ibrooks

That's what I was getting at. At one point the roughest Hood you could imagine would fetch £3k if it was registered and had an MOT because that's what people were prepared to pay. At the moment people don't seem to be prepared to spend their money on this type of car and so you can pick up a decent basic example for that sort of money and the rougher ones don't fetch as much. My current valuation was sort of borne out by what his bidding got to - a fraction over £3k. He may well get more this time around and if he does then that's the market at work. Daz - we ain't buying but we do worry because we are nice people and don't want to see someone who we will probably want to join our group stung by buying something on a misleading description (whether it was deliberate or not). We've no doubt all been caught on the recieving end of that and would like to shake our respective sellers warmly by the neck so I say good for us that we're trying to defend people we don't know from the same thing. Iain

I've got a set in a 1600 Pinto that are surplus to my requirements - you can have them if you come and get them. Iain

You would spend £2k on a donor???? Bearing in mind that the donor is a Sierra I'll sell you as many as you want at half that and they'll have MOT's. For £2k you're getting towards rough Cosworth territory which your's definitely isn't. The basic kit was much less than £3k. Given the style of the rear arches it's a 2B - you also state that it's got the donor registration number which means it didn't go through SVA. Assuming nothing dodgy has gone on (someone has bought a cheap/dead Hood of some sort and transferred the ID to a 2B that they have built) that means it's one of the first batch and it was built very quickly to be registered before SVA came in and all the loopholes were closed. So the price for the kit was the introductory offer that I got mine for and that was £1500. But....... then I'd question the build date as SVA was most definitely in force by then. The position of the clocks would also seem to preclude it being one of the first batch of 2B's as they had two straight vertical tubes behind the dash in the centre, the clocks wouldn't fit between them and were supposed to be fitted above the steering column - the chassis was then changed to have the two tubes splay out above the tunnel and allow the clocks to go in the centre and for the column to be raised making getting in and out easier. I'm not saying it's definitely dodgy but there's a definite odour that I would want clearing before I parted with my hard-earned. Time was that a Hood with an MOT was worth £3k minimum. Nowadays that's a maximum for a decent basic example and only something special will fetch more than that. It's not so much a commentary on Robin Hoods as the economy/market since these are essentially a luxury item that people can quite happily do without so those in hardship can't afford them and those who do have the spare cash to spend on a toy maybe won't just in case things get worse or carry on as badly as they have been. Performance tin-tops like your Type-R and R32 aren't quite so badly effected as they are still a practical proposition as every day transport so people will spend just that little bit extra on the hot version of a car they might have bought anyway. Iain

No - that'll make sparks. Hold it securely somehow. Connect the negative lead to the body of the starter. The positive goes to the shiny nut in the one pictured here. Nothing should happen at this point. Some starters have a big spade connector which is just connected to the positive battery connection and is where the power comes from to feed the rest of the car (usually via the fusebox). In some cases that wire just has a big ring connector and piggy-backs with the main battery connection. It's irrelevant for testing the motor's operation but should be live with the main battery connection on the big terminal. There should also be a smaller spade or connector on the solenoid somewhere - that's the start switch. You now need to supply 12v to that smaller connection. A short jumper wire is OK from the main battery connection - at that point there should be a loud click as the pinion is thrown out and the motor should spin (and try to tie itself in knots with the wires you've connected which is why you secured it to something first). Iain

Actually I almost suggested that - Argos catalogues with the spines cut off work well. Iain

Problem is that will only give you the turn whilst the "proper" ones will float as well as turn to allow for changes in track as the suspension rises and falls. However.. it doesn't take a big modification to that design to incorporate that. I've seen a simpler version of yours made with two pieces of quarter steel. A drill is used to put a tapered hole in the middle (i.e. something like a half-inch drill used to ust put a countersink in the centre of each plate). The two plates are placed together with the countersinks facing each other and a ball bearing in the middle. The countersink's depth is tweaked to just allow the plates to clear each other and a good smear of grease goes between the whole lot. Very effective. For a floating design you need three picees of steel/wood. Two are left flat and are top and bottom. The piece destined for the middle has a six-inch-ish circle cut out of the middle and is then fastened to the base plate. From the cutout you make a four-inch-ish disc and drill a series of holes oround it's outer edge. This sits in the circular hole in the base and ball-bearings go in the holes. Now the top goes on and that top plate can float as well as swivel. To refine it somewhat four springs are fastened to the disc at 90 degrees to each other and to the outer edge of the hole it sits in and these give it a degree of self centring. A one inch hole is drilled in the centre of the disc and a bolt used in the top plate in it's centre to act as a limit and stop the whole thing from sliding sideways. All do-able in wood and marbles but I'd be worried about the marbles embedding themselves in the ralatively soft wood surface and glass maybe shattering. Steel is harder and the sizes we are talking about are offcuts to any large engineering place who are good to get friendly with anyway. Ball bearings can usually be pulled out of old CV joints or similar so again we're looking through a garages scrap bin and giving them beer in exchange. Iain

SOLD

Rule changes can't be retrospective which is why there are different standards. Whatever standard a car had to meet on the day it was built is what it has to meet forever. When they tighten up the emissions rules they only apply to new vehicles made from then on. Iain

Hi Folks, Due to an administrative error on my part (must pay attention when using ebay) I ended up with two of the things so number two is for sale. It's a nice little kit with adaptors that would seem to cover pretty much any combination you could come across and it all comes in a blow-moulded case. It's obviously brand new and I haven't even opened the package. A tenner? plus whatever it takes to get to you. It's in Darwen for anyone local to come and collect or arrange to meet somewhere near-ish. Failing that it could maybe be relayed to a show or on a run. I'm not likely to make it to Newark (although I'm going to try) but I've no doubt I could ask someone local to take it with them. Failing that I'll be at Cholmondeley. I can post a picture if necessary but it's an Am-Tech one in a red case and there are plenty on ebay around the £15 mark for comparison. Iain

How did I acquire a plus one? Is she good looking? Iain

Although I'm planning to attend with you guys I got roped into organising this for the Mini club and Pippa wanted the confirmation of numbers by today. Just a gentle prod Steve - did you get the same deadline and send the numbers off? I've been a bit cheeky and asked if the Mini club can have an adjacent pitch to RHOCaR as we've got a lot more cars due Sunday than Saturday so I was thinking that we could spread the cars from both clubs across the available space on the Saturday rather than having an empty looking stand. Iain

There are a few guys in the Sierra Club that have used the head and injection system from the RS2K I4 lump but used the 2.3 bottom end from the Scorpio/Galaxy. Again since the 2.3 is an I4 like the Sierra DOHC the changes are absolutely minimal. There are also numerous combinations of Scorpio/Sierra 2.0 and 2.3 engines kicking around. 8v heads and Sierra management running on 2.3 engines is a common one it seems as it's a simpler retro-fit into a Sierra with minimal changes required. There are also engines being built I believe with the Sierra 2.0 crank in a Scorpio 2.3 block (not sure which con-rods and pistons) givine a low compression 2.2 engine which is ripe for forced induction and can apparenty handle it easily as the components are all fairly seriously over engineered. I did seriously consider this as an option for my SPD but have gone for BOA Cosworth power instead. The idea is still out there as a cheapish way of gettig towards the goal of 350+bhp whilst still being able to use the 4x4 system in the future Iain

Does it do the same if you take the petrol cap off? Or when it cuts out have you immediately tried taking the petrol cap off and listening for a hiss of in-rushing air? I've seen similar things when a non-vented cap has been fitted to a sealed system and the petrol being drawn out of the tank was not being replaced by air and eventually enough negative pressure was developed in the tank to prevent the pump drawing fuel. It would restart almost instantly ecause as soon as the engine stopped some air managed to get back into the tank but obviously the sooner you re-started the less of a buffer had built up before it happened again. Iain

There's a difference between "early" and "late" type-9's that went behind 4-pots. Early on the V6 type-9 had a tougher input shaft bearing than the 4-pot (bigger really). At some point this became the standard across the board for type-9's and so the later 4-pot boxes also had the bigger bearing. Makes no difference to the fitting but all else being equal a later box is better and will do more miles/handle more power before throwing in the towel. Iain

It looks extremely similar to the box on a Mercedes Minibus (the ones they also used as Snap-On vans - pre Sprinter). Only I can't think why you would want a Quaife replacement for one of them. Iain

The rear is different but interchangeable - i.e. you can't always take Granada components and stick them onto a Sierra rear axle but you can take the whole rear axle from a Granada and swap it for the Sierra item. Some of the components are the same (driveshafts and diffs for the most part but the Granada does tend to have the larger drive-flange on the lobro shafts whereas only some of the 2wd Cosworth Sierras got them). I think the geometry of the trailing arms and beam are different but the mounting points on the car are the same. The front legs are different but again you can swap the whole thing. The strut of the Granada is the larger diameter that was used on the 4x4 Sierra so you can use Granada struts on a 4x4 Sierra or Sierra 4x4 struts on a Granada and you can use the whole strut and hub from a granada on a Sierra but other combinaions are unlikely to work. This is all very general though and you have to bear in mind that not even all the Granadas had the same components and you can come across combinations where parts from one Granada won't work with parts from another Granada (and the same is true of Sierras). Iain

Abject apologies here folks - tidying up in the garage I've found the three gearsticks. In my defence I have been silly busy trying to get a car on the road as a wedding present (wedding is tomorrow and it finally passed it's MOT on Tuesday). Do you guys still want these? or have you found alternatives? it might be possible for me to get them to someone in my area that's going to Stonleigh this afternoon/evening. Iain

Depends on which box you are talking about. Most Hoods have the type-9 which as stated is generally good for 150bhp but likely to be short-lived after that. There is also the MT75 which is a stronger box but it's quite a bit heavier and it's physically larger which can be difficult if trying to fit it into a Hood. The MT75 was the standard fit on the 2wd Cosworth so 220bhp is likely right for it's limits. Beyond that the next easiest box to fit is going to be the T5 which was fitted to the RS500's - I'm not sure what it's limits are in standard form but it's got a reputation for being brutally strong (it's actually a modification of the contemporary Mustang box so often found on the other side of the pond behind big lazy V8's). Iain

Thing is - if the worst happens do you want to take the risk that the "junior lass" will have anything to do with your claim? I don't think it's as simple as that as I've also had problems with Flux not doing what they said and trying to take extra money. I've just insured a Mini for 7 days for £25 with Backford Bloor so I'd be inclined to try them. Iain

That's the first one to tell whether your paperwork is wrong or the guy in the motor-factors. Does it have independant rear suspension or a live axle? If it's independant then it's going to be Sierra (OK almost anything could have been fitted with enough time and effort by a previous owner but what are the chances?). If it's a live axle then it's most likely Cortina or Dolomite as Robin Hood didn't really design any kits with the RWD Escorts in mind but a live-axle is a lot easier to chop and change than the Sierra IRS. Iain

I've seen three wipers on a Hood - fairly sure the car was also on the cover of Boyz In Hoodz in the old black and white days. However.... the most useable setup I've seen was on a local car (to me) where the wheel-boxes were on opposite ways up and the wipers parked horizontally in the centre and moved away from each other towards vertical at the outer edge. This left a V-shape in the middle that wasn't swept but since the majority of that was behind the rear-view-mirror it wasn't an issue. I think there had been some re-drilling of the wheel in the motor to re-position the peg in order to get the right sweep. Both of mine of course had the conventional setup with two wipers parking pointing towards the passenger side and sweeping to a little over-centre on the drivers side. You can get the plastic/rubber mounts for the wheel-boxes in different angles to accomodate the angle of the scuttle to the screen. You can also get different size cogs in the wheelboxes and combined with the different cogs in the motor itself these give all-sorts of combination of sweep angles. Iain

Are you sure you've been driving a Limited Slip Diff in the off-roaders and not a locking diff (either manual or auto-locking)? Some time ago I remember reading about a bunch of Jag guys who had discovered that the locking diffs from some 4x4 would fit their diffs (some variant of a Salisbury axle I think) and they were far cheaper than the limited slip diffs the rest of their track-day friends had. So a few of them bought these things and fitted them - only to find on the next trackday that their cars had developed a tendancy to spit them out of corners pointing backwards. The auto-locking diffs simply locked up and ceased to be a differential when more than a certain amount of speed difference built up between the rear wheels and this instant snatch just made the things un-driveable. An LSD is much more progressive in action and very seldom actually gets into a completely locked situation. Even if the vehicles you've driven were running slippers rather than lockers I would expect their characteristics to be very different to one designed for primarily on-road use. Iain

I've done that on several occasions with motor insurance companies. I don't usually go back to them for a second quote but when they call asking why I haven't renewed I'll tell them I've got it cheaper elsewhere and when they offer to beat my new quote I tell them they should have quoted their best price in the first place rather than what they thought they could get away with. Iain

Sierras with discs all around but no ABS have a bigger master cylinder which may help giving more pedal travel per pressure if your existing one is from a Sierra with discs and drums. What size are the current front discs? if they are 260mm discs then maybe dropping to 240mm discs (and associated calipers) would help. Failing that it's relatively easy to alter the Sierra pedal box to take a pair of Girling masters with a bias bar - no need to go for anything exotic in the way of floor mounted boxes. Iain

The selector twists back and forth as the gearstick is moved left and right. Horizontal is just where it should be with the stick in the 3rd/4th plane. 1st and 2nd will have the selector rod in the 10/4 position and reverse will have it in the 2/8 position. Get under there and look what happens when someone works the gearstick (obviously with the car safely supported). As they move the stick left and right the rod should turn clockwise and anti-clockwise. As they push the stick back and forth the rod should be shoved in and pulled out of the box. I'd drive the roll pin out of the selector rod on the gearbox end and shove the rod out of the way. Now with a small screwdriver through the roll-pin hole you should be able to work it through the gears. So long as it's not in a gear there should be little or no resistance to turning the rod - if there is then there is a problem inside the box. If the slot is in the 10/4 position pulling it out from the box will give you 1st whilst pushing it into the box gives you 2nd and neutral is in the middle of the two where it can be turned to horizontal where pulling it out gives you 3rd and pushing it in gives you 4th (again neutral is in the middle of the in/out travel). With the rod turned all the way anti-clockwise pushing it into the box will give you reverse. It can sometimes need a turn of the road-wheels to let you select the gears this way as you don't have the lever advantage of the selector mechanism but you should be able to get everything by hand under the car. If the box is dud then it's replacement time and since it lives in the sump on a Mini then the engine has to come out anyway (far easier to leave it in the subframe and lift the body off than trying to squeeze engine and box out through the bonnet opening). You can the split the engine and box and get the box sorted if the engine is a good one but they rarely get split when someone is upgrading or breaking a car so a replacement 998 engine and box is going to be easy to come by and they don't carry the same sort of premium as a 1275+ (yet!) so they are cheap enough to just throw a complete engine and box pair in there rather than mucking about but obviously you want to either drive/be driven in the replacement one or get some sort of assurance that it's good as it's a lot of mucking around to find that it has a similar or other problem once you've got it fitted. Iain