colinmoore

I must agree with Bob on this, the steering lock on my 2B is fairly pathetic, with stops fitted to prevent headlamp cycle wing contact. I have the wider wings fitted (to please IVA man) now past this stage, it might be an idea to look into fitting the narrow wings and possibly moving them outwards to give more lock. I have had the embarrassment of doing three point turns on hairpin bends!

Yes I'm now carrying a spare clutch cable, along with bulbs, fuses etc. Does anyone have any other useful items to carry, baring in mind the small boot space?

I was out putting a few miles on my recently legal 2B, and on the way home from Chatsworth, a distance of less than twenty miles, when the dreaded clutch foot hit the floor with a bang. Yes the clutch cable had failed, I managed to limp a few miles doing clutch less gear changes, but decided to give up after reaching roadworks with traffic lights. If I had had a spare cable with me , it would have been possible to repair at the roadside ( with a log etc alongside the jack). However after insuring with Adrian Flux, I had luckily been talked into taking out breakdown cover, so decided to get a ride home via them. A wait of just over an hour saw a Knight in shinning Armour from Roadrunners recovery turn up for the relay home. Not only was this guy quite entertaining, he also helped me re-arrange my cars on the drive, and helped me push the Hood into the garage. On checking the broken cable (only done 700 miles), I found that it was one designed for the Cortina, and of dubious quality. I have now replaced with the longer 2WD cosworth one routed around the maniold, to avoid the heat. Just to say that the Break down cover was a good investment at £35, as the recovery would have cost around £100.

+1 for Bike carbs, I fitted a set of R1's on a home brewed manifold to my mildly tuned 2.0 ltr Pinto (injection head, accuspark ignition, FR32 cam) and found it was much more driveable, and easy to set up, after reading the Bogg brothers advice. Fuel consuption is better than the 32/36 DGAV, and you don't get that hiccup as the second choke opens up. I don't know if somebody had messed with the original weber, but it was only returning about 23 MPG.

As my mentor said during my apprenticeship days, "The guy that never made a mistake never made anything"

Yes, transported my type 9 gearbox home from where I bought it from. Unfortunately the seller hadn't drained it, and it leaked into the boot of my car, I could smell it for months after, even after many attempts to clean it.

If it's a Facet type it will just tick away all the time, mine gets quieter the longer it runs.

Getting back to the original thread, we all make a choice in why we choose to own a RH, rather than, say a Caterham, or a Westie, I'm sure they all have their advantages and disadvantages. For me it was a retirement project I wanted, and as a former engineer I needed a challenge, and after reading about the HR notorious kit quality, plus it's relative low cost, and the fact that I had never even ridden in a 7 style car before, I decided to take on the challenge and build one, rather than spending a weekend putting together a Caterham, not knowing if I would even like driving one. I found a part built kit on ebay, the only thing done on it was the fitting of the floor panel. It came with rear Cossie axle plus, front hubs, that was about it. As SWMBO didn't want a scrapper Sierra on the drive I sourced engine, gearbox steering etc, from other sources. This project gave me nearly two years of enjoyment, and of course it will never be finished, as mods are still creaping in. The sense of satisfaction when handed the MAC after the IVA, was worth the expense alone, and yes the driving certainly puts a smile on my face. It's not the fastest of vehicles, and is heavy for a seven style car, so what! I have a beemer that will top 140 (evidently), and if I wanted a drag race I could sit astride my Honda to be quick off the mark. After all, unless we take to the track or go abroad we are all limited to 70 MPH, aren't we?

Fit mini edging to be safe on this point. I did this at Southampton in November, which passed. Tester said that this was a grey area, which he would have passed without. Better to spend a couple of pounds, than to fail on a trivial point like this.

I had similar problems when fitting mine over the winter period. One important measurement is the 66" from the top of the screen, to the rear panel top edge! After getting this correct, it's a matter of getting the poppers around the screen, and rear end, transferring these measurements to to the hood, and fitting female poppers. Then you can struggle with the positioning of the two hoops. I found on the 2B that the smaller hinged bar tangles around the roll bar, so I can understand why some leave this bar out. I then made brackets which attach to the rear side tubes, above the rear wings, which enable me to remove the support tubes, when not in use. A strap around the roll over bar, and the hood support tubes then allows you to tension the hood after fitting. I'm just waiting for some warm weather so that I can stretch the creases from my hood so that it fits more tautly.

Yes I used these type of seats in my 2B, they just fit with hand wheels removed. Nice and comfortable.

Thanks for the article Bob, it seems I might need to Soften the rear, also lower tyre pressures.

I'm running rear tyre pressure at 20 PSI, with dampers set 5 clicks up from softest all round. Front tyre pressure at 18 PSI. Springs were supplied by Dampertech, I accepted their guidance with spring rates, as they have previous experience with this model.

Hi guys, I've just started using my 2B Wishbone,after completing the build, and wondering how you run your rear suspension. I have set ride heights as standard 7" rear 6" front, and am using Gaz coil overs. I have set dampers at 5 clicks from softest setting. My question regards pot holes! The front end seems to handle them really well, but the rears tends to skip after contacting irregularities in the road surface. I have decambered the wishbones with wedges, but have not altered the toe setting. I will play with damper settings, and stiffen them up to start with. Any advise on toe settings?

Hi, Iv'e been through the IVA in the last month. My 2B is fitted with discs front and rear, so I fitted the deceleration valve (15 degree angle). It was roller tested, and then taken outside for a skid test, (emergency stop from 25 MPH) to make sure that the front brakes lock before the rears. This passed OK, (second attempt). I understand from previous threads that rear drum brakes usually pass without this deceleration valve.

Thanks for the advice, I can get it right first time now.

I am keen to use my newly built toy during the winter time, and have some wet weather gear to fit. My question is, should I use press studs around the screen or turn buttons, as I have been advised that press studs tend to pop undone at speed. Any advise please.

Keep the story coming, I need some inspiration over the winter months!

Just been through the IVA with discs front & rear, with the deceleration valve fitted. The standard roller test was carried out , plus a skid test, which meant driving at around 20 MPH, and carrying out an emergency stop. With the examiner watching to make sure that the front brakes lock before the rears. I set the valve angle to 15 degrees above horizontal.

Thanks for the deceleration valve info Peter, I set the angle to 15 degrees, no problems.

The title says it all, after last months disappointment, it was nice to come away with that all important piece of paper. As the test center is 80 miles away I used a transporter to get the car there, as too far for the first shake down. Andy the examiner quickly went through the basic failures, Headlight lens pattern not vertical, side repeater lamps moved from bonnet side to cycle mudguards, speedo reading too fast, was out of limits, now OK. Then came the main original problem, braking efficiency too low, I had originally used a classic mini rear brake pressure limiting valve for my rear disc brakes, and they limited brake pressure too much, also the handbrake was not sufficient enough to act as a secondary brake. Armed with this, I fitted new calipers from Biggred, along with good quality pads, and a Sierra deceleration valve for my second try. Those of you that have experienced it will know how involved the brake test is compared to a simple MOT. As I watched the figures obtained on the brake gauges, I was confident that they were much better than the first attempt, but Andy was giving nothing away, and said he would have to pass the figures though the computer to give a final result, after I had carried out a skid test outside. This worked fine with the front brakes locking before the rears, so it was back to the workshop to wait for the computer to crunch the numbers. After about ten minuets the result I was waiting for arrived, it had passed. The hand over of the IAC was a little under whelming, I think a scroll with red ribbon would have been more appropriate after all the work that had gone to obtain it. Anyway this piece of paper, along with the registration documents etc is winging it's way to DVLA, for them to kick around for several weeks if i'm lucky, longer if i'm not. In the meantime I can make the alterations, i.e. new steering wheel, fit the spare wheel,etc, just to keep my hand in. Just like to thank all who have posted on this forum, it has been a valuable source of info, and answers to questions were often found, just by reading others problems.

Sorry about the misleading reference of 18 degrees advance at idle, this includes vac advance, which will drop away under load. I am trialing the accuspark dizzy with stealth black box, and am able to plot an accurate advance curve, to give an accurate 38 degrees max advance, and not rely on bob weights. As the car has not yet passed the IVA test (retest booked for next week) I have had no chance to put many miles on it. The few miles I have done, shows the engine runs fine and pulls really well.

Hi, I'm running a FR32 cam and find I need around 18 deg advance to get a reasonable tick-over, and around 38 degrees max above 3500 RPM. I understand a standard cam runs about 10 - 12 degrees static advance.

Hi if you are using a mini wiper motor the parking switch might have failed , i.e the contacts welded together. This has happened to me, replacement switches are available.

Thanks for that John, yes I will have to do something similar. I understand you had trouble with seat belt mounts, this must have been transmitted via jungle drums as mine were carefully inspected, but it was decided that because of the seats I was using, it would be OK. On the subject of the sierra deceleration valve, I pointed out that it would not work on the test rollers, but was told it would be checked on a skid test on the road, as it was on the day. I now doubt that the rears will lock before the fronts, and will have to follow the advice given. I had originally bought an adjustable bias valve as an ideal solution to this problem, but of course on reading the advice notes, found this was not allowed. I have found a cheap solution to the speedo problem, on testing the capri and sierra speedo's with my 2 speed drill I found they gave the same readings, being 30, and 100 MPH. This means the anomalies lie within the drive train, and wheel size. However the capri clock reads to 140 MPH and the sierra 130 MPH for the same swept area. By using the sierra face on the capri speedo it means I have reduced the error by 10 MPH at full tilt, and nearly 6 MPH at 70MPH. This hopefully will mean that at an indicated 70 MPH, the true speed will be around 62, which is well within the limits. The sierra dial is slightly smaller than the capri one, but still fills the viewing window. The error was proportional, meaning it was still evident at lower speeds, but was within limits. I have located a deceleration valve at a scrappies, which I hope is the correct type (were they changed on later models?) and is on it's way to me.