PaulF2B

Parts arrived, the Mini and the Land Rover wiper parts are a perfect match Thanks

Great, Thanks for that. Will get the parts ordered now

I have a standard Lucas wiper motor and set of wheelboxes off a Land Rover (Either a Defender or earlier Series 3) and am looking at fitting a splined adapter part # STC987 to the shaft. Does anyone know if these splined adapters are the same size as the classic Mini? As I want to fit a standard 10" set of mini wipers. In other words does this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-Splined-Wiper-Arm-Adapter-Set-to-07-STC987-/390891247607?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5b02ef17f7 fit this ? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230881729581?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I am hoping Lucas have standardised, but I'm sure there must be an expert out there who knows. Thanks Paul

I would suggest keeping your options open, as you never know how the rules may change next. As Steve says, SORN your doner and keep the V5 (ensure it is in your name), strip as much off it as you can keep, wiring, switches etc, including cutting out the VIN number. Then you can take the shell to the scrap yard to free up your space. Then when you come to IVA and registration you will have the option for Q or Age related. Typically age related cars seem to sell for slightly more, they also allow you to put on a personalised plate (as long as it does not make it appear newer), Q Plates cannot.

It would definitely make an IVA tester laugh! Try and cover all those edges. LOL

Ah I just managed to clear it on mine, see the second pic' on my gallery: http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?app=garage&do=view&id=620&tab=images There is even a nice recess in the rocker cover Ford put in to help

As suggested the red one looks best, but can't you fit the arm the other way round so the cable goes out over the rocker cover? That way the cable is going in the correct direction (less bends). I have a similar setup (pinto & DGAV) and used a cam off a Fiat Punto, seems to work well.

One suggestion I have is to give the donor one more check over for bits before it goes. Keep as much of the wiring as possible including switches lamps dials etc, it will all help when working out the new wiring. Also keep as many nuts, bolts, washers clean grommets etc they all help to reduce your ebay orders. Even the old carpet is good for kneeling on, garage floors can be hard on the knees! Cheers Paul

As only 4 terminals are used you could always cut off the connectors and use 4 crimp bullet connectors and a couple of tie wraps to tidy it up.

What would be the "ball park" cost for a nice stainless system like the one on Marks Zero? Would be a nice upgrade for mine

These are the ones I used off EBay for future reference Ford call them Tibbie Keys. Ebay link.

Please let us know if you have a electronic or cable drive speedo. Your Pinto will probably have a Type 9 gearbox where the speedo cable connects on the drivers side, so if it does route back through the passenger side it may have sharp bends pinching the cable as mentioned above. If it is an electrical pickup also check the wiring, ensuring it's not trapped. Finally make sure it is not you moving your tool kit with a magnetic screwdriver in when you have passengers

Hi Dan, I also went through IVA at Derby (in July), I had the attached simple circuit with a buzzer. As long as the fog light does not come on with the sidelights (dip or main beam only), and there is something to stop the light coming on the next day when the fog has cleared you should be fine.

Hi Mark, Yes, I think it's worth a phone call, if only to confirm they have all the info' & forms they need. Maybe I just struck lucky, or all the registration department have been seconded to help sort out their current on-line road tax issues! Hope you get it through soon, so you can get the plates made and on the road Cheers Paul

As Bob said, the outside edge of the wings is the way to go, the rounded LED ones fit well with no sharp edges. The drawing Figure 1 in section 20 (installation Of Lights) in the IVA manual shows the viewing angles. The side repeaters require 5 - 60 Degree viewing from the rear. 5 Degree from the front wheels should clear the rear wheel arches, so you will be OK there. GBS put them on their factory cars and sell them too. There were no problems with them for my IVA pass in July

Also think about the mounting of the seats through the floor, I used runners that came with the seats but the fixing holes down to the floor do not match the angle steel cross members on my Sub K. So to stiffen up the seat mounting I used additional steel plates to tie the fixing location back to the cross members, it stiffened the seats up up nicely. It is also covered in section 15 and 19 of the IVA manual where it shows some examples of "Load spreading plates"

Here's a few points I IM'd to Jon earlier, many are already covered above: Looking at the pictures there are a few things you may need to change if the examiner is picky: I put a rubber sleeve over the track rod ends to cover the exposed nuts, or heatshrink would work too. Check the distance from the outer edge of the cycle wing to the front indicators, yours look like the standard RH ones like mine, but I had to extend mine out using brackets and Mini steering gaitors. Looking at the manual they need to be min 500mm apart and within 400mm of the outer edge. Check you cannot get to the bolt on you exhaust clamp with their standard sphere, test with a tennis ball, you may be able to rotate it clockwise so it is pointing down and away from their checks. They look for any edge below 2.5mm radius. Maybe a nut cover on the rear exhaust mounting nut (cant see it on the newer photo). I had to make some "Socks" to cover the exposed edges on the upper harness mounts as it was a failure on my first test, I just had the bolt covers like you. So I just folded over some plastic cover (spare dash material) to cover the bolts and upper mounts. Check you don't have an edge on the fuel filler, I used a bit of thin pipe/ hose (about 5 or 6mm Dia) with a tie wrap inside it, tighten and trim the tie wrap then the rubber hose can be pulled over it, forms a nice edge around the cap. Put a spirit level against the lens of the fog light to check its edge vertical to the ground. A couple of other items I failed on first time: Make sure you fill up the tank well before the test, I filled mine up on the morning of the test and found a leak, its the first time you fill to the brim. Also ensure there is a vent on the tank as the standard filler cap is not vented. Air has to get in to replace the spent fuel other wise a vacuum will cause the engine to cough/ splutter. The other thing is to ensure your front studs are long enough for the allow wheels and have enough thread well into the nuts. My doner sierra had steel wheels that have shorter studs, so I had to replace them with 63mm long bolts. That's all I can think of for now. Good luck!

Also make sure your bolts are all marked up as 8.8, 10.9 etc as they did check these at my IVA pass in July this year. If you have any imperial bolts, I had some 7/16 UNF that came with the harnesses these have different markings with various radial lines corresponding to the different lbs/in2 ratings, make sure you take a chart / document from the supplier with you to prove the bolt strength. One other thing to ensure if you buy through Ebay or online; is that the bolts are actually be marked on the heads, I bought some 8.8 bolts on Ebay as 8.8 rating but did not have the markings so will be no good for IVA to bolt on anything "significant". I used 8.8 on the front suspension of my SubK, but 10.9 on the prop and the long dif' mount bolts.

Hi Mark, Mine went through IVA at Derby this July with the full Sierra column and and rods. You have the sliding triangular part in the engine bay, then the concertina / Corrugated part behind the dash. You must have 2 Universal joints in the engine bay, one by the steering rack the other before the triangular section, these need to have a bit of an angle on them. This is so in a frontal impact the rod will go up at an angle and not push straight back towards the driver. I also had padding around the traditional RH Moutney wheel. Hopefully if you use a Sierra wheel as mentioned above you should be OK Cheers Paul

Lack of markings on the bolts that came with the harness were one of my first IVA failures, they are hot on these. If you can get a document from the supplier confirming the tensile strength you should be fine, but I found it easier to buy new 8.8 stamped metric bolts. I incorrectly thought you had to use imperial 7/16 UNF bolts but metric stamped 8.8 or 10.9 ones were fine.

Have you got a set of traditional points to put back in the dizzy just to get you going? It would prove that the dist' module was at fault.

That looks like one of the best garden ornaments I have seem for a long time. Should be a gold medal winner at Chelsea show To keep the worst of the weather out and keep the 2B dry you could use a traditional car cover like this: http://www.argos.co....ber/1459344.htm It says its not compatible with cars over 20 years old, but I'm guessing they are covering themselves for reaction to older types of paint. Maybe others have experience of different types of cover.

I'm with Whiz on this one, don't forget you insurance covers you for Fire & Theft. Heaven forbid, but that could happen at any time of the year, even when she is mothballed away for the winter. The other thing is, if you do have the full years insurance you build up a no claims discount (hopefully) making it cheaper next year. I don't think you get any discounts for shorter periods of time.

It wouldn't be fun if it was easy! It's all about the journey