AndyW

Can I ask other Superspec owners if they could have a look at their cars for me - I'd like to know if my car is different and has a problem or whether all Superspecs are like this by 'design'. Looking from the back of my car, the right driver's side is about 2cm higher than the left, so it has a bit of a tilt. I've checked the Sierra subframe and the lower coilover mountings are all OK, and the number of turns of the spring hangers is the same both sides. The difference seems to come from where the top of the coilovers are mounted onto the chassis tube. This is the left hand side: And this is the right: As can be seen there is a 2cm difference in the distance between the horizontal chassis tube and the bottom of the shock bracket. The bracket is welded in a different place on the right compared to the left. And more of the bracket can be seen. Is this normal? Or do I need to correct it to get the car level? I guess I could use the next pair of mounting holes in the righthand bracket to bring the body down a bit. Andy

Right. I've had another quick look but I can't see any obvious stray wires that should go to the wiper motor. So it's probably best that I spend some time tracing and identifying every bit of loom in my tunnel in detail and looking for any wires that are unused or tucked away. If not I'll have to make a new motor link. Thanks for everyone's hints. AndyW

Steve, thanks I've got most of that info from my own SSpec wiring diagram, but your extra annotations are useful. Sorry for being a bit thick, but the bit I don't understand is the wiring to the wiper motor. In your 2nd scan it's marked with * and has 3 wires. Where is this part of the loom on the car? Where does it come out of the main loom? I can wire up the 6 wires in the multi-plug connector to the wiper switch OK, but I don't understand how this gets back to the wiper motor itself. AndyW

Hi Wanderer - all my connector blocks are behind the centre of the dash on top of the tunnel. This is the nest I have... The large white connector in the centre of picture (with all red wires) feeds the lights and indicator column stalk switch. The other connector can just be seen at the bottom with the green, black, & pale green/red wires. This would normally go to the wiper column stalk switch. You can't see in the photo but there are not any wires coming out the other side of the connector block. I think there should be another part of the loom somewhere in that nest with the wires that go to the wiper motor itself. I can't spot them though. As an aside - that's my gearbox and the ground you can see through the wires. There is no metal plate between the tunnel chassis tubes so the wires are just hanging in the air. Would there have been a tunnel top plate on other Superspecs? Mind you I don't need a heater - there's plenty of hot air comes through from the engine bay :-) AndyW

Ian - yes that's my fall back solution if I can't sort the original loom and wiper stalk. I'll take a new power supply from the fuse box, use a durite wiper rocker switch on the dash and build a loom to the wiper motor. And add a second momentary rocker switch to give a wash/wipe function. Basically at the moment I have no wiring at all for the wiper system - I have these 6 wires that stop at the original RHE loom connector block : black blue/green pale green/black green green/brown pale green/red But I have no idea where they go or come from or what function they have. Andy

But frustrating when you're trying to get on and do something. :-)

Steve - if you could, thanks. I think I now understand the new wiring required for the wiper stalk switch. Although I can't get at the back of the switch so I'll have to remove it from the column. Should there be a connector block to plug into the back of the switch 'cos I don't have one? Or can I just make the connections with female spades? Then I just need to know where to find the 5 wires part of the loom that connect to the wiper motor itself. Haven't located these yet. Andy

Hi Wanderer & Bullfist, Your descriptions helped - I managed to find the 3 connectors. The 9 wire plug is connected to the light switch stalk, but the 6 way connector which should go to the wiper switch only has 3 wires out and they are not connected to anything. So I need to do some re-wiring there. However, I haven't yet located the part of the loom that should go to the wiper motor. On the RHE wiring diagram this is marked as "5 sheathed wires to motor" of which only blue/yellow, light green/red and black were originally used. So do I still need to find this? Does it also come out of the loom in the central tunnel under the dash? But I don't understand something - those wire colours don't agree with the technical bulletin. This says I need 4 wires for the wiper motor - blue/green to terminal 1, pale green/red to terminal 2, green/brown to terminal 4, green to terminal 5, and black to wiper motor body. Where do I get these wires from? And I've just discovered another problem after delving into my loom nest tucked in the tunnel - my sidelights don't work now. Another job to fix!! Ho, hum. Cheers, AndyW

Big Jim - me too. I've spent weeks googling different types. The stalks are certainly not Ford ones. I agree they are almost identical to Rover 200/400/600 stalks except they are the other way round. I wonder if RHE bought some Rover stalks destined for foreign spec cars.

Hi Wanderer - yes I can see my wiper motor. It's on my garage bench Not yet fitted in the car and there's no wiring connected to it. I'm fitting a 2nd hand Lucas Mini type motor rather than the cut and welded Sierra motor supplied by RHE. But your description of the plugs and wiring colours is very useful. I need to go delving in the footwell and see if I can find anything behind the dash.

Hi Wanderer. My Superspec is the original build done by the previous owner, and has been on the road since 2009. It's got the standard RHE supplied Vicky Green loom but the wipers were never fitted - the previous owner used to remove the windscreen each year to get it through the MoT. The switch stalk is fitted on the column but there is no wiring attached. Certainly no connector block in the back of it. That part of the loom might of course be tucked away in the nest of wiring behind the dashboard but it's so difficult to get at for a proper look. Jim - the wiper stalk has been butchered to fit the column and the switch is covered with Sikaflex to glue it on. I haven't been able to find a part number on it yet, but I might strip all the mastic off and see if I can find anything marked. I'll probably need to take it off anyway to get at the wiring. AndyW

I'm fitting a Mini wiper motor to my Superspec, and now need to get the wiper switch wiring sorted out. Does anyone know what these column stalks come from? I believe they were supplied by RHE with the original kit. Needed a lot of mastic to fit them to the steering column by the look of it (Escort or Mondeo column?). Note the wiper & wash stalk is on the left, and indicators & lights stalk is on the right. They look similar to Rover 200 stalks EXCEPT that all the examples I've seen for sale have the stalks the other way round with the indicators on the left and wipers on the right, so not sure if they are the same. Also, does anyone know what the pin-outs are on this wiper stalk and connections required to get the Lucas 14W wiper motor to work (live, fast, slow & park)? I've seen lots of info on the forums but they generally refer to using the Sierra switches. AndyW

Hi Al, can you add me tentatively. I need to get some local shakedown runs in to check the car out for the recent work before I make a longer run up to you. Cheers Andy

On mine the U clamp sits straight onto the steering rack casting. No bush. I believe the rack is from an Escort.

Think I'd better get underneath and check the lower wishbone mountings on my superspec then!

Depends whether the daylight running lights are extra to, or instead of, position lights (aka sidelights). If the DRL are also the sidelights then they must dim when the headlights are on. However, if the DRL are extra to sidelights then they can turn on with ignition but must turn off when the headlights are switched on. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/408964/daytime-running-lights.pdf

And of course the lambda sensor must be wired up correctly in the first place!

4 cracked/broken valve guides replaced by my local engine reconditioner and head cleaned and degreased. Received all the new valves ordered to replace the bent ones, and have put them back in the head myself. Engine now rebuilt (many thanks for the extra pairs of hands Tractor and Al Richey) and she's a runner again. First time I've taken an engine apart so I'm chuffed it all went back again and worked. Now I just need to finish making a new lower bracket for the front coilover and get the front suspension sorted, then I can get out and enjoy the last days of summer!

Got that. They're different bolts. Head bolts + oil. Camshaft carrier bolts + thread lock / no oil.

Thanks Steve. I'm re-using the existing head bolts as per Haynes and Rover overhaul manuals. They are flange bolts with no separate washers. I've just spotted in the Rover overhaul manual it says to tap holes to clean, then lightly oil the thread and under the bolt head. Thanks for the agreement. And for loctite info - all makes sense now.

I'm replacing some valves and rebuilding my Rover T-series DOHC engine. Some questions for you experienced people... - the head bolts require 3 stage torquing. Do I fit the bolts dry, or lightly oil them, or use some anti-seize on the threads (CopperEase) ? - other bolts to fit the camshaft carriers need thread lock. How much loctite do I put on and where does it go - a complete circle or just a dab? And do these bolts go in dry, or do I oil them as well as using loctite? Sorry for the basic questions, but as I've 've never done this before I thought it best to ask. Thanks.

Referring back to Rob's comment (post 21) about the top mounting, I've now discovered that the Gaz shocks have 1/2" bushings but the top mounting bolt on my SuperSpec is 10mm, which is why it looks sloppy at an angle in the photo in post #17. Too much play. Checking the broken shock it has an extra inner steel sleeve that has been inserted to reduce the 1/2" diameter down to 10mm. Dave at Dampertech thinks he might still have some sleeves somewhere so is going to send me a couple.

2b - yes I've found a local engine reconditioner who will do the guides for me. Also waiting for a set of inlet valves to arrive found on eBay. Tractor - no not even going to consider that yet :-)

Peter - thanks but that's not the correct head. Only single cam as you say, so maybe it's the 1.8 or Honda engine option

But now I've just discovered that some of the valve guides are cracked. From bad to worse!