic.

If you put a straight edge along both sides of the scuttle in situ, are there any clues about deformation either along the lower edges or higher up?

From doing similar a few weeks back, can I add that on later cars the torque spec is 54Nm from memory. You will probably need a plain M14 nut to draw the ball joint tapered profile fully into it’s seat in the upright. Once it is seated you swap the plain nut for a nyloc. If you source M14 nylocs note they are fine pitch thread.

Jonathan, can I suggest that vinyl wrap around the nose cone would be a bridge too far for a a DIY?

That’s trashed my theory.

Have you tried the half hood in rain without the excluder? The configuration of the excluder may be creating a negative pressure differential that is drawing in water off the hood. The direction of wind that is driving the rain on your recent trip may equally be a factor.

To add to Anthony’s point, if you haven’t yet checked the alternator push, it is best to do so with the earth direct to the battery at this stage. That should help isolate earthing issue with the unit or the engine

Have you tested alternator output from the back of the unit with the engine running, if so what reading?

Have you explored presenting the car yourself and finding a slot at an alternative to the Crawley IVA Centre?

I think we all agree that whoever CC recommend it will be commercially linked (as per most OEM’s) but they certainly won’t be giving prominence to a chip shop oil supplier. For my engine, box, and diff, I made my own choices based on my own studies, but best not to go off topic with a “who makes the best oil thread” as it would never end.

For a new build you can specify painted stripes for the bonnet alone. If you are looking at a painted nose band plus stripes, this would also be the standard. With decal stripes on the bonnet alone you get matching lower side stripes. The home page photo on the CC website shows examples.

I would speculate that, since CC buy a reasonable quantity of oils for new kits, factory build, as well as their own workshop which services a wide age range of cars, the decision is most likely commercial. However, any supplier change will be backed up with appropriate due diligence on performance. If the selection was purely lubricant performance based, it would be unlikely that one supplier would always have the best oils for the Ford engine, Mazda box, and BMW diff.

Not all CC stripes are painted, the majority have the stick on vinyl decals. With the vinyl, the finish tends to be more mat than the body, the surface has more micro structure due to the fixing adhesive, and scratch resistance is lower.. You can't put clear coat on top the vinyl to eliminate these points unfortunately.

Solid non metallic colours do not have clear coat even if it is the main body colour. All metallics have clear coat as a finishing layer. If your car is metallic body with solid colour painted stripes / nose band, the stripes will be on top of the main body clear coat,

With the gearshift and retaining cup removed have you tried to get first engaged by moving the 1st gear selector with a screwdriver or similar to see if you can get engagement? Also (and it may not be accessible in your Seven installation), is there not an access plate on the top of the box, beneath this, I recall the selector rods are bolt fixed to the selector forks under this plate. Possibly the retaining bolt is working loose. However it has been quite a number of years since I messed around with a Corsair box and I stand to be corrected.

Scott I'd suspect that change to the hotter thermostat would be a latter action taken by Ford to improve measured emissions / economy.

It doesn’t look like anybody has experience of Carrolan. If it helps, can I suggest you look at a study carried out by the University of Hertfordshire School of Engineering where they conducted comparative cyclic testing on a range of automotive protection waxes for Bilt Hamber. The report should be accessible from the Bilt Hamber website. Interestingly the results are aligned to data I have seen from OEM lab in house testing.

Sounds more like a low state of battery charge? Maybe try jump leads?

Jeff if you get round to raising the rear of your car be aware that the GTKY7 article shows axle stand placement that is different from the Owner Handbook. The Handbook positioning gets my vote.

Sanity check, have you put the headlights on before attempting the fog?

Out of curiosity what do you expect to need Dremeling with the front suspension?

Submarine to bottom heater connection.

David, if you remove the cycle wings, as I guess you have worked out anyway it is important not to stress the fiberglass wing and cause it to crack. I would try removing as much adhesive as you can with a sharp blade from the wingstay. Then try to cut through the adhesive along the top of the wingstay using some small diameter nylon fishing line (a little bit like you would use dental floss). You will need to remove all of the old adhesive and roughen the wing and wingstay surfaces before you stick them back on again. To fix them back on it is best to clean the surfaces with alcohol and my favourite adhesive is Sikaflex 292i. If you have indicators on your wing sides remember to check where the wiring runs. Usually it is inside the wing stay with an earth wire on the outside and screw fixed close to the indicator. When you check the new position for your wings, before you glue them, test with the car on the ground to confirm clearances.

I dropped mine in during build with gearbox connected. In my case the tensioner, alternator and starter were in-situ. However, the steering col, and coolant bottle were not fitted. On the way out and also back in, watch the coil pack fouling the bulkhead and the U hose might need a tweak/removing. Watch the dipstick tube, as you will have seen it is precariously close to the side wall.

Can you enlarge the large hole in the indicator shell that the headlamp fits through so that the indicators can sit a little nearer to the inside of the car? Also, some cars look like they have the wings glued direct onto the wingstays, but in fact they have tie wrap fasteners glued to the underside of the wing along with normal plastic cable ties holding the wing (and tie wrap) on to the wingstay. If you have the tie wrap type fixing, the wings can be adjusted a little.