PACR

Just realised I'm talking nonsense..... Piers Edited by - PACR on 22 Mar 2002 23:15:29

And the Stags V8 was two Dolomite engines stuck together... (Use the Rover / Buick V8 that's in the parts bins or cobble together something new....) Piers

Cheers! I wasn't thinking about toe changes with the front end - it's just easier to reach the adjusters with the spanner and allen key (new SVA complient collars) at the front. I'll set it up as suggested and take the tools along for tuning. Piers

I've fitted my adjustable spring seats - Any advice on a good starting point for ride heights? (Standard springs, widetrack, 14" wheels). 'Raising the rear reduces understeer' - I assume lowering the front will have the same effect. Is this right? It's easier to lower the front but it's very near to the bump stops at present. I've got a trackday at Llandow on Saturday so will try and get a nice neutral set-up with ride height tweaks to get the ballpark settings and then do a flat-floor measured set-up later. I figure on needing 4 sets of bathroom scales - lower wheels onto the middle of a plank spanning the scale and block the same height as the scales. Scale should then give half load reading. Argos do scales for a couple of quid - might have to use that 16 day money back guarentee! How close (kgs tolerence) should you aiming for when doing the loadings? Piers

Sorted now - For those interested.... I got 3 meters of 25mm wide webbing. Tested the strength by hanging off it in the garage. Tie the middle to the top of the spring / damper - round the eyelet, and then wrap about 3 turns around a few of the spring coils on each side of the spring. Put a loop of strong poly cord through bottom eyelet and stand in it. Pull on the free ends of the webbing and hey presto - the spring is compressed! Tie off the straps to make safe whilst you lever the clip out with a screwdriver... Keep your fingers out of the way! If you overlap the webbing a bit it grips against itself whilst you tie it off. Piers

Can anyone recommend a brand / model of spring comprssor that will fit the standard Caterham springs. I knew my old ones didn't so bought some new ones but these don't fit - they are far better (thicker) than the picture on the box makes them appear.... I'd rather use some proper compressors than string..... Please e-mail to prex@rm.com as I can't access this site at work due to the CHAT in the name.... Piers

The guy who owns the company that manufactures Ford GT40 replicas - GTD40- fitted the rear end mechanicals of a GTD40 into (well sort of) a Mini estate, cut down to a pick-up style rear. It looked pretty impressive and recorded some good times at the Brighton Speed trials. Nowhere to put the bags of cement... Piers

One either side of the zip, then one between the harnesses and then one on the side (the modified boot cover popper - so it has a popper base as it's top) does me at the moment (changed to fia bar resulting in the loss of a popper or two). The ones by the zip are needed, the ones on the outer edge are also needed, otherwise just space the remaining poppers so you don't have too much of a gap over the harness mountings (or wind inflates the tonneau). Piers

I recall a thread like this from somewhere else... In order to fit a different engine you're probably best off chopping off the steel body work for the front end and using a GRP or Carbon front end. Modifing the existing subframe is a possibility for fitting a Vauxhall (you can buy the modified frames) and I would measure up the front end of a k-series Metro and compare to the Mini subframe. There will be much more space under a one piece GRP front end. Thought about doing this as a tinkering project... The missus won't let me fiddle with her new MINI (which is good, and is much better value for money than old Mini - one of the best quote regarding Minis was from Top Gear mag. They tested £11,000 worth of the 'Tarts Handbag' Coopers (magnolia trim, 13" wheels and big spats) and concluded that an old £500 quid Mini on skinny 10" wheels was much more fun.). Piers

It's to help the oil inside run to where it's needed..... Seriously - unsprung weight - one end of the damper is heavier (the 'bottom') - hanging that from the body will reduce the unsprung weight. And adjustment - I think it's easier if the adjustable platform is at the top of the damper, you have better access. But as I've yet to clear the purchase past the accounts dept. I'll have to wait and see for the latter. Piers

It would appear from recent suspension related postings that adjustable platforms are the way to go for setting up / tuning the handling - so I'll dip my hand into my pocket and fish out the MasterCard.... I've got a wide tracked K-series, LSD, 14" wheels with the intention of getting RE720s, springs and Anti roll bars as it left the factory. Whilst I've got the springs off to fit the adjustable platforms would it make sense to swap to a different rating from standard? I'm not even sure what the standard rate is though.... Can I hang my standard shocks upside down? Piers

Decided to go out for a quick blast today before settling down to watch my boys give the Irish a drubbing..... I pushed the car out of the garage, and was attempting to fit the new tax disc when it started spitting with rain. I can take a little rain but it was a bit irritating as it had been dry and crisp all morning. Anyway, the battery was totally dead. I pushed it back into the garage as the heavens were stating to open a little more. On connecting the battery charger - nothing, it didn't kick in to charge at all. After an embaressing trip to Halfrauds I discovered that the charger worked fine but something about the battery didn't allow it to kick-in when connected. I jump started the car with a the battery from another car and after 10 mins running I then re-connected the charger - this time it burst into life and started charging. It was a Halfords charger and a Banner battery (99 k series). Any ideas why the battery needed some charge before the charger would work? I don't think it would be down to the battery design. So - keep your batteries topped up when not using your Seven and don't try the 'wait until there's a few people around and ask for a new charger as yours is broken' routine unless you are certain.... I didn't get to go for a blast and we got stuffed. Not a very good day at all really... Piers Edited by - PACR on 3 Feb 2002 21:17:28

Dean, Who do you work for? I think I might have guessed but could do with a few more clues.... Piers

Ah, thanks Peter. I thought it would be a bit odd to judge an engine when it wasn't doing anything useful! Is it that the inherent out of balance forces are magnified with the longer stroke? Are these forces significantly larger? Is it a largely subjective matter that can be detected from one to the other but in isolation it would be difficult to detect? Piers

When you say 'rev freely' does this mean that the cluth is down or you are in neutral? Because by my reckoning the engine turns which turns the wheels. The engine speed is directly related to the road speed in a given gear, assuming no wheel spin. The engines rev-a-bility is therefore controlled by the power output being able to accerate the car. So the 1.6 accerates more quickly than the 1.8? It's late and I'm off to bed now so I'll settle for 'go for a 1.8 if you are going to upgrade later as the SS kit needs chucking out for high specific outputs. If you later decide not to go the whole hog, for £999 Caterham will retro-fit the SS conversion which gives a nice character and more poke'. I decided to start with a 1.8 but then Railtrack shares went up so I got the 1.8 SS, and I'm very happy with it. Piers

I'd go for Araldite as well. Use a little to get it stuck in place and then put more over the top and sand it down until you get a good pick up from your sensor and spread out the glue so you have a wide based mound. Keying the surface is important but make sure that rust can't start under the glue. Some sort of strong, thin band around the magnets would be a good idea to hold them on under the forces. Two tie wraps with the fastening bits positioned on opposite sides of the shalf perhaps? Piers

An compressor has to be the best toy / tool. You will never look at a piece of tubing without thinking of giant airguns.....! It makes lots of noise and I've used mine so much I don't know how I managed before - it's very good at sweeping dust out of the garage and inflates tyres in no time. Piers

Cheers guys - I'll have a grope around once it's cooled a bit. Piers

The steel 13" 4.5 from my rwd Escort fit a de Dion fine. I only tried for size and didn't drive on them though as they are 20 odd years old and have skinny tyres for maximum oversteer and authentic 70's Cop chase squeal at 5 mph. I did think about getting a cheap set of wider ones and fitting good normal tyres which would be OK for winter seven use (ie good water / slush clearance) and put them on the Escort in Summer for more grip. But I ran out of money and the bloody Avon ZV1s on the seven still haven't worn out... almost 15000 miles!!!! I'm too tight to chuck out tyres which still have tread so will wait 'till spring for 32Rs. Piers

One for the x-flowers out there..... My 1300 GT spec X-Flow is making a ticking noise from the top end of the block (but not the valve gear)- I've done the stick pressed against the block and ear pressed to stick method!. It's a loud ticking (but not a bang, rattle or knock). I've done a compression test and it seems ok - I thought it might be a worn bore leading to the piston wobbling. Resetting valve clearances hasn't made any difference. Could it be a gudgon pin moving about? Is it a recognised x-flow fault that means I'm going to soon be faced with a large bill? The engine has about 60,000 miles on it so could be considered in need of a refresh / unleaded conversion / decoke etc. As an aside - whizzing down the motorway I suddenly lost all power. I pulled onto the hardshoulder but couldn't be bothered risking my life so called the AA. A very nice man towed me to a services and we discovered the tip of the moving contact of the points had snapped off. £1.95 to fix but a very odd thing to fail. Which leads me onto - the dizzy rotor wobbles about a bit (possible reason for above failure..?). Is this a very bad thing (ie worth spending money on a new / exchange dizzy)? Or should I stock up on points.... Should I just get an improved dizzy with electronic ignition internals and pointless contacts rather than a straight replacement? Are there many people trying to offload 1700cc 135bhp x-flows and 4 speeds having done a bike conversion? (I don't think my MK I Escort is quite right for a Blackbird swap). Piers

Any ideas on how to loosen a stuck filler plug on an escort live axle. Mines stuck - I've hung off the wrench and you can see the thin back of the diff case flex - but the plug won't budge! Tried WD-40, tightening, impact but not sure about heat - oils a bit flamable! I was thinking of loosening the bolts at the front - letting the old oil pour out, than filling with correct quantity through the breather - the diff seal leaks anyway. Any pearls of wisdom? Piers

Masha, When I switched from a normal bar to FIA I did a simple experiment: Hold FIA bar in left hand Hold Normal bar in right hand Until I did this I just thought I was paying for some special FIA stickers and a diagonal brace. It's a bit like comparing a drinking straw to a scaffolding pole. I believe the R500 bar is bigger diameter but not better material - anything with a seam isn't very strong compared to equivalent seamless. I couldn't see myself switching back. Piers PS - has your missus found a nice Mini yet. Might be up for an offer on the Cinq as the new car is arriving early!

Fiat Cinquecento for sale. 1993 L reg, Black, 58,000 miles, 9 months tax, 11 months MOT, serviced in July, full service history, sunroof, 2 owners (my girlfriend has owned it since '94). Looks very smart, has to go due to house purchase and new car. Would make an ideal first car as insurance is dirt cheap and it gets over 40 mpg. Much more reliable than a Mini and better looking than Novas and Fiestas! £1375 or offers - I'm in Didcot (just south of Oxford) and car is sometimes in Uxbridge - ring 07881623557 to arrange a viewing or to get more details. I've just been advised that the missus would like to see it go to a 'young lady as her first car and where it will looked after well' - so if you have a young lady available you might get a discount!

In my 1300 x-flow (not in a seven) the Optimax seems to have made starting easier - less choke and fewer chugs before bursting into life, than the LRP I had in before. I need to run an additive in it as well, not keen on LRP as I've never heard anything good about it - apart from if you need 97 octane and there's no Super around (and you haven't got a cat). Thinking of using Castrol Valvemaster.... Anyone heard any scary stories about it? Local halfords hasn't got any in (only got Valvemaster plus which ups octane by 2 or 3 points. I think 100 + octane might be a bit silly). The Optimax is supposed to be a faster burning fuel - according to leaflet from petrol station. Piers

At the time the SL only came with a 1.6 engine. The cost of the standard 'options' fitted to the SL was the same as the cost difference of the SL to a normal 1.8 car (no Roadsport at that time), thus the CF bits added a sizeable chunk to the cost. From what people are now saying it seems the pricing structure isn't like this anymore and you get more better value with a SL. So I decided to go for a a bigger engine rather than CF. Also I was intending to use the car a lot and thought 13" wheels and ACB 10s weren't best suited to general throughout the year use. I didn't realise adjustable spring seats where standard, I could do with a set now. Again I didn't realise CF was deletable, but then its difficult to see it being a true SL without it. Basically I didn't have enough cash to get a weather geared, comfy SL so now have a larger engined version without the CF or big brakes (seemed a lot of money at the time and not much point unless you get really good tyres to complete the picture). Piers