ibrooks

One car it was fitted to was the Reliant Scimitar (early Essex V6 engined cars). Dunno why they changed but it was replaced with the DGAS. Looking at the Scimitar manual it doesn't look much different to the DGAS but more I couldn't tell you. Iain

This would be down to the weight limit. A trailer or towed vehicle must not be more than 75% of the weight of the towing vehicle. Someone must have worked out that most cars brakes are up to stopping 175% of their own weight. If the trailer is braked then the max weight can be higher. You can get modified versions of the A-Frame which will operate the brakes but so long as the weight is lower than 75% you're OK in the UK. Foreign parts are no-doubt different. Iain

Minilite are a manufacturer. They made the style of wheel that Mini Coopers originally got and then for many other cars as the design is inherently strong whilst also having good ventilation properties (most important on drum braked cars). Since then there have been a huge number of copies made for just about every car you can think of. The standard Ford PCD is 108mm as Piddy said. Are the wheels 4 stud? is their PCD actually 100mm. From memory the Mini has a PCD of 100mm but I'm not surprised a 14" wheel wouldn't fit under his arches. Rover had to re-cut the front arches and seriously modify the front suspension when they fitted 13" wheels on the sportspack Minis. Dredged up from long term storage I think Moggy Minors are also a 100mm PCD so that's a possibility if not a likelyhood for a 14" rim. No doubt there are others. If I'm right about the Minor then maybe Triumphs possibly MGB. Iain

I towed the 2B (sliding pillock) to it's SVA re-test on my A-Frame and apart from the paint issue no probs but like the guys say you're not meant to do it except in an emergency and there are weight/speed restrictions. Towing dollies are just fine if they're the right ones. Some have two small wheels very close together (suspect this is what Jim has used and I agree - don't touch them with a barge-pole). The proper ones have the wheels set far apart and a spectacle arrangement in between. The towed vehicle's wheels sit between the dolly's wheels and it isn't actually lifted much above 6 inches off the ground. I've seen several of these and the one I'd like is the Parrymore version as it is also braked which means you can tug heavier stuff (or use a smaller car to do the tugging). Iain

The current 2.1 has an FR34 (sports injection) cam and valves like dustbin lids (130bhp not set up properly on the standard injection setup). It's built for lots and lots of torque rather than loony power, it can't half shift a Sierra - think it may take some getting used to in a Hood (possibly with the aid of an LSD). The 2.1 the carb came from has a 285 cam (piper) and I'm not sure about the rest. It could move the Capri at a quite respectable pace and Mitch seemed happy with it (he left me for dead in my standard 2.0 S7). It actually seems to be rich at tickover (very petrolly smelling exhaust and if I look down the primary choke I can see the accelerator flap has drips of fuel on it) but it will rev fine under no load. I'll stick the mirrors on and re-fit the bonnet and take it for a drive and see just how bad it is. I was hoping someone would know what the standard settings of the DGAS are likely to be without having to dis-mantle it and check the jets. All I'm looking for is to get it driveable to do some shakedown runs and check nothing is going to fall off because it's done sod-all mileage under it's own steam since SVA. Once I've got a few runs on the clock I'm going to book it in for a session at a rolling road to get it properly tuned. If the DGAS won't be too far out as Standard then I'll swap to that as a first hit because it would be nicer to get that set-up until I go EFI rather than having to settle for the DGAV in the meantime. I just picked the DGAV as it seemed like it should have been the simpler option. Iain

Wotcher folks, I've fitted the 2.1 that was in my Sierra into the Hood. In the Sierra it was running with the standard EFI system but was somewhat limited by it (went fine but nowhere near it's potential). I have fitted a carb that was on a 2.1 in a Capri (now in Mitch's 2B). It's running but not very well (won't tick-over alone etc). Now I'd assumed that the carb would be jetted somewhere near right (yes I know but.....) or at least close enough for the time being but maybe not. Does anyone have a suitable idiots guide to these things that I could have a copy of (or if your local that I could borrow). What I'm trying to do is use the adjustment to get it running acceptably until I can get it to a specialist. The carb is a 32/36 DGAV (I think it's a DGAV). Failing this I have a 38 DGAS which has just come off an Essex V6 - does anyone know what the jetting is going to be like on this direct from it's original use? I'm guessing that the power output of the 2.1 is actually going to be slightly higher than the standard 3.0 but the characteristics are going to be quite different. I have a set of 38mm throttle-bodies and a Megasquirt which is going to be the final solution but not just yet so I need it running well enough for the moment to get some miles under the wheels until then. Iain

My number at collection was 2b1118. Since it was the August 99 one it most certainly wasnt the 1118th. However at one point when I phoned RHE (it was back then) someone read it back to me as 2B1-118 which made me think that maybe I was the 118th person to have ordered one from batch one maybe those with 2xxx numbers are batch 2 number xxx. Just a thought. Iain

Burton do various spacers and whatnot. Colin I may be chasing you for more details soon as I'm going to be trying to mate a type-9 to the business end of an Essex soon. This will probably sound familiar to most Hoodies - I currently have two type-9 boxes a mkI Capri 3000 gearbox and a Scimitar gearbox sat on the deck in the garage. Hopefully I'll be able to get enough bits from the 4 to shoehorn one of the type-9's into the Scimitar. Iain

Failing that if someone were to take a hammer and visit him - they could bash his knuckles until they bled and bring back all the memories of building his. Most of my memories of building mine involve copious quantities of my blood being spilt on it. Iain

The first 2B collection day was in August 1999 - that's when I got mine. And I only got it through SVA this summer well I was busy.

The ammeter goes in-line between the alternator and the battery - if you're getting 60 amps along there then stand by with the extinguisher. The 60 amp rating of the alternator is simply what it's capable of at full tilt. In practice it'll never get anywhere near that. 60 amps is what auntie Ford thought a Sierra might possibly need with every electrical toy that could be fitted to a Sierra being used at once plus a little safety margin - main-beam, fogs, brake-lights, heater, heated-rear-screen, electric windows going up and down (all 4), elecric mirrors being adjusted (both at once), heated mirrors (my Sierra had them) stereo at full blast, cigarette lighter and and..... We simply don't have most of that stuff. What the ammeter actually measures is the current supplied to or drawn from the battery. This will initially be quite large (several whole amps at least) as the battery is recharged after starting the engine but will then be almost nothing as it comes back up to voltage. The next swing you may see will be a negative as lots of electrical equipment isused and briefly the current drawn exceeds that supplied by the alternator this will amount to a twitch from the needle because the regulator takes a measurable amount of time to react to an increase in demand. I used to see it in winter when the lights were all on along with the heater and the rear screen the needle would then twitch in time with the indicators as I signaled. In the Hood I suspect it'll be un-noticeable unless you're actually looking at the guage or there's something wrong somewhere (which is why you have the guage). Iain

I understood it enough to confuse my A-Level physics teacher and therefore to get the top marks in my year. He was also one of the local Scout leaders and about the funniest thing I ever did see was him trying to light a fire in front of 20 know-it-all kids. You really need to be certain in those situations that it's going to work or you'll look a real prawn (oh-boy did he) and isn't it nice when someone gives you a perfect opportunity to step in and look like a god (well maybe I didn't look quite that good but hey I looked good). Iain

Erm - wouldn't that be the other way around?

I've had good results with POR15 - available from www.frost.co.uk and no doubt others. I think the stuff I used was called "rust preventing paint" they do all-sorts. Just a word of warning, on the lid it says that if you let it dry on your skin only time will remove it - they ain't kidding! (here speaks the voice of experience). DO NOT use Hamerite - I've had ery bad results with that. Iain

Probably. In Jims Picture the alternator on the right is the EFI one. The non-EFI one has three terminals. The two big ones are connected inside the alternator and there are two big meaty wires in the loom. Depending on the loom sometimes both go to the battery or sometimes one goes to the battery and one to the fusebox (six and two threes). The remaining smaller terminal is the charging light as Jim says. On the EFI cars there was a single big cable on the alternator with a ring connector which connected with a nut on a post (at around 10 o-clock on Jims picture - it has a channel cast into the rear of the casing and you can see the nut is almost at the end of the thread). This cable was split at the +ve battery terminal to feed the fusebox as well. The ignition light is fed by a smaller terminal which from memory was one of those push on ones that resemble the plug end of an HT lead. I think it connects to the other smaller stud near the main one (someone confirm this please). The VG loom - I suspect they were expecting you to use the alternator on the left and that the thick brown wire goes back to the battery but the thinner brown wire is a feed to the fuse-box (they get away with thinner wire cos there's no longer as much electrical stuff). Alternatively it would also be possible for this thinner wire just to go to the warning light as that side is simply connected to the battery via the ignition switch (just thinking aloud here). Either way - if they were connected to the two big spades in the original plug then connect them both to a suitably big ring connector and fasten them to the main post on the alternator. The third wire should connect to the ignition warning light terminal on the alternator. Like Ant says the third terminal on the alternator is probably used when the same alternator is employed on a Diesel engine of some sort as this is where diesels usually get their tacho from. We certainly shouldn't be bothering with it. Iain

it had "stuck" as I drove over Haslingden Grane (very pretty) I was once driving over there in very heavy fog and caught up to some poor bloke on a motorbike. I could have passed him but instead just sat behind him with the fogs on. He just stuck his arm straight out and gave me a thumbs up. Almost crashed for laughing. I followed him all the way to Haslingden where he gave me a final wave and turned off. It may not be the highest road in the area but it can get pretty wild up there when the weather turns nasty and I wouldn't have liked to try it on an inherently unstable vehicle with just a single headlight. Iain

I had to drive from East Manchester to Preston yesterday evening. It started as sleet in Manchester - became snow as I drove up the M66 near Bury - it had "stuck" as I drove over Haslingden Grane (very pretty) - and was just cold and wet by the time I got to Preston. There's a good bit still on the Scimitar (it looks white again rather than dirty). Coming over the Grane I got fed up of the trucks doing about 15mph so decided to take a shortcut down Pickup Bank. Unfortunately I rapidly caught up to a Vitara who had decided to do the same thing but wouldn't do more than 20mph. If it hadn't been snowing I'd have passed her - why-oh-why do these people suddenly slow to a crawl when it snows? OK slow down and be a little more careful/cautious/ready but last night was just ridiculous. Iain

Like Tim says an inline or straight six would be too long. A flat or opposed engine is too wide. A V6 or V8 is not bad for length (usually only fractionally longer than an inline engine with half as many cylinders) but they tend to be wide at the top so interfere with things like brake servos and pedals. I have an Essex V6 going together at the moment if anyone wants measurements and once it's fitted and run-in the one it's replacing will be surplus (anyone got a cruise ship they need to hold still). Iain

Rizla, When you say you have some of the smaller ones do you mean the 5 3/4" ones? If so where did you get them? I need ones to replace the halogen units in a standard Lucas 5 3/4" shell so BMW units are no good as they are integrated into a framework and within that the lights themselves are a little smaller. If I wanted a set of 7" ones such as the Hood uses then it would be no probs. Iain

Possibly this should be in wanted but either way - does anyone know where I can get "Angel-Eyes" lights to fit Lucas 5 3/4 light units? They are just like the 7" ones on most of our Hoods and on Mini's but smaller. I can get 7" units no probs but I can't find the smaller ones. It's more annoying because I'm sure I've seen them in the past but can't remember where. Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks Iain

Both fitted and for the DIY kit. Or do we have to E-Mail them. Iain

What sort of V6 turbo? Be careful because round or not the pulley should be balanced and it may well have been balanced with the rest of the crank so weight may have been removed from it to balance excess weight elsewhere. Don't just remove it with impunity. Either leave well enough alone or remove it and have it all balanced afterwards. Also as longboarder stated unless it's 6" across the weight removed will be negligible. Iain

A bit like how long is a piece of string? that one because it depends on your engine-bay and which twin carbs. Assuming we're talking about a Robin Hood (or even any other Seven style car) and a pair of twin side-draught carbs (DCOE's or similar) then the answer is probably yes. Depending on just how tight space is you may also need short trumpets and a short filter (a foam one won't dent the bonnet if it touches it under the rocking of the engine). Alternatively you may be able to cut a hole in the side of the bonnet and use a longer manifold with the ends of the carbs sticking out. Iain

195/60/15 will be just fine and yes stick to the Sierra offset if that's whats on at the moment. As Gordon says the offset of the RH alloys will also give you trouble. Look at the rear wheels - do they line up nicely with the arch from a side-to-side view? If so then imagine the RH wheels which are wider and (for simplicities sake) the centre-line of the tyre is around 20mm further 'out' from the centre of the car. This means the outside edge will sit around 25mm outbound of where it is at the moment. I suspect this will mean that on your car it'll stick out. The front arches can probably be moved outwards to compensate but the overall width of the arch isn't enough so you'd end up with a little sticking out either side or a lot sticking out one side. Non of this is in-surmountable as the panels all either bolt on or off and could be modified but it sounds like you don't want to go that far (at least yet). Maybe a project for next winter? Iain

The letter that came with my chassis number said that it had to be stamped on a non-removeable part of the chassis or body and even specified the drivers side. It said it should also be stamped on a plate and affixed to the car. So I did both. It said that it should be done by and authorised dealer and they had to sign and stamp a form stating that it had been done. I went to see the local MOT station chap to see if he was authorised to do it and he said he would but didn't have any stamps. I offered to bring minne down and he told me just to stamp the car and then bring it down and he'd have a look and sign and stamp the sheet. The VRO accepted it just fine. I left the paint off the stamped number on the chassis until after SVA but have sprayed it since. You can read it if you know what you're looking for. I too hope that any pond-life who may be wanting to interfere with such things would miss it and just mess with the riveted plate which is really obvious under the bonnet. Iain