PACR

Chrisiden I've got a 1.8SS with 6 speed box, LSD, leather seats, widetrack. At the time (July 99) the pricing for a spec'd up SL was more than for a normal Seven to SL spec without the Carbon bits. The extra cost of the VVC was more than for a SS conversion and six-speed and I didn't like the idea of the VVC for the seven. I can't fault the car, it's much better than my driving is. My usage is similar to what you've suggested you'll be doing. The six-speed isn't a problem on long runs and the engine pulls well throughout the range and never feels out of puff. The cars been to Italy and has 14000 miles put on in two years without any problems. Work out the cost of the Roadsport with a 1.8ss and 6 speed - I think you end up paying a lot for the carbon bits of a Superlight. They've got lots of pose value but I didn't think the weight saving (especially when adding all the weather gear, leather seats and being a bit over weight myself..)was enough to justify a big wodge of cash. Plus if you're using it a lot as general transport a standard paint colour wing is a lot cheaper to replace than a carbon one. Same again for the nose cone. I wouldn't get the Avon ZV-1 tyres though, unless you especially want your tyres to last the life of the car... Piers

Try Nitrous Oxide.....! Seriously, I keep hearing good things about the modern systems. Probably not really the type of power delivery you want in a Seven though. Not sure of the cost as every time I think of upgrading my engine a bit of full throttle treatment soon makes me realise that I am, in the words of the famous Welsh hater, the weakest link, and stop doing my sums.... Failing that lose weight, you and the car... Piers

Can someone (with a 96 on de-dion chassis) measure the position of their front petty strut hole and post the results please? Also is the strut needed for FIA compliance - has any competed in a sprint without it? I will have a passenger on the way to the sprint - I think the danger of a long, heavy steel bar lose in the car on the 2 hour journey outways it's potential value during the sprint. Piers

Do I need to fit the 'petty' strut to be FIA compliant? Can't see anything that suggests I do but thought I'd better check.... Got my sprint number through today - 48. Cheers Piers PS - anyone else fitting an FIA roll bar - fit the bolt for the passengers left shoulder harness first, before bolting anything else down....

Got my FIA bar yesterday. Doesn't look too tricky to fit. Anyway, what's the recommended covering for the headrest, the missus helpfully pointed out that a piece of metal plate won't be comfortable (I was more concerned about the safety of it). I'm thinking some hardish polystyrene foam then some squishy stuff to support the head / helmet when accelerating. Cover the lot in a bit of vinyl left over from my other cars roof with some trim round the edge of the plate. Sounds like it would a, do the job and b, pass a scrutineers check? Piers

Depending on price.. 4 off 6x13 Ford Live axle / De Dion PCD

I bought a video camera for £100 and to fix it to the car I got a bit of wood the same shape as the headrest fixing bar and cut though at an angle identical to that which the seat back forms with the floor. Screwing one to the other produced a horizontal platform which can be slotted in place of the passenger headrest. A bolt through the wood and some spongey stuff on the platform holds the camera in place. This was a bodge to test the camera was ok - couldn't be bothered buying a fancy digital one. It works so well I might never get round to doing it properly! As I had everything lying around it's pretty good value for money. Watching the footage I realised why my girlfriend is such a nervous passenger! I played around with shutter speeds and focusing and got a very good result pretty quickly. Piers Edited by - PACR on 20 Jul 2001 10:02:52

Are any of the ECU manufacturers developing paddle shift kits? As far as I can see it's not the remote shifting of the 'stick' (or whatever is used to interface with the gearbox) that's a problem (mechanically quite simple) - it's the control of the engine and clutch. Now that a few manufacturers are using and hopefully perfecting these systems an aftermarket application has to be a money spinner if the OEMs hard work can be poached! I agree with Peter about the MGF Steptronic - anyone with a bit of engineering appreciation is sure to find the idea hateful - however it's not really an engineering issue - just a marketing one (judging by the MGF drivers I know. Try asking one what VVC does.. (or even better refer to their car as a WC...)). Piers

Has anyone worn out a set of Avon ZV-1s (the standard 14" fitment ones)? At 13,000 miles mine are still in very good health... Either they are made of super tough rubber or I drive like a poof... Piers

Make sure your brake fluid isn't full of bubbles... In my innocent youth I shook a bottle to determine how much was left before bleeding the brakes on a Mini - big mistake. Wasted loads of fluid until I figured it out.... Found best thing on my Seven was to bleed brakes as normal then leave overnight having tapped calipers etc. Bleed again next day, got a much better result. Piers

I've got a leaking diff casing on a live axle (Escort). Is the gasket easy to change (and can anyone give me instructions?) or should I just park over a tray? Piers

I'm going to get a set of 13" Minilight style wheels for my Mk 1 Escort and I might as well make sure they can be used on my Seven (and put some decent tyres on). What offsets should I be looking for for 13" x 6"? Is 6" a good width to go for? And what tyre sizes (it's a 1.8SS de Dion wide track). I have to see if I can fit 6" wide rims under the rear arches of the escort... Has anyone got Superlights with a polished rim and coloured centre? How well do they last? Piers

It's on a 1974 Escort 1300E. I, for the record, was born in 1975. Very nicely resprayed in Onyx metallic Green (the car, not me. Now with a lumpy roof... The fluffy dice didn't like weld splatter and went to the scrapyard in the sky. The nodding dog is on vacation in my girlfriends car at the moment (slumming it...). Can't see anywhere to fit a eight-track even if I could get hold of one.... The interior is brown though... wasn't allowed tiger skin seat covers by the missus. Piers

Has anyone found a more tricky job than fitting a vinyl roof to a car? Trying to get it smooth with the seams running straight and parallel is pretty much impossible. Contact adhesive is the Devils own sputum as far as I'm concerned. Got the missus to help, fully briefed her of the nature of contact adhesive - ie sticks on contact and has to dry a bit first. She then helpfully folds the glued vinyl onto itself.... It's even more tricky than fitting the rear wing beading on the Caterham. A top ten of most hated / tricky jobs on a Seven? Piers

Have you got a sealed fuel tank? If the breather is blocked it is difficult to pull the fuel through to the engine. This causes the car to stall. Waiting for a bit allows air to get into the tank and fuel can be pumped through again. This happened on my girlfriends car when the garage twisted the breather pipe. Next time it stalls whip the filler cap out and see if it goes hiss when you do and if it's easier to restart. Piers

Check it's not the air filter distorting the throttle bodie - on a K-series - if the jubilee clips a turn too tight it gives a 2000 rpm idle.... I was thinking of using a bit of glue to hold it in place (along with the clip) - but don't want bits of it to get sucked into the engine. Anyone solved this problem? Piers

I was going to fit air-horns but Caterham warned me they'd had a few examples where the horns air-compressor had interferred with the ECU on injection cars. As I'd bought some and found that the compressor weighs a ton (or tonne for the Europeans)I thought better of it - they'll get fitted to my old car instead. In the past I found the FIAMM electric horns to be pretty loud - certainly loud enough and a good, and much cheaper, upgrade to OEM horns on the few cars I've had with broken horns (the MOT tester who's got a bonnet catch sized dent in the back of his head thought they were pretty effective - his assistant was a bit too enthusiastic...). Piers

Chill out Peter... Ever heard of the terms 'ballpark' or 'rough comparison'!!!! I was just after a guide - thought there might have been a before and after comparison done - for interests sake. Short of insisting every one only quotes power figures from the same engine dyno under exactly the same conditions everyone knows you are going to have quite a margin of error in measuring and quoting the power of an engine. However it would be resonable to assume that the same operator on the same rolling road with some experience would give a sufficiently usefull difference figure. And as the conditions on the road / vary as in the workshop does it matter too much? I mean if I was an unscruplus rolling road equiped tuner I might super heat my workshop for the before runs and ensure it was nicely chilled on the after runs..... Oily's right - I meant as in not doing any internal engine work / changing SS cams or getting the engine out of the car. I'm sure throttle linkages can be tricky until you get the hang of it. Piers

What exactly was done to the motor - thought you were just adding throttle bodies and new ecu to a supersport spec 1.6? What was the figure at the wheels before - if it really is the at the wheels figure. Seems like quite a jump for not a lot of work! Piers

I'm after some 13" wheels for my Escort - should be the same PCD as for an Escort live axle unless the hubs are changed and is the same as de dion. 5.5 or 6 inch width would be good and tyres useful - looking for a bargin so get in touch if you've got some going spare. prex@rm.com Thanks Piers

Try swapping your tyres round - wider on the front. Might cancel out the problem!!!!! Piers

There's a little bracket at the top of the brake pedal that holds a switch - very much like the one in the door frame that puts the light on in tin-tops. As you push the pedal it releases the plunger that makes a contact - the body is threaded with a locking nut arrangement. Slacken and adjust it so it comes on with slight foot pressure - much better to have it come on too soon than too late. You might need to tweak the bracket (ie bend it a bit) if you've adjusted the pedal positions much. Piers

I've read that the 1300GT pistons in the 1600 are a good, and cheap way of raising the compression ratio. Should be available in +0.090. You could get the block skimmed of course. Piers

edit - Ah yes, ZR is something completely different... Kind of said it all already...... The standard 14" ones. Cheers Piers Edited by - PACR on 21 Mar 2001 13:26:58

This was happening on mine. Got lots of advice but I just got used to it and learnt to brake properly - theres very little dive, which removes one of the usual sensations of heavy braking in a car. I found I was being far too sharp on the brakes at times - if you can't lock the front then start worrying. Once things get bedded in - I think my fronts were glazed from underuse - you'll find it's much better. When on a track I had my rears more likely to lock from bad gearchanging whilst braking than from the braking, if you see what I mean. Cheers Piers