Clousta

Elie,

The larger hoodstick is fiited on the outside of the chassis bracket as intended.

I went back to the 1980s Assembly guide and the 1988 Assembly manual.  The subject is rather better covered in the manual.  The builder/original owner had fitted larger hoodstick incorrectly.  It was not fitted far enough back and flush with the slope of the rear panel as described in the manual.  The 1/4" hole for the hinge/bolt was correctly drilled for the larger hoodstick but the second hole for the smaller hood stick was only 31/2" back from the first hole and not 4" as specified in the manual.

In addition, the hole in the smaller hoodstick was 5/8" from its end and not 1/4" as per the larger hoodstick. The end result was that the smaller hoodstick was sitting too far forward and on the large washer that covers the rear shock absorber bush on one side. On the other side the problem was worse and the inner hoodstick ws touching the rear shock absorber bolt as previously reported.

After trimming the ends of the inner hoodstick as previously reported it now sits flush and clear of the rear shock absorber larger washer that covers the rubber bush.

I don't intend changing the hoodstick arrangement anymore as should I want to fit the full hood I know it fits, and the boot cover fits too.

After changing the rear shock absorbers some time ago I went to tighten up the top nuts.  On one side I noticed that the inner hood stick had been resting on the nut and by the amount of rubbing on the hood stick it has probably been like that since build.  I carefully measured, marked and then removed the inner hood stick.  Five minutes later my trusty pipe cutter had neatly removed 10 mm off each end.  The inner hood stick now sits better  when folded flat under the boot cover (not that it ever gets used know due to the half hood but it might rattle less).

Speedo problems,

then a gearbox that doesn't fit,

and then:

"...although the image in the guide shows a flange that sticks out of the bottom of the box and potentially this rests on the mount. My gearbox does not have this."

leads me to ask if you have correct gearbox?

Do you have the gearbox serial number/format of the serial number so that you can check that you have the correct gearbox and not variant of the gearbox destined for another part of the world?

a one off wrong variant would explain why it appears that only you have a problem.

It might be unlikely but worth checking.

Glider and GA pilots use it to clean perspex canopies. Its effective but pretty mild stuff. I can't see it harming a helmet

And if all that fails then may I suggest that you check your hose lines.  I broke down due to a split in the hose from the tank to the electric fuel pump.  It would suck in air and on hard acceleration the air/fuel mixture to the carbs was insufficient  to maintain progress.  Well, actually the car dramatically came to a noisy stop and after a wait I could proceed again for 30 seconds!  Repeat. The split wasn't visible except when on jacks and a strong light revealed a very slight dampness to part of the hose. On pressing the hose the split was revealed.  A smaller split or pinhole might cause a problem as the rubber warned up rather than on start up?

Adam,

these Motamec racing 03 formula

or

these? Motamec racing 02 formula

Looks a tad concerning.  Reminds me of the time I had an MG Metro Turbo (I know, I know but it was la ot of fun and Lotus were involved in the tuning/turbo charging) coming home on the A30 on a filthy wet night gradually I couldn't rev about 3,000 rpm. Everything else seemed OK so I nursed it home. I thought I had blown the turbo but  the next morning in daylight the cause was obvious and much like the video.  The air filter was mounted remotely and connected to the engine via a large diameter wire-reinforced paper hose.  Over the years the paper hose had become soaked in oil (it was still an A-series engine) and the torrential rain and consequent spray on that night had caused the hose to collapse every time the engine revved.  At 3,000 rpm the hose was almost flat.  An easy fit but worrying at the time.

If you have tightened the alternator belt and the charging circuit light still flickers at high revs and the cooling fan is cutting in and out correctly but your temperature gauge is still erratic then the two faults may be connected.  It may be an earthing issue.  I would recommend running a lead from a convenient earthing point on the scuttle (e.g. windscreen wiper mounting point) to the engine earth point or even the negative terminal on the battery.  It can do no harm and you might be pleasantly surprised.  If no change then the two faults are not connected.

Duplicate post

Roger,

I concur fully. There is no point using higher octane fuel if the engine can't use it.

I previously had a 1998 P38 Range Rover where the GEMS engine management system adjusted for fuel quality (knock sensor and ignition advance) so I use 98 Octane.  It ran on lpg  and I invested in the RPi Engineering chip set (ignition and fueling) to make best use of the octane rating of LPG, which is typically 104-106 octane.  The chips overrode the GEMS limits on ignition advance to match the octane rating of the fuel.

Sadly I had to let the Range Rover go as the annual tax in Belgium for the Range Rover was €2500 p.a. and paying for my son's University education is higher up the priority list.  Ironically the SAAB 9-5 Aero at 250 bhp is 25 bhp more than the Range Rover but the Belgium road tax is one fifth that of the Range Rover!

Steve,

My first thought when reading your set up was to put a second battery in parallel.

I had a look on Ebay and the product has been refined further and now has an integral bracket.  Very impressive.

A series blanking plug with integral bracket

Usual disclaimer - I have no connection with the vendor....

Slightly off topic.  I use 98 Octane for my SAAB 9-5 Aero estate. 11 days ago I took a trip with my gilder trailer from near Luxembourg to south east of Prague in the Czech Republic. At the Czech border I had to buy an Czech road atlas (cheaper than a TomTom down load of maps for the whole of Europe) and a ten day motorway vignette. I refueled with Shell Racing 100 Octane (the other alternatives being 95 or 95 with ethanol) which I though was an amusing option.

When I had dropped off the trailer at my destination I drove to my hotel.  The car was more spritely (and not just because there wasn't a trailer on the back) withe racing 100 octane fuel.  In addition the mpg on the return journey through Germany on a weekday, with the trailer on the back, was improved despite having to accelerate to overtake trucks on the motorways (Monday return rather than the Sunday outbound journey).

However, the SAAB Aero has a full turbo with the Trionic 8 engine management system that adjusts the boost in conjunction with the knock sensor and many other parameters, including ignition timing, to get the most out of the fuel and optimise the performance of the engine.  So octane rating is of interest for the Aero. Now... if one could package a SAAB 2.0 or 2.3 turbo engine into a Seven ...

Saab 9-5 Aero

Trionic 8

Jonathan,

Late to the party but when you have satisfied the current orders I would like;

2 x Canisters
2 x Red bag
1 x Black bag

I have a UK bank account and can BACS you the payment.

I can also provide a UK delivery address (son at University!) if needed to keep the postage costs manageable.

Thanks for organising this.

When Elie Boone took my crossflow engine out a couple of years ago he did it with the four speed gearbox attached.  I believe he said it was easier even though initially we were only going to work on the engine.  As a precaution we changed the clutch and CRB and hence had to split the gearbox from the engine. It was relatively straightforward aligning the gearbox when we put them together again. I am sure it would have been more tricky with the gearbox still in the car.

I am sure that Elie wil be along in a minute to confirm/correct my understanding.

I have mine since 2009 and have put 9,000 miles on top of the original 9,000 miles. Lots of stuff done to the car to make it more useable. The last year it was used very little (once for a 40 mile shakedown) before driving from Brussels to Caterham and back in 36 hours. I left work at midday for a two hour blast up the E40. It never missed a beat and the closed cooling system kept the coolant temperature rock steady despite that the air temperature was 35C.

It has only broken down twice, both times on spirited rallies. First was on Begian pave where the 7 in front threw up a boulder and as as it clunked underneath it holed the sump. Now an armoured sump and a change of rear suspension and setting the ride height correctly, which appeared to have never been done post (kit) build, means that I can now tackle Belgian pave with confidence.

Second, was a loss of power on acceleration and then it spluttered to a halt. On restarting this fault was repeatable. The cause was a split in the hose from the fuel tank to the electric fuel pump which was feeding the Webers an air and fuel mix and starving the engine of fuel.

The car was built between 1986 and 1988.  There are still things to be fixed including an exhaust blow at the Siamese exhaust ports (2 and 3) that several attempts have never managed to rectify. I hanker after the modern implementation of the Caterham 160 having taken two test drives. Would I then miss the crossflow and the outrageous soundtrack while blasting past almost 3 decades younger machinery. Most probably. In 36 hours in its BRG and yellow nose livery it attracted 7 enquires and requests to look and hear the engine and a filming on the motorway. 

I believe that you have a split in the fuel hose from the tank to the carbs, probably before the fuel filter. I was almost ready to order a new fuel pump when I found the problem.

it happened to me.

My fuel pump sounded like that when the hose from tank to the fuel filter developed a split. No fuel was leaking but there was enough of a split to allow air to be sucked in. Pumping air makes the noise. Very quickly there was not enough fuel going to the carbs at higher revs and then we could not 'proceed' any more

Up on the axle stands at home the split was very difficult to see. It only became obvious when moving/touching the fuel pipes.

http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/

pages jaunes!

Elie,

I have got one. it came off when Orlin and I fitted the FIA roll bar. Its gathering dust in my garage in Tervuren.

Ordering was really easy. I look forward to fitting them.

Edited by - Clousta on 21 Aug 2012 12:45:50

You need to turn it upside down. The mirror bit. It's then closer to the top of the windscreen and doesn't obscure your view if you are 5' 9". I also offset it a few inches to the passenger side (it hasn't caused any complaints to date) which means there is less of a blind spot. Also one can see more behind as the FIA rollbar diagonal then doesn't obscure the view. The dipping lever is on the top rather than the bottom but you soon get used to that.

Edited by - Clousta on 21 Jul 2012 15:35:18