polainm

Rim sizes at rear, on special live axle set up. It's a Ford Escort 8397-7008 Quaife LSD with halfshaft upgrade and Ford disc conversion by JW Sevens in 2006. Don't really want to change this, and just had rims recently sprayed! It seems the 60 profile is difficult to obtain in anything other than 'classic' tyres, or track orientated ZZS/Rs or R888s. However the 55 profile seems more popular. Changing from 205/60 R13 to 215/55 R13 means the tyre diameter reduces by 9mm and increases in width by 10mm. Changing from 185/60 R13 to 185/55 R13 reduces diameter by 18mm and but width is the same. This effectively lowers the car at the rear by the car 4mm and at the front by 9mm. Aside from speedo errors and ground clearance problems, anyone else point to handling/ride problems switching from 60 to 55 profile? [edit] well it looks like it boils down to the Toyo R888®, as I'm sticking with the profiles I have. Demon Tweaks seem to have the best price, but for most things they aren't the cheapest: R888R - 205/60 R13 £105.37 each R888R - 185/60 R13 £86.94 each Anyone know where I can get these for less?

My wife had a brand new £45,000 Mercedes E300 diesel hybrid as a company car, delivered just before we drove to south of France. On the way back I thought I'd put Premium diesel in it, but admit I was tired. Filled with petrol (colour coding of pump was different to UK pumps). After 20 litres went in I thought F**K! So I put another 20 litres of diesel in! Then I thought that this super hi-tech engine might not cope...so began the phone calls in poor French and had two young children very angry. Wife didn't speak to me for weeks...had to shell out £500 to French garage in back street while he messed about with an engine way beyond his abilities, with lit cigarette. A very bad experience....so you are fine :-)

Bugger. I have 185/60 r13 in front and 205/60 r13 in rear. Yokohama A539s I can get in 185 and A048 and R888R but the latter are too race/expensive. Selection of same tyre in 205 is virtually impossible. What am I doing wrong? Swapping rim size not an option. Any other recommendations that cover both tyre sizes?

Hi Currently wearing out Yokohama A-021R front 185 60R13 rear 205 60R13. What tyre recommendations are there for 155bhp with LSD on live axle in soggy Scotland? Studded tyres not an option. I will have change of underwear. Thanks! Matt

Hi Simon Bingo! I'd recently found the same picture! Also just had email from James Whiting who also confirmed this. My car also has ECU amplifiers, which is all woefully out of date. As I thought, he's suggested ditching the whole lot and going Omex.... Matt

Took me 32 years until I owned a Seven. Matt

Good to see the solution posted too! Often there are postings of a fault and loads of suggestions then...nothing! Anyone reading through such a fault trail that may be similar to theirs, really needs to see what the solution was! Matt

It looks similar to a Ford Focus/Mondeo OEM, but the blue casing and heat sink sides marks this as something else. Not RS or Puma either. Guess I'll have to remove it to find out....

Thanks! Was it Peter Baldwin? I've used him years ago for a 1380cc hillclimb mini I built, when he was based in central Cambridge.

Hi I have some mystery parts fitted to my Seven. Like the engine and ECU! If anyone of you likes a remote diagnostics challenge, here we go :-) ... THE BACKGROUND I'm now the owner of the 1995 S3, C7 LDA. The previous owner but one (on here) was 'Happylarry' of Cookham, Berks. I've not been able to contact him yet. He had loads of work done on it in 2005/6, converting from Ford 1700 X-flow to a 2004 Zetec E Phase II 1769cc, with much of the work done by James Whiting, who undertook a major service and cooling system overhaul for me a few months back. He didn't supply the engine though, Larry did. The Zetec engine is a bit unknown. James thinks it is an early prototype Dunnell engine built in 2006. Hydraulic cam followers, Kent 2002 cams, 40DCOE Webers with 3 progression holes, Dunnell inlet manifold, 4into1 exhaust, Dunnell short sump, lightened flywheel and clutch. Alloy triple pass race radiator with bypass and lower alloy crossover tube from Duratec engine. Paul Dunnell can't trace or recall anything this far back. It only has a CPS and TPS feed to the ECU as far as I can tell, and uses standard Ford Zetec coil pack. The engine has covered about 4,000 miles. THE FAULT Poor fuel economy is expected but 15-20mpg pootling is dire. When it's been running for about an hour or so, especially in traffic, it sometimes - but not always - cuts out, especially if I brake hard or take a sharp right hand turn and stop. Thermostatic fine cuts in fine between 80-90 degrees. Redlined at 6,000rpm, but James says the cams will be fine to 7,000rpm, but the limitation is the 40s and unknown bolt spec in the rods. Not thrashed and I reckon I've touched 5,500rpm a few times. No evidence of head gasket failure. No compression test done though. Three times it has started to sound like it has run out of fuel/blocked fuel filter/faulty pump and sounds like an overloaded electric jigsaw, needing revs to stop it stalling and with hardly any power under load. Seriously dodgy when pulling out. I'm now working my way through the entire fuel/electric system, but your combined expertise/experience is being called on! SO FAR Fuel lines - replaced. Fuel pump & fuse - replaced. Fuel filter - replaced. Carb settings - done by James Whiting. All fuses - checked. NEXT Replace coil pack with Ford or Burton MSD. Spark plugs re-gap to 0.8-1mm (1.3mm cause of coil pack burnout?) Measure spark plug leads resistance and replace if required. Clean out any mess in spark plug area, spray high temp silicone grease in area and spark plug boots. Use dielectric grease on all ignition connections. Fit heatsink on coil pack plate underside and insulate plate from engine block heat (overheating coil pack degrades faster?) FINALLY Take out the ECU and get it checked over. If faulty, repair. If not, replace with something like Omex OMEM200. I live in Cambridge, so would welcome suggestions for local (or online) ECU testing and repair agents. Also local recommended rolling road for final diagnosis/(re)setting. Not after exhaustive squeeze of bhp, just decent fast road and improved economy, haha. The ECU currently fitted hasn't yet been removed from under the dash, as it's a pig to remove, so I've not found any visible markings. I attach a picture of it only. I assumed it was Dunnell sourced in 2005, but with no info, Paul can't identify (or not). Many thanks for any advice/pointers/supplier/service info. Matt

OK. Any idea of what they might be called? It will be a big search otherwise!

I have inherited a Caterham with this. now trying to locate the cones for the A-frame spherical joint, as these have worn. Caterham have just one in stock. I might need to get some machined up!

James now remembers the car fully. I think I'll leave the engine alone for a while, as it has some history and is a bit more 'trick' than I thought. We think the engine has done about 3,000miles, about 25 of those on the track as trackdays. 2004 manufactured in Ford Bridgend, Wales, 1769cc Ford Zetec E Phase II early prototype Dunnell engine rebuilt in 2006. Hydraulic cam followers, Kent 2002 cams, 40DCOE Webers with 3 progression holes, Dunnell short sump, lightened flywheel and clutch. Alloy triple pass race radiator with bypass and lower alloy crossover tube from Duratec engine, with latest modifications by James Whiting. 2006 (rebuild) 5 speed Sierra gearbox with close ratio straight cut Quaife gears. Ford Escort Quaife LSD with alloy QED diff nose, 3.9 ratio with halfshaft upgrade and Ford disc conversion. Sierra calipers at rear, 4 pot Alcon calipers at front. Front rose bearing suspension ⅝” antiroll bar LEDA adjustable dampers & 2 ¼” springs all round. Spring rate approx 280 lbs front, 130lbs rear. Rear rose jointed A frame mounting. Now more sorted, I've let rip a bit more and this isn't a bog standard Zetec Caterham. James threw all his best live axle and Zetec weighted knowhow into this car. It's the best handling Caterham I've driven so far. R300s might get a shock :-)

Live axle but English Ford with Quaife LSD and Quaife straight cut 5sp box. Earplugs essential!

Wear heat reflective clothing, available from your local volcanist store.

Thanks for useful comments. No offence taken!

Thanks! It's a yellow top :-) so an early Zetec but with unknown mods. When it blows up I can find out what is inside....

...a well documented topic before Arch improved their surface blasting process... ...however I find myself with a 1995 car that I would like to keep using as an 'every day car' (except for salty road weather) for a few years before I do a chassis strip and refurb at Arch. I've all the RustBuster kit from other time-consuming madness (Chlor-X DTS, SP10, Fe-123 and Epoxy Mastic EM121 etc). Question for the Blatchat experts on this: Where chassis paint has flaked off up to the alloy panel, how much further (if at all) does the steel oxidisation usually go beyond? Should I drill out rivets and pry back the alloy sheet to scrape a little more chassis paint away, or will it be in most cases, 'protected' by the oxidising alloy sheet? Obviously some rolled sheet I can't do this to, only the flat. Cavities and grot-traps another issue. Just doing the worst, to slow the steel oxidisation and avoid structural damage. 80C Dinitrol 3125 or MIL-SPEC at 50psi+ has worked pretty well on my other vehicle restorations, where I can get to see the external surfaces or cavity access. Chassis hidden by alloy skin is new to me. Thanks! Matt

Hi Before I embarrass myself with Dunnell/Racline/Burton, could Blatchat experts provide a simple answer to the flowing future plans when I get around to a chassis refresh rebuild in a couple of years. Note that I did all the Vizard tricks on A-series engines in my yoof.... Imperial 1995 S3 JW Sevens 'special' with 1.8 Zetec, some Dunnell bits on 40s, might be ~150bhp. Will keep Quaife SC gearbox and English Ford Quaife LSD diff, and can get chassis strengthened during refresh. Want to keep carbs, not go down the FI route. Money is an object :-) QUESTION: Will a 2.0 Zetec (eg Dunnell carb option 3) be a straight swap with my current 1.8 Zetec, ECU and some sensor locations aside? Aiming for 350bhp/tonne but touring/longevity balance. Thanks Matt

Thanks for comments and I agree, and will address this. The A-frame bush is rose jointed and the spacers are worn, so I will be shimming this correct. Weird thing is, nothing on the RHS. Given the rotation of UK roundabouts, I would have thought more wear on the LHS as the body shell shifts into the LHS, unless this is dragging the bodyshell INTO the radius arm....need to think about that for a bit...

Thanks for your comments. Found out that loading image via mobile phone doesn't show size limit warning, just load failed. Now I know! The wear isn't on the LHS, so my worry was the chassis is knocked left at the rear or inwards on the left twisting the live axle right (from above). I'll do some axle centre measurements at some point and ask James Whiting who rebuilt it in 2006 and who will have the car once again this weekend. In the meantime I'll bond a piece of sacrificial steel in place, and add a 3mm washer at each end of the bush mounting to space it out. Whilst removed, I can also check the radius arm is actually straight!

Hi Giving C7 LDA some TLC and found RHS radius arm had been rubbing on body work and through it! The rose jointed A frame bush spacers are worn, but does anyone think all bushes need replacing on age if mileage just 3k since last TLC done? Spacer washers on inside to move arm outboard? Can't feel any movement by hand. Picture to follow....once I can work out how to upload. Thanks for any comments.

Now sorted. Thanks for your comments! My doors have elbow room, but the hood came from a much later car. It fits. So Imperial chassis (and studs) works with metric hood - with a bit of an upper body workout. Which I think is normal :-)

Hi All I've got a 1995 S3 with original hood sticks, but no hood. Only SBFS half hood and doors. The age of doors is unknown, but I assume from 1995. The doors and half hood fit together OK. I have been offered (garage clearout) a 2008 hood unused from 2011. I assume it will fit the poppers and over the sticks to the screen. What I don't know until I try it, is if 1995 doors will fit a 2008 hood. I recall there being a improved visibility change at some point, but can't recall if the door/hood interface changed. Would be useful to know before I commence battle with hood, and whether to take the 2008 doors too from garage clearout which aren't in as good condition as my current '1995' ones. Thanks for any knowledge shared.