Jon Green

Thanks for the responses chaps, I built my car 11 years ago and wired it with the help of my dad who's a sparky. We mostly followed the sierra haynes wiring I think though i'm not entirely sure. I have two relays for the lighting, 1 for the headlamps and the other for main beam. The 3 amp feed to the column stalks feeds; On the wiper side, right : Red pin 30 Black pin 15 On the main beam side, left; Black and Brown pin 15 Haven't got a another 3 amp fuse to hand so i've popped a 20 amp in..... though I will swap it for a 5 amp asap. Nigel, you mention that some of these supply's aren't fused before the the column so should I be leaving the 20 amp fuse in place and adding in some lower amp fuses after the column? And what's the best way to split the lighting feeds up so that I can't have a total failure again? I guess that if I feed my brown / black wire separately I'd at least have a main beam flash even if power to the right-hand side of the column failed? Help appreciated! I'm just getting back into driving my 2b after a extended period of it being laid up due to a baby and associated pressures on time and finances. He's 7 now so it's about time it came out of the garage again!

Hi All, Whilst out for a spin today I switched on my fog light only for it to blow the fuse. Turns out that all my lights were fed through the same 3 amp fuse so they were all lost. Fortunately not a problem as it was only a brief bank of mist. On further investigation tonight I've found that the 3 amp fuse supply's 3 wires in the column switches. A red, a black / brown and a chunky black. They're 1983 sierra stalks. I'm guessing that these live feeds should have separate feeds and fuses so this can't happen? I could have been in the s**t if it'd been dark! Jon

No points arf, I used to but changed to the setup that big jim recommended. Think i'll try and get another coil from the scrapy tomorrow and swap it. Fingers crosses it'll bust into life again. Thanks for all the help chaps.

I think I've found my coil to be at fault... I took the HT lead out of it and put a spark plug lead with plug into it. Grounded the plug. Removed the negative side wires from the coil and replaced them with a wire which I tapped the negative terminal on the battery with. NO spark. Ignition was turned on and there was 12v on the positive side of the coil. Anyone able to confirm or call me an idiot for believing the coil to be at fault now? Unfortunately I've not got a spare to test with. Thanks, Jon

As far as I am aware I don't have points. I await correction. ;-)

Yes the earth is good.

Hi all, I'm trying to fix a lack of spark... I've got the standard pinto ignition system. I'm not very good on electrics / ignition. So far I have established that there's no spark and 12 v to the + side of the coil. What should I check for next? Thanks Numpty.

Snapperpaul - I've got a 205 block with the injection head fitted, standard cam and currently twin 40's. I'm only after reliability not masses of power really. If I want more power in the future I'd stick a different engine in. I've got a tight budget so the bike carb setup isnt going to happen.

Snapperpaul - I've got a 205 block with the injection head fitted, standard cam and currently twin 40's. I'm only after reliability not masses of power really. If I want more power in the future I'd stick a different engine in. I've got a tight budget so the bike carb setup isnt going to happen.

Still managed 135bhp at the wheels! ;-) What rough cost would a throttle body setup be?

I also have a weber 30/34 dfth which I could use. I've notice that the stud spacing doesn't fit the standard manifold.... what did you do to make it fit?

Hi all, I've been given a weber 38 DGAS off dads Scimitar 3lt V6. Currently I've got dellorto 40's that were rolling road tuned to a FR33 cam I had in. I've ditched the cam now, in favour of the standard one for drivability. The dellorto's are still jetted to the rally cam and it's running far to rich. I'm fed up with the dellorto carbs now and want something less fiddly to set up. My question is, is the 38 DGAS an option (as its free) or should I spend and get something else? cheers Jon

Both changed now. Imbalance was due to a sticky piston. Thanks for the help as always! Jon

Doing a little more research identifying the wheel cylinders I have... the offside (235) cylinder is from the sierra estate and the near side a saloon. As my front brake force was coming in at about 160 per side would you recommend using the estate cylinders and having strong back braking force or the saloon? I guess locking the back wheels before the front isn't good and therefore the saloon cylinder would keep a better balance all round.

Hi all, After three years laid up I've finally got my 2B back on the road... almost! MOT test was today and It failed. Not much really but my back brake drums are out of balance by a lot. nearside = 150 Offside = 235 Apparently on monday this wouldn't have been a failure but new rules mean it is. I've looked at both drums and to be honest they both have new shoes, new disks and leak free cylinders. The only thing I did spot was that the wheel cylinders are slightly different. The offside cylinder was changed at the last mot (4 years ago) due to a leaky cylinder. Is there a chance that the wheel cylinders mismatch is causing the imbalance or are they all the same inside? I'm clueless on hydraulics. Thanks Jon

Hey Arf, Tell Keith we should get out for a beer some time soon. Has he still got his hood? Thanks to all for the advice. I'll get some new stem seals ordered and fitted.

Ok, valve stem seals it is then. I'll take the head off to do it... can I reuse the head gasket and bolts? They've only been on for a about 1000 miles.

Hi all, It's been a while since I've been here and even longer since my 2b has seen the road. It's currently in a garage without tax, insurance and mot and has been there since the tax ran out towards the end of 08. I have occasionally started it up and driven it out and back in, but not more than 20yds and then only every 6 months. Building work and the birth of my son have brought about this sad situation.... But, I plan to get my hood out once more and get her on the road again. The point to my post is: On startup and running there's a lot of blue smoke coming from the exhaust. I don't remember it being so smoky when I put the car away in 08. I'm thinking it's got to be either rings or valve stem seals. I'm going to do a compression test and see what the cylinders are like. Is there any way to be sure which it is, or is it just a case of stripping the head off and looking? Cheers, Jon

Hi all, I've got a problem with the other half's car. It's a Rover 420 turbo diesel. The problem is that it's chucking vast amounts of water out of the header tank partially when it is revving. It does it regardless of temperature too. I have an idea that the head gasket has gone and is allowing the exhaust to pressurise the coolant, causing it to be ejected. Can any of you brainy folk give me any pointers or suggestions? Cheers Jon

Anyone got any ideas where I might be able to source some of these from.... They are porthole hinges off my dads boat... they are old and most have become brittle and have snapped. In the pictures the bolt and nut are M6 size. Or... does anyone know someone who can make a copy of the pictured hinge?

Hi Marcus, That sounds great! I'll send you a PM

Cheers Dave, Either way I still need a short length of tube! Anyone help?

Hi All, Im after a short length of stainless steel tube to use as a fuel return pipe on my RH stainless steel tank. My tank is at the tig welders having baffles and top modified but they don't have any small tube suitable for welding in. Just after something with about a 6mm bore and only about 120mm long. Any idea's or off-cuts in your garages? Cheers, Jon

Thanks Richard... Just bought one on ebay! Any idea if any of my other bits like the monitor, mouse and keyboard would be stuffed too? I've no way to test them and I want to be sure that if the insurance company accept my claim, I don't miss anything that should have been replaced. Cheers, Jon

Hi all, On Friday I returned home after a hard days work to find that my wireless internet modem / router thingy wasn't working... I jumped in the car and shot off to PC world and bought a replacement netgear wireless router / ADSL modem. Excellent, I thought expecting to switch it on and be back up and running. That fixed the broadband connection problem but when I came to turn on my desktop machine nothing happened. I took the cover off and had a look inside and found that the telephone modem which usually runs an answering machine had a chunk out of the computer chip (fried).... next I had a look at my network printer and found that was also damaged... Im guessing that the telephone network was struck by lightning near the house and the surge through the phone lines has fried everything that was connected to it. I have a surge protector on the mains electric but not on the telephone line. Fortunately I have a works laptop so I can still get online but I have loads of stuff on the hard drive of my PC and no way to retrieve! Just got to wait for the insurance company to get back to me now. Winge over! Ps. if you've not got any surge protection on your PC have a look at getting some... it's a lot cheaper than replacing everything!