Phil B

Taking the LH crank off will not disturb bearings. You do need a spacial splined tool to remove the end cap/screw (item 1). Slacken the allen bolts first then unscrew. You don't need to remove the 2 small allen bolts completely, they just need to be slackened enough to allow the crank to be pulled off. The RH crank can then be pulled through with the chain rings still attached. The bearing cups will remain screwed into the BB housing. Be careful to note the various spacers and O rings as these will need to be re-installed in the correct orientation. Phil

Jonathan, Why not have a chat to your local bike shop, chances are if they have a decent workshop they will have the correct tools and can fit the thread insert at a reasonable cost. Phil B

Nobody has mentioned progression holes. The 45's on the 2.0 run best with 5 progression holes, to get off the idle circuit smoothly. Do the 40s on a 1.8 need the same mod, or are 3 holes good enough?

Weber themselves are based in Sunbury, so right in your area. Airey Tuning is near Winchester, a wizz with carbs, but doesn't do ecu mapping, very old school.

Do you have a heated screen? If so, be sure to disconnect cables either side before trying to lift the screen clear. Phil

Out of interest, what are Eugene's spring rate and ARB settings please? Phil B

Downhill home ?

Crudders, I bought my fuel hose when I went to injection 2 years ago from Webcon in Sunbury. All hoses still in A1 condition. Phil B

Hello Nigel, I have a 2.0 Blacktop in my '85 live axle car, but I have the later dedion style front chassis arrangement. Clearance as you lower the engine/box in is a little easier at the top, but still close once in place. Another wrinkle to consider is which gearbox you will be using. I have the type 9 from a 2.8 which has closer ratios but the long input shaft, so I have a spacer block between bellhousing and main casing. With the standard type 9 box you won't need the spacer so the engine will sit around 1 inch further back and the whole engine/box unit will be a little shorter when lowering into place. Phil

Chris, Thanks, just wondered if you had a not of the number on the side of the injector, will start something like 028xxxxxx. Phil

That's interesting, could you confirm the Bosch part number for the 320cc injectors, it will save me a lot of internet scouring. They are the resin bodied "long" units I presume. Phil

Carsten, The ref to 3.5bar regulator as part of the Zetec configuration is in their .pdf leaflet on zetec throttle body kits. If you have an adjustable regulator, you don't need to replace it with a fixed one, just get the RR to verify with a fuel pressure gauge precisely what pressure is maintained. An adjustable regulator gives you the possibility to up the pressure to max 4bar if you want, assuming that your pump is in good condition and can maintain the flow/pressure demand. What ever you do, if you change fuel pressure you should get the fuelling map checked and re-set. phil

I have just discovered that the nice new top ball joint on my new widetrack wishbone is split, so had to replace it. There is definitely grey grease inside. It looks, feels, smells (didn't try tasting) like a graphite grease. So I gave the inside of the new dust cover a good dollop of graphite grease (rather than LM) before fitting it. What you can't do is force grease back up into the ball itself. Although some ball joint come with grease nipples just for this purpose. I have assumed that grease is inside the dust cap to stop water ingress and subsequent corrosion. Phil

BAZ, Just be careful that you buy fuel hose that is suitable for fuel injection systems, as plenty of places still stock hose that is menat for low pressure (carburettor) use. The preferred standard is SAE 30R9, see this article from Gates. http://www.gates.com/common/downloads/files/gates/brochure/techtipsform.pdf regards, Phil

Hi Carsten, I re-checked the Omex website for their specification. I noticed that they use a fixed setting 3.5bar fuel pressure regulator (it happens to be blue). Are you sure that your fuel pressure was set to 3.2 bar? If you do have another RR session, it may be worthwhile asking them to double check fuel pressure across the power curve before they spend any time on the mapping. If you aren't delivering fuel at 3.5 bar up to max power, then you will struggle to achieve more than 190bhp using the standard beige injector. Phil

Carsten, Craig, The beige injectors are at their flow limit at 190 bhp, according to the advice I got from Jenvey/Omex when I bought my TB kit. They offer an alternative injector which work out at around £220 a set. As you have the beige injectors, you will need to go for replacements which are the same length, as the spacers under the fuel rail are sized to match the height the injector stick out from the TB. There are shorter spacers available which you would use if you fitted PICO injectors. You can squeweze a bit more flow out of the Bosch injectors by increasing the fuel pressure. Injector flow rate change is the squre root of pressure increase, so to get 10% more flow, you need 20% pressure increase. The Bosch injector will tolerate up to 4bar pressure, beyond this the spray pattern becomes unreliable. In theory if you increase fuel pressure to 4bar from 3.2 at present, you will get about 12% increase in peak flow which ought to give you the potential for 210bhp. HOWEVER, increasing fuel pressure affects injector flow right across the range. As fuel delivered is a function of injector open time, if you increase the pressure then you increase fuelling right across the range. This means that you will need to have the fuelling map reset from idle right up to max. The same would be true if you replaced the injectors. For the time being I would suggest that you leave it alone and as the sun has decided to come out to play, just drive it and enjoy! Although you don't have a lambda readout from the RR, do you have a lambda probe in the exhaust connected to the ECU? You don't need it to run the Omex 600, but if you do have a narrow band lambda probe fitted, then you can make use of the closed loop fuel trim at light load conditions. The Omex manual gives some recommended settings. I have mine set so that at motorway cruising speeds, it runs in closed loop with fuel trimming to lambda 1, which improves fuel consumption on the boring bits of a journey. The closed loop only works at low load sites and small throttle openings, so as soon as you squeeze the throttle to overtake it puts you straight back tot he main map. Phil

Hello Carsten, You don't say what spec fuel injectors you have. If you are using the beige coloured standard Focus injector, then you are at the limit of their flow capability which would explain the power acheived and the tail off at 6500rpm. It is very similar to what I got from my 2.0 blacktop with RL200 cams, raceline exhaust, 45 jenveys and 45 trumpets, but I don't have the the raceline 200 head. The 2 Steves got 187bhp at 6800. The other thing you don't mention is whether you have the stronger ARP big end bolts. If you don't then I would suggest you stick with the current set up and just make sure that the rev limiter in the Omex is set to cut in at 7000/7200 max. If you have the ARP bolts and as you have the ported standard valve head, then there is the potential for a few more bhp if you want to chase it. But you may need to spend time making sure the cams are timed accurately and then playing with injectors to ensure they are flowing within the recommended 80% duty cycle limit. Have fun, Phil

Craig, Sussex MG Parts in Partridge Green are the place to go to for this bush, really good prices, rubber bush is £2-3. and the Poly version around a fiver. They seem to have these in stock all the time. I am fitting the spherical bearing A frame during my current rebuild and English axle conversion, I'll let you know whether it makes any difference soon. regards, Phil

Hi, I had a similar problem on my car a few years back. Twin webers and Facet solid state electric pump. I checked out the fuel filler cap, a common problem on back in the 70s when people started fitting after market locking fuel caps that didn't have vent holes. I also cleaned/replaced filters in the line, to no avail. The problem was fixed with a new fuel pump. There a 2 basic types of Facet pump. The solid state, which looks like a cube, can be metal or black resin body, with inlet and outlet pipes opposite each other. Then there is the classic "red top" this is cylindrical a little smaller than a coke can and with the inlet and outlet in the side at top and bottom. The solid state pump has an inline filter integrated into the inlet pipe, these can't be cleaned, simply replace it. The Red top has a filter in the base, which is a bayonet type fitting. You can release the base and the filter (plus fuel) will drop out. If you need to change the pump and it is the solid state type, do make sure you get one with the correct flow and pressure range. Too low a flow and you will run lean at the top end, too high pressure and you will flood the float chambers. A pressure regulator/filter is a useful up grade if you don't have this already. Hope this helps. Phil

Ross, As Crudders says Richard Young is your man. Automotive Engineering is his business based in Uckfield. Always take ginger nuts! X-flow misfire will most likely be ignition, arcing crud on distributor cap contacts/rotor arm, failing condenser, dodgy plug lead/cap are all typical. More general down on power I woudl look at carbs/fuel pressure/pump. Looks like a nice evening for a Blat to the Spotted Dog, shame my car is still pieces! Phil

Hi Bob, Don't know if this helps, but...... I am rebuilding my '85 spec Zetec powered car and have just gone through a similar process. James Whiting sourced a replacement loom for me (Smiths and Caerbont gauges). I had already replaced the rear part of the loom as the car had been a trackday tool before I got it and put the Zetec in, so I needed to sort out rear lights as well as fuel pump feeds. In the current rebuild (full bare metal chassis and new skins) I needed to sort out the dash part of the loom and get rid of the various under bonnet bodges. James supplied me a front section loom with all the correct connectors to fit the switches and feed the instruments. The only mod I had to make was to re-route the alternator feed/output as I have a Blacktop and the alternator is on the carb side rather than exhaust side as on a x-flow. Phil.

Trotsky, No personal experience of BB, but they certainly seem to be very popular in the kit car and tuning fraternity for those fitting bike carbs to car engines. Weber tuning skills are becoming scarcer these days,you could try searching some of the classic rally car chat areas. There is always Weber themselves, if you fancy coming sarf. They are still based in Sunbury. Phil

Hi Zetec, As an ex-Ital axle user, agree with SM25T. Side to side and up & down sounds like wheel bearing. Other possibility is that hub has moved/loosened slightly on halfshaft. It fits on a taper with a keyway. Check that the retaining nut which holds the hub onto the shaft is tight. English axle with salisbury plate diff and alloy nose courtesy of SPC being fitted at this moment. Phil

Unfortunately between the 60 profile 14" and 70 profile 13" tyres we also have differences in the load rating. The 185/70 x 13" has an 86 load rating, the 185/60 x 14" I think is a 82 load rating. This rating affects sidewall construction (86 is a higher load capability than 82) and thus stiffness. How much I have no idea, but it throws in another variable when trying to compare/predict performance/difference. regards, Phil

Peter, Slight correction to Aeroscreens' tyre size calculation. 185/70 13 are approx 11mm greater diameter than 185/60 14. But this would only increase ride height by approx 5.5mm, the difference in tyre radius (top half of tyre doesn't change ride height). Phil