Jon Green

Cheers Dan

Hi, Anyone know what voltage the coil should be with the ignition system pictured below. Its the one that Jim recommends for carbs. I have it fitted with a 12v coil but the sparks don't seem to be that great.

Hi Guy's, Is there any difference between a head gasket for the 2.0lt pinto and a 2.1lt pinto?

Dan, I took the fuel pipe of the carbs and put it into a container. The fuel measured came through the filter on its way from the tank. I recon the only reason that they have a flow direction is so that the muck it catches can be seen on the outside of the filter material. Mine will all be trapped inside! That'll be why it looks like new! Think i'll strip my coil / dissy / module wiring and start again just to be on the safe side. I can make it nice and tidy this time! Thanks for the advise. Fortunately my dad wants a fuel pump for his scimitar anyway!

Ok, just come in from the garage.... I disconnected the fuel pipe from the carbs and ran the starter motor of 30 seconds. I collected more than 1/2 a pint of fuel so i don't think that i have a fuel starvation problem. I have found that the plastic in-line filter in the engine bay has been installed the wrong way around. Might this effect anything? Im going to buy a new one rather than turn the old one around. Anymore ideas?

Woops.... yes that should have been 5 psi..... not bar! No i don't have a return pipe to the tank.. I'm about to go into the garage and change the in line filter and give it another blast to see if its any better. I'll check the flow too. As i have already got the electric pump, is it a recommended upgrade to change it from the mechanical one or is it a waste of time? I'll let you know how it goes! Cheers, Jon

Hi Guy's, I'm having a problem with a misfire which starts about 4-5 miles after starting the car and progressively gets worse. I'm running a 2.1 pinto with twin 40's and the standard electronic ignition modual. I've been round the ignition checking for problems and cleaned the carbs through a few times with no improvement... in fact it seems to be getting more servere. Wednesday night a few of us South Lakes Hoodies met up and they suggested that my standard mechanical fuel pump would be struggling to keep up with my demands and that it all sounded like fuel starvation causing the misfire. As chance would have it one of their associates had a facet solid state fuel pump on their garage shelf that had been fitted to something for a very short period and could probably be persuaded to part with it for a small fee. Im now looking for the best place to put the pump. Favourite place at the moment is under the rear diff mounting bracket just in front of my full width RH stainless fuel tank. The question I'm eventually getting round to is: 1. Where have other 2b owners fitted theirs; and ' 2. Do you need to use a pressure regulator with twin dellorto carbs or is it fine to have the max. pump pressure of 5bar ~ approx.; 3. And finally... is there anything else I should be checking....some other possible source of the misfire? Cheers, Jon

On the old mini the wipers park on the passenger side with the motor on the passenger side too. Can you change something round in the motor to alter which side they park?

Hi, I've fitted the mini wiper system with the motor on the passenger side. I have a 130 deg thingy int the wiper motor but i dont get the drivers side sweeping far enough over the drivers view. I have seen that the battery boys have turned the drivers wheel box the other way round. Im thinking of copying this although i did worry that i will focus all the windscreen water in one place where it will pour in through the hood/ windscreen joint. Another option would be to move the motor to the other side of the car and have the wipers parking on the drivers side rather than the passenger side. Or i can redrill the bonett and put the wheel boxes in the correct position. In your wise opinions whats the best choice? Cheers!

Hi, Can anyone post a photograph of how they fixed the L bracket to the car (2b). I've just offered it up and the end of the longest hood frame sails past the flat boot area to a couple of inches forward of the roll bar! Do they need shortening? Cheers, Jon

So there's no advantage to fitting the roof without the hood frame first? tar, Jon

Hi, Fitting the hood is my next task. Unfortunately my garage is as well insulated as a field, so getting it warmed up before hand is out of my budget. I was wondering if I fitted the hood without the frame in place and then fitted the frame later, would i end up with a nice tort roof? Any thoughts please! Im also unsure of how the mounting brackets that support the frame fix to the car and where to drill the tubes. Cheers, Jon

Each wheel is almost £400!! I think one is just a slight scratch 2mm deep but the other one has bits missing!! Tim, I have suggested to her to keep the damaged wheels on for a few more months till she get used to the size of the car. She had a MX5 before this one, a lot smaller and better visibility! Cheers for the advice. Jon

Hi Guy's, My mums got an Mazda RX8 with chrome alloys..... very shiny....very expensive. Unfortunally my mum is often drawn towards kerbs as she drives past shops, turns around and parks. Her new chrome wheels aren't quite so shiny anymore! 2 out of 4 are kerbed, one badly. Anyone any idea whether they can be repaired? Cheers, Jon

I got one from the missus for Christmas! She's well trained!

Thanks Guy's, Spent a bit more time battering them this afternoon and they are looking a bit better.... No where near as good as yours Enforcer!! Cheers again, Jon

And the other! Any helpful tips? Has anyone used a different method?

Hi Guy's, Im having a problem shaping the windscreen supports to the right shape. Richard makes it look very easy! Its as if my windscreen is too wide...I have it pushed right back to the demister vents. Here's a couple of pictures!

Mad in't it!! Very good!

thanks guy's, He's not taken the van back... hid it in a garage for a while in case they tried to find it! He's spoken to trading standards who have been in contact with the car sales places concerned and they've assured him that he can keep the van and that the first garage who sold him the car are liable and will pay the outstanding HPI on the car. Still no reason for the finance not showing up on all the previous HPI checks but at least he gets to keep the van and isn't left out of pocket. Thanks again for the replies! Merry Christmas, Jon

Hi Guy's Im after any ideas, legal stuff or anything to help a friend. The story goes; My pal bought a car from a reputable car sales firm locally in 2004. He traded in his old car, paid £2k cash and took £2k finance from Haydock finace. All was good. He paid back his finance agreement within a couple of months and happly owned the car till last week. He's just gone on his own in business and chose to trade in the car for a van last week. A straight swop for a tranny van from another reputable local van dealer. Yesterday he recieved a phone call from the van dealer saying that: 1. his traded in car has outstanding finance on it of £7k from two years before he bought it, (discivered when the van dealer sold the vehicle on to another company who then tried to sell the car to a customer) 2. he has to return his van as the deal is void 3. the finance company are reposessing his car to cover the outstanding unpaid finance agreement. All his leaves him with no wheels, no income. costing him £7k! He assumes that every dealer has done an HPI check on the vehicle and that the old finance has only just shown up for some reason........ the car has had 28 checks in 7 years! Any ideas....thoughts!

Hi all, At the moment im driving round my 2b without the windscreen as I've not got round to fitting it yet. I've trial fitted it but when I look at the car from the front the top of the windscreen isn't parallel with the roll bar. The bends on the bonnet aren't the same! So i need to change the shape of the bonnet. I've tried bending it to the right shape but its very difficult to get both sides the same and I'm trying to be lazy and avoid taking the nose cone off and splitting the bonnet halfs. My plan is to take a piece of 25 x 25 angle steel and chop out slots on the bottom leg of it to then allow me to bend it to a curve and then weld it in its new shape. Make two and use them like ribs, bolting the bonnet to them pulling them into the shape i need. Anyone done this? any pictures or advise.... or am i best just splitting the bonnet and doing it by eye and muscle? cheers, Jon

Hi guy's, I've just finished stripping my newly aquired 2.0lt Injection head. Im going to do some gas flow work to before fitting it. I have bought a cheap set of grinding stones to go in my drill but I did hear that these wont last very long and I should be using a tungsten milling bit. Can anyone sugest where I might be able to buy one of these. My local tool shop looked blank when I asked them on Saturday. Cheers, Jon

Nigel, Cheers for the comments on the pulley's. I thought I might have trouble with the cable jumping off to begin with but its been fine for a good 5 months. The cable always has enough tension to stop it straying. My SVA tester did comment on handbrake position. He said it was something on the 2B he could always fail people on, if they fitted it as per the instructions / video. He has only ever come across on person who could reach the standard RH position with belts on. He had very long arms! When changing gear i find that the handbrake on the tunnel top doesn't get in the way at all. My elbow just clears it without conciously lifting unless of course the handbrake is on..... but then there wouldn't be much point in changing gear! Jon

Here's the other!