peter_m7uk

Hi, The pedal box on my Lightweight takes a master cylinder with 57mm between the mounting holes (which are aligned vertically). To pass the IVA, you need a dual circuit braking system, so I would have thought this would be straightforward to find... But no, all the MCs I can find with the correct mounting holes have a single outlet. All the dual circuit MCs I can find have wide-spaced mounting holes or they are horizontally aligned! I looked at CBS and Burton, in case anyone suggests them, and I had a look on eBay. Where do I get one?!! Cheers, Pete

Hi, Now that my engine is up and running, I decided to play with the fault code reader to check that there is nothing wrong. I bought a Draper 5 pin fault code reader and tried it last night with ignition on, but didn't run the engine. I keyed the ignition on with the reader in the O position and the red LED came on. I then flicked the switch to the - position, which turned the LED off for a couple of seconds, before it came on and stayed on. It didn't flash or give me any information, just a solid red light. If I moved the throttle valve, the light turned off, but that was the only response I could get. Anyone else got experience with this and know what I'm doing wrong? I should add that the wiring isn't complete generally. I only connected up just enough to make the engine run and that was all. The ECU originally had connections to fault modules and other gubbins in the Sierra, but I got rid of that stuff. Also, I read here that the handbrake should be on. I don't have a handbrake installed yet and the wires are loose, so perhaps I should sort that. Any ideas? Ta, Pete

Thanks, guys. The timing was 4 or 5 degrees retarded when I checked it with a strobe. Adjusted it and running great now without glowing pipework

Hi, My Pinto is now running, but I noticed that the headers were glowing red after I ran it for a few minutes. I only set the spark timing roughly by lining up marks on the dizzy and crankshaft pulley, so wondered if it could be timing related? I should get a strobe and check this anyway at some point, but could this be the cause? Would it be advance or retard that would cause this and why? I thought it could be either, but would like the benefit of Hoody experience. Cheers, Pete

Hi Lightweighters, Great milestone yesterday, my engine ran!!! It last ran in early 2005 and I have since had it *completely* in bits, changed seals/bearings/core plugs, had a rebore, new pistons and rings, new camshaft/followers/springs. Basically, a major refurb. Also, this is the first time I've ever stripped and rebuilt an engine, so I'm well chuffed to get it all back together Fired first time as well Remaining jobs are: Front brakes and master cylinder, pedals, steering, remainder of wiring, wheel arches and nose cone. May have left something out, but it's actually starting to feel like I can finish it! Cheers, Pete

Hi all, Filled her up with coolant again tonight, the moment of truth! Glad to say everything is dry The trick of flattening the housing face with sandpaper on a mirror worked a treat, in combination with a bit of red sealant. Coolant pump also sealed well after rubbing the block face a little and using the mega gasket. Thanks a lot! Pete PS Hope it's all good when the system is up to pressure, but think it should be sorted...

Thanks all, seems like you agree, then!! I'm still bemused at how this happens. How can a housing that mated before suddenly stop mating? Weird! I also had a problem with my coolant pump seal, but that was a brand new pump and the block face was very clean, so I bought an expensive Cometic gasket. Haven't filled the engine up again to try it, but fingers crossed! If that doesn't seal, I don't know what to do!! Pete

Had a problem with a leaky thermostat housing on my Pinto, so took it off to have a look at the mating surfaces. I cleaned up the surface on the head, which was a bit pitted, but not too bad, then found that the seal still wasn't much good. I finally looked at the housing itself, although I thought it must be fine, as it was clean and had previously sealed onto that head.... The bloody thing is nowhere near flat!! I can't understand what has happened, but if I put it on any flat surface, it rocks about! So I'm considering my options. Can't seem to find a brand new one on the net, apart from Burtonpower. They want £27.50! Anyone know where I can get a new one cheaper? I also wondered if I could get the face machined flat - Anyone tried that?? Cheers, Pete

Hi, I would back up the other Lightweighters in saying that the car is fundamentally sound with a few mods. However, I'd probably pay less than £1250 for the kit and you'd better have some experience in this sort of thing, as it's a fair old job and the Lightweight isn't supported that well by GBS. They'll have a go, but be prepared to find your own solutions. For example, I had a custom exhaust made after GBS couldn't supply. The coilovers are GAZ ones with a mod I asked for from GAZ. The fuel tank and mounting is to my own design. I'm not at the IVA stage yet, but I'm confident that the car is good. But if you go ahead, *for God's sake* strengthen the diff mounting !!! Cheers, Pete

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll let you know how I get on Pete

Hi All, The engine start on my Lightweight is approaching, but I've had a bit of a setback. Filled the coolant system yesterday and everything looked fine. After a few minutes, I looked down and saw green liquid coming from under the car I have tiny leaks at the bottom of both the thermostat housing and the coolant pump! Looking on the bright side, the intake manifold and the core plugs look fine, but this is a bit of a downer. I tried tightening up the retaining bolts, which helped but didn't stop the problem... My plan is to remove the offending fittings, stick some wet and dry on a sanding block and attempt to rub the mounting surface as flat as I can get it. Then I'm going to get some new gaskets, stick a bit of sealant on them and crank the bolts up hard. Anyone got any tips that would help? Is it possible to get high quality gaskets which will seal better than the bits of card which are normally supplied? Which sealant would people recommend? And would it do any harm to get higher rated bolts (10.9) and really torque them up? Cheers, Pete

Hiya Dave, Thanks for the reply. Sounds good to me and removes a job from the list How is your build going, by the way? Have you made the chassis mods based on your analysis? I would be interested to see any pics you've got I'm wiring at the moment (as you may have guessed), then hope to fire up the Pinto sometime soon!! The clocks go back this weekend in Britain, so it's time for yet another long slog through the winter months. I reckon 2010 could be The Year, though, there's not *that* much left for me to do..... Cheers, Pete

Hi All, Not a lot of activity here for a while! I just wanted to ask what you'd all done for earthing the Lightweight chassis? Using a multimeter, I can do a continuity check on panels and box sections all over the chassis and they all seem to be electrically connected. I have, however, used a sealant between all panels to add strength and watertightness. So, the panels should be insulated from one another apart from through the various bolts and rivets. Anyone think this is sufficient basis for making the chassis one big earthing point, or did those with fully functioning electrics decide that extra earthing straps were needed between panels?? Cheers, Pete

Thanks Chaps, I spoke to Alan at Premier Wiring and he said he did have them, but they've all gone. Reckons I won't get hold of any now, as they were made specially for Ford. Never mind, bullets or soldering will do the job! Pete

Thanks for all the tips. Great

Hi, I will shortly be connecting my Premier Wiring Systems loom up, which involves joining a bunch of wires to the steering column switchgear. I could use a load of bullet connectors to connect the cut-off ends of the wires to the new loom, but I thought it would be neater and easier to just crimp the original kind of terminal for the multiplugs. I noticed that you can flip open a cover on each multiplug and it's easy to pop the terminals out, so seems like a very neat way to do the job. In the pic, you can see (a bit blurred on the close-up) that they're ordinary crimp terminals, but instead of spade ends, they are round tubes to accept the 3mm diameter pins on the switchgear. I had a bit of an internet search, but couldn't find them. They must be standard automotive stuff, so can anyone help??? Cheers, Peter

Whoops, think I just answered my own question with a quick search It says here that the module should be mounted somewhere cool, otherwise it can work intermittently and possibly stall the engine. In fact, this even went to court as potentially dangerous, resulting in a recall! Pete

Another leccy question. I notice that the TFi module in my EFi loom was originally mounted on the alternator side of the Pinto, away from all the other electrical components... Anyone know if this was done deliberately for electrical reasons, or if it was just a convenient spot in the engine bay for Ford? I thought maybe there was more chance of picking up interference from the ignition circuit if it was mounted on the intake side closer to the distributor, so they moved it? Or can I stick the TFi module anywhere??? Cheers, Pete

Hey Chaps, Going through my old Sierra loom, I noticed a lot of soldered joints which are similar to the one in the pic. There will be points in the new loom where I will need to have a junction for several wires, so I was wondering what is the highest quality way to do this? It seems that Ford have some system to solder them all together and encase them in plastic, as shown. At other points in the loom, they are taped up in addition to this. Anyone got any tips on the best way to join three or four wires at a point?? Also, how do you get all the wires to stay together neatly during the soldering operation? I have very little wiring experience! Cheers, Pete

Hi Ian, Thanks for that. There will be the usual earth strap from the mounting on the underside of the Type9 box, so that's covered. Of all the labels I made on my wiring loom, that black cable was one I just hadn't marked for some reason! On a related note, does the alternator go to earth through its casing and down into the block? I realised that I've painted all the mounting faces for the alternator brackets, so if that is the case, I'll be insulated from earth! Also, I have a cable for earthing the cylinder head, but not the block itself. Are the gearbox and head cables sufficient to earth the block, or is there supposed to be another cable somewhere? Cheers, Pete

Gents, Just a quick one. In the attached pic, we have the big positive and negative battery cables from the donor Sierra. The terminals on the right go to the battery terminals and the earthing point, and the red cable terminal on the left goes to the starter motor, but where does the black terminal go to? It has a crimp with a 10mm hole in it, so my guess is the gearbox?? If so, which of the available bolts do people normally use for it? Anyone got a pic of this bit of wiring? Cheers, Pete

My question is: Anyone used this to pass IVA?? Pete

Hi, Just wondering what SVA/IVA says about supporting coolant hoses on long runs? On my Lightweight, the bottom hose will go through 90 degrees immediately off the bottom of the Pinto coolant pump, then run forward through the nose and down and around to the bottom of the radiator. In the attached pic from early in the build, you can see the top two ali box sections in the nose of the car. I intend to route the coolant hose just underneath these boxes and wondered about supporting the hose by attaching to a box section. From the coolant pump to exit from the front of the nose is only about 50cm, but is it a requirement to support this? It would be supported at each end and the silicone hoses are pretty stiff. If I do need to support, any ideas on how to attach to the box section? I don't want to p-clip, as I'd rather not drill any holes into the box. Are cable ties right out? Or is there something similar but acceptable to SVA/IVA? Ta, Pete

Hi Graham Thanks for the compliment Any chance you could post a pic of your added prop protection, or should I have that among the pics you sent me on CD?? Cheers, Pete

Hi Paul, I guess the pipes could still be crushed with fuel hose over the top, but your thinking is that the rubber hose would cushion enough to prevent an actual split? Might give that a go. I'd never really thought about the prop breaking, but how often does that happen?! I'm going to make the tunnel top removable, so I can check the universal joints and grease them up from time to time. Is this where props normally break? I suppose this will be another thing that nags away at the back of my mind until I eventually do something! Cheers, Pete