Peter Bell

Sorry to have been quiet on this but I’m still waiting for the wristbands, I’ll have to chase them again.

Not necessarily, you need to turn the engine over til no 1 is on compression then look where the rotor arm is pointing, that is no 1 lead.

Hello Mike I wondered where you were these days, it still looks lovely after all this time I hope you are well? I’m sure it will sell very quickly at that price good luck! ps is Dave Andrews handprint still on the air filter

My usual comment for this problem is there may be rubbish in the fuel tank blocking the pick up pipe.

Yes and 1342 pretty standard.

I’ve always used this type, I found they are a bit more forgiving to fit as the roll bar geometry is wrong compared to a Sierra.

I don’t think this has been mentioned yet, I’ve just got notification from them we can have our usual club area for up to 17 cars. Shall I confirm this and get the wrist bands? It’s a great show if you haven’t been before. Entry is £10 a car but it’s all for a good cause.

I’ll dig it out first and send you a pm. Where abouts are you?

Think I’ve got a dgav 32/36? But will it fit your manifold, I think the mounting ctrs are slightly different. Can you measure yours?

Or just ignore the vac advance. It’s there to improve mpg and very low speed running. I doubt if in practice you would notice any difference. I assume you haven’t got a brake servo?

That’s interesting Ian thanks, it explains why the limit for mine is 4.5 as it has an ‘83 reg.

This shows the 4.5 max requirement but I don't know where it's from. I think there used to be an emission flow chart on here somewhere or on the NW Hoodies site, from Big Jim.

On your V5c what emission limits are stated? Mine has nothing so I think should be just a visible smoke test. Sometimes my mot place take a reading and tell me off as it’s too lean, but on my sheet it says the limit is 4.5 for CO. Not 3.5 I’ve got R1 carbs, mains are 1.7 but not sure on the idles, I should put bigger ones in. its a pinto btw.

You may be overthinking it as far as kit cars are concerned, people do stick ally panels to the chassis with sikaflex etc. These cars are not generally used in wet salty conditions, also think of all the alloy parts bolted to an iron engine block and gearboxes.

I thought the problem with HIDs was they have to be fitted in self levelling headlights to avoid dazzling traffic, perhaps the same applies to LEDs too. I know I’m old but the modern lights can be quite frightening when they are badly adjusted, as quite a few seem to be.

With a pinto you should only need a smoke test, the advantage would be afterwards you could put any motor in it and not worry about emissions. There’s a couple of us in Bedford but no Zeros I think.

The bulb holder assemblies were used on many cars but you may find them listed for minis

Pancake filters are pretty poor, you could look at pipercross px300 style.

The 1.6 and 1.3 had 8” rear drums, different to the 1.8 and 2l which had 9”. I believe they had smaller dia. drive shafts too so perhaps that’s why your seals don’t fit? They also had solid front discs, think of all that weight saving!

Talk to Dampertech they should be able to supply you with 3/8" bushes which is the bolt size. The way I solved it was getting some thin wall tube turned up which pressed into the damper bush.

I always get confused with offset but Sierra wheels are usually ET38, I suspect your car has been fitted with 18s so the front tyres have plenty of clearance from the suspension buttress. So if you fit 38s on the rear it should I think, move the wheels in 20mm. Check if there enough clearance inboard so there is no interference with the shocker/spring whatever the rear arrangement is. If you were nearer I could lend a set of wheels to try.

Looks like you have twin 40s in which case just leave the hose in to a catch tank. The standard set up is a PcV valve into the block the other end connects to the inlet manifold.

Just be aware that when you pull the shaft out of the diff that oil will come out, so use a drip tray.

Do you believe your gauge? Have you overfilled the oil?