kevin the chicken

it would be interesting to know what the average age of the club member is and what constitutes a youngster!

Haven't even looked at the engine number on my logbook and I know the engine has been changed from Pinto to Redtop. Judging by the way everything else was carried out I bet it still bears the mark of the Pinto. I'll keep an eye on these posts to see what the best route to follow will be. I wonder what legal implications leaving it alone would have. Who actually cares anyway? The insurance company were certainly not interested in what engine was in the car only the size so they would be none the wiser. DVLA certainly like to make doing the right thing difficult. Even if the engine turned out to be out of a stolen car how far back do their records go? And what are they going to do about it? Some of these engines are donkeys years old now. I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it.

Hi, If you do have to replace the inlet gasket I would go for the composite one as the tin ones are liable to rust as was said earlier. It is a fairly easy job, but like many others worth taking a bit of time over esp cleaning off all the old gasket sealant and getting all the torque settings bang on. If the engine still uses the little rubber gaskets (use new ones) and clamps at the end of the main gasket then make sure these are correctly located before you tighten anything down. It is a few years since I've done one so there may have been some improvements since then! Even head gaskets on this engine are easy enough for a novice ( I was ) just time consuming. As has already been said if you can find out exactly what the problem is with the exhaust gas test then you will now where you stand, you don't want to replace the manifold gasket and then find out you have to do a head gasket. Best get it all over in one hit. And don't drop anything down any of the galleries like I did with a dodge V8! Regards Kevin

Definitely looks better, been thinking about ditching my spare and cutting off the carrier.Mine is all bent and rusty, looks like someone has made it out of the legs of an old stool. Has anyone ever used the tyreweld and does it work ok? What about using a space saver tyre, maybe stow it in the passenger footwell.

Hi DVLA Swansea were pretty appalling when I dealt with them on a medical matter but my local office in Peterborough were outstanding when I had an enquiry about a vehicle registration. I dealt with them only by letter and the longest it took for them to reply to me was about five days. As to a worse organisation, the company I work for has the most crap management without a doubt. I won't name them but they have a lot of red vans and their most famous employee is called Pat.

Hi, My Sierra based S7 has a quick release steering wheel fitted and it certainly makes getting in and out easier. Also it would make it harder for the local tea leaves to drive it away when it is removed. I don't know whether fitting one would make much difference to the distance to your body, maybe though the style/type of wheel could make a bit of difference. Kevin

Hi, When he rewired my car Dan E noticed that my HT leads are way past their best with one having a split outer covering. Although there are many wild claims made about increases in horsepower etc (yeah right) I would like to fit a quality set that won't degrade after five minutes. Standard sets are easy enough to come by but because of the placement of the coil I may need a different length centre lead. Does anybody know of a reliable supplier who could make me up a set of quality leads? regards Kevin

Hi, Thanks for that, I'll give them a ring on monday. Funny how the obvious things aren't always obvious to me! Kevin

HI, Has anybody out there got a spare RH nosecone badge that they could pass my way in return for a sensible payment? My car came with a lotus badge on it (bad form) stuck on with gaffa tape and I'd like to cover up the holes with the proper item. I suppose if the worst came to the worst I could make a replacement and get my wife to copy the artwork but it would be a lot easier to just pop the real thing on. Have a look in the darkest recesses of your sheds and garages and make an old man happy! Regards Kevin

Hi, Thanks for your offers, I would be happy for either of you to do the rewiring. Dan comes highly recommended and I know Malcolm so no worries on that front. Basically it just comes down to who can start and finish it quickest as then I can get it tuned up and use it as it is taxed and mot'd. Obviously logistically it would be easier to take it to Cambridge rather than Mansfield saving diesel money which could be better used on the car. It's down to both of you to decide when you can fit it in as I don't know your personal circumstances. I'll ask about the price later as it would be wrong to ask for quotes when basically you would be doing me a big favour. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to reply off-forum. Once again thanks Regards Kevin

Thanks guys, I will keep you in mind if nothing else closer comes up. I do have a flatbed trailer so getting it there would be easy enough. I suppose ideally it would be best to get it in to a garage rather than rely on another member even though I was paying so that I could just send it in and say get on with it as I know that we all have other projects we would rather get on with. It is fairly horrendous and I wouldn't want to inflict it on somebody who was trying to help me out. If Dan has a neat and tidy approach then he may just have a seizure if he saw the state of the wiring on this one. If I do get back to you I'll send you some photo's and then ask you again in case you have changed your mind. Regards Kevin

Hi, Does anybody know of anybody who would be able to strip the wiring out of my car and completely re-wire and how long would it take a competent sparky? I have had the car for about a year now and although it is road legal now it spends most of its time in the garage. The wiring has been tidied up and made safer to the best of my ability but every time I use it something else packs up so I am thinking that it will never be reliable with the loom as it is.The loom is made up of all sorts of different colour wires joined together with no logical sequence. It is impossible to trace anything without pulling it all out and if it is going to be pulled out then it might as well be replaced. This week the wipers, washer and fuel pump are not working. I found two blown fuses, one of which when replaced blows as soon as the ignition is switched on so yet again I am going nowhere. I do have a friend who would be capable of doing it but I doubt that he would have the time as I guess it would be a fairly invoved job. I won't say money is no object but the time has come to throw some cash at it so that I can use it. Can anybody recommend anyone before I start phoning around? I am in Cambridgeshire about halfway between Peterborough and Cambridge Regards Kevin

Hi, You are correct, the different caps will open up to allow different pressure release according to the strength of the spring. They will vary according to the type of engine you are using. Have a look in the haynes manual if you have one, I think it should be in the specifications. If not someone on here will let you know if you list what engine you are using. I think if I remember rightly they should be stamped with the psi on the top. You could probably find it by using the search facility on the forums or even just googling it! Regards Kevin

Hi, Currently trying to sort out my Redtop series 7 but with little success. Last time I took it for a short test run I just got it home when the bottom hose blew off spilling another load of expensive coolant in the garage. I have no idea how how hot it was as the temperature gauge wasn't working but would have thought if it was too hot then the rad cap should have blown first, maybe I just hadn't tightened the clip up enough? The radiator has been flushed so there is no blockage there, could there be an obstruction anywhere else? Thermostat not working? Ironically although I didn't notice the fan running when the hose blew off it is running all the time today even though the engine hasn't been started and there is still no water in it. Cleaned all the connectors up and it didn't make any difference. Think I may have found the problem with the temp gauge but now the wipers are not working. Please somebody cheer me up with some answers! Kevin

My wife has just downloaded a speedometer app to her smart phone as that has GPS so I will give that a go when I get chance. I am running the same size tyres as you but the diff is an unknown. I'll have a look underneath and see how it is triggered first though. Thanks for that, I should be able to work something out one way or another. No doubt I shall uncover a couple more bodges. Regards Kevin

Two problems with which I need help 1) As soon as I start the engine of my S7 redtop the temperature gauge starts to creep up and before I have even moved it out of the garage the needle is on the stop. It has a full set of revotec instruments which are newly installed as the speedo only has 900 odd miles on it. If you pull the wire off the sender it goes back down to zero in about 5 seconds. The sender is a brand new one and is the correct one for the gauge. I would have thought if it was an earth fault it would have shot up as quick as it goes down when you pull the wire off. Also I don't remeber it doing this the first time I got it running a couple of months ago. Could it be something we did when we were trying to sort the wiring out? 2) I took the car out just for a quick run of a couple of miles to show my daughter and took a look at the speedo when I was doing around 3500-4000 in 5th gear and was surprised to see that it was showing less than 40mph. I know your backside is on the ground and this can give a greater sense of speed but I would have said that I was doing at least 50mph and more likely 60mph judging from the wind buffeting me! If anyone has a set of calibration instructions for this speedo that they could pass my way in some form or other then I would be extremely grateful. I know that I could run down the road with my wife following in her tin top but would like to check it out in my garage this week while she is at work. Regards Kevin

The problem was adjustment of the balance bar between the two carbs but as usual there were two problems, the first being that the spindle nut on the rear carb (from the front of the car ) was loose allowing the linkage to wobble around making balancing the two impossible. Once this was tightened I got a good idle. Strange because you would have thought that if you put it back together and bothered to bend the locktab over then you would make sure it was tight. I know I haven't had it apart! Right of fto the electrics forum now to see if anyone can shed light on some other issues.

That sounds highly probable Bob. I'll have a look tomorrow as I think I still have one of those vacuum meters somewhere. The trouble is that this car has obviously been taken apart and then thrown back together in a hurry by somebody. But it does run reasonably well at larger throttle openings so I don't think it is far away. I just need to be able to run it for a few laps around town to sort out a couple of things before it goes to the rolling road i.e slight coolant leak and a temp gauge that reads max all the time.

Hi, Thanks guys, obvious really but I hadn't thought of that. The rolling road I am going to use is only about 4 or 5 miles away but I will trailer it for the reasons you have all pointed out, especially as the engine is of unknown origin. Typically with my luck I could have had a slot on the rolling road today but had to do the school run and go into school for a reading lesson with my four year old son. My wife has gone to Bosnia for a week for work and left me in charge, Interestingly for those of you are dithering about where to go on holiday, although it is a beautiful place the government advice is to not step on any grassy areas and verges outside of public parks as they may not have been cleared of landmines. I can't imagine taking my two there as they never go where they are told. When I get on the rolling road I will post the results, it may be of use to someone like me or help me find a new engine! Regards Kevin

Hi all, Yesterday after months of messing around with little and annoying jobs, most of which should have been done properly the first time by previous custodians of my S7 redtop, it was time for the mot. Naturally it failed to start, just firing up when the starter was engaged and then dying as soon as the button was released. Cue major panic, check plugs two dry, two wet! (Thats where the bell should have rung) Clean replace and try again.Nope. Check fuel thats ok, spark ok. Nothing. Should have said it has a pair of webers on it. Engaged services of mechanic from garage as it is now one hour to mot. He did the same as me but pulled the leads off the engine one by one and found very little was happening at the front carb at idle.although above idle it seemed to run ok. A couple of turns of something or other improved things enough to be able to get the car to the mot but he was the first to admit that he didn't know enough about them to want to do any more than that. Car ran rough until I got it on the road and gave it more throttle and then it was ok (well it seemed very fast with your bum on the ground). Amazingly it got an mot so that made up for the earlier stress! It was always my plan to take it to a local rolling road to get it properly tuned anyway but my question is should I trailer it there or would it be ok to drive?. I have a trailer so it wouldn't be a problem if there was a risk of damaging the engine. Please let me know what you think. Regards Kevin

Good luck with the DVLA. They are hopeless at Swansea, I had to surrender my license for medical reasons for a year. Although I was considered well enough by my GP, Hospital Consultant and a Fire Service doctor to return to active duty Swansea couldn't get their act together for another three months after the year was up. Yes you can fight fires, climb ladders and rescue cats from trees but you won't be getting to the Fire Station in a car! They just blamed it on a backlog of paperwork. On the other hand my local office (Peterborough) which I have used from time to time for registration issues couldn't have been more helpful and always replied to any letters within a few days. Shame they are all being closed down. Perhaps you should get some soap on a rope which you can keep around your wrist just in case. Kevin

I think you have come to the right conclusion! We bought a S2 Disco as spares or repairs with gearbox fault as it wouldnt change up. Turned out it was a stuck wastegate so a couple of squirts of WD40 sorted that out. Head gasket failed but then there were no more problems until just before we sold it when it developed an oil leak from the gearbox. We once used it to recover a six ton aircraft tug (on a private road) which it did no problem. If you are going to tow with it you will need an auto as there is no power until you have some revs on it (assuming you are thinking of the tdi) which makes starting off with a heavy load a pain, especially in traffic. Bit thirsty too but it will do what you want it to. We kept ours for two years and then sold it for £1000 more than we paid for it, that doesnt happen very often.

Hi, I have been trying to tidy up the wiring and pipework in the engine bay and finally decided to investigate the insulated tape wrapped muddle that goes to the oil catch tank and breather. The main pipe comes from the top of the rocker cover and goes straight to the tank but there is a smaller clear pipe that comes from the the cover near to the cambelt cover, presumably to vent the timing case. This was taped to the larger pipe and joined in to it near the tank with an aquarium pipe joiner, covered with a piece of larger split pipe and finally wrapped with half a roll of insulating tape. Quality! Would it be ok to join into the main pipe near to the cover with a piece of elbowed hose or is there a way to dispense with it altogether? Whatever I did would look better though! Regards Kevin

Hi everybody I have decided to replace the big end bolts on my redtop with ARP ones as most engine builders seem to think it a good idea. While I am doing that it makes sense to change the bearings as they are not too expensive and I have no idea of the history of the engine although it seems to run ok without any nasty noises. I'm not going to touch the mains as it seems that if any bearings do suffer its the big ends especially if the engine has a high mileage I know that there are two widths of bearings but would like to know if I would be able to see if they are standard size when I take the sump off, are they marked as standard or undersized? Also is there anything else that I should do while I have the sump off apart from making sure that there is no muck in it? Regards Kevin

What is it and where is it? I'm not far from peterborough and may be able to help if I can get the car off she who must be obeyed. Kevin