millsn

Don't know how the ali is fixed to your cars in that area but if you could drill out the local rivets (they would have to be local to the rust problem) and again (if) you could buy or make a washer out of magnesium then you could attach this to the rivet. This would give you a metal 'washer' that would prefer to corrode more than the alumninium does. You'd eventually get a loose rivet but it would take some time. It's really essential to keep that area clear of mud on later cars as damp will collect and you eventually end up with acidic mud (believe it or not) which clearly will not do your paint / corrosion problem any good whatsoever. Ps Hello Mike. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs Edited by - millsn on 23 Jan 2002 18:45:38 Edited by - millsn on 23 Jan 2002 18:46:43

I was present on a test at 30mph on a Rover 400 into the usual stationary wall. The impact has to be heard to be believed. They (we) had a Rover baby seat on test which was designed to deal with impact in this car and other Rovers: you just would not believe the movement experienced by the baby seat alone. Bear in mind that the seat is not fixed only placed on the normal carseat. The babyseat is likely to submarine i.e. plunge downward in an impact as the front or rear seats are naturally quite soft o comfort. If this happens it throws your baby (or adult for that matter) further forward than it would in a rigid caterham race type seat. As a guide, our 'baby' amazingly still hit the dashboard(although fairly gently). The seatbelts themelves will stretch several inches and are designed to give under the weight of the adult. Main consideration however is probably not even that the baby will hit the dash (although any contact with the airbag is bad news). It is the deceleration which is the problem. It is to achieve this deceleration requirement which targetted when engineering the car to deal with accidents. If the baby is decelerated by anything that is designed to decelerate an adult it is likely that its brain will be turned to so much mashed potato on impact. I would advise a new baby seat if you still have room in the rear and not to put your loved one in the front if you still want the airbag to operate. Get another rear facer and you're doing even better because the baby has little chance to accelerate his head relative to the speed of the car (just how our harnesses work by attaching us to the car and letting it absorb all the energy) meaning that equally his head has to decelerate less when it hits something. As to the 'disadvantage' of side impact the same would be true if sited in the front seat but nonetheless it is more likely that the car will crush at the centre of the car on a Passat to improve side impact performance as it will have been designed that way. One final point (long winded isn't it), don't use lap belts for children before puberty as they have not developed their pelvic ears (I think that's what they're called). It is this lobes on the pelvis that the lap belts locate upon in an accident. I tis possibl that a child's spine gets snapped or damaged if only located by this means. Use the 3 point (or more) belts in the other seats instead. Hope this helps. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Chep weight losers - Bellhousing from cast to ally. and if you change to a race seat you might as well have thrown your seat(s) away. You'll be surprised at the difference. also - wheels (not cheap necessarily but lose you alot of weightif you go from 16" to 13". Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

I found the differnece in handling little. What did improve was the ride! I moved from the top position to the lower one. The top one is suposed to be the comfort position but it semes to me that the geometry is poorer in this position i.e. you get rear steer in the top position. I still run the lower as (I think) do most. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

I've no problem with brake travel on the standard master cylinder. I used DOT 5.1 from Halfords which they say you can change after 2 years. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

For the record, my 'long pedaal' was crrectly diagnosed over the phone by James W as my having not sufficiently bled the rear brakes. Once bled the pedal is exactly as before except that I can modulate them more easily - for other, I fitted the Alcon kit and find it really cool. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

i FITTED THE jw KIT AND AM VHAPPY WITH IT. Two things - bleeding the rears is important and takes ages as did the front for me. You might as well change the fluid at the same time- I did. Pedal feel is now realy good. Also - if you start to really use the brakes (I was told by a friend that you press them as hard as you can then keep pressing harder, then press harder still. That was prtty accurate as a statement. However, once I started oing this I realise dI needed to uprate my front springs as the car nosedived (92 suspension opn 170lb springs) so you might bear this in mind. Other than that the change is dead easy. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Pierre, Would you also send me the details of the change from flared to cycle wings? Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

I has a head by Roger K. Unleaded inserts and 155 spec head. That was all. On a stanard bottom end and cam, cast pistons only it gave 135 proper HP. Very pleased I was too. Mine gave 120 before mods. The car span very much better thereafter and sounded totally amazing in comparison. I understand that to release more power you need new cams and more revs than 6K max and this is unwise on the std bottom end - the pistons being the limiting factor I think. Roger didn't seem terribly cheap but he told me the head on it's own would be ok to 9K rpm! Gives you some confidence when you're only ever going to 6-6.5. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

The key here is M1. This is what defines what valving you have. caterham will be able to tell you how old the M spec is. there is a W101 and an M0 spec too. I think M is the current 96 onward spec for either dedion or live axle. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

How can one remove hardened exhaust paste from the manifold? Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Unfortunate that - excuse the spelling but I have really flaky kyboard. I meant of course 'IMPORTANT', the last posting got uncomfortably close to 'impotent'! Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Len - is it ok if I push you then? What's going on, and more impotantly will I be able to fit it to my '92 car at low cost and to significant benefit? slather slather. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Here's one then - I've been trying to find omewhere that does that sort of lamp that you see below signs outside cinemas that they put flush n the concrete floor. My reckoning is that coulod light up the underside of a 7 quite nicely and do away with th need for lead lamps etc. Can I find any? No. Any suggestions as to how to light the underside of the car? Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

When he reads this thread - that steve Foster bloke hs most of the weights recorded somewhere! Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

I used to have the std 5 speed and chnged to the SPC semi helicl box. I can thoroughly recommend it, makes the original caterham choice seem silly. 5th though is not really a cruising gear any more although with the zetec this isn't a problem. I wouldn't lik to do this with a Xf though if you travel long distances. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

The decision is really dependent on one factor - What you want from your car. The zetec has a very lazy power delivery compared to a tuned crossflow. Don't get me wrong, it's very fast in 165 spec only and you can tootle along in silly gears say 5th at about 10mph if you want. But you need to ask yourself if that's what you want from your sportscar. I'm actually really pleased with mine now. I was a little reticent once the engine was installed from new but I now have about 2K miles on it and it's loosening up. That was point one, the 2nd point is that there is no noise like an XF on song and you don't get that same noise with the zetec, personally I miss it, but not on the long touring journeys to Scotland or on any MWay. I think fuel consumption is poor in the zetec although around town it seems to be very good (you don't get that power for free). For reference I used to have a 1700SS with a head by Roger. The head cost about £700 and was worth every penny, it transformed the car even on the standard bottom end and cam. The engine seemed to want more revs than my 234 cam could allow it though which makes sense I suppose. In the end you can see which choice I made. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Simon- It seems you think that there'llnot be much difference betwene loaded forwards and loaded rearwarsd - realise that the weight you move off the front of the trailer is moved to the back of the trailr and therefore the weight on the tow hook is affected twice. (halved) Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Dunnell quote somwhere near 250 brake as their limit I think with the previous 2 ltr zetec. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

My old crossflow used to give 9mpg on the track too. Haven't been on the track with the new engine but given the poor fuel consumption o far I ssupect the same again - after all this one puts out alot more power than the previous and it doesn't come free Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

I had my front headlight mounts etc shotblasted, zinc passivated (a sort of powderey gold) as a key and then painted with the sot of under bonnet matt black that is used on crs these day. I haven't looked back. It's expensive to get done if you're only doing a few parts. If you're doing the whole lot, it'll work out cheaply relatively. not a spot of rust anywhere. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Both myself and a friend run James W's Weber pump without incident and very quiet it is too. He has a VX and I've a 165 zetec. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

It would depend on how loud your squeal is but if your tracking is out your tyres can squeal (more like squeak really though) in certain conditions (esp multi storeys) Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Careful what you're calling Bilsteins as those fitted at different years have different valving and it makes a huge difference. My 92 Bilsteins were not a patch on the 96 spec ones I now use Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs

Thanks chaps - does anyone have experience of using ths jet combination? Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs