Phil B

Craig, Why 7x13 on your car, what size tyres are you planning to fit? 185/70 A021 work fine on 6x13. Phil

Hi Pete, Can't help you with a spare cap, but just bought one of these: Land Rover Defender TD5/TDCI Header Tank Cap PCD100160 from RST ONLINE 1-3 Kingsland Road West Mersea Colchester Essex CO5 8RB United Kingdom E bay seller, at £3.25 inc p&p arrived in a couple of days. Phil

The diff and rear calipers are Sierra, so logic says the drums would be also. Just did a search on E-bay and got 392 hits so plenty available. Looks like there are 2 sizes used 203mm (8") and 228mm (9"), which hasn't changed much since the mk1 escort! Eurocarparts lists Pagid shoes at £16.50 and £19.70 respectively. The smaller shoes are 38mm wide whereas the larger are 57mm wide, so if you have your old ones to hand its easy to work out which you have. phil

Craig, In answer to your original post, i have dug out the settings of my 5 progression hole 45s as originally fiited to my 2.0 Blacktop. The carbs were direct from Weber UK (via James Whiting) and they set them up to replicate their original Zetec conversion spec when used with one of their early ignition only ECUs. Choke 40mm Aux venturi 4.5 Main jet 150 Air corrector 145 Emulsion tube F5 Idle jet 55F9 A lot of people will say the choke is too large, but this is what Weber determined from a lot of RR work was the optimum setting. Of course you don't have to go down the Jenvey TB route to get an injection set up, there are plenty of folks in the kitcar racing world who have converted using motorbike TBs. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Zetec-E-Bike-Throttle-Bodies-Kit-GSXR1000-42mm-Kit-Car-Escort-Fiesta-/231019364178?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35c9d3bf52 Good luck, Phil

Craig, Stop messing about and go to TBs, you know it makes sense. I justified the conversion to SWMBO on environmental grounds. TB's give me 30 -40% better fuel consumption, so more power, better driveability and saving the planet. 🥰 🥰 🥰 Phil B

Hi Elie, I don't know what the rules are in Belgium, but we have to retain a rear parking (hand) brake, so front calipers aren't a good option. I looked using the VW caliper instead of the Sierra units, but the profile is much taller and they won't fit under 13" wheels. I bought a caliper from Rallyspares and tried it over a Fiesta mk1 disc, as this is about the smallest diameter disc available (221mm). Not a problem if you have 14" wheels, but thought you ought to be aware. I have fitted drums to the english axle that I have just installed, but I will be looking at converting to discs in the future when I have replenished the upgrades account! Phil

Hello peter, I conveted my blacktop about 2 years ago, using the Jenvey TBs and an Omex 600 ECU. I bought a package from Omex and they were happy to add/subtract bits to suit what I wanted to re-use from the carb setup. The guys at Omex are really helpful, they even diagnosed a problem on my initial start up by asking me to take the phone into the garage and talking me through checks and listening to the engine running!! The Omex can only run a single map, so not quite as sophisticated as the Emerald, but very easy to programme. Phil

Hi Elie, Don't know what these people are like, but they advertise classic Escort rally spares on E-bay. Ian Evans 07971 551927 11 Merlins Avenue Merlins Bridge Haverfordwest Pembrokeshire SA61 1JS Which calipers are you planning to use for your disc conversion? Phil

According to the CC store, from 2003 onward the uprated front wheel bearing is standard. http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=355 The wheel bearing you found is for the earlier hubs which use the Triumph taper roller bearings. The later bearings are sealed ball races. You could try talking to Canley Classics, to see if their uprated front hub kit for GT6 and Vitesse uses the same bearings as the uprated CC item. http://www.canleyclassics.com/?xhtml=xhtml/product/catkit3.html&xsl=product.xsl Although the price difference is hardly worth chasing. Phil

Now sorted thanks to Rob. thanks also to Simon for his offer. Phil

Andy, Suggest you buy a Gunson Eezibleed to do this job once you've fixed the master cylinder. It avoids the need to pump the brake pedal and makes for an easy 1 man job. Just make sure you keep checking that the reservoir bottle is topped up and don't use more than 10psi tyre pressure (even though the instruction say you can use up to 20psi). Phil

Hello Garth, Give Omex a call and see what they suggest, Andy Cornock was a great help to me when i was doing my installation. They won't try to sell you anything you don't need. Phil

Alan, What are you changing from out of interest? A re your old ones, stainless tall for symmetrical wings by any chance? I could be interested if they are, assuming you have no other use for them of course. Phil B

Garth, I'm no ECU expert! I've installed and run my Zetec on Omex 200 (carbs) and Omex 600 (TBs). I've also read the Dave Walker Haynes book on engine management systems, so I understand the basic principles. Narrowband lambda was the first generation as far as in-car installation is concerned. As ECU processing power/speed has progressed and the need for greater engine fuel efficiency and specific power has grown, so ECUs have become smarter, monitoring more engine parameters and adjusting fuelling in real time. So its fair to say that cheaper/simpler ECUs will be narrowband, in order to provide a second order fuelling trim. Phil

Garth, The 2 Steves did my mapping and they're right, the Omex 600 does do a good job of fuel trimming on narrowband. The difference is that narrowband monitors Oxygen in the exhaust over a narrow measurement range so all it can tell is too rich or too weak and send a trim down or up signal. This is a closed loop process and fine for light throttle/low load conditions. Wideband provides a real time measurement of oxygen level so the R-R operator can set the fuelling/ignition map where he wants it for fuel efficiency vs power. More powerful ECUs can use this to "self-map", but not the Omex 600. From what you describe as a bundle of wires, it sounds to me as if you may have the standard Omex loom. Are they shrink wrapped, or actually loose wires? If they are wrapped then each limb of the loom has a yellow sleeve with the name of what that limb does. There should be one that says Lambda, or O2 sensor. It may have a connector on the end, or the wires may just be tapped over. If you can locate that, then you can do as I did. But you will need to buy a lambda sensor. I have the Omex 600 manual which has a wiring diagram, so if you want to tidy up the bundle you (or somebody) will at least know what each wire does and where it goes in the main loom/ECU plug. My solution for the spare wiring was to put the whole ECU along with the spare cable into a waterproof box screwed to the scuttle. Phil

Garth, For a R-R mapping session you don't need to wire in a lambda sensor to the Omex 600 ECU. The R-R operator should use a wideband sensor which the 600 can't read (it will read a 3 wire narrowband sensor for fuelling trim when running on light throttle). Presumably you have a boss already welded into your exhaust manifold to take the lambda probe? Which wiring loom are you using for your Omex 600? The one I bought from Omex with my 600 ECU and TB kit for my Zetec, had a flylead already wired in for the lambda sensor. I didn't use this initially but like you needed to install for mapping. I bought the narrowband lambda sensor and the corresponding plug from Omex (about £60 I think). Then simply follow the wiring diagram using a set of crimp pliers to fit the mating plug half onto the flylead on the harness. Phil

Thanks to all and especially Mark and Lee for letting me measure up their wings. As you might expect the scatter of dimensions was within 5mm averaged over 2 wings on 2 cars. So holes drilled and the first wing is on. Phil

Dear All, Thanks for your suggestions, I spent an hour or more last night doing as you described to line up the nearside wing. However, as I don't have the scuttle and screen fitted yet (still have some wiring issues to attend to) I can't hang a sidescreen to do a check of the forward edge. What I have found is that the new wings (Caterham clearance sale items) are less flexible than my old wings. What this means is that if I have the back edge lined up to fit nicely round the basket, the front edge wants to move forward so that the large hole for the radius arm does fit. I can cut this to make it into cutout rather than a hole, but I'm just left concerned about fit of the sidescreens. Hence request to do a sanity check on another car. Phil

Hi, Rebuild is progressing well and have reached the stage where I need to position and fit rear wings onto my nice newly skinned and painted tub. Unfortunately I didn't take enough pre strip pictures/measurements to be sure I have the new wings correctly located. What concerns me is making sure they don't interfere with sidescreens. Is there anyone in the Horsham (west sussex) area who would let me pop round in the evening to double check/measure position of rear wings before I drill holes please? Phil B

I have a red silicone top hose (CC part 594-2) available, this is listed as a BDR part, but I guess it may fit other similar installations. I bought it in the hope it would fit my Raceline Zetec, but the hose is too large for the thermostat housing outlet, hence selling on. £42 from CC, £20 +p&p if anyone is interested. Phil B

Hi Rob, Do you still have the hood and some photos please? I've just placed a wanted before searching to find your ad, duh! I'm in Sussex and go to the Kent pub meets, didn't I buy a screen from you a year or 2 back? Phil

As subject, looking for a S3 hood, anybody gone aero and no longer in need?? Phil

Carsten, It might be worth asking Pete when you call Raceline if they have an option with a larger pulley on the alternator. This will run the alternator a bit slower, but as you point out our cars don't have a high current demand. The benefit is that the fan speed will be reduced and therefore the c/f forces on the "blades" and the centre hole will go down too. Phil

Roger, Don't ignore the other e-reader options. My SWMBO has a Barnes & Noble NOOK with nightglo, loves it. Battery lasts so much longer than a tablet, contrast of black on white is good, way lighter than a tablet and fits easily in her handbag. Nookie is her favourite toy Phil

Bob, Wheel studs should be M12 x 1.5mm pitch. This is used on Ford and many other makes. The important question is how long. E-bay is a source though most sellers offer the longer (+1/2" or +1") studs. phil