Mechanical Moz

PM sent.

Many thanks for the advice chaps, all sorted now.

I need to replace the timing belts on my VVC, so is it worth the extra for a genuine MG Rover kit? I'm not sure what the shelf life of the belts is, I'm concerned that a genuine kit must be a good few years old by now. If not is there a recommended aftermarket kit? Do I need to make sure it comes with the tensioning spring and bolt? Same questions for the water pump really, car has done 56k and there's nothing in the history to suggest it's not the original so I assume it's worth replacing at the same time.

Preferably the Technisol unit pictured (from my '98 Caterham) although I'll consider a Lucas 6DA. It's for use in a classic Mini so the flying leads on the Technisol will make the installation considerably easier. Happy to take a faulty unit and have a crack at repairing it. None of the Lucas 6DA units for sale on ebay have the correct plug connection, but the Caterham and Mini are the same. Thanks.

In addition to the excellent post above, again in no particular order: A couple of small G clamps or welding clamps will come in handy. Don't drill directly above your face, at best you'll spend an hour in the evening picking swarf out of your hair although that's nothing compared to getting it in an eye. Apologies if that's an egg sucking lesson but it's amazing how many people do this! It is possible to use the old floor as a drilling jig for the tunnel side & front edge of the new floor, lots of careful marking -> measuring -> marking -> measuring (you get the idea) required. I put a rivet in every 4th hole whilst doing this to keep the two aligned. I didn't have any Cleco fasteners (despite working in an aircraft factory) but did install temporary ali rivets, which I then drilled out and replaced with the supplied steel ones during the final fitting. I dipped each rivet in Waxoyl prior to installing to hopefully give a little corrosion resistance under the head. Probably could've used paint instead. Depending on the age of your car it may be worth having some black Hammerite/POR15 handy to touch up areas of flaky powder coat on the chassis tubes. It's a job well worth doing, although in the 2 years hence I have yet to find the inclination to fit the passeneger side that I bought at the same time...

Be careful when tightening the three bolts that hold the housing together. I had the insert pull out on one of them, ended up putting a longer bolt in with a washer & nylock nut to hold it all together.

Neither would fit I'm afraid. The Asahi JBS14 is 12.5mm wide, see ww.asahiseiko.co.jp/english/catalog.html general catalogue page 89. I confirmed those dimensions by measurement. Any wider wouldn't fit as the bearing is snug against both circlips. I've seen reference in a couple of places to the 13.5mm width, I wonder if Quaife changed bearing supplier at some point?

Ignore my stupidity, the spacer was at the base of the lever. I thought it was part of the lever until it was cleaned up properly. After cleaning the bearing there was no corrosion but a small amount of play, I've repacked the bearing with grease and it seems fine now. Mine had been set up in the shorter throw position, looking at the guide linked in the other thread I think I have the non Caterham M12 version.

Any ideas how critical the spacer is? I've just stripped the lever assembly down and there is no spacer to be found. If it sits between the bearing and lower spring cup then I suppose not having it will result in a lighter spring action. I need a replacement bearing (ASAHI JBS14) but not sure if I need to source/make a spacer.

Had a bit of a read around the web on the subject of OAT coolant yesterday and basically came to the same conclusions as JV in post #22. This SAE article seemed quite useful. According to the Glysantin site G48 is a hybrid with both inorganic (silicate) and organic (2-EHA) inhibitors. There is plenty of mention on hose manufacturers websites of OAT compatibility but no evidence or mention I could find of real world failures. Silicone hoses and OAT coolant are both pretty common so if it was a big problem I'd expect it to pop up more readily. Knowing what I know now I'd happily stick either type in my car and just follow the advice to not mix them, maintain the correct level & concentration and change it at the recommended interval. I'd sway towards the OAT purely because the longer life gives a cost and hassle saving.

Bah, just as I was almost coming to a decision between Toyo R1R vs Yoko AD08R I've now got a third contender in the mix!

The fitting instructions that came with the Classic Silicone Hoses kit I bought a couple of years ago recommended using standard antifreeze due to potential damage from OAT additives. For that reason I went with Comma G48, this was the antifreeze approved by BMW at the time for use in their aluminium engines so I figured it would be fine in my K series. It's cheap enough for me to change it every 3 years instead of the 5 an OAT type might last.

I think, in the case of small leaks that may only occur at operating temperature and pressure, traditional coolant escapes as steam whereas waterless coolant will leave a tell tale trail of liquid. If the leak is small enough to only cause a gradual loss of coolant chances are leaking liquid will be picked up on earlier than the falling level.

Upgraded to Cibie units with Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulbs a couple of years ago. Not the best quality photo but it shows the original (Wipac?) on the left, Cibie + Osram on the right. This next photo is after I had replaced both sides. At the time Minisport were cheapest for the Cibies. I have subsequently used the original Caterham units to replace the sealed beam units on my Mini, now they really are rubbish! I do have some cheap eBay free form reflector units I fitted to an MX5, better than the original lights but seemed to scatter the beam. Maybe I'll get round to trying them on the 7 soon, I can then use the Cibies for the Mini.

Very interesting stuff! I have this problem on my EU2 car with Brise starter. It started happening as the ageing Banner began to die, slowly getting worse. I replaced that with an Ultramax type battery but still occasionally it crops up. I found that the engine will fire and immediately die but, if I keep it cranking through the initial kick, then after a couple of seconds it will splutter in to life and then run fine. That makes sense as the combination of the recovery of the battery voltage, the spinning alternator and resetting ECU/IACV position eventually all get to a point where the engine will run. I'll have to get in touch with Brise, although the starter is a long time out of warranty. It must be at least 4 years old as it was already fitted when I bought the car, I'm sure there is a DT invoice in the history folder somewhere.

I don't suppose it would be possible to exclude signatures from the search results in future? It's a little frustrating when a search returns every single post by a member just because their sig happens to feature one of your search terms.

I have managed to get badly fitted helicoils out before by levering the top end of the coil out a little, grabbing it with some needle nose pliers and then uncoiling it from the thread. This is with the first coil just below the surface though so I don't know if it's possible in your case. The kits we use now (Helicoil Plus) have a threaded mandrel that the coil screws on to with a step at the bottom for driving the coil tang, these are much better for not stretching the coil out than the plain type with the slot. You could try to make one by filing a step on to the bottom of an M6 bolt but it may be a little tight. Hopefully this picture of the box insert will display large enough to read, first go at an embedded image. Like Richard I would never use thread lock on either the helicoil or any bolt I was screwing in to it that might have to come out one day. Edit: Picture is rubbish, have a link instead. http://www.boellhoff.com/en/de/fasteners/special_fasteners/thread_technology/thread_repair_helicoil.php

Like Paul's mine has done 55k+ and has rattled all the time I've had it (around 10k), never got any worse. In fact if I can hear the lay shaft rattling it means the VVC mech must be having one of it's quieter days.

I've got one with a black surround that is currently earmarked for the tip. If you can wait until early next week for collection then you can have it.

I have a DS150E clone I bought via aliexpress for a little over £40. I was able to view and reset codes for the ABS system on a 2002 Peugeot but more importantly it works with the MEMS2 ECU in my Caterham. I can view and reset codes as well as view live data. I'm aware it is likely a counterfeit and there are questions around that, just saying it works with non OBD modules and ECUs. I keep meaning to do a write up with some pictures of it working with my 7 as options that are both cheap and work with the MEMS2 are limited.

Is the tacho RVI or RVC type? It should be printed in small letters around the bottom of the face somewhere. RVI tachos generally won't work with anything electronic but can be converted to RVC with an add on board. Although I would think 1982 should be RVC you never know, worth a quick check.

Well the weather for tomorrow is looking like some rain is certain and it'll be pretty chilly too, less than half the temperature it was on Friday. Ah well, looking forward to a good day anyway.