peter_m7uk

Hi Steve, Thanks for the suggestion, but my friend actually has a diff, driveshafts, hubs and brakes from a rear disc Sierra, but he doesn't have any trailing arms. So he wants to know if he can use my rear drum Sierra trailing arms with his rear disc mechanicals? Cheers, Pete

Furthermore, in their 2004 brochure, there is a page containing the words "..specialised torsional rigidity rigs and simulated impact devices will help us to perfect the Lightweight...". See pic below.

Why not point out to RHSC that they show a picture of a torsional rigidity jig in their latest brochure (see pic). On the facing page are the words "At Robin Hood Sports Cars we are constantly assessing and measuring out products, we have in-house torsional rigidity testing equipment and so far these tests have exceeded our expectations". Why not at least let the SVA people see those results?!! Pete

Just to be awkward, anyone know the peak torque figures for the Pinto engine family?? Pete

Hello Chaps, just a quick question. I have a friend who wants to take my old Sierra trailing arms, originally fitted with drum brakes, and use them with disc brake hubs. Anyone know if this is a straight swap, or would there be a big mod to do? Maybe they're totally incompatible? Cheers, Pete

Hi John, If you look at Trevor's seatbelt mounting you will see that he has placed significant reinforcement around the relevant area. I will do the same and I would imagine that other LW builders will. As for seat mounting, RH supply some meaty steel angle with the LW kit to strengthen the floor up and slot the seat bolts through. Why not drive 10 miles in your 2B to my garage in Southwick and we can compare cars?? Pete

Well, Trevor's site is the best, although my site has pics but needs a bit of updating. Maybe you'll get the gist from there? I can understand why Trev doesn't want to meet the Southampton tester's criteria, though, as it may end up spoiling the beauty of the existing construction, which is up to the job anyway, in my opinion. As stated, anyone who wants to look at the chassis is welcome to have a look in my garage near Brighton. Pete

Managed to find that Lightweight ad claiming to be SVA Approved. It was in December 2005 Kit Car magazine and also appeared in Which Kit and Totalkitcar around the same time and during other months. Perhaps Trevor would like to e-mail that to RH and see their response?! Pete

Just spoke to the RH technical helpline about all this... His feeling was that the problem lies with this one tester in Southampton. Apparently, the Nottingham centre are completely happy with the design and would only fail it on the usual builder mistakes rather than the chassis. I was also told that cars had passed government tests in Holland and Germany. The German one by the TuV is particularly stringent, so maybe it is the one guy...?? Admittedly, within Britain, the only tests have been taken at Nottingham and Southampton, so to be on the safe side everyone will end up at Nottingham! Not the most convenient situation, but at least there is a fall back position. I also asked about Richard Stewart's strength tests and was told that there is some paperwork on this but the guy on the phone said he didn't know where it is! He also said it was on torsional rigidity, which doesn't prove an awful lot. Having said that, last year RS himself told me that they'd tried ripping out the wishbones and it took a lot of force to do so. As I said in my earlier post, I'm personally happy with the LW design and I think it seems strong enough for the forces acting on a 600kg car. Anyone in the Brighton vicinity is welcome to come and have a look in my garage and decide for themselves. Good luck to Trevor with his re-application and hopefully I'll follow him to Nottingham sometime next year! Pete

As a Lightweight builder, I am following all of this with great concern/interest. The points that came to my mind have all been made already, but just to add to the point about RH adverts for the Lightweight, I have lots of back issues of the kit car mags and I'm sure I remember an "SVA friendly" tag on there... I'll find it tonight and post on here. If this is the case, then RH are breaching some advertising regulations, although their argument would be that they've passed at Nottingham so their claim was made in good faith. Hopefully they'll take some fast and positive action, but if not I think Steve Hole, Peter Filby and all the other kit mag journos should get to know about this. For the sake of potential customers, we can't have any more sales of the Lightweight until this is resolved. I would hate to get RH into trouble as a company, but I'm feeling pretty perturbed about what's sitting in my garage now. I've reached the stage of finishing the chassis and will soon attach the donor components - What I'm thinking is "Do I go ahead and risk an SVA fail next year or use a completely different chassis?" Not the position I wanted to be in Having said all of this, I believe that the LW is a sound design and I think that the tester has overreacted when faced with an apparently "chassisless" design. The overalling boxing and bracing within the chassis provide a lot of torsional and bending resistance in my opinion. I would agree that in a side impact, the protection offered is not much, but motorbikes are allowed on the road and other kit cars are not exactly Euro NCAP standard! We really need to get RH to make their chassis test figures public.. The more they delay, the more sceptical the public will become and the less chance we have of convincing VOSA of the design's validity. Pete

Col, check this: Pinto ID, if you want to tell whether your engine is unleaded. Pete

Looks a bit like a Stub Axle Adaptor, if you follow that link.. Pete

Morning Chaps, I'm thinking of getting Intatrim Odyssey, Voyager or Ranger seats for my Lightweight. My questions are 1) Are there any better value narrow seats than these on the market? and 2) Will they bolt straight to the floor without the need for an adjustable subframe? I was given some lengths of steel angle with the kit, which I believe go under the chassis floor to spread the load when seat bolts pass through them. I'm going to use that, but I'm concerned about sitting too high if I have a subframe. Any tips appreciated Pete PS Which ones are most comfortable? I'm 6 feet tall, 13 stone and 40" chest. Just a bit worried that these narrow seats may be a bit too snug!

Hi Nishka, Starts ok, but runs like a dog at low speeds and idling. There is no MAF sensor on my car, as it's manifold pressure based control of the fuelling. Tried taking the MAP sensor out and cleaning it, also the throttle body, but no improvement. Peter

I don't expect too many VW experts on this board, but thought I'd give it a try as my daily driver is playing up and I don't want to give Mr Garage a blank cheque The yellow Check Engine light is on and I've used a scan tool to find that either there is a problem with the manifold temp/pressure sensor or there is an inlet manifold leak. My first thought was "Just buy a replacement sensor", until I found out that it costs £138!!! It's just a tiny crappy thing with three electrical pins! So, before splashing out, I want to rule out the manifold leak and also ask if anyone has had a similar problem. I've taken the inlet manifold off and examined the connecting hoses and can't find anything with a visual check, so any good ideas on how else I can locate any possible leaks??? Cheers, Pete

Thanks a lot, Dan I did search the forum for info, but didn't find that bit, honest!!! Cheers, Pete

I think the problem is that you've never been to watch Newcastle play. That is the route to nirvana! Or more realistically, to being *bleep* off that they've thrown it all away for the 10000000000th time Pete

Looking at the alloys from my Ghia donor, they have 5 1/2J x 14 FHE41 printed on them. So that's 14" diameter and 5 1/2" rim width, but what about the three letters and number on the end?? Is it 41mm offset, as I'd read that the sierra is 35 to 38 offset? No idea what FHE means! Pete

Another one here on the South Coast. Really looking forward to the other guys getting on the road and reporting back to us on the Lightweight "experience" Pete

Same here

Sorry to go all leccy techie, but you actually gained resistance by going from the 21W to the 10W - They use less power,P, because the resistance,R, is greater! The equation is: R=V^2 ----- P So the old bulbs were 144/21=6.86Ohms and the new ones are 144/10=14.4Ohms. A 13.1Ohm resistor *in parallel* with the bulb would produce a circuit of the same resistance, so you could try that out of interest! Pete

I think the title says it all really! The alternator I took from my donor is pretty manky and has done 100,000 miles, so I was thinking of getting another. I don't really know the value of such things, so I was wondering what would be a reasonable price to pay for either a new or reconditioned unit to fit the standard Pinto alternator bracketry? Cheers, Pete

Paid £40 for my unleaded head after cracking the original :gdit: Pete

I haven't measured it, but I would imagine that 18in is too much :boohoo: Same goes for the seats Seriously though, there is 21in on each side from the middle of the tunnel to the outside of the chassis. The folded over rails are about 2-3in wide, then the tunnel will add another several inches, so I think some seriously narrow seating is in order.... Pete

Having mounted my Lighweight diff as suggested by Robin Hood (plus bonding agent), I can tell you that the rear section of the car is extremely stiff when the boxed-in diff compartment is created. It feels absolutely solid and I'm much less concerned about it now than I was upon first seeing the DVDs. I also bonded the washers onto the ali at the mounting points, so there is now effectively a 5mm thickness of steel and aluminium at each of the 6 mounting points. Also, the bottom of the diff where the long bar slots through is held hard against one of the box sections, providing further torque resistance. Admittedly, I wouldn't want to power a colossal V8 through that design, but I'm now very confident that the design is capable of withstanding whatever my Pinto can throw at it! Anyone else who has reached this stage on their Lightweight care to comment?? Pete