niduncan

I have a pair of Intatrim Odyssey seats in my Series III. I bought these at Stonleigh but Intatrim advertise in the Kit Car magazines. They fit very well, the drivers seat has adjustable seat runners so that the wife can drive the car occasionally. I also had problems with the top of the screen being in my eyeline ( I am 6'3") so I raised the complete windscreen by 3 inches and covered the gap between the bottom of the screen and the scuttle with a piece of sheet steel. I had to extend the windscreen supports to mount the door hinges as well. Hope this helps. Nigel.

Mine looks like this.

Bought the following clutch cable today: Quinton Hazel QCC1585 - Sierra 2.0i Cosworth (Exc 4x4) (1985-93) £10.49 from my local auto parts shop. The overall length of this cable is 72 inches (183cm) which enables it to be routed over then down and under the alternator, well away from the exhaust manifold. The ends of the cable are standard Sierra fittings and there is plenty of free cable at the quadrant end.

A Series III in the fens.

I bought a pair of wedges from RS Jigtec just before they ceased trading. To save the hastle of removing the half shafts I cut the wedges in half, this meant I only had to remove the bearing plate bolts, slide in the two halfs then replace the bolts. Nice and easy with not a drop of diff oil spilt.

I used to have capri clocks with a sierra sender in my hood. The sierra sender unit I used (1983 vintage) has 3 sensor built into it. There are 3 terminals on the socket, the following are measured (in ohms) from each one individually to earth. ______Pin1___Pin2____Pin3 MIN----161------36------1372 1/4------92------78 1/2------55-----110-------180 3/4------27-----165 MAX-----19-----195-------179 Pin 2 is nearest the earth post, Pin 1 is furthest away. I used Pin 1 and the guage indicated OK but it was not linear. I think Pin 3 is used for low fuel warning lamp. Does your new sierra sender have 3 sensors? If you put the sender wire directly to earth the gauge should indicate full, if not then check wiring to gauge or could be a duff guage. Nigel.

Hi, Is a granada diff the same fitting as a sierra? Mine is an early diff with a through bolt at the top. Salty Monk recommends a 3.92:1 to improve acceleration. The tag on my diff was unreadable due to rust so I had to take the tag off and sand it down to read the markings. It would be interesting to see what the granada one is if its not too much trouble. There are a stacks of scrap yards in Peterborough, some of which break cars so parts are available off the shelf. This was where I hoped to get one from. Cheers.

Thanks chaps, My current diff came off a 1983 2.0L Ghia manual, it cannot be original then Rizla as it should have been a 3.62:1 accoding to the VIN plate. I shall look out for a 3.62 or 3.92 which will improve acceleration. The diff does have a through top bolt, thanks Salty Monk, as I was not aware that the design had changed on latter models.

If you cant be ARSED to read the question properly then don't bother replying! I had already read this but this is only any good if the diff is still on the doner. I want to identify a diff that has already been removed from a car.

Does anybody know how to identify the ratio of a sierra diff from its markings? My current diff is a 3.62:1, if it is original, as the donor VIN plate shows the axle to be a type "V". Donor was a 2.0l Ghia. The tag on the diff reads: 83BG4006 LC A 338 3J06 (Could the 338 signify a 3.38:1?) Markings on the casing are: 83 BG 4003 AE 27 7 83 (Manufacture date I assume as donor was an "A" reg) 174791 99110 I want to get another diff from a scrappy but would like to know what I am buying. My current diff whines and there is some play in it. I am experiencing some clutch judder, the clutch has done less than 10000 miles, I have put in a new clutch cable and quadrant. I would like to try another diff before taking out engine and gearbox. Any ideas?

I used to have Capri clocks in my Series III. I connected one of the wires directly to the battery and the other directly to the output of the alternator. Can't remember which colour to which though. To test if it is working correctly turn the ignition on and the headlights, the meter should go negative indicating that the battery is not being charged. With the engine running the meter should never go negative as the alternator is supplying enough power to cope with the load. I believe the meter is actually a very sensitive voltmeter, which in a Capri measured the potential difference across a resistive wire. This resistive wire was not fitted in my hood so I suspect that the meter showed less movement as it is measuring the potential difference accross a straight piece of wire between battery and alternator.

The winning car.

I went to the Maxey Classic & Thoroughbred Car Show which was near Peterborough on Saturday. I was there with the National Kit Car Club with my Series III and 6 other cars from the club. The show has become very popular and overall there were about 250 vehicles in total, the weather helped as it was a scortcher of a day. There were about 40 kit cars and amazingly my hood won the kit car class! Just goes to show that Robin Hood's can compete with the best of them!

On my series III the rear coilover shocks are 15 1/2 inches fully open, 10 3/4 inches closed and 14 inches with the weight of the car on them. The spring length is 9 inches uncompressed. Not sure what the poundage is as they are not marked.

The sierra sender unit has 3 sensor built into it. There are 3 terminals on the socket, the following are measured from each one individually to earth. ______Pin1___Pin2____Pin3 MIN----161------36------1372 1/4------92------78 1/2------55-----110-------180 3/4------27-----165 MAX-----19-----195-------179 Pin 2 is nearest the earth post, Pin 1 is furthest away. Hope this help.

Hi, I had a set of capri clocks in my series III until recently, over the winter I made a new dash with VDO clocks. The capri clocks definately need the voltage regulator as this feeds the rev counter, fuel and temp guages. I used the sierra fuel sender and it worked OK but the reading was not linear. The water temp used a yellow sendor. I went around a scrap yard and removed every pinto sender I could find, they are colour coded. I tried each one to try and get a normal reading in the centre of the scale. The oil pressure is capillary so you will need the tube and end piece that screws into the engine block. The ammeter is somewhat contraversial, do a search on "capri clocks" to see how it is thought to work. Hope this helps.

Wheels have now been sold, thank you.

Any of you guys or girls admit to running a Volvo estate? Yes! then how about a genuine Volvo full lenght aluminium roofrack. Originally for a 240 but I have modified it to fit a 940 as well. Will only fit a 940 with gutters. £50 I live in South Lincolnshire, 15 miles north of Peterborough. Buyer to collect. Please PM or e-mail. Nigel.

Set of 5 pepperpots which need some tlc e.g. a lick of paint. Four of the wheels are fitted with Kumho Ecsta 185/60R14 82H tyres with about 6mm of tread, the fifth wheel (was my spare) has a Goodyear Eagle NCT with 3mm of tread. £50. I live in South Lincolnshire, 15 miles north of Peterborough. Buyer to collect. Please PM or e-mail. Nigel.

OK, but as long as you don't tell the wife! lowtension currently sell a set of clocks, speedo, rev counter, oil pressure, fuel, water temp and voltmeter for £300, they also sell on ebay which is where I picked mine up for £230. I also bought a matching time clock for £30 and a speed sensor that plugs on the end of the speedo cable for £45. Not cheap but they look a lot better than the capri clocks I had and they also give the correct readings. Merlin Motorsport also sell VDO clocks but they are very expensive from them.

Hi Zims, Over the winter I replaced the Capri clocks in my Series III with a set of VDO clocks bought from Lowtension. The speedo is electronic and they supplied a sensor that the current speedo cable plugs into (nice and easy). To calibrate the speedo all you have to do is drive a measured mile. Find a straight bit of road and measure a mile in your tintop and remember the start and stop points. On the speedo you press the button at the start of the mile and then again at the end and it is then calibrated. The set of clocks came with new oil, water and fuel sensors so all the clocks indicate correctly. The clock wiring will all have to be new and connected to your existing wiring, I used four 6-way plugs. When you take out the capri clocks you should be able to work out what wire feeds what clock, carefully document this and the new wiring will be straight forward. Hope this helps.

Hi Mike, Had the same problem on my Series III. Bought plastic bushes from Lolocost which is part of RHSC. £1 for two halves. They might even post them if you are lucky. Nigel.

Standard 2.0l pinto with 32/36 DGV gives me 34 to the gallon.

I have a Series III with standard 2.0l brakes, vented disks front and rear drums. I have run the car with and without the servo. Without the servo the pedal is is hard and it takes a lot of effort to stop the car, it was possible to lock the brakes but I really had to stand on the pedal. With the servo fitted driving is a lot more comfortable, the pedal is much softer but it is easier to lock the front wheels. The car is not fitted with the deceleration sensitive valve.

Hi Kevin, I recently bought a set from RS Jigtec, they cost £25 + p/p + vat = £36. They are 6mm at the top and 3mm at the bottom, made of steel so need painting to stop rusting. They straighten the wheels up nicely on my Series III. Nigel.