IanS

I am Warrington so not that local.

Forecast is not good.

If I come might be in the Saab.

I think that you left the same time as I did.

Traveling north west was obviously better than nearly west ( with a detour south), I am glad that I chose the cat and fiddle.

Interesting read.

Hears to some enjoyable driving.

Out of curiosity I was there for sunny Saturday but did not stay to Sunday.

Was the weather rain as predicted Sunday?

I got home just in time to garage the car before the heavens opened.

Had a good time with driving over the Cat & Fiddle in the morning through heavy mist but clear on the way back.

Drilling stainless

Rule 1 do not let the stainless get hot as it goes very hard.

Center punch to locate the hole.

Cobalt drill bit at low speed with some pressure and low speed. https://www.screwfix.com/search?search=cobalt+drill+bits+for+metal

Be careful of the swarf as it is normally very sharp.

As for sewing the sewing needs to be waterproof sealed for most materials. There are tapes for this that go on the inside.

Have you tried woolies?

https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/

I regret to say that I wont make this but hope to see folks at Newark.

I had a couple of old style minis with A series engines that did not have a separate expansion tank. There was a level indicator in the radiator giving the level to fill to when cold. Never had a problem of overheating. The top tank was the expansion tank. I run my car a similar way and since I sorted out the fan have only had an overheating problem when the fuse blew. I had put in a fuse that only just allowed the fan to work next size up sorted.

2B is larger than a Caterham so I doubt that it will fit.

What ignition system have you got?

Richy has a good point.

I would add an old trick checking for spark breakdown is to close up the gap in the spark plugs to about half which reduces to voltage but limits power at the highest end.

Obviously a tempory diagnostic mod.

could it be misfiring?

When under load the spark voltage goes up which can lead to breakdown in the coil or leads instead of at the end of the spark plug. You could try changing the coil pack.

Early sierra to about mid 85 had horn push in center of steering wheel.

My thoughts are to do with over heating.

WOT equals going at some speed and having good airflow through the radiator.

Pootling about you rely on the fan being effective and this is where I would look first.

I would also check that the water pump is working and has not half failed again engine speed could cover up a partially disintegrated impeller.

longboarder did a lot on this.

A search shows some leads

https://www.rhocar.org/index.php?/search/&q=stalks&author=Longboarder&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

That indicates fuel problems.

Stopping like this is either ignition or fuel.

When it stops remove a spark plug as soon as possible, if it is wet or smells of petrol the problem is ignition. Probably a case of substitution to find the fault.

If it stops clean then most probably not choke stuck on.

Be prepared next time it stops and remove the petrol pipe to the carb. and immediately crank the engine if petrol spurts out it is not pump related. I had the mechanical pump stick when warm due to the follower sticking stopping fuel flow. To crank the engine single handed I had a cable crock clip to the started solonoid and touched the other end to the battery positive.

Just some ideas that I would do.

Ian

Don't most of those parts come attached to the brake shoes?

https://nw.rhocar.org/buildtips/tiebars.htm

Are these what you have

Dave Andrews had more details but his site http://www.dvandrews.co.uk/

The Exmo front suspension was always Sierra track control arms, sierra ARB and sierra steering rack with sierra uprights. It used custom struts of unknown origin with Robin Hood adjustable spring seats.

At the back there was the option of standard sierra rear springs and shock OR an adjustable RM adapted mini rear shock modified to coil over.

Further to the fuel sender.

The top of the tank can be reached by removing the boot lining. How to line the boot was left to the imagination of the builder so every one will be different.

Alternator light on no charge = dead alternator most probably brushes and slip rings oxidized due to long lay up.

If made with cut down sierra dash (instruments showing in dash between seats) then also oxidization of multi plug a possibility. Try squirting switch cleaner over contacts whilst connecting and disconnecting plug several times.

Fuel tank is across back of car. Filler is on right side into top and sender is on left hand side also on top. To get at drop tank. Be careful removing sender as resealing can be hard. Filler is cut down sierra into standard sierra rubber gasket/sealing ring.

Where are you?

Great run out. Daughter also enjoyed being a passenger for once.

Vacuum advance is mostly an economy system.

At full power it does nothing as there is no vacuum in the inlet manifold with the throttle fully open.

As you close the throttle inlet vacuum increases and the fuel/air charge entering the cylinder reduces. This reduces the pressure in the cylinder at the end of the compression stroke. The flame front of the burning fuel/air moves faster with high pressure and slower with low pressure so ignition advance curves attempt to get full burn happening at or soon after TDC to extract maximum power. If full burn comes later then engine efficiency falls.