RallyChris

FYI - A couple of years ago I acquired two different original stainless Robin Hood tanks with the hope of using one on my 2B build. One of these was identified by other RH owners as the same as used on 3A and S7 models and I guess is the same as what you have on your monocoque car? nominal dimensions approx 8 x 8 x 34" with horizontal flange upstand. This compared to the 2B tank that was slightly taller but narrower (6 x 8 x 33.5" with vertical flange upstand). The monocoque tank (long since sold I'm afraid) is shown in the attached photo, sitting in the back of my 2B chassis. If there is spare height available in the back of your car then I would suspect that a tank made for a 2B would physically fit, but may present issues with routing the filler neck. In the end I used neither tank as I found I could (just) fit an aluminium MK Indy tank in the 2B, and I wasn't convinced about sealing the filler neck on the original RH versions. Chris

There are too many variables - you will need to experiment to find the right balance, ensuring that the rear wheels can't lockup before the fronts.

Source? As I read it, the recently announced government policy change on zero emissions vehicles appears to indicate that BEV cars (not vans) will move to the equivalent of the old graduated tax band 'B' from 2025, which is currently only £20 per year. Electric vans will be clobbered with the standard Petrol/Diesel rate (currently £180 pa). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025

Just a thought - have you retained the original MX5 proportioning valve alongside the master cylinder? My understanding is that acts as a shuttle valve in the event of a loss of pressure (I.e leak) in one of the circuits (front or rear), to shut off the downstream pipe work so it doesn’t pump fluid out in the event of a leak. if you have this valve fitted, I wonder if your issue is that the first pump of the pedal is activating this valve due to air (or leak) in one of the circuits, so your initial pedal movement is lost to push the valve over, and after that you can pump up the ‘good’ circuit to get a hard pedal.

Here's a picture

Apologies - kitspares don’t seem to be advertising the pedal box kit on the website at the moment, but it might be worth giving them a ring. The kit was pretty basic and definitely required some imagination from the builder, but allowed hydraulic clutch and single brake master cylinders to face rearward behind top hung pedals. I mocked up this setup in my build but couldn’t get it to work comfortably with my steering column arrangement (Mazda).

Good luck with the project. I can’t offer you any experience on the ST170 engine conversion but I guess you are already aware that it is a zetec derivative rather than a duratec, so the inlet/exhaust are on the opposite side to the pinto that was in your 2B originally. Depending on the throttle body arrangement you may find that the inlet manifold area interferes with the existing Sierra pedal box / master cylinder arrangement. A number of people have gone down the route of a reversed top hung pedal box (available from GBS) or a floor mounted pedal box. I’ve done the latter for an MX5 engine conversion on my 2B due to inlet clearance. Chris

Thanks for the size clarification. You don’t need the same braking force front and rear for it to still be over braked at the rear, as the rear will have less grip due to weight transfer.

I can’t really understand the symptoms you have reported - when you release the brake pedal this should allow fluid to pass back from the pressure side of the master cylinder piston(s) into the reservoir; there shouldn’t be anything causing a vacuum in the reservoir that can pull air in from outside. One thing to check might be if the same symptoms occur if you remove or at least loosen the cap of the reservoir. If the cap is not vented correctly (I.e vent hole blocked) then you could be pulling a vacuum in the reservoir when you apply the brakes and this is then relieved when you come off the pedal and this is somehow causing bubbles to appear in the fluid. If this does make a difference then it reminds me of the process used to bleed hydraulic bike brakes using syringes at either end of the system, where pulling a vacuum causes air bubbles to be pulled out of the fluid. Chris

Something to bare in mind is that the smallest Sierra rear disc diameter is 240mm, i.e the same as what you likely have already on the front of the car from a base spec Sierra, so as above the system is likely to have too much rear bias. IMO rear discs are only worth doing if you also upgrade the fronts to something bigger.

You are talking about a completely different package. This thread is about the new upper wishbone kit available for factory wishbone 2B models to correct the front castor angle for improved steering feel. Due to the different chassis on an earlier sliding pillar 2B, retro fit wishbone kits have completely different components as the pickups have to be mounted further rearward than the factory chassis, to keep the front wheels in the same place.

see below for quoted version...

No, but I might be interested in one of your NS hubs if you can find an OS one to replace it! There are a number of ‘old stock’ RH/OS hub housings on eBay from the same seller, albeit ABS type (and note he also has 4x4 type that are different too). Chris

No spacers within the rectangular box section cross members at the front - I am using non standard poly bushes and corresponding crush tubes that are well matched to the width of the box section. The rear (open) cross members are more challenging on my chassis with definitely a few mm difference in longitudinal position of the upper angle section between both sides. There is a correspondingly different thickness spacer on the rear side of the upper wishbone rear mount to compensate. Even so, the measured castor angle of the two front hubs is also a couple of degrees different between sides.

That’s definitely a factor - I’ve spent a couple of weeks trying to set the front suspension against a horizontal datum and there is undoubtedly some asymmetry in the chassis. But I’ve not been able to pinpoint any single large dimensional variation in the suspension pickups that would cause both the camber issue and the wheel centre height to be about 10-15mm different from side to side for the same coilover mounting position.

I'm currently building up the front suspension of my 2B, but have a suspicion that the geometry of the front LH/NS/Passenger side hub casting is not quite right and it may have suffered a kerb strike in its original life! Before I attack my new upper wishbone to make enough clearance to bring the camber angle into spec, does anyone have a spare front hub available to buy? Either a bare Sierra housing or a built up assembly (2wd). Alternatively if anyone has one they could lend me, if not for sale, to check if it solves the geometry issue that would also be very useful. I'm located near Newbury, Berks so can either collect locally or pay for courier collection. Picture for attention - that's the other side and all seems to be OK!! Thanks!

Yes, the issue is likely to be that the offset between crankshaft Centre and gearbox is too large on most bikes for the engine to be aligned straight in the chassis, without the propshaft wiping out the footwell on a RHD seven style kit. By skewing the engine over it allows the prop to sit closer to the car’s centreline.

PM sent

I think given the issues you and other owners have had, a sleeved shaft with appropriate welding of an original oem splines end is a safer bet than a RH/GBS original shaft spline made from cheese!

Update - looks like you are not the first to suffer an issue with wear of the RH steering shaft: https://www.rhocar.org/index.php?/forums/topic/44206-superspec-steering-shaft/#comment-358668 Given that a compatible replacement UJ is stated in that thread as coming from a LR Discovery I would be looking for any compatible steering shaft from either a mk2 Escort (actually the inner steering column?) or a Discovery, then chop the end off and have it welded onto your existing shaft with a tube over the outside.

Andy, I don't know exactly what major components were used on a Superspec, but on the 2B it used Sierra steering column with a modified Metro (or later Escort mk2?) steering rack. The lower steering shaft was therefore a RH fabrication to join a Sierra compatible UJ at the column end to a Metro compatible UJ at the rack end. I think the Superspec used a Mondeo column and Escort Mk2 rack? In any case, if I understand your issue the lower spline is now worn out so you need a dummy end from the donor vehicle steering shaft to suit the steering rack UJ, and have that welded into your steering shaft in place of the current worn out end. I am using a Mazda steering column on my 2B so I dissected the RH lower shaft, which was simply welded in a ring around the shaft at the back of the UJ. There was then an inch or so of the original shaft spigoted into tube, so you may be able to do something similar to unpick your splined stub from the RH shaft.

Wanted - a pair of camber/toe wedge shims for standard Sierra IRS, when fitted to RH 2B.

Quite likely the issue then. Modern engines have so called ‘smart alternators’ where the charging can be controlled by the engine’s ECU via a single feed wire to the alternator (all part of a CO2 reduction effort so the alternator does most of its work when the car is decelerating). I don’t know much about the Ford engines but on an MX5 engine the alternator was ‘smart’ from about year 2000.

IVA comes before registration, and the car will be emissions tested for IVA based on the documented age of the engine. Bike carbs might be a problem and you’ll need a CAT. However, if as Richie says you go for a non age related Q plate subsequent MOTs are visible smoke test only as per a pre 1974(?) registered vehicle so you have more freedom to tune the engine and remove cat etc.

On a similar topic - does anyone have any experience of fitting ‘monocoque’ fibreglass RH rear wings to a 2B? There’s a 2B for sale on gumtree showing the wrap around rear wings/quarters so I wondered if anyone knows how well they fit to the 2B chassis?