Nick Chan

Tom7, If you have a tall FIA bar and want to sell it, I could be interested to change over from my full rollcage. if I can't find a standard one to swap it with, would you consider an outright sale? Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi SJG, My VX has a full roll cage in it and with the foam moulded seats, I am comfortably well within the frame - I am about 6'2". Even when I have tried sitting in with my helmet, there is around 3-4 inches above my head to the top of the roll bar. The seats were moulded for a 6'4" driver and I am just tall/long enough to drive it without padding!! Unlike the wife with several large cushions 😬. Obviously for even taller drivers, the foam moulded seat would be fitted to suit. On my side, the seat tapers from around 6" depth under the thighs to virtually nothing under my backside with a steep rake providing plenty of leg support on long or short distances. I think for taller drivers, a slightly steeper rake i.e. more depth under the thigh area would accommodate you. Do a search on foam moulded seats within the last couple of months as this has been covered in techtalk quite a lot or have a look here at an older thread which explains how the seats are moulded in the car plus the incredible canoe story - brilliant! See here Good luck! Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi, Anyone got the V shaped bracket and wheel nuts that fix inside the spare wheel for sale, perhaps for a contribution to LRF? I could do with one in decent condition. Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Thought this one had been covered before - see here Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi Dave, Agree with the suggestion of two part foam seats. I have these in my car and they are excellent and supportive for me and the wife. Moulded for a previous owner, they happen to suit us perfectly 😬. My side (drivers ) has a completely different profile to the wifes 😳. They are finished in a grey suede and look pretty well done as well. You are very welcome to try them out if you want to pop over to Newcastle (Staffs) or come over to the Swan at Wybunbury on Wednesday night (9th) for our local meet - this is a short run over from Wrexham in about 30/35 minutes - as I expect to be there Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Mike, I have emailed you Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Came back from the fortnightly trip to France and the wife's GTI left on the drive in the summer's torrential rain caused buggery with some of the electrics. Not sure what happened but obviously some damp got in and had the car cutting out at 50/60 mph (in a long and fast moving stream of rush hour traffic!), tacho needle going wild whilst ticking over and oil warning light flashing constantly - the car had been fine when parked up and this was without taking a steam cleaner to the engine bay at all!! Just the damp over a couple of weeks.... Local garage had to split all the connections and spent a few hours trying to sort the problem out which they did without realising !! Wouldn't even accept any payment at they said they hadn't found anything to fix so wouldn't charge anything Runs absolutely fine now as all the connections were cleaned but I don't think I would risk a steam clean HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi Marc, Your lucky day..! Whilst I was wandering round the Donnington Show last Sunday, I came across a stand with repainted wheels etc. called The Refurbishment Company based in Whetstone, Leicester - 1 mile from Jct21/M1. (Tel: 0116 286 3486 or mobile 0797 6644 893). Their samples certainly looked like very decent quality. Apparently they shot blast and powder cost the wheels for £25 per bare wheel with the job taking a day to do. Must say I fancy having my wheels done so i would be interested in how you get on if you use them. Chap said they would powder coat anything like roll bars, cages etc and typically things were about £25 each... Can't be bad! Let us know how you get on.... HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi Heavenly, Welcome to seven ownership! Agree with comments about fitting a radio/stereo in the car and not being able to hear it. I use a minidisc with in-ear 'phones and some cheap industrial ear defenders from a carpenter friend who saw me eyeing them up (oo'er missus!) Think they are about a fiver and they work perfectly with the minidisc on half volume.... without the ear defenders turning the MD upto full volume is only good too 80 mph and then don't bother HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi Marc, My 1600 Sprint in my last Classic returned around 23-25 mpg all the time with a mixture of fast roads and town driving. It had the 1600 engine with 5 speed box but had the live axle (if that makes much difference to consumption)... About 150/60 miles was about as much as I wanted to go on a tank before looking for a refill as well. I had it rolling road tested earlier this year and that made a big difference to the response and tractability plus consumption so it was £100 well spent at Aldon Automotive. Shame when it went for its MOT, I was unaware of the emission rules for self built cars and the garage "twiddled" the carbs slightly to make it conform....hmmm Maybe a good idea to have it RR'd although with 62k it might be requiring a little more! HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi Marcus, Just had a afew emails from Harry tonight and he still has his seven and could be in your ball park .... Certainly drop him an email as we can't see your email address now! Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Hi Marcus, Have seen your thread about the £10k HPC and whilst I think this is a bit too low for a half decent car of any description (certainly straight and with the right bits on ), I appreciate it might be a buyer's market as we head into the dark(er) nights.... When I was looking for my repalcement car 2 or 3 months ago, I saw the findit car you mentioned. I didn't realise that it went for around the £10k mark though. Obviously the seller must have been very desperate ☹️. I did speak to another chap with a very similar spec and price to the J reg car and his car sounded an excellent spec and was not being used at all, hence the sale. I imagine the car is still there so drop him an email on harry@hsharples.freeserve.co.uk and see if you can agree a suitable compromise price if he wants to sell it.... Good luck! HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

I'm having fun and games with the speedo in my car with the needle bouncing between 20mph and 90mph for virtually any speed I happen to be travelling at! Odometer reading seems perfectly fine (as much as I can tell anyway) but the needle has taken on a mind of its own. After reading a website found through Blatchat (see here) the idea of a cycle computer seems an excellent and cost-effective option i.e. cheap! The wireless option is not suggested as suitable due to interference so I have ordered the same Sigma BC1200 model as used in Strangely's car for £21.49 inclusive P&P from a shop in Congleton. They do mail order and can be found at here. The only difference I will make in installing the computer is to mount the speedo somewhere else than the steering wheel (as mine is QR) and I will mount the magnet on the brake disc rather than the wheel to allow the wheels to be rotated around the car at a later stage - a bit difficult if one is dedicated to the front offside for the speedo use! Otherwise it all seems very straightforward. In the archives someone has written a thread on using the disc rather than the wheel as magnet base so I'll have to dig this out... HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

Bugger! Caught out by the error message.... Edited by - Nick Chan on 27 Aug 2002 23:30:30

On my Classic, the springs on the suspension rubbed slightly on the dampers and created a distinctive twang (technical term!) until they were greased (damper and inside of spring) slightly to reduce the friction. Have a look in the techforum, IIRC this has been covered with quite a few posts. HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

YHM Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

What a bummer! May be it would be a good idea to try and advertise the first car here to see if there are any takers! And just as the summer is (almost!) upon us... Good luck Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬 Edited by - Nick Chan on 21 Jul 2002 08:42:01

Hi Munch, Is this the car you have just bought or the one you are selling to make way for the one you advertised for in the Wanted section? If its the former that the fastest case of upgraditus I've seen... 😬 What otherwise did you get in reply to your urgent wanted ad? Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬

I have the perfect solution for the taller driver - foam moulded seats! Came with my HPC over a month ago and at about 6'2" and (unfortunately blush.gif) a little on the larger side, they are very comfortable for my size. Original driver (for whom they were moulded for) was 6'4" and previous owner was 6'3" so I'm the proverbial short ar*e in the group! The base has a very high slope for the thigh support and smaller drivers are unable to drive the car without cushions for support - the wife at 5'6" needs two very large cushions to drive the car.... Added bonus is that when I am driving the car and with the full roll cage (about the same height as a tall FIA bar) my head is about 5-6" below the top of the bar. More than adequate space when wearing a helmet. Only slightly different to being in a standard roll bar car with S type seats and my head being about 2-3" ABOVE the top of the bar - dohh! If anyone wants to have a sit in these seats, they are more than welcome to call round. Cheers Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - teeth.gif

If only.... but at least the British summer is just about HERE! Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - teeth.gif

Hi Munch, Have you had a good look at the cars on Findit (see here) or perhaps drop Harry Sharples an email (harry@hsharples.freeserve.co.uk) as he sounds like he has a very nice HPC for around this price thumbsup.gif 2.0 VX - definitely an excellent way to go..... HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - teeth.gif Ahh! Sorry just rechecked the email to me from Harry and had forgotten that his car is on a Q plate.... sounds a real monster with around 240 BHP though and in excellent and pampered condition! Edited by - Nick Chan on 13 Jul 2002 09:57:04

And again Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - teeth.gif

Just a quick one!

Hi Al, Not sure about the sprinter but I do remember picking up a new kit in a Renault Traffic I think. I mentioned on the phone to the hire company that I was picking up a spaceframe chassis and various boxes and would the chassis fit in okay... off he went to check, presumably with tape and returned with "No problem, mate!" Off to Caterham next day and could I get the chassis in, could I bugg*ery. They had measured across the diagnonal and the car (fortunately!) came back with plenty of packing under the spare wheel carrier and propped on its boxes... mad.gif No damage but a round trip from Stoke is a damm sight closer than one from Renfrewshire if it doesn't fit. Get the luton and have no problems...smile.gif HTH Nick

Where were these cars when I was [bold](desperately)[/bold] searching for one a week or so ago.... there seems to be a flood of excellent and well priced cars around now. Not that I am complaining with my HPC purchase.... teeth.gifteeth.gifteeth.gif Good luck with the sale but try RedSeven (wanted ad) who was recently looking for a replacement car Cheers Nick