ibrooks

Anythings possible. One of the northwest guys has done it I think but apparently it was a big job. Just looking at it I would however think that the latest spaceframe hoods are probably the easier cars to fit it in as the panels are only a skin and not structural (OK they'll add strength but they're not the whole strength of the car). With the proper gear and skill (welding) the chassis mods shouldn't be too difficult (just time consuming and thought provoking). After that you just have to skin over the result - think NASCAR.

I think the biggest job is to fit the Rover box as it's wider than the Sierra offerings. Try Magnum Engineering as they do a conversion to fit a V8 on the end of a Ford type-9. It has to be the version with the long input shaft, ex V6, though.

There was a V8 converted Sierra on e-bay the other day - but it was a rally beast so not sure if it had the V5 that you'd need to get the age related plate come SVA. From memory since it was a competitive runner it was also expensive.

Iain

I may or may not beat Jim to it but don't use Hammerite (Jim has a more accurate name for it). Much better for the underneath bits is some stuff called POR15. Just get some rubber gloves to wear. It says on the tin that if it dries on your skin only time will remove it. Only three days with black patches on my hands made me believe it. Get it from www.frost.co.uk or from their shop in Rochdale.

I've never seen powder coating stand the test of time (at least not on a car) as the inevitable scratches let water in and the tin-worm spreads under it like crazy.

The bushes in the trailing arms can be replaced with polybushes which are designed to be an easy DIY fit. The old ones were pressed in and will have to be destroyed to get them out. Best way I've seen (outside cos it stinks) is to set the thing on fire and wait for the middle to drop out. now carefully attack the outer sleeve with a hacksaw blade - make sure you don't cut too far you only want to cut the sleeve not the housing. The one in the end of the tube - well polybush do one but I'm not sure how easy/difficult they are to fit. Again the old one would have to be destroyed to remove it. Shot/sand blasting would destroy them just enough to be un-usable but not enough to remove them.

Iain

There's a place that advertises on E-Bay - renaissance-cvt.

Never used them myself as I have always hired a trailer and done it myself (funnily enough the last time was to collect an S7 from the Oxfordshire area). As for reasonable price - dunno - trailer costs about £30 per day plus fuel for the barge.

Iain

The big boss in the middle of the Sierra fan is the thermo-viscous clutch. This means the blades are fairly free from the pulley when cold but as it heats up they are more directly connected.

The earlier Fords with Pintos didn't have a thermo-viscous unit but a true viscous fan which is held on with the four bolts that hold the pulley onto the water pump. Since it doesn't have the clutch it's centre boss is smaller and the total diameter is smaller whilst the blades are the same length.

Just an aside about these fans taking power from the engine. I had a thermo unit sieze on my Sierra (turning it into a viscous) and the difference it made was unbelievable - a tuned 2.1 felt gutless. The difference it made when I put a "new" thermo unit on was amazing - put the grin back on my face anyway. Fit electric if you can there are various thin fans out there. My personal favourite is the pusher from in front of a Sierra or Granada with air-con - large diameter and fairly thin.

Having said all that I may not be the best person to listen to when talking about cooling systems. Check the north-west pages and look at the Harrogate report from last year. Yep that first picture is me and my S7.

Iain

Just a thought so no torrents of abuse if you think it's a crap idea (I know you wouldn't anyway - but ).

For those of you looking at fuel tanks it may be worth considering a Mini van/estate item. They look around the right size and they'll be internally baffled. They're also not as rare as you may think since there are places now manufacturing them new again. There were several stalls at Bingley at the weekend selling new ones for around £60 (how does that compare to the alternatives?). They are a kind of oblong that sits under the rear floor area of the Mini and the filler pipe sticks up almost vertically from the side and through the body side of the Mini. On a 2B, for example, you could either cut the filler neck off and use flexible tube to have the filler through the rear panel or it could be extended vertically and come through the side of the boot cover (one of the fixed side pieces - just don't spill fuel up there or it'll end up in the boot).

I didn't have my camera with me so I didn't get any photos unfortunately. I'll try and mug my cousin who seemed to snap everything in sight.

Iain

The MT75 is meant to be a little stronger than the type-9 (I've never managed to break a type-9 though). The MT75 is wider (a lot so how wide is your tunnel?) but it's shorter (so you'll need a different length propshaft - but this is the perfect opportunity). Have you found out what/why the previous setup failed yet? Like Bill I have a type-9 you can have for the price of collecting it but I live in Darwen Lancs so it'll be second choice.

Iain

No don't really want a third one - in fact I'm intending to sell one in the summer. I was just thinking aloud that having built one and done a lot of work on another I now know most of the pitfalls and tips and tricks that would enable me to do a great job on a third. For some reason I tend to start on the drivers side of any jobs and as a result the passenger sides always seem easier and better because I've seen how to do it by then.

Iain

Just a note here. The screen that came with my S7 IS too wide coz the guy who built it didn't assemble it properly. The glass isn't all the way into the top part of the frame so the lower part is too far down and so wider than it needs to be. It's not too far out so I've just filled the gaps with plasticine and then silicone as per Richards instructions in the video.

As per usual I'm happier with the passenger side than the drivers side (practice). I could do with a car that has three sides and only needs two so that I could use the surplus side as practice for things like this. Maybe if I get a third RH then it will be my ideal as I apply the practice and lessons learned from the current two. But where would I put it?

Iain

I'm intending to widen my cycle wings. My plan is to cut them down the middle and add a strip of metal almost the full width of the wing. The fibreglass will then only form the edges of the wings like the rears on a 2B. My car is mild steel so I'll paint the whole lot but on a stainless motor the centre strip could be stainless and match the rest of the car.

Iain

You can insure more than one vehicle on one policy. My mates trade insurance policy states that it covers any vehicle in his businesses care or posession for any driver engaged on his companies business (he and his wife are also covered for social domestic and pleasure use) and he has no problems taxing vehicles with it. I had a quote for a fleet policy on my cars (5) but it would have cost slightly more than the seperate policies. I also met a company at a bike show a few years ago who would cover one car and one classic bike but the bike had to be over 20 years old and less than 1K miles per year. All you can do is hunt and keep asking. Unfortunately while we are legally required to have insurance the companies have us over a barrel unless the government/regulatory body step in and force them to offer things.

I too think insurance is a rip-off. I don't want anything but a fair deal but I don't beleive there is such a thing in this country.

Iain

Bob,

I have a vinyl cutter and can make decals. Let me know what you decide on and I'll let you know how much it'll cost (assuming it's suitable for manufacture on my machine).

Iain

Hi Bob,

I've been having a similar problem with rusty stains where a non-stainless part had left brown streaks. The best thing I've found is Autoglym Cutting polish and lots of elbow grease. It doesn't mist the stainless but seems to take most things off I tried allsorts under the bonnet to find what would and wouldn't leave the mirror finish this stuff seemed the best.

Iain

What a pile of suggestions. I like Novaeater.

I'm the one with the vinyl cutter. Solid colours cost about £3 per metre (you can get all-sorts of fancy stuff but the price goes up) and it's a little over 20" high so I can cut letters up to about 20" high and as long as the roll. I also need to use transfer tape to lift the vinyl off it's backing whilst keeping the seperate peices/letters aligned (probably another few pence per sticker). If you want to go much above 6 inches high I'll have to look at buying a wider roll of transfer tape and I have a very limited stock of colours at the moment so depending on what you want it may take a week or so for me to visit the supplier for the colour you want and transfer tape if necessary.

Iain

Terrifying sounds like an appropriate name (not that I wouldn't love that much power).

Reminds me of the time we went to a lecture in Liverpool. A guy with an Escort Cabrio pulled up next to us. Now his Cabrio looked like a nice motor (not what I would have done but respect was due to the effort someone had put in) and it had a big sticker down the side saying Injection. Unfortunately one of my fellow students with less brains than sense decided to try and start a fight so he sticks his head out of the window and yells "Ere mate someone's written erection down the side of yer car". It didn't go down well.

What's the reaction of the guy sat next to you when you burn the paint off his sill? Or does it just set fire to his underseal? I used to have a Land-Rover that could put a black circle on the side of the car sat next to me in traffic.

But I digress. How are you going to write the name on your car? Coz there's someone in the club with a vinyl cutter that can make stickers up for you.

Which reminds me Jim I've got 12 more stickers to drop off and am on the hunt for some yellow Vinyl.

Iain

If you have a friendly scrap-yard try a set of Capri steel wheels. They should cost about the same each as a wheel stud from DT and will take the tyres from your existing wheels. The different offset should make them fill the arches a little better without having to mess with spacers and studs. As a guesstimate looking at the pic a set of Capri 2.8 pepperpots with 205 tyres would fill the arches nicely - If so then just specify replacements for that car when ordering your new wheels.

Shame your too far away as I've a couple of sets that you could try for size.

If you carry on and get spacers and longer nuts the Ford studs are M12 metric fine (the M12x1.5mm).

Iain

Does it also have the Cortina rear axle?. Is the rear panel metal or is the entire back end fibreglass (wheel-arches and rear panel together)? If so it sounds like an S7 There were three versions of the S7. One was Triumph based, One was Cortina based and the last was Sierra based (don't ask me why they were all S7's). I'm in the process of fitting the soft-top that came with my 2B to my S7. It all seems to fit OK so a current top from RH should be OK. If you can hold off a couple of weeks you could see pictures of the finished article first.

Iain

The CC Cyclone had the getting in and out problem. They made a gull wing which hinges along the centre of the roof-line and also at the top of the sidescreen. This way as the roof goes up the "door" folds and stands up flat. Shame they don't still make them coz I always liked the look of them.

Just another problem caused by a woman then.

I agree that the top could probably not be made commercially as each car is going to be a little different. In effect each top would have to be different to match.

Iain

You've got it Ant. I was watching it and the bidding started at around a grand. It stopped at £1998 for ages (but the reserve hadn't been met). I was thinking that it may just be worth a risk contacting him and offering £2k if it ended like that. I reckon I could have stored it until summer and then sell it again for more. Unfortunately common sense prevailed and I realised that the locks would probably change if I came home with a third Hood.

Iain

Remember those chinese puzzles you used to be able to get?

Anyone still looking could try this.

http://www.cbrigs.co.uk/info.php?partno=480&affid=

Found it as I bought one from him (a brand new one that is). Other than that nothing to do with me but he seemed a good guy to deal with.

Iain

I've never had anything this size chromed and the place I used has since stopped doing chrome so I can't answer as to the current size of their tanks and price. To answer your other questions in one - the longer you spend on the prep the better the finish and the longer it will last (also the more of the prep you can do the less they will have to do and so the lower the cost). Basically the best bet is to find a local place and talk to them - try to get a feel for the quality of the job they will do as there are cowboys in any industry.

The husband of a girl who works here (MBDA Lostock nr Bolton) runs, or used to run a plating business. I'll enquire and post some details if he's amenable (I found out just too late that he'd galvanised a spitfire chassis - I had gone too far to strip the 2B and have him do the same for it). Don't know if you're near enough for it to be of use but the north-west crew may be interested.

Iain

I was hoping to get that one last night coz it had both sets of channels. Unfortunately I wasn't around as it ended so I missed out. I did win a pair the other day one is UK and the other is European so I am OK whichever way. It would just have been nice to have one for each Hood.

Iain

Hey Jim,

I've been looking into this and from what I can see there are 80 channels that we can currently use in the UK. These are 40 UK channels and 40 European Channels. Now the 40 UK channels have been discontinued and so newly manufactured CB equipment cannot receive them (legally) however the channels won't actually be killed until 2010 so that people have a chance to upgrade their kit.

Have I got all that right?

If so then that means we have to choose one or the other set that we are going to use and we have to get appropriate rigs. Also if we decide to use the UK 40 then the rigs are all going to have to be second-hand (or at least old stock). The good bit is that these sets are now going cheap. Although I expect in a year or two they will get more expensive as they become rarer until closer to the actual stop on the channels when they will become worthless.

It's perfectly possible (likely) that I'm talking crap here so someone with more knowlege of the subject please confirm this for me and if I'm right - which way are we planning to jump?

Iain

The RH shells take a standard 7" lucas style bulb - so effectively the sealed beam units are standard fit for Moggy Minor, Old Land-Rovers, and almost any other British car over 30 years old. Like the guys say there are loads of places that make replacement lense/reflector units that will take an H4 bulb. Mine came from Minisport in Padiham and included the sidelight bulbs (all I had to provide were the H4's from the donor headlights). They are Wipac units and cost £24 all in (they do mail order but that would add to the cost).

And regarding the fitting. I actuallly had to remove a little metal from the shells where the locating lugs are. These are just for guidance anyway as they are clamped tight enough by the ring to prevent them from moving in use. All the lugs do is make sure the light is the right way up and reasonably well aligned so that the dip goes right or left as it should.

Iain

Thanks Karl,

I'm not ready for the second one yet but I'll give them a try when the time comes. The one in Aldershot just sounded like the right price at the wrong time so I thought I'd grab it while I could.

Iain