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Not yet, but the DHL man has been busy this week!

Hello, I thought I would let everyone know how I have got on with putting my Robin Hood through the IVA and to ask a few questions... My Robin Hood 2B was given to me by my kind friend part finished, I believe it was originally bought in 2002. It is based around a 1989 Sierra with a 2.0l Pinto with a 30/34 DFTH Weber carb. I have stripped it down and finished it over the last eighteen months and I am quite pleased with the result (or at least I was). Attempt one happened at the beginning of May and didn't go well at all. Prior to the test I had a garage down the road check it out and everything seemed ok apart from a bouncing fuel gauge. I didn't get the car back in time to sort the fuel gauge, so I just had to go for it. On the day of the test I filled it up at the petrol station in preparation for the fifty-mile journey from Blackpool to Chatterton. Fuel ended up leaking everywhere from the fuel sender and the car started running rough. Before I got too far from home, I just took it round the block where I broke down a few times as well as got pulled over by the police. I had all the relevant paper work so being pulled over wasn't an issue and I managed to limp the car home. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the test so £450 down the drain. Before my next attempt I serviced the carb, replaced the fuel lines, filter and fuel sender, fitted new spark plugs, leads and coil (from Accuspark) as well as checking the ignition timing and mixture. The timing was out, and I set it to about six degrees with the vacuum lines blocked as per the manual. There was also a leak on the line from the manifold to the servo which I fixed. Yesterday I set off nice and early for attempt two. Everything went well for the first twenty-five miles until I could feel the car needing more and more power to maintain speed. I pulled over and found that the brakes had come on and while I at the side of the road they came on completely. After looking around it I suspected that the servo was at fault either too hot, getting to much vacuum or faulty. I managed to get to the test centre (with frequent stops to keep checking) and on the way there the car started to run quite rough. It struggled to pull away and didn't like running at slow speed although it idles fine. Despite being late they completed the test and found the following... Metered Emissions - the HC reading was 4260 when the max is 1200. The car struggled to run at the required 2,000 rpm it just kept hunting between 1,000 and 3,000. The reading from the garage prior to attempt one was fine, well below the limit. I suspect I have messed up the mixture after the carb rebuild. Brake pipe or hose must not be exposed to excessive heat. The car has the original sierra manifold and the exhaust has a heat wrap around it. The servo is close to the engine and heat shield I made is obviously not up to the job (see picture, although the heat shield has been removed). I am thinking about removing the servo all together as described in other posts and then make a bigger heat shield. Brake warning light - The light on the dash functions with both the handbrake and the low brake fluid level switch. However, the low fluid switch doesn't seem to work. Am I correct in thinking that if I fix the low brake fluid switch and can prove it works by unscrewing the top that will pass? I can test the light from the driver’s seat using the handbrake or do I need a separate switch? A couple of sharp edges right under the dash that I missed. I have already put edging on them. The hand brake isn't working on the near side wheel. I will have to investigate. Brake lights are on all the time. I knocked the brake switch off while checking my brakes when stuck at the side of the road and have now fixed. Side repeaters are mounted on the body of the car and do not give the five degrees of visibility from the rear. I need to move them to the cycle wings. Headlight aim was out, I must have knocked them as they had been aligned by the garage. Fog lights come on with the side lights. I going to change the switch feed using diodes as described by other posts. Pinch nut on the from suspension was loose. The pinch bolt was tight, and I had put a safety bolt through to dummy strut but completely missed this. Stupid boy! Maybe unsurprisingly because of the brake issue they wouldn't let me drive it home and I had to shell out to be recovered to Blackpool . Yesterday was a very frustrating day to say the least! I have already fixed some of the issues and apart from the engine and the brakes my car is fine, ha! When I got home, I checked the spark plugs and they are black, so I guess it is running rich? I have a colourtune kit but I was struggling to use it, I will have to have another go. My dilemma now is how best to take it for the retest, do I risk driving it again? And, how am I best getting the engine tested/tuned without having the ability to drive it? Maybe I need to find someone with a trailer for the retest and a rolling road session? Graeme