kevin the chicken

Having had problems with air locks in my S7 Redtop I decided to install a header tank. Sounds simple but space is limited under the bonnet so in the end I had to move the windscreen washer bottle and put that in the side of the passenger footwell out of the way. The problem had been that every time the cooling system was disturbed air was getting trapped somewhere and causing either the water to blow out through the overflow bottle, leaving the radiator half empty or if running with the cap off to fill it would overflow in a great big gout of water all over the garage floor again leaving the radiator half empty and it would take several cycles of running up to temp, cooling down and then refilling before it eventually settled. Even when it had settled and found its own level to me the level was too low leaving the top tank portion of the radiator mostly empty and the engine temp always seemed to be around the 100 mark or just below although it never actually overheated even on the rolling road where I was expecting trouble. So in went a header tank, after a lot of head scratching as height was an issue too. In the end I installed it on the side of the pedal box as high up as I could reasoning that as long as the water in the tank was higher than the top of the radiator then it ought to work. I plumbed the bottom hose from the header into the pipe from the bottom of the rad using a T piece from ebay and the top hose went to the rad overflow with a blank cap replacing the one now on the header (following a post on here by Bob Tucker I think). I also drilled a hole in the thermostat. I was dreading filling up and running it in case it didnt work but I can claim total success with no overflowing or overheating, took it out for a careful 20 mile run the other day and a not very careful at all 40 mile run today and the level is stable with the temp steady between 90 and 95. I also blanked off the gaps around the rad so that the air has to go through it rather than around it. The corrugated plastic that estate agents use for their for sale signs is good for this being very rigid in one plane, flexible to a degreee in the other and very light. And its free after stormy weather.

I have recently had similar issues with space and header tank placement and in the end had to put the header tank in the only place available after deciding that as long as the water level in it was higher than the radiator water level it would work okay. Thankfully it does perfectly but if I was to start my time with this car again then the battery would be moved to the boot

Forecast is good this week and I'm on holiday! Just about finished my car, new exhaust and header tank and nosecone blanked off so that all the air goes through it not around. Just got to try to get the fuel gauge to work and then I'm off out for a test run

Sorry to hear about this mate, just when things seem to be going ok some scum sucking piece of pondl life messes it up. Hopefully it will turn up.

Think I may have seen one on eBay this week. Have a quick search, it may be near you .

Mines noisy too especially when you first turn the ignition on, gets a bit quieter when the carbs are full but you can't hear anything when the engine fires!

Where is the best place to mount one of these switches?

Bet someone will contact him privately for a sale. I cant believe he didnt twig must be a right plank. If it was me I would just list it as a kit car and say it had a V5. Somebody would buy it. A lot of people just put the names of several other makes in the title listing and then put NOT afterwards. That seems to comply with ebay rules. Perhaps I just have a devious mind. Better be careful in front of the crusading Duck and definitely not post any of my thoughts on any forums! Did you get your wheels fitted yet?

Make sure you have the right pressure radiator cap fitted. i think I saw on another post about cooling that you need the 14lb one. As you say it could be heat soak when you turn the engine off causing a localised boil up and ejection of water. When I had air in my Redtop it caused the water to gush out of the top of the radiator with the cap off and through the overflow with the cap fitted. As you have drained the system I presume you have changed the plumbing in some way so make sure you have got everything right. There are plenty of people on here with the same engine who should be able to help. Persevere with it, I know how frustrating it is kneeling in pools of expensive coolant on the garage floor but you will get there, I think I have. Kevin

Another Redtop with twin 45's though. Distributor off a mk 2 cavalier I think. Simple but effective. 153bhp last time on the rollers

5W 40W or is that just when you have too much of it?

Yep, I was too busy sitting in the corner of the garage giggling and eating mars bars.

Being relatively new to the kit car scene I had no idea who you were talking about until I saw an old edition of A Car is Born on one of the freeview channels. There he was selling the presenter a brand new ford v8 and gearbox for 4500 quid. Bet he bought a lot of potting compost with that wedge. We are unfortunate enough to have a family a couple of doors away from us who dabbled in illegal activities. Customs and excise raided their house and I caught one of the sons escaping out of their garage window through my garden with a bag of swag. Lucky he didnt get a hiding as I was suffering with an impacted wisdom tooth at the time and not in the best of moods. The father got 9 months in an open prison for his wrong doings but by the time his case came to court the aforementioned scroat was doing 6 and a half years for armed robbery trying to feed his drug habit. Then top it all his mother got 14 months for trying to smuggle drugs into prison for him. How the other half live!

Its back on again, seller says the listing was removed due to a problem with the wording of the advert

I would imagine the S2000 engine and box would be brilliant. I ran a civic type R for several years and you didnt need to cane it to make normal progress. It really got going after 5500 rpm and with that brilliant gearbox it was a very good hot hatch. Equally at home at a track day or at tesco's!

Good engine though. Torquey but not as torquey as a rover v8

My wife wants to join a caravan club, this is ideal! Sticker please

My heart would have been in my mouth at the thought of all that expensive coolant pushing against a loose hose I had forgotten to tighten properly. I always seem to get at least one leak every time I disturb the cooling system. Much better now that I am using silicone hoses though.

One just posted on ebay in kit cars. Five grand though!

No kidding, when I got home from work today all my clothes were completely dripping, I was freezing cold and the woodburner had gone out. Still managed to get in the garage for half an hour once the feeling had come back to my fingers

Its already been said, cold air does give more bhp.Its denser so you can get more in. It may not be much but anything free is worth having. I am currently trying to work out how to blank off all the space around the radiator so that all the air flows through it but I shall also be putting a piece of ducting in so that my carbs have a supply of cooler air. Water mist injection kits are or certainly were available recently for diesels to reduce the charge air temperature.

I didn't want a pinto engined car either, opting for a C20XE which produced 153 on the rolling road but more importantly it is torquey. Thats just with a couple of webber DCOE's, no fancy ignition or other gizmos. But there are a lot of tuning bits for the pinto so if you feel the need to tune it yourself you can. Despite not wanting one in my first kit, the Sylva I bought to do up for my wife has a pinto in it so I have the best of both worlds. Gonna put some bike carbs on it just to try something else other than webbers. Top speed to me has little relevance in this sort of car with acceleration being far more important. It goes like stink from rest and pulls like a train even in fifth gear when overtaking so I am pleased with my choice.

I think if you did that lot in one day on your own you deserve a drink. Probably would have taken me a week, not including the week looking at it and sighing and tutting. Should shove it along all right I reckon.

I used one from Car Builder Solutions when my original packed up. It is adjustable and you can either tuck the end of the capilliary tube under the radiator top hose or like me use one of their alloy housings in the middle of the hose and just screw the bulb in. It had to be dead simple for me to attempt it as I usually run away screaming when somebody mentions electrics. The only thing you have to watch out for is to mount the relay somewhere where it wont get wet Kevin

Busmans right avoid death one way or another by using engine in kit car. At least you can tell her that is what its for. Us series 7 owners have to look out for each other.