richyb66

My girlfriend always likes to have the last word in an argument - anything I say after that is the start on a new one.

If you're a regular poster on the Reliant Robin forum, can you only get 3 wheels or is the 4th a spare?

Read it and weep. http://www.chinacartimes.com/2011/03/15/qingdao-man-unhappy-with-his-lambo-destroys-it-on-national-consumer-day-with-sledgehammer-team/

This is the internal wiring of the early stalks (positive switching).

I went dogging with the missus last night. By the time she'd parked the car, everyone had left.

I paid £350 to get 2 front arches, 2 Superspec rear wings and a nosecone painted in pearl orange. It's not a mint job but it's looks fine and fibreglass will never look as good painted as metal unless you do an awful lot of blocking down first because the moulds aren't that good to start off with. In the past I would have sprayed it myself in cellulose, put plenty on and wet flatted it smooth but as a lot of paint now is base and clearcoat (and the pearl is a 4 stage process), I decided to give it a miss. Paintwork is one of those things where you temd to get what you pay for. Maybe your best option is to sort the cracks out and get the panels prepped and then just get someone to do the spraying. Whatever you do you've got to get the paint but at least you can minimise the labour. Have a quick look at this thread - http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/showthread.php?t=46004

It fine here in Birmingham

Like this? http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/ADJUSTABLE_FAN_CONTROLLER_THERMOSTAT_STAT I've used this too.

I'm not familiar with the Autosparks loom but first off you'll need to identify which stalks you've got as there's several different types. Have a look at this post http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=24404&st=0&p=189388entry189388 Then if you stick "stalk wiring" (without the quotes) in the search function that'll give some more results - there's plenty of information there to get you going and you can fire off more questions from there. The local meet is at the Malt Shovel pub on the A45 by the NEC - last Wednesday of the month (so next Wednesday) from around 7ish

Seems this thread has diverted somewhat from the original topic. Dans original post stated that all 4 tyre were budget ones. It later turned out that that they were 4 different types of tyre, of different sizes, all with different load ratings and only one of them rated correctly. To my mind I'm thinking that the failure possibly has more to do with incorrect load ratings and sizes rather than the cost of the tyres which I why I was making what I think is a valid point about budget tyres. There have been a number of statement in these posts like "cheap nasty tyres", "poorly made" and "cheap budget tyres" when in fact the issue here would seem to be "not used in the application they were designed for" Yes Dan had a lucky escape and we're all aware of how different the outcome might have been but the issue with the tyre sizes and the load ratings could have been avoided if it was spotted earlier - hence my statement about regular checks. This thread has over 300 views, I wonder how many readers have thought "I've not checked my tyres lately - I'll go and have a look now"? I have an absolutely clear conscience about my own choise of tyre. I consider them fit for purpose, they are the correct load rating and so far everything is fine. Like you, I'm also basing my decision on years of experience but on this issue it looks like we'll have to agree to dis-agree. Yes budget tyres can fail but so can the premium brands. I accept that ultimately a premium tyre will outperform a budget but in my application this would probably be at a point way outside of my driving envelope and I've always maintained that if you're getting anywhere near the limit of your tyres performance, you really should be looking more at how you're driving rather that the depth of your pocket.

So basically the issue appears to be tyres of the wrong size, different sizes and the wrong load rating, and not related to them being budget tyres? In my experience budget tyres aren't all bad news. I used to run Premium brand tyres on my VW T4 - that's 2254/40ZR18 XL which were around £150 a corner. As I do around 40k a year I was getting through 2 sets of tyres a year so I switched to budget tyres to give them a go as they're around half the price. I have to say that I honestly can't tell the difference, they last just as long, seem to grip well enough and I haven't had any other issues with them. Granted I'm not driving at 10/10ths all the time but then it is a 2 tonne van and long spells of high speed autobahn cruising aren't exactly a daily occurance. I've also had some bone-crunching pot-hole strikes too and no signs of punctures, bulges or cracking. With the state of the road lately it seems that regular checking of your tyres sooms to be even more important now - though they never were a "fit and forget" item.

Agreed, maybe the kit manufacturers need to be a bit more forward thinking, once the donors get difficult to obtain then they'll struggle to sell kits. The trouble is, if you're looking for a single vehicle donor and want rear wheel drive, the options quickly become limited.

Wow, thought I'd woken up in 1991 - maybe it's time to move on from Sierras as decent ones are getting a bit thin on the ground now and tend to be overpriced. How about Nissan 200SX

Looks more like a very poor attempt by whoever made the silencer to make it a bit quieter before it was welded together by introducing some additional restriction.

Except of course that the so called "donor package" from GBS doesn't always seem to include a V5 which could complicate registration and leave you with a Q plate because the donor parts have no provenance. Also it's difficult to check the functionality of electrical parts when they're just a load of loose bits - which can make wiring a difficult and hair pulling exercise. Better to get a complete running car, you can tell what works and what doesn't both mechanically and electrically. You can ensure that the engine number correctly matches the V5 and at the end you'll get an age related plate. Ultimately it's down to what engine you want to end up with and whether you mind having a Q plate. If you want minimum hassle and are happy with a Pinto in a Zero then just get any 2 litre Sierra but if you want a Zetec or something different (i.e. not fitted as standard in a Sierra) then you either buy mostly new or reconditioned components (no single donor) and get a new registration, or get a donor car (and don't use the engine), source the engine elsewhere and end up with a Q plate. I should say that all a Q plate means is that the origin (exact age) of the vehicle cannot be determined by the parts that it is made from (parts come from several sources) - this might affect the value of the vehicle if you sell it later as there seems to be a stigma attached to Q plates in some quarters.

Changed from outwards to inwards in unbder a minute - impressive!

The manual isn't exactly clear (not much use considering it's a safety critical area), the wording is that "A brake pipe or hose must not be fouled by moving parts", "A brake pipe or hose must not be kinked, stretched, or twisted." and "A brake pipe or hose must be adequately clipped or otherwise supported." The fixing distance between clips isn't defined but generally 300mm seems to have been used as a guide. There's also nothing that specifically excludes cable ties and a big cable tie would be just as strong as a plastic P clip but they would probably fail them on the basis that they're not a method of fixing used by a normal manufacturer. Plastic P clips are the way to go, no more than 300mm between clips and fixed to anything that doesn't move (chassis or panel).

That's for current IVA, I think on the Sierra the rear fog will work with any lights on, Fed from a common battery feed in to Terminal 30 of the light switch (Red wire)then out of terminal 58 (Grey wire), via fuse 7 up to the rear fog switch (Grey/yellow wire).

Ok, just checked my car and the ignition feed from Terminal 15 goes to the thick BLACK/YELLOW wire in the Premier harness. ESCII ignition pack wiring should be as this diagram: http://nw.rhocar.org/ESC2.htm The tacho feed wire, LT GREEN in the Premier harness goes to Terminal 1 on the coil (coil -ve)- also connected to ECU pin 1. Depending on what what instruments you're using, the Tacho is pulsed by this -ve feed, it should be all you need.

I had a similar problem when I lived in Scunthorpe.

I used a Premier loom and this is what I did. The ignition feed is Terminal 15 on the ignition switch, which should be a BLACK/YELLOW wire up as far as grey connector on the switch. I'm not 100% sure what colour wire this connects to on the Premier loom as I can't look at the car at the moment. According to the Premier instructions it might be BLACK/YELLOW (matching the Ford switch wiring but it could be BLACK/RED (more later) - I will confirm this tonight when I'll have a look at the car. The engine spur on my Premier loom has a BLACK/RED wire which is shown as "12v SUPPLY SCREEN WASH" on the ENGINE SPUR listing but in fact I used this as the 12v feed for the ignition pack and also the horn relay. This is one of the four differences that I found in the instructions, the others being as follows: On the ENGINE SPUR page: MAIN SUPPLY - identified as BROWN when in fact it's RED (clearly it wouldn't be BROWN as these are all earths). STARTER SOLENOID - identified as BLACK/BLUE WHEN IN FACT IT WAS BLUE/BLACK On the REAR LOOM page: PETROL GAUGE - identified as GREEN/BLACK when it was BLUE/BLACK The ENGINE SPUR page has a bit in the text about connecting the BLACK wire to the ignition positive or ignition pack, I ignored this as it made no sense at the time (may not even have been a BLACK wire in the loom), and connected the BLACK/RED wire as described above and it works fine. The only other black wiring on my Premier harness is one that is a 12v feed to terminal 15 on the dip switch (but only if you have the BG83 (switched live) switches - otherwise it's unused and taped up. This is about my only criticism of the Premier loom, not having a wiring diagram makes finding out what feeds what rather difficult but I managed to get all Mine working ok by making the changes that I've indicated above. Fortunately I'm pretty savvy with wiring so it wasn't a massive problem but I can see why you might be struggling. What ignition system are you using, one with or without the ignition pack? This will affect the rev counter wiring. Keep asking the questions and stick with it - you'll get there.

Me and Jackie will be there and probably early for a change.

What about reverse gear if you want to get through IVA? I know that boxes with reverse are available to fit bike engines but aren't cheap.

I can't see that it's a problem, most people only pinch there avatar from somewhere else anyway - I know I did!

Yes, about 2" foward of the splines, in a counterbore in the end of the crank. As Woolly said, if you didn't remove the old one it should be there and as they can be a sod to remove, I think you'd remember if you'd taken the old one out.