cb750

Ordered Westfield type off ebay (£16) arrived today, just the job! Needs adapter plate for my car but no problem.

I know its far from you but just had my rack rebuilt by JayGee of Bilston West Midlands as the end bearing was shot and the track rod spherical bearings were loose. 24 hour turn round and £24 +VAT. He may have the parts you need. Rob

Thanks for all the info, should be able to sort this now! Long boarder, did you have to make an adapter plate for this Westfield one as I think the fixing centres are narrower than the standard mount ones? Rob

Thanks for the replies, it looks like welding captive nuts on to the new mounts. RobinJ, I thought my top joints had male threads I will have to recheck tomorrow! Rob

Just got the engine and gearbox out of my 97 3A (thanks to my wife operating the hoist and undoing the correct bolts ) and found that I need a new gearbox mount. Question: Is this part a standard Sierra one as mine looks to have captive mounting nuts and the ones I have seen have only holes for nuts and bolts to mount it (difficult when its down a tunnel). Any idea of a Part Number? Also I need 2 top ball joints for the suspension, I believe they are Transit joints but what are they? Again any idea of a Part Number? Looked at the forum FAQs but can't find an answer!! Rob

The clips that go in those holes hold the HT leads up out of the way Rob

You need to input the calibration number on the speedo. On the fitting sheet that I have it says: Calculating The Calibration Number You need to know the number of times your wheels revolve per mile (or kilometre). Stand the vehicle on a flat surface and mark the tyre at the closest point to the ground, mark the ground at the same point. Move the vehicle forward by one complete wheel revolution and measure the distance travelled. Wheel revs per mile = 63360 divided by the distance travelled in inches. Wheel revs per km. = 1000 divided by the distance travelled in metres. To Calculate the Calibration Number (pulses per mile/km) - For magnetic sensors, magnets or bolt heads moving past the sensor (eg. prop shaft mounting). • Calibration number = (wheel revs per mile/km) x (diff ratio) x (number of magnets or bolts). The instructions for inputting the Calibration Number are on the CA website as Snapperpaul says. If you ring them and speak to their technical guy he is very helpful. Whoops!! 2 more replies have been added before I posted this - hope I haven't repeated what they have said!

Thanks for the suggestion Bob,

RobinJ, Need to change the pedals as they are twisted! Badly fitted when first assembled. I was looking at changing the servo/cylinder set up as I don't know what the cylinder is from and I was going to overhaul it for the rebuild. Good idea about cutting and threading the servo shaft - never thought about that, anyone know if the shaft unscrews from the servo as I can put it in my lathe to alter it? Florin, I'll have a think about that conversion as it will give me more space near the pinto exhaust manifold, just told my wife and she says Mmmmmm? (Whatever that means!!) What cylinder pushrod did you use? Thanks Rob

Thanks Mark, that was quick! Do you know if the master cylinder is off an escort as well?

Brake servo and cylinder. Another problem found during this 3A rebuild! Just started on strengthening the pedal box area and found that the servo and master cylinder appear to be the wrong ones! The servo has a large clevis on the end and not the Sierra type push rod (previous owner had drilled the brake pedal and put a nut and bolt through it to hook it up). The master cylinder is a 4 port type and not the 2 port that I expected, its also marked 25 (I think the Sierra is 22mm?). Part number on the servo is 91AB-2B 195-HA. The local Ford dealer is very helpful and tried a search to see what it is but their system does not recognise the number as he thinks its probably obsolete. Only drove the car a short distance before stripping it down to rebuild it so didn't really try the brakes out much. I don't want to drill the new pedal box that I have got so: If I refit the servo can the pushrod be changed to the Sierra type? I need a servo for when my wife drives the car. Is the larger master cylinder OK to use (don't know what will happen if I need a seal kit though). Also I was thinking of fitting a proportioning valve to the rear brake line but don't think I can with a dual line setup. Can anyone identify what I have got or any ideas ? Rob

Thanks for the replies! That's something I've learned about Pinto water pumps. Had another look and I think things are still going to be tight for clearance. The rad is a new Radtec universal (Polo type) alloy rad with new Spal slimline fan bought at a very low price as the owner didn't want it. The rad on its own is 60mm thick including the mountings then you have to add on the fan thickness. I spent part of the day removing the nosecone and found the rad will drop straight in with no clearance problems. The radtec has the inlet and outlet pipes on the left. Top hose passes over the front "beam" and the bottom hose will go through what I think is the hole where a left hand steering version column would pass (remember its a 3A). So, "just" have to make 2 good brackets and some gap filler plates (to force the air through the rad and I think every thing will be fine. Only problem left is telling the wife she won't be able to see the nice shiny radiator that she likes so much!

Anybody shortened the the Pinto waterpump shaft back to the pulley face (it sticks out proud when you remove the standard fan) - if so, how? Trying to fit an upgraded alloy radiator and I need to get a bit more clearance between the radiator electric fan and the water pump. Alternative is to fit the radiator in the nosecone area (RH 3A) are there problems in doing this? Rad has no filler so no problem there.

The adverts I have seen have a title such as "Breaking MX5 - most parts available". Start the listing at 99p. In the listing make it clear that the bidding or buy it now is for A WHEEL NUT ONLY and to contact you for other parts. You could say what is NOT available in the listing. Have a search of ebay and you will see what I mean. There are Sierra ones on there at the moment to give you an idea.

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to take the nosecone off either today or tomorrow to get at the front suspension and wiring so will see what the coil adjustment looks like. I think spacers will fix the engine position. I have a feeling that the coils (120lb) are wound right down as the TCAs are pointing upwards at the wheel end and give the impression that the suspension has sagged. Must remember to check the camber and everything else afterwards!

Dave R, thanks for the offer but my 3A is quite tight along the sides of the engine so I think for the moment that I will stick with the alloy sump, raise the engine and also take the nosecone off and check the suspension settings. Then I might have to PM you! Mr_Ftrosty - 2" ground clearance!!! that would scare me!!! I think I should be able to get about 4 " clearance fairly easily and judging from your experiences I should then be OK (I hope). Thanks for the link.

Hi Paul, what ride height are you running at the front? Where do you bolt the sump guard? I was thinking of putting a rectangular box section between the tie bar mounting points under the body to strengthen their locations (I think you have done this), do you think that would be strong enogh to support the front part of the sump guard? Rob

Robin Hood 3A. What ground clearance are people running with under the Pinto sump and what body ride heights? I've bit the bullet and what started as "just a new interior and do something with the suspension" has turned into a full rebuild and I mean full! Before I strip the engine and gearbox out (2l pinto) I have measured the clearance from the sump to the floor and find its only 3 inches (75mm), this is no good round here with all the speed bumps. The sump is the alloy type and its bottom is more or less in line with the gearbox. The body ride height is 5 3/4" (145mm) near the tiebar/rollbar mounting position and 7" (180mm) at the rear beam point (this gives 4 1/2" clearance at the rear under the Sierra beam which I think will go over most of our speed bumps). The engine slopes down to allow the filler cap to clear the bonnet. I will move the filler point to the rear of the cam cover which will allow me to raise the engine about 20mm, this will cause me a problem with the carb to bonnet clearance but that can be sorted (bike carbs here I come!) . Rob

Has anyone have a Mk1 Sierra steering column cowl (cover) in good condition that they don't want? This is for the switches that have the horn push on the end of the multifunction switch and also has the square section hazard button. Rob

Could you change the valve to a manual adjustment brake bias proportioning valve? You could then adjust it to suit the brakes as they bed in Rob

Good luck with your rebuild Rob. I will be starting my 3A rebuild shortly (well, when my wife has finished giving me more redecorating jobs!). Rear end first, then the front. redo the dashboard in between those. Mine has similar problems to yours at the rear including the seat mounting.

Thanks Paul, off on holiday now. Will PM you when I get back about the extended shaft with bearing if that's OK. Rob

Series 3A. I know the steering column is Sierra but what model is the steering rack that Robin Hood supplied? Also what model are the track control arms - are these Sierra? The shaft that connects the column and rack is one that looks like it was supplied from Robin Hood, this has a threaded portion in the middle for initial adjustment and has been welded to fix the length. Although this has lasted I don't like the idea of it and am going to replace it. It looks like the lower joint at the rack end is the fibre disc type, do you normally replace this with the universal joint type? Rob

Thanks for the welcome. Paul I have PM'd you.