Grim

32/36 on a standard pinto has to be the best option, you wont benefit from increased size of carbs unless tuned. Tractability and fuel consumption will suffer for no gain. If there's a problem with your carb, fix that first.

I think it's a sigma with vvt actuators on both camshafts, not entirely sure until the weekend when my brother brings the car over. The inlet cam sensor have been changed and swapped to exhaust, same issue. Will check wire runs and cambelt when i get it (belt will need to be changed sooner or later). I've done some furious googling, and have noticed that there are some very fine filters on the vvt control solenoids, which i can remove easily to clean if needs be.

Hi all, I've been given a car by my brother. Apart from needing a set of tyres and a driveshaft, it also has an engine problem. Symptoms are that it is down on power and reports a cam shaft position sensor fault. Also on startup, it makes a clattering noise, similar to a dodgy hydraulic lifter. Cam sensor has been changed with no effect. Reading around the subject, it does appear to be a variable valve timing issue. I've seen reports suggesting the cause of the problem is a blocked oil filter within the cylinder head which cannot be changed, but i don't know if this is true for my case. Whilst driving it until it explodes is a valid option, i'd rather fix it if possible. Does anyone have any experience of this engine, or even a spare engine/head? Can the vvt system be replaced? Andy

The south yorksish meet for August will be at: Red Lion Inn, Todwick, South Yorkshire Usual time of 7:30 on weds the 5th Andy

is this the original old smiths voltage stabiliser? if so, they are a little crude. It's based on a bimetallic strip, which is heated and cuts power momentarily, to give an average of 10v over time, eg 5 seconds of 12v and 1 second of 0v. This works fine with the standard smiths gauges as they are that slow to react, it doesn't bother them. Personally i got a 10v transistor based voltage regulator off ebay for £8 and used that instead.

Did you try my suggestion of lubrication the caliper piston seals?

Common grades of stainless steel are structurally uniform (with the exception of titanium or niobium stabilised grades, such as 316Ti which these chassis are not made of). Sometimes it is possible to adversely affect stainless steel by heating between 450 to 800°C to form carbon-chromium intermetallics (C6Cr23 amongst others), but that's a greater corrosion problem than a machining problem. The reason many people have problems drilling stainless is that the rate of work hardening of austenitic stainless steel is very high, i.e. it gets stronger/harder when you deform it, so bent tube sections are going to be more difficult to drill. In addition to this, the area under your drill bit gets work hardened, so ideally you need to drill a hole in 1 attempt, rather than lifting off and reapplying pressure. The lower the speed the better, 50 - 200rpm approx. Always use lube.

I was up there on sunday in clare's focus, saw an orange zero about 5pm. I may have used the average speed function to have as much fun as possible

it's a bit of a right of passage, busting your sump. Welcome to the club! I recommend you fix your steel sump with a 3mm steel baseplate, for a bit of strength and wear resistance Andy

regardless of any other issues, i'd always recommend people check their breather setup. Either remove the contents of the PCV valve and vent to a tank or atmosphere, or fit a new / cleaned pcv and feet to inlet as originally intended

you must be a skilled with a brush!

Differing paint thickness could cause the wheel not to sit straight and cause vibrations

clamp your hoses so you can be sure it's a m/c problem. I had a problem with the pistons in some new calipers sticking to the seals, meaning that the pistons retracted too far and gave a very long pedal. To diagnose, slip a little brake fluid under the dust boot around the outer side of the piston, and try again. If that's your problem, that probably wont fix it forever, the pistons really want removing and re-lubricating.

I've used stuff similar to hammerite before, and it worked ok

wow, impressive! Any clues as to what caused it? stuck caliper sliders giving a side-load on the disc?

personally, going from 10w40 to 20w50 made a significant difference to noise. Valve clearances are always worth re-checking, they are fickle things to adjust on pintos.

Sounds like a good idea. Is it that chap in telford? Lots of positive reviews on locostbuilders.

Interesting noise. What do the sparks do when your fuel cuts off? Do they cut off too? At what conditions is your map set to cut fuel? Perhaps you're not getting into those regions and the timing is too retarded.

I'm not a mapping expert, but why do you have fuel on overrun? why not cut it? many/most stock efi setups cut fuel on overrun, including my own standard pinto efi system (cuts at 0% throttle above 1700rpm, comes back in about 1200rpm). My main concerns with a bolt in baffle would be that they tend to be excessively restrictive, and it would mess up your existing mapping. I'm assuming the cost of a remap would go a long way towards new silencers.

I'm a fan of the duratec, though i don't think i'll get around to fitting one. A few minor points: It's a ford/mazda engine introduced in 2001 (zetec was '94ish?). Stock 2.0 engine produce 150ish bhp, but can release up to 200 with fuelling/exhaust. The ST170 is a zetec with a fancy head, and like you say, wont release any more power (without aftermarket non-vvt cams)

it could be crap between the disc and hub, make sure it's perfectly clean, not even paint!

I find if i am doing a lot of pootling and using engine braking rather than the pedal, that the mintex 1144 tend to glaze over a bit. Takes a fair bit of heavy stopping to return them to normal. I've stopped coasting down to roundabouts and use the brakes only, to use them a bit more.

not without a photo or other identifying marks

The south yorksish meet for July will be at: Red Lion Inn, Todwick, South Yorkshire Usual time of 7:30 on weds the 1st. Andy

Not according to the gas safety course i was on last month!