richyb66

Pointless, but very funny. http://rosskempfolds.tumblr.com

happy new year to everyone.well this meet will be the regular dinner meet i would like those coming which will be the last weds as usual to drop your names on here so i can get a head count please.. me + partner.. Richard and Jackie

I've got lpg on my Audi S6, I do about 650 miles a week so it makes sense as I only get around 23mpg average but even on lpg it's still a big fuel bill. So far I've done about 20k miles and it seems generally ok apart from having to replace air flow meters (twice), which seems to be something that isn't unknown on lpg. They still worked fine, but I couldn't clear the check engine light so I replaced them. Both time they went was after giving the car some serious welly so now if I'm in that kind of mood, I tend to swich over to Super Unleaded first. The system is made by Bigas and uses 8 injectors on 2 fuel rails. There is a difference in power on lpg, but as the cars got around 350bhp, I can live with a drop in power for the 95% of the time I'm pottering around on lpg. I agree with other peoples thoughts on getting a properly installed system, unless the car is very basic then I could see self-installation being a real pain. Only stuff I've done to mine is swap the lpg filters which were about £25 for the pair from here http://www.tinleytech.co.uk/acatalog/tt-shop.html who seem to sell everything, including complete kits. A complete kit for mine is over £2k fitted, so I bought a car already converted and saved taking the initial hit on the installation but if you've got a specific car in mind, this probably isn't an option. Downsides are the availability of fuel and limited range (200 miles on my car on lpg). I now plan my re-fueling so I use places with cheap lpg and if I do run out of gas, I've still got petrol in the main tank. Also, my tank is in the spare wheel well so my spare is in a big bag in the back - not really a problem as it's a big car and on the odd occasions I need the space, I take the spare out and carry tyre weld. The car is great but it is still very, very costly to run (I didn't expect it to be cheap) but if I was sticking in super unleaded, my fuel bill wouldn't be affordable. I have had thoughts about swapping if for something more economical (diesel?) but as I'm currrently getting close to 45mpg diesel equivalent and I like a big, practical, performance car, I can't really see anything to beat it. For lower motoring costs, I basically need to do less miles.

No, it wasn't my first choice of possible causes because I'd had the old clutch to bits before to inspect it when the engine and box were out of the car. It looked fine and tbh, I couldn't justify just changing it then because it looked fine. The only thing I will probably do is remove the plating over I did on the 55mm quadrant as it lifts the cable up where it comes through the metal tube in the pedal box and now it's chaffing slightly on the edge of the tube.

The new clutch seems to have cured the problem, it now goes into gear easily wit no snatching. The old friction plate wasn't visibly worn, the pressure plate looks normal and un-damaged and the release bearing was only slightly worn. I can only presume that the diaphragm in the pressure plate wasn't working correctly but the main thing is it's now sorted.

I've gone for the nuclear option and decided to stick a new clutch in. On Sunday night I decided to see if I could drop the box out, the prop won't come off with the diff in place so I unbolted the prop, lowered the diff and this would allow the box to move rearwards. Sadly it wan't enough to get the box out and I had about a 3" gap between the bellhousing and the block and I did manage to unbolt the pressure plate and drop the friction plate out. After a bit of lateral thinking, I decided to remove the flywheel so I could get the pressure plate off the input shaft and then remove the release bearing and clutch arm. Re-assembly was pretty straightforward, fit clutch arm to box, fit release bearing to clutch arm, slide pressure plate over input shaft, bolt flywheel on, slide friction plate on input shaft, assemble pressure plate to flywheel with friction plate in position. All I needed to do then was rotate the engine and see that the outside of the friction plate was concentric to the outside of the pressure plate (easily done) and then bolt the pressure plate up. The box was then jiggled back into place on the engine and the bell housing bolts were re-fitted. Tonight I just have to fit the gearbox rear mount and gear lever and re-fit the diff. From start to finish I reckon it's taken me about three and a half hours, no fluids drained, no gearbox oil spilled and the only tricky bit was unbolting and re-torquing the flywheel. Hopefully this will sort the clutch issue out, if it doesn't then I obviously need more travel on my clutch pedal.

I've plated over the clutch quadrant and modified the pedal to get more travel. as suggested. Now I get 40mm of cable pull for the full travel of the pedal which I'm assuming is enough? I've tried a load of different adjustments of the ratchet adjuster and various thicknesses of washers to space out the outer cable - no noticeable improvement is any state and first gear is essentially impossible to engage with the engine running. I'm coming to the conclusion that the clutch itself is the issue (either the pressure plate or the release bearing) so I spent an hour trying to drop the gearbox out but (as suspected), it's not possible with the engine in. I've managed to unbolt the pressure plate and frop the friction plate out which confirms it's an 8.5" plate so I can at least order a clutch and once I've got the parts I'll slide the engine forwards the extra inch I need to stick it all back together.

Yes, it's a 2B with a Sierra pedal box. The pedal does go all the way to the floor and I did wonder if it had enough travel but with the 55mm quadrant, cable travel shouldn't be an issue even if the pedal movement is restricted. I can plate over the quadrant to get more movement and try that. Cable is very long, goes well forward of the engine and nowhere near the exhaust.

I've been having some problems getting the car into gear, it's a Pinto with a type 9 and I've used a 2WD Cosworth clutch cable. The clutch and release bearing are both pretty new. I've only had a couple of runs out since passing my IVA and it's always been a bit snatchy going into first and reverse. I had a 45mm Sierra quadrant on the clutch pedal and I packed it out with about 10mm of washers at the gearbox end and that was better but I was still struggling to get 1st sometimes. Most of the adjustment in the quadrant is already taken up so thinking I needed more pull on the cable, I got a 55mm black Ford quadrant and put that on but it's still not right. The quadrant has a load of adjustment left on it when the cable is fitted, but no matter how I adjust it (take up some of the slack in the cable) it's still virtually impossible to get into gear when the engine is running. I even adjusted it up so much that when you press the pedal down to the floor, you can hear that it's obviously overloading the diaphragm in the clutch. It's only difficult to get into gear with the engine running (which is generally when I need to select gears), with the engine stopped it goes into all gears with no problems so it's not like is the selector mechanism or the lever. Not sure what to try next, with the 55mm quadrant I'd have thought I can get more than enough pull on the cable but disengaging the clutch doesn't make selecting gears any easier.

OK, I've found a new spare clip. PM me your address and I'll stick it in the post tomorrow.

I might have a spare clip in the garage, I'll have a look tonight. The trouble with the clips is they're quite aggressive and they break easily when you try to remove the cable.

Agreed, the first image looks like a small 3 pronged clip that comes on the cable. However, this fits into a cylindrical piece that's part of the brake backplate that I can't see in your other photos that ensures that the cable passes through the backplate at an angle. This isn't a Sierra backplate but it's similar, the cable goes in the gold coloured bit to the right of the label http://www.ford-part...79522-754-p.jpg

Paperwork collected yesterday afternoon from Worcester DVLA (that's 4 trips there in less than a week) but all registered correctly on an age related F plate. The V5 will be sent out to me. I can get my plates made up this afternoon and then look forward to leaving the car in the garage all weekend due to the bad weather and spend my time swapping the front suspension arms on the Audi instead.

Don't get too carried away on this, it's not necessary. I just parked my car about 6 feet from my garage door, turned the lights on and set the lights very roughly so that the horizontal cut-off was the same on both and set around about the height of the centre of the lamp. When I had my IVA, this turned out to be pretty well spot on but if you leave the nuts under the headlamps slightly loose, the examiner will probably adjust them for you - takes literally seconds to do and then you can just nip the nuts up afterwards.

Yes, one of the reasons I chose Worcester as opposed to Birmingham was I thought they might be a bit less busy. I knew today would be bad as it's the end of the month and people who can't use the internet and pensioners who've had weeks to do it, still have to tax their cars (in fact I was stuck between two old farts in the queue, one was a nice old boy who, like me, was trying to avoid getting drawn into a disussion about Arthur Askey with the other chap who was clearly as mad as a box of frogs and seemed to talk in riddles. A sort of elderly Eric Cantona. Fortunately a late double check of my paperwork kept me out of the discussion and I left them to it). They, (the staff there, not the old farts), said that once my inspection was done, I could collect my paperwork after 4 on Thursday or else they'd post it out to me. We'll see if they are true to their word.

Back down to Worcester this morning - they open at 9-00, I was there at 8-20 and was 6th in the queue. I was seen within 3 minutes, they took my V55/5, my V627/1, my donor V5 and reciept, my kit reciept and my insurance. They booked me in for my Built Up Inspection which is on Wednesday at 10-30 so all being well I should get all my paperwork back and be legal by the weekend - possibly.

V55/5 Thanks too to Red Trev for the loan of a rear fog lamp switch.

Finally passed my retest at Derby this afternoon. Inspection took 20 minutes max as mostly visual stuff. Thanks to Gaz for his help, both today and also countless times during my long build. Just the last few DVLA hoops to jump through which started this afternoon with a dash to Worcester DVLA office. Due to traffic, I arrived 2 minutes before they closed! Still, at least they gave me the correct forms to replace the ones Kermit at the Brum office gave me. I'll be back there first thing Monday and see if I can get a build inspection later in the week. Nearly there now and chuffed the IVA experience is behind me now.

...apparently! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Robin-hood-kit-car-/140624393367?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item20bdddf497 Makes we wonder what I've been messing about at for so long. A couple of weekend should easily see this finished off. (btw - the advert is NTDWM)

So it's £100 for an additional driver (sharing car) as stated in the O.P. and not £20 as stated here: http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=340itemid&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1 Looks like the problem here isn't any difficulty with reading, just the interpretation of conflicting information.

Good thought - I could cover the logo with a thin plate for the test and then remove it later. I also had a read up on the wipers and it seems that it's not quite how I understand it - the wipers need to be 2 speed. one speed needs to be at least 45 cycles / minute. Additional speeds need to be between 10 and 55 cycles / minute. The difference between the highest and the lower frequency needs to be at least 15 cycles / minute. So with 38 and 45 cycles / minute, my slow speed is too fast and my fast speed is only just fast enough (not sure this makes things easier or not). I also forgot another fail point - no jack and wheelbrace in the car. there needs to me a means of checking the service brake linings from outside or underneath the car. Front pads are easy to see through the wheels but the rear drums mean that the shoes aren't visible so the presence of a jack and wheelbrace means the wheel could be removed and the drum taken off to check the shoes. I did remember after the test though that the Sierra backplate has a window in it to allow inspection of the shoes. For the re-test I'll drop a jack and brace in the car but I'll point out that there's an inspection window so the tester is aware of it.

All easy except the wiper speed that I don't have a solution for currently. Tips? Just check that you're OK on anything that I failed on but with no screen, wipers or spare wheel you've got a bit less to worry about. I got no comments for cable clipping, brake pipes or any general build issues just loads of sharp edges so maybe they've got a thing about sharp edges in Derby. Maybe I need to drop in one evening after work for a chat - drop me a pm.

Right, I’ll get straight to the point following my IVA this morning at Derby. I got there bright and early at 7-15 for an 8-00 start and no delays due to fuel leaks this time. However it Failed. I didn’t have high expectations of a pass so I suppose I didn’t come away disappointed. The tester was Mick, who was training Keith (didn’t realise that the Stones were finding gigs that hard to come by!) Keith will actually be the tester at Kidderminster if they ever actually open for business so as he was training, I knew I would be in for a kicking. The testers were both pretty fair and had some useful comments to make. Obviously some of the fail points are (I think) open to a degree of interpretation so rather than offer my opinion, I’ll list them here and you can make your own mind up. 1. OSF brake flexi hose just catching lower wishbone of full right lock (easy fix, rotate hose slightly). 2. Edge trim to be added to panel behind the seats (rad not big enough). In the picture below I need to add edge trim to the forward edge of the horizontal vinyl covered panel in the area between the inboard harness mounts. (easy fix) 3. Steering wheel centre – sharp edges apparently on the countersunk screws that hole the wheel on. (Fairly easy fix – just need to make a centre pad for my nice Momo wheel). 4. Sharp edges on the following: Upper seatbelt mounts, 2 corners of the Boot panel at the side of the car and underside of the headlamp mounts (easy fix with some edge trim). The tester did siggest making some stitched pouches to cover the seatbelt mounts and attach then with Velcro!! Is that classed as a permanent fix? 5. Sharp edges on Spare wheel – the edges of the tread blocks themselves. (Fixed with a complete cover over the tyre, although the centre of the spare wheel currently houses my numberplate and high stop lamp) see below. 6. Sharp edges on screen supports arount ‘7’ logo. This was in the wide cut out part at the 9 o’clock position on the logo. (Fairly easy fix – remove screen supports and fettle all edges around the laser cut profile) 7. Front direction indicators – too far inboard. My extension wasn’t big enough (none of the girls ever complained!) Basically either the tester or I can’t measure properly. I was pretty sure I’d got them ok but apparently they need to be another 50mm wide each side. See bottom photo. 8. Rear fog lamp switch – wrong icon on switch. My switch had the front icon not the rear one. (Fix by replacing switch with one with the correct icon or remove icon and attach permanent label or (most likely) get handy with the white paint and small brush. 9. Rear fog lamp not vertical enough – (fix by cutting down the plastic wedge behind the lamp) 10. Front wipers – the slow speed sweeps too slow (needs to be 45 cycles / min and it was about 38 and the fast speed should be at least 15 cycles more than the slow speed, mine was around 45 cycles) (Not sure of the fix for this one yet). The motor is a Mini one which is brand new and the linkage, although old, isn’t kinked and is well greased. Firstly I’ll try it with no arms or blades to see what the speed is like and I’ll take it from there. If anyone knows if you can gear the motor up a bit I’d like to hear about it. So about 10 fail points (though some cover several areas). Nothing too tricky other than the wiper motor and the (frankly laughable) spare wheel cover (anyone I reverse over will no doubt be eternally grateful). The test started at 8-15 and was done around 11-30 so three and a quarter hours then about another 30 minutes for the paperwork at the end, although it was no doubt slower than normal due to the training element involved which shows that they could probably have done 90% of the test on my first visit despite my being 40 minutes late or at the very least they could have maybe picked up on some of the more minor points by having a 15 minute walk round the car. Ah well, live and learn. On the whole the tester said it was a good build as he’s seen a few horrors and as soon as he sees Robin Hood booked in for a test, he fears the worst. My biggest worries generally passed easily – mirrors, Exhaust noise (93.7dB), screen marking (which I hardly recall him checking). Due to time constraints I didn’t do any fettling on the day other that adjusting the speedo calibration while it was on the rollers as it was under-reading – a 3 minutes job with a small screwdriver. No re-test planned yet. It will need to be a Friday afternoon to avoid more costly unpaid time off work (2 IVA test fees and on unpaid day off so far plus a re-test fee). Very nearly there but not quite there yet.

Thanks for the good wishes guys. I've got everything crossed for tomorrow and I'll stick a post up as soon as I can after the test.