jonsymons

This from my assembly guide for a '97 classic. Any use?

...trunnion. One of mine is. The epoxy resin trick has got me through the summer but its leaking again so I think a winter task will be to replace. My question: is the accepted wisdom to also replace (as a precaution) the Upright/stub axle carrier at the same time or wait and see what it looks like when the trunnion is removed? Thanks Jon

Hi Rob - welcome and hope you are enjoying your new purchase? I'm guessing you've got an imperial chassis. Live axle or Dedion? I've got an imp live axle with the original (low) roll bar. I've found that finding a replacement 'track day' roll bar to fit is like the proverbial hens teeth. Arch Motors will make one for you but they are about £400 so I'm saving up... They do very occasionally come up on here but I've never been fast enough to secure. Re hood, don't bother about the full roof, get a half hood from Soft Bits for Sevens - they do the job just as well, in fact better. Don't buy the half hood though until you have sorted the roll bar as the hoods are made to fit the bar you've got. Jon

Pete - worth doing an oil change to something like a Millers 20/50 Pistoneeze? Won't fix anything mechanical but might at least put off the expense for a while...

For sale: Thule roof rack foot system to fit Mk7 VW Golf (inc GTi/GTD). All keys, allen keys, door strips etc present. Will fit all types of Thule roof bar, inc Square, Aero etc. Roof bars NOT included. £65 plus postage or collect from Bristol.

I met a guy at the Poole Sevens on the Quayside on Friday - he's looking for a (sensibly priced) Crossflow engined car in need of restoration. If you can PM me with any leads I will pass on his contact details. Jon

Thanks for the info. Will have a look at the springs when I take them off.

Terry - re the oil, I used a Sealey Oil Suction Syringe to get out what I could and then used it as a funnel to pour in fresh oil tryin to get the hose down to the bottom - and kept going until what was coming out of the fill hole on the gearbox was clean oil. Bowl/rags at the ready. Not sure if that's the approved method but seemed to work...

No doubt this is well covered in the archive but can I please check something... I've just had the front wheel toe/tracking sorted on my '97 live axle. I also had the camber measured and it was minus 2 degrees on each wheel, whereas the assembly guide for my car says it should be plus 0.45 degrees. Am I right that the camber on the standard live axle cars cannot be adjusted? The car handles fine (well I think so) but I'm interested in understanding why mine is different to the AG settings? Also, I'm planning to replace the front dampers and (rusty) springs in the winter. What spring rate should I go for? Road use only. Jon

Hi Tom - Hope my ramblings were of some little use. I'm a complete novice too having got the car in Sept so still learning from this forum (thanks to the likes of Tazio etc) and enjoying the process . Are you pleased with your X Flow? I am, if for no other reason than the noise! I found mine popped and banged a bit but I've started to use 97 octane fuel (lots of...) and balanced the carbs (which is v easy) which has made it happier. Going to tackle the timing next... I was going to ask if you ever drove through Caledonia ON as we have family there and visited a few years back, but having looked on the map you're several hours away - hard for us small islanders to appreciate how big Canada is.

Tom, to fill - with engine cold, just remove the pressure cap from the thermostat/filler housing and fill up to the lip (ie the ledge where the cap sits on). A couple of squeezes on the top rad hose just to expel any air and then replace the cap. The hose in my catch tank is notched at the end too - now I know why! NS - assuming you have the correct pressure cap, it will allow water back in as the system cools. There is a seal on the back face of the central sprung plunger I recall so as the pressure drops that will open and syphon coolant back in (...or air if the catch tank is empty).

Hi Tom - I assume you have a catch tank just behind the rad on the nearside front with a small diameter expansion hose running to it from the thermostat housing - and got no leaks? I have the same system on my 1600 X flow and when I bought the car last year spend a lot of time on this forum reading posts about X Flow overheating and converting to a sealed system although a lot of those seemed to relate to cars taken on track (which mine isn't) I gave the issue a lot of thought - the problem with an open system is that coolant is discharged when hot but as the engine cools it will draw back in air through the expansion hose so you appear to loose coolant until the level drops to the point that the water no longer expands out - and you cant see any coolant when you open the thermostat housing. So I tried an experiment - I brimmed the system, cleaned the thermostat cap really well (both seals) and then put a couple of inches of coolant into the catch tank so that the end of the expansion pipe was always under water. That way as the engine cools it pulls back in coolant, not air. 1500 miles later I've not had to top up the system and try not to open the thermostat housing too often to avoid breaking the seal. Before each run I tend to squeeze the radiator top hose to make sure there is water in there - you can hear the little widget in the small bypass hole rattle if there is water in there when you squeeze the hose. I tend to leave the heater valve open when I park the car up too to make sure the coolant all contracts evenly. I took the car to Shelsley recently and had no overheating issues. It had a nice new ali rad just after I bought it and my bigger problem is over cooling on cold days. Just my experience but might be worth a try before you consider any more major replumbing?

Howard I have these - taken off my car last year when I changed to 4 point belts. I've no idea how old they are but there are no cuts etc. Any use? Jon

No worries (10.5cm from rim to bottom edge of mud guard out of interest...). I've only had the the Uniroyals on my car so can't give any meaningful comparisons but they have not given me any issues yet in normal road use.

MB - Can't answer your question directly but I've got the same 13" inch wheel and tyres fitted to my car. I can measure the clearance tonight and let you know if it would help?

Welcome Kris - I bought an old xflow so can be no help at all with your questions but whatever you have got you will enjoy it!

Sold

R500 gear knob c/w thread size adaptor for sale if its of interest/use to anyone or yours for a suitable donation to the club charity...

McB - according to my Haynes manual for late 1970's Escorts (ie with Crossflow engines) the following are the minimum oil pressures at 80degC: 700rpm - 8.5lbf/in2 (0.6 bar) 2000rpm - 21lbf (1.45 bar) I defer to those in this thread with much greater knowledge than me to advise on your questions but I thought the above figures might be of some interest (comfort?) to you.

Can't find the link but I took a screengrab of the post last time I was looking:

Hi McB - I have the same age XFlow and an equally infuriating fuel gauge/sender so spent a good while on this forum looking at historic posts. It was suggested that to test its not the gauge that is faulty you just remove the smaller of the two cables - not the one with the white insulator (with it in the car) and the gauge should read Full. If it doesn't read full then its the gauge. I've had the sender out several times and if you carefully bend the tabs back you can take the cover off the square 'resistor' and clean the little arm and wire windings and make sure they are connecting etc. That coupled with cleaning the contacts seem to be the only things you can try as its a very rudimentary/mechanical unit. With it back together, you can then adjust the resistance range by carefully moving the small slotted screw (which adjusts the swing of the small arm) with it connected to a multimeter. I've read elsewhere these are 20 ohms empty and 265 ohms full (will try and find the post as there were a couple of options on the range) but I can't get that range working fully and need to have it back out to adjust again. You seem to be able to either have accuracy at the Full or Empty end, but not both. I'm aiming for the empty end accuracy. I think you can still buy these senders (Redline) so replacement may be my next step - or give up and just dip the tank with a stick! Let me know if you get it sorted as I'd be interested.. Jon

#18 Alan - I've had another look at them and they seem to be a standard Lucas pair of high and low note horns:

#11 Nigel - I share your pain. I'd replaced a perished rubber fuel hose at the tank outlet and hadn't managed to get the connection to the pipe right so it came off - result was no fuel to the engine despite a full tank! Embarrassing. I reckon there is a good Blatchat thread in this - "Self-inflicted break downs"...

Hi PKW - mine is a '97 car, 23k miles, and as I've just spent several (uncomfortable) days underneath it my experience might be of some help? I purchased it in the autumn and condition underneath was one thing I checked and all seemed well but on closer examination I have found quite a bit of rust below areas of debonded powder coating especially where cables were zip tied to the chassis rails. However, its all proved to be reasonably superficial and with some rubbing back to bare and repainting I'm ok with the result but am taking care to waxoyl everything I can get to - the ali panels I think give some 'cathodic protection'? I did see some really tatty ones in my search but my point really is that a bit of rust on the rails can be addressed with a bit of effort and it's really helped me to get to know the car - look at as many as you can and you will soon get a feel for what is good and bad. There are some well document 'grot traps' either side of the foot wells against the side of car, one of mine was full of road grit etc so I'm taking care to clean that out. Those more experienced on this forum will have better advice but hope the above is of use. Will try and post some pics before I finish the job.