kevin the chicken

If you don't have enough information from the posts already made then send me a message and I'll take as many photos as you want. I bought mine off ebay as a spares or repairs job and believe me they were not kidding! I hope you have plenty of patience. I got there in the end with not a little assistance from others but have just started to enjoy it. As an aside I think the suspension works quite well considering what it came out of. Oh I have the original build manual too so if you need any info out of that I can whiz it under a photocopier or scanner and get it to you. Kevin

I'll go for the kitspares ones as they definitely work. Adjusting them won't be a problem, my wife can help as she's always saying we should do more together. I think thats what she means anyway.

I just knew that post would get some replies. No videos my hands were full

Can anybody recommend some good wing mirrors for my series7 ? I have been trying to get mine adjusted to my satisfaction and can only liken it to trying to poke smoke up my backside with a knitting needle

It is indeed time to drive although there are a few things to sort out still. I'm not going to do too much this summer as I intend to use it and don't want to take it off the road while the weather is good (hopefully) I've got next week off so I hope the weather will be good then.

Hi, Having been wrestling with my spares or repairs project for well over a year now I must admit that I have nearly been at the point of giving up on more than one occasion. Thankfully walking away when things go wrong and not returning for a couple of days usually works out. The last problem was a leaking radiator and for me replacement was the only option, the new one being slightly different and needing some replumbing. As I had a week off I booked a session on the RR for tuesday hoping that I could check it out on monday. Surprise, a leak. Fixed that (I hoped) and refilled, ran it up to temperature and then stuck it on the trailer. Tuesday morning drove to the RR, parked up and went to find out where to offload. Guy said I'll open the gates and you can drive straight in and turn around in the field at the back. Shoved the key back in the ignition of the unimog and snap the key broke off. Things were not going well. Got a lift back to get the spares and offloaded and guess what? It was ok! Talk about surprised. This chap is a real old school pinto man but knows his way around a pair of webers whatever engine they are on. He cleaned all the jets out, adjusted the timing and then did the filne tuning on the RR for 80 quid. Another benefit of living in the heart of stockcar country! Now I have to go on holiday and leave the car in the garage for a few days.

Hi, I am not sure if it is all regional offices that are closing but for sure it is a lot of them. I always had excellent service from my local office in Peterborough too. Richyb66 is not far from the mark with his comment about Royal mail either, I work for them and used to be proud of it because we gave a good service then because we were able to. if we get privatised you can forget about a 6 day service because that will be the first thing that goes. If you see a petition against privatisation then for gods sake sign it! Kevin

Turbo failure tends to be more dramatic than you describe. They run very hot and rely on the cooling of the oil so if a seal goes or a bearing fails there is usually a lot of smoke. is all the pipework intact? If a pipe has split or come off then you may not get any boost hence lack of power.

Dan, Have you thought about brewing your own fuel. Just think of the pleasure you would give to other road users as you cruised past with a haze of hoppy exhaust fumes behind you.

Get someone to come with you when you trailer it there then they can take the tow vehicle home after you have passed and you can drive the car home. You would look pretty stupid if you had to phone up to cancel if you had a breakdown on the way there. It doesn't matter how confident you are in your build it only takes one piddling little part to let you down. At least you'll know you are going to get there safely. What an old woman I am but I do speak from past experience, the older I get the worse I get! Good luck whatever you do Kevin

Agree with the previous post. If the bolts have come loose the gear will be out of alignment with the teeth on the flywheel and won't mesh to turn the engine. Happened to me too but with a six ton aircraft tug in a narrow village high street with a bus up my backside. Hopefully thats all thats wrong with yours Kevin

The radiator took over two weeks to arrive only getting to me on thursday this week. It was showing as being available on the website when ordered but when I didnt hear anything about it after a couple of days I looked on the website and saw that it was out of stock. Perish the thought that they should get in touch. When I phoned they didnt seem too apologetic about it either. I can well believe that it is a ford rad as the brackets are very similar to the old one. I have never heard of any new item only having six months warranty, reconditioned yes but thats a new one on me. I think if that had been me then I would be pursuing them for some money back through the small claims court if needed! We challenged somebody (cant remember who) on a washing machine that was just out of warranty with success as the expectation is that spending that amount of money on something you expect it to last for some time not just 12 months On a positive note I put it in yesteday and although it was slightly different in size to the old one it fitted in the same holes! Regards Kevin

Waiting for kitspares to get their act together and send my new radiator. Car in shed, driver pushing lawnmower up and down for two hours instead. GRRRRRRR!

Right, in that case I'll try it with the new radiator first as this should be better than the old one anyway. I'm adverse to spending money if its not needed. You would hope that the stat would be right if its the one vauxhall specified anyway. Another question that springs to mind that a Redtop owner might be able to help with is what threads are likely to be used in the thermostat housing? The sender for the coolant temperature has a fine tapering thread (well it looks like its tapered) but there is another redundant sender to the left of it which has a much coarser thread which screws all the way into the housing. As this is no longer being used I am using this as a bleed screw to get rid of airlocks but I would like to replace it with a more solid non brass item that won't shear off so easily. I can't find anything in my shed which fits so I was wondering if its an odd thread?

hi, wouldn't be the first time I barked up the wrong tree! I'll take your advice (both of you) and retain the switch in the top hose. Perhaps it may be a good idea to replace the thermostat with the lower temperature one anyway, I did test the current one and it seemed ok but if the XE engines run hot it may be better with an 87 deg one. regards Kevin

Hi, Been giving this one a lot of thought and asked somebody who builds and modifies cars for a living. We are of the same mind that it would be better for the switch to be in the bottom hose, after all if it is mounted in the top hose then it will be switching the fan on before the radiator has had any chance to impact on the water temperature.This should let the stat control the heat in the engine and the fan the heat in the radiator without interfereing with each other. I am replacing the radiator so it is at least the right time to change it all over and it will make the engine bay less cluttered by hiding some of the plumbing. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter, just goes to show that you should never trust anybody elses installation blindly.

A belated thanks for that. Rad now ordered, just waiting for kitspares to get their backsides in gear and get it to me. Kevin

Hi, Could somebody with a Zero utilising one of GBS's radiators as advertised on the kitspares website tell me which way the inlet and outlets are positioned( ie is the bottom hose on the left or right) please. These rads seem to be the right size for a replacement for my car and I want to order one pronto as long as the tubes are in the right place. Typically this isn't shown up by the photo's on their website. I need them the right way round as I refuse to buy any more pieces of hose, my garage is full of them! Thanks Kevin

Hi, Dan E did mine and did a good job of it, it's a hundred times better than it was before and the cost was a lot less than if it had been a garage. I realise now that should have been the first job I should have got done when I bought the car as so much time was wasted chasing wirilng gremlins that would go and then reappear. There comes a time when you should admit defeat and pay an expert to do the job, thats my opinion anyway. Dan lives a couple of hours plus away from me but the trips were well worth it. Kevin

Hi, I have recently replaced the fan switch on my S7 Vauxall C20XE with an adjustable one as the old one had ceased to work and so that I can get the setting spot on. However I am wondering if in copying the previous installment I have made a mistake. The fan switch is plumbed in to an inline housing which is situated between the thermostat housing and the top of the radiator. The engine is supposed to operate at 95c, with the fan cutting in at 100c but the thermostat is supposed to only be fully open at 107c according to the haynes manual for this engine. My question is will the hot water from the opening stat trigger the fan to operate even though the water has only just come up to temperature and if so would the switch be better off located in the bottom hose away from the stat? I noticed the temp gauge seemed to cycle up and down as if the stat was opening and closing when I took it out for a test run but wasn't able to stay out for too long as the radiator seems to have sprung a leak now. It may be that the fan temp needs to be adjusted. This leads to my second question, is it best to try to have the radiator re-cored, mended or should it be replaced with a better unit and if so can anybody recommend one? Regards Kevin

Hi, It looks really good, I may consider using some this myself after seeing your results. Do you think the wrap on the bonnet will stand up to the heat from the engine? Its certainly a lot cheaper than getting somebody to paint it for you. but I have to say its the sort of thing that my wife would be better at than me! Kevin

Hi, As a retained Firefighter I have attended many RTC's of all types and can assure you that vehicle fires after accidents are fairly rare. In fact I can only think of one and that was a T bone and the fuel tank was unaffected. A bigger issue in my opinion would be a fuel pump that kept on running after an accident, pumping fuel through damaged fuel lines into a hot engine bay. Fit an inertia switch to the fuel pump (if you have an electric one) that would be a far better investment. If I remember correctly the fuel tank sponge was supposed to stop the vapour in the tank exploding so I can't see the advantage of that as they don't catch fire if they are not breached as the vapour inside the tank is too rich and if the tank is breached the fuel has access to plenty of oxygen to burn anyway. I have never known nor heard of anybody seeing a fuel tank explode either. What normally happens with a car fire is the fuel pipes burn through and the fuel runs onto the ground, we don't even use foam any more because of its environmental impacts, just water through hose reels at 21 bar which knocks it down although this can be difficult. Tyres do go bang, dangerous on lorries because of the high pressures involved but in cars the other thing to watch out for is the magnesium alloys which can give a spirited display. In short don't worry about it, just drive and enjoy! Regards Kevin

Hi, The pressure regulator needs to be as near to the carbs as possible to give an accurate pressure at the carbs. Get one with an integral filter if you haven't already ordered it. Nothing wrong with a belt and braces approach. 6 psi is far too high and will lead to problems with flooding and leaks from the carb. I think these carbs only need 2.5 to 3psi, can't remember what I set mine at but it was certainly no higher than this. Kevin

Agreed thats the best thing to do especially with a V8 in it. Good luck and keep us posted

I guess if the exhaust system can breathe properly at all times then operation is going to be smoother and less dramatic. I was always told that a four into one exhaust was best for horsepower but a four into two into one better for torque. Doesn't matter how much fuel you can get in if you can't get the exhaust out. I don't know a lot about carbs, thats why mine will be going to a rolling road too. I have had my twin 45's to bits to clean them out and they are bloody complicated things, jets, accelerator pumps, progression holes all a mystery to me. If this guy comes recommended by Dan and Mark then he must know what he's doing.