alanrichey

I'll have that as well.  It's about the only thing I don't have a spare.   EOSB again.

I see the Show is now full so if you wanted to go and haven't registered you are too late.    But there is nothing stopping you booking for next year

Working hard on the weather but quietly confident.

Al

PM Sent

7 hours ago, Jtox said:

.....do we as a group of robinhood gbs zero lovers ever arrange to attended any car shows classic or others as a club to see if we can get new members interested in joining g the forum or local area meets 

Hi.  We attend 3 national events at the moment as a full Club, these are Stoneleigh, Newark and the End of Season Bash (EOSB).   When it comes to other shows we ask the appropriate Area Secretary to publicise them on the forum, then find out how many people would like to go, and if the number is high enough, to liase with the organisers for a special area to be set aside for them.   If it is only a few I normally nominate a meeting point close to the Show so we can all arrive together.  However, that pre-supposes the Area Secretary knows the show is taking place, which he may not.    So under these circumstances like this please make sure you notify your Area Secretary of the details of the Show so that he can arrange everything.   Even if it is after the event, still contact him so he can be ready for it next year. 

Al

See this  https://www.rhocar.org/index.php?/forums/topic/50377-original-robin-hood-badges/#comment-410042u

the new owner might sell you one.

It’s been almost two weeks since I posted our revised Area Secretary System and reaction so far has been positive.   The really good news is that we now have volunteers to take over the previously unfilled posts.  My thanks to all of them for stepping up to help.

There have been two slight changes to the system.  First we have now included Northern Ireland as an area for the first time.  Secondly, when we ran the numbers we found that the Central Midlands had a disproportionally large number of members compared with the other areas (maybe because that is the original home of Robin Hood Engineering?).   So we have decided to spin off Leicestershire as a separate area to even up the numbers.  Luckily we also have a volunteer to take that on as well, so my thanks to him.

So the map now looks like this:

The borders between areas are meant to be flexible, but the initial allocation is based on counties.   So if you want to know which area you are in, use the following breakdown (feel free to go elsewhere if you think it is more logical). The table includes the full list of Area Secretaries, with their forum username:

COMMUNITY USERS       

I will be confirming with all new and current members which area where they are initially registered, but it is up to all the Community Users who wish to be involved to contact their Area Secretaries so they can be put on their distribution list. 

So we have setup the structure; it is up to ALL of you to make it work.

Al   (Membership Secretary)

Mine are very keen on the emissions test.   I have to regularly remind them that my car MUST be bought up to operating temperature and left like that for a couple of minutes before they take the readings.    This time they got a bit over-enthusiastic and ran her up to such a high temperature she blew off her lower cooling hose and filled their inspection pit with boiling water/antifreeze.   Serves them right

I also learned something else about MOT tests.   In previous tests they have damaged my sump getting it onto the rollers, on one occasion ripping off the sum rguard I have fitted.  In discussion with my mechanic (an ex-MOT tester), he mentioned that if they can't get the car on the rollers because of the low ground clearance then they can do an alternative brake check called a 'tap test'.  Apparently they put a gadget called a Tapley deccelerometer into the car, drive around the block and test the deceleration produced by the brakes.   So I asked them to do that instead of the roller check and the brakes passed    This may have been common knowledge but I had never heard of it.'

Al

Yes, all the Superspecs came with a cat otherwise you didn't stand a chance of passing the HC test.   Also, I recently fitted a new lambda sensor as the one I had was getting very old, so I credit that with the good CO reading.   Superspecs have all struggled with the emissions test and since I started using my laptop to check the other Superspecs in the Club I have yet to find one that actually had a working sensor.   The sensor supplied with the kit had a life of about 2 weeks , some hadn't been wired up correctly, none of them used a screened cable to carry the signal and some were mounted facing downwards encouraging water to ingress.   It's taken me 8 years to figure it all out but I have now passed 3 emissions tests in a row,   Happy days.

1 hour ago, Stonky 62 said:

The car went through the IVA in 2003 and the emissions is stated on the V5 as CO 4.5 & HC 0.12.

Interesting, they must have changed the units, mine was SVAd in 2008 and it states CO 0.2% & HC 200ppm.    I had it MOTd yesterday and she managed CO 0.096  and HC of 91.   A nice pass.

A reminder that the Show is getting closer. (28th August)  I see from the show page that there are still a few spaces left, so if you want to go, now is the time to register.

For those who have registered or received an invitation you can now print your joining instructions that need to be displayed on entry.

Still working on the weather.

July was a good month for the Club Membership.  It was good to see 17 existing members renew their membership and continue to support the Club.   Even better news is that we had only 3 members who failed to renew.   And we also had 3 members who returned to the fold after some years away.   Welcome back.

Unusually we welcomed 14 new members.  I know it’s the summer when everyone gets their cars out and interest peaks, but I still think that is a healthy number.  So overall the membership has gone up to 387.

As usual it is disappointing to me how many forum users remain as Community Users rather than Members, even though the discount on their insurance policies (an average of 15% according to Adrian Flux) would more than cover the subscription fee.  So come on everyone, if you find the forum useful then please help support the Club.

So we welcome the following new members.  I’ve changed the form slightly to give their forum Usernames and county. If the username is rather obscure then I’ve added their first name in brackets:

Paul Johnson                          Sussex

Robert Taylor                         Lincolnshire

Mrcaptainc (Christopher)      Staffordshire

Andy Brown1                         North Lincolnshire

Rachael Hinckley                  Surrey 

Gareth                                    County Durham

Liam672                                 Kent

Jtox (John)                            Yorkshire

Daveo (David)                       Yorkshire

Dave A                                   South Lincolnshire

Paul Andrews                       Nottinghamshire

Matthew Stevens                  Cambridgeshire

Kenneth Southam                Staffordshire

Gavin Mcfarlane                  Norfolk

Let’s hope we can maintain the momentum in August.

Sorry, I will have to cry off, last minute change in family plans.   Hope everyone has a good time.

Cheers

Al

Sorry Jonty. another member local to Boston passed it to me and I put the wrong contact name in, should have been "contact Russell Flemming".

If anyone does contact you please pass it on.

Al

Just to let everyone know that Boston Classic Car Club (http://bostonclassiccarclub.org.uk/)  are holding their annual Classic car show at Orchard Park Field just outside Boston (PE20 3QU) on Sunday 14th Aug. They allways have a good turn out of cars and usually have a refreshment stall and a band playing for part of the event.   If anyone wants to join up contact Jonty Wild (Jonty)

If all else fails (as it did for me trying to connect a Granada MT75 to an Escort instrument cluster on my Superspec) Speedy Cables will build you a bespoke one.   Cost me £40 inc VAT and P&P.

I can fill my tank at full speed with no problem.  I believe that this because the design of the Superspec fuel filler cap has a breather tube (about 10mm diameter) that goes from the tank to the filler neck just inside the car body.   So this means the nozzle goes well past the breather tube opening allowing the air to flow out through the open cap.

Many of you will have noticed in the Area Secretary section of the Magazine that the majority of the posts remain unfilled.  The statistics tell a sorry tale.  Of the 23 areas only 7 have a functioning Secretary and of those, 3 of us are dual-hatted, also filling posts on the Committee.   So that means out of a membership of about 380, a mere 9 people are helping to run the Club.   And despite numerous requests for volunteers to fill the positions, only one person responded.

The Club cannot continue with this situation, so we are proposing to make some major changes.   We still believe the Area Secretary system is essential, providing a link for members to the Committee and organising local events.  However, as it is obvious we will never get enough people to fill the 23 Area Secretary posts we have decided to simplify the whole system.  So in the future, rather than having areas based on counties we are going to go for simple geographic areas, breaking the UK up into 11 areas.   This map shows the new areas and their new secretaries, including their forum name:

These are defined as:

Scotland                         Andi (KitCar7)
North East & Borders     Alan (alantoon)
North West                     Darrell (Darrell)
Yorkshire/Lincs              Andrew (Grim)
Wales                              Mark (smpaarrkky)
West Midlands               Richard  (richyb66)
Central Midlands           Andi  (Andi)
Leicestershire                Phil (PhilShelton)
East Midlands                 Alan  (alanrichey)
South West                     Robbie (Robbie2B)
South East                     Athanasios (ThanasisPolitis)

So now we have set up a new structure it is up to you, the members and community users, to make it work.  If you would like to be involved in meeting up with other owners in your area then you have 2 choices.   First, add your location to the forum Member Map which will confirm you are happy for your location to be shared and for the Secretary to contact you.  Secondly, notify your local Secretary and give them permission to pass your username and town to others on their list.   If you feel strongly that you do not want to be involved, then you can also tell them, although if they get no message from you they will assume you are not interested.   If you cannot work out who is your best secretary message me on the forum system and we can discuss it.

Al (Membership Secretary)

I think they are way to big.  You need to shrink them, preferably well below 1Mb each.   If I post pictures taken on my iPhone I resize them to be 15% of the original size.

This what they look like.   If you don't have them you will need to remove the boot cover to access the mounting and maybe do some welding.   I've never actually looked at how it is mounted.

Wow, not cheap.    I think I paid less than half that off EBay, I guess it was second-hand.

Depends on your definition of 'standard', but I do like mine.  Again, compliments of EBay.

Hi Matthew

I'm the member who replied to your message on Facebook about the clutch cable on your machine and I asked you if it was a Superspec but so far you haven't answered so I am none the wiser.    Howerver, regardless of the model we have a huge amount of information about the Rover T16 that will probably answer any question you have.   So please download the package of information at http://www.rmrsoft.com/Rover.zip and read it through.

As to this specific question, there are none around that I am aware of, mainly because the design of the Superspec means the car runs very low and sumps have a very short life.   Personally I am on my second sump and even that has had to be welded twice.   So like most owners I have fitted a heavy duty steel sump guard.  It reduced your ground clearance slightly but will take a lot more punishment.

Also there are 2 different types of sump depending on which model of Rover your engine was destined to be fitted.   Some models used a steel sump and some used an alloy sump.   Test it with a magnet to see which you have.

Your first port of call for any spare parts for the engine is Rimmer Bros (https://rimmerbros.com/) who bought up all the spare parts when Rover folded.   Unfortunately for you the advertise the sump as 'not currently available'.    So your only chance if yours is not repairable is a scrap yard, although scrap Rovers are becoming very rare now.

You could also try the RoverMG forum at https://www.mg-rover.org/forums/ and see if get any joy there, although I am not confident.

Anyway download that package and come back to me if you need any more information.

Afraid not   Only about 30% of the members have put their location on the map.   I recently welcomed someone from Market Rasen so they are North of you.

Well that was a pleasant surprise considering I picked that place with the Google equivalent of throwing a dart at a map.

Obviously the weather was perfect, and the drive there was enjoyable but the Park was really nice.   My concern of the size of the car park from Google Maps was unfounded once I saw they had a huge overflow car park in the field next to the main car park.   So we were spoilt for choice.

So a couple of hours sitting around chatting and eating followed by a short wander around the park finishing off with inevitable ice cream and a nice day was had by all.   The Park is particularly good for children so if anyone is local with children I would heartily recommend it.

Cheers

Al

You don’t give the price or model, but at this time of year we see lots of cars coming up for sale at silly prices as people try to cash in on the good weather and buyers are keen to have a car for the summer.   Depending on model I would expect a good condition, properly registered, MOTd, Robin Hood (2B, Exmo, 3A, S7…) should be around £3500-£4000.  A Superspec would have a premium of about £500 as all the parts were brand new at build.