thespannerman

Your car doesnt need a roll over bar to be legal, but if your seat belts bolt to a cross bar welded in make sure it is strong enough for the job (as chunky as possible and correct hight for belt location). Also as the belts bolt to the rollbar it needs bolting down properly. I had some 6mm thick discs welded into the bottom of the main hoop with captive m12 nuts in them bolted through the boot floor with strengthening plates. m12 bolts for the rear stays through the supplied seat belt angle triangulated with tubing into the suspension angle. I also used the U bolts with packing between hoop and the boot sides, so they can be bolted hard onto the rear suspension pick up angle. In this way the rollover bar becomes a stress member holding the rear end together. Car looks brilliant, good job. ps: Where the top of the rear shocks mount I bolted a piece of angle either side of the top eye bolt to make a T profile onto the boot side. I have also seen cars with tubing between the upper seat belt mounts and the rear seat stay bolts. Sorry if I am rambling on, Spanner

Can someone please tell me the OD of the nylon pivot bush, for inboard shock rocking arm front suspension. Keep seeing end noggin off cuts at the auto jumble, comes in varying diameters but dont wish to strip my suspension to check. Hopefully I can keep some for spares without the need for a lathe to make them up.

Thought diff spacers were called washers

They are SVA rear infill panels for a 3 series. When the SVA manual came out it stated that seat belt mounts had to be triangulated. The rear seat belt picked up on a piece of angle under the top edge of the rear panel. The large hole is for the roll bar to go through and the small hole to line up with the seat belt bolt. Then you were supposed to run a line of bolts or rivets along the edge of the boot sides and rear panel tops. What aload of tosh, I just bolted a piece of tubing with flattened ends between the rear rollbar stay bolt and the rear shocker mount angle near to the main roll over bar. SVA man glanced at it and said it looked triangulated - PASS. And thats what they are FACT!!

When bleeding with the rad cap off make sure the end off the expansion overflow pipe is in a big bottle of coolant. So when the rad cap is back on and the engine is cooling down, coolant is drawn back into the radiator not air. Can suck back a good litre.

Tried stamping my stainless but just bounced off. Stamped a stainless off cut on the bench and riveted it to the chassis. Was not questioned at SVA. Doubting it would pass at DVLA office, I heated it up with a butane torch (plumbers aerosol type) and ran a bead of silver solder around the edges. Passed as permanent fixture no problem at DVLA. PS: the stainless was glowing red before the silver solder would run!!

Get my drill bits from ScrewFix, they call them jobber bits? Buy them in packs of ten of whatever size you want for peanuts.

A Robin Hood is not a bolt together car. Every job needs thought and re-engineering. To get you started on the rear sub frame, the strengthening plate (3mm plate with an up turned drilled ear) sits inside the car with the ear bolted by the outer trailing arm pivot bolt. The original rubber donut fixing goes through the plate (centre rubber tube needs cutting down so it bolts up tight when locate through hole). An extra 12mm bolt needs to go through near to the rubber donut into the empty void inthe sub frame (cut a hole in subframe from underneath to clear the bolt head and drill through sub frame, body floor and strengthening plate), this solidly mounts the usually knacked rubber donuts. As for extra strengthening from the front of the car: Beef up the front lower shock mounting points with angle bolted through the floor, top suspension rocking pivot needs plating and the spindle jamming so it doesn't twist with the suspension, if fitting tie bars make up mounts from box section welded to 3mm plate going under the car to bolt through engine mount turrets. You can't get replacement early engine mounts (old ones rock the engine wich smacked my alternator on the steering shaft , use short v-belt ie. classic mini) Get some thick engine mount bobbins bolted to a piece of 3mm plate onto the engine mount turrets. If you fit a 5 speed box you need to cut alot of metal out underneath to get gearbox mount rubber in (Had a H shape welded up from angle to strengthen the area sanwiching the floor with more angle inside). Make sure you have your engine sump cut and shut. Seat belt mounts need alot of thought. I used eyelet mounts bolted through the lower seat backs into angle under the car with captive nuts. Passed my belts over the rollbar cross member onto back panel (triangulate mounts with extra tubing to rear suspension top mounts. As for the back end make your roll over bar the main rear stressed member. Had m12 nuts and plate welded into bottom of maintubes so i could bolt it down through the floor with more 3mm plate. Bolted the rear suspension pickup angle through boot sides with m10 bolts. I packed out the gap between the roll bar and boot sides so Icould U bolt the bar through the boot side into the suspension angle. Thus all the suspension stresses are put into the roll over bar. PM me whenever Spanner.

Have a look at Ralley Design. They do kits with threaded tubes, spring seats and adjuster rings. My 3a came with Robin Hoods own take on the theme, A threaded tube with a big washer welded on the end. Works OK but makes alot of ceaking noises as the spring does not centre and rubbs up and down the threaded tube. (A proper kit has a turned spring seat in the adjuster ring)

Don't worry about the trans tunnel not being centred, they were built like that. The diff doesn't mount centre and the drive shafts are different lengths. Spannerman

Just fitted mine as verticle as poss for SVA and was OK. Stuck mine on with contact adhesive and stuck the innards onto rubber too. Then you only need to drill one small hole for the wires. Run a piece of black insulation tape around the lens to base join as it can be very sharp. Stuck the wires inside wheel arch with sealant and over painted with rubber cote. More concern to get the fog light verticle on some kind of bracket.

I didn't MOT before SVA but still only got one year without MOT. Got it MOTed and TAXed today no problem. Picked up a misfire on way to MOT (feel like fuel, gonna clean out carb) but passed emissions OK at idle. Cheers Spanner.

For SVA last year I used thick black foam cover in vinyl. Stuck it to the wheel centre with contact adhesive (very solid). To remove just use white spirit.

Rally Design do a conversion kit for £13.50 that includes a milled spacer block and short stick. I bought there rose jointed one at Stoneleigh last year (£35) Available in two lengths. Looks proper trick.

C.S.MOT CENTRE were brilliant, got my MOT and new tax disc no problem. Will be using them again. Thanks for the tip Craig. Cheers Spanner.

From my previous thread I'm now looking for a test station. I know there are a few hoodies in the area, so please could you let me know where you MOT your hoods. Thanks again Spanner.

Cheers Mower Man.

My V5 says REBUILT-ASSEMBLED FROM PARTS SOME OR ALL OF WHICH WERE NOT NEW and the tax renewal says AN APPROPRIATE MOT TEST CERTIFICATE. So I was hoping a bit!! Checked online before going to the post office and it also stumbled on the MOT. I'll save my petrol money and book an MOT leaving me nice gaps between MOT, insurance and tax for next year. Still have the 180lb springs on the front, does the suspension need some movement for the MOT? As I know a Motorbike can run with a hardtail?

Taxing and MOT queriey please. My 3a is on the road and correctly registered. SVA on 02/03/09, registered on age related plate 12/03/09. Just renewd my insurance as I drove it to the SVA on the chassis number. Been to get it taxed at post office today, computer says no as there's no MOT. Explained it was first registered and issued a tax disc with no MOT on 12/03/09. So I am still in the same tax disc year ie. tax due end of Feb. Planning to go to Lincoln DVLA ofice next week or is it just a waste of petrol and time. If I have to MOT it can I have it dated to 12/03/09 ? or will that **** up the MOT computer aswell? Any views greatly recieved.

If it has four connections and you only need three, ie. run single brake pipe to rear. Simply blank off one of the rear connectors on the master cylinder with a bleed nipple.

My home made castor gauge has V cuts that sit over top and bottom ball joints, so I need my wheels off to take measurements. Set my toe in sat on wheels with two paralell strings running length of car tied between axle stands. My 3A still has 180lb springs on the front, so my geometry wont change if an elephant sat on the bonnet. Really need to fit some softer front springs, but at the minute its handling is brilliant.

Wasn't there a case years ago where an 8 year old girl went to the vatican? And the pope wouldn't saction a termination, ON RELIGEOUS GROUNDS!!

Spent three and a half years on my build, been on the road for nearly a year still with a plywood and gaff tape interior. When your building you seem to be throwing more and more money at it and get nowhere. Can be very demoralising and you feel like it will never make it onto the road at all. But when you have a new log book in your hand the pressure on your shoulders is lifted. As for deadlines my SVA came through quick with a big list left and only a week to go. Spent all day Saturday in the garage. Back in at 8am on Sunday, came out of garage at 5:30am on Monday! Quick shower, grabed all my paper work on the road for 6:50am. Arrived for 8:00am test 5 mins late and passed SVA first time! Keep going it'll be worth it.

Clean them up, paint them and fit some new bearings. then they'll be like new.

Run a 3A with no servo no problem. Use the master cylinder in the kit through an unmodified mini brake limiter to the rear drums. Love the feel and fead back you get. Just need to apply the brake and then squeeze the pedal to alter the brake pressure. Never had a problem with being under braked, hate production cars riding the pedal on tip toes. ps: I run xr4 callipers and vented discs. REMEMBER - APPLY & SQUEEZE