Big Jim

Apprenticeship at Leyland Motors (the proper Leyland, not the namby-pamby strike ridden car side!) as a Skilled HGV Engineering fitter. went onto Engine testing at Leyland. Promoted to Foreman at 26, worked in various depts as foreman, over all aspects of engineering manufacturing (Great for "foreigners!") After 37 years I started with heart problems in 2004, and after being taken out of work 3 times in an ambulance the doctor wouldn't let me go back. As I still had to live, I needed another less physical job, and have now got the best job in the world. I sit at a desk and play with the biggest Scaletrix set in England! I'm a Traffic Officer (offroad) and now work for the Highways Agency in the North West Regional Control Centre, we look after 14 motorways, from J16 on the M6 right up to the Scottish border, and from the pond at Liverpool, right up to the top of the Pennines. The job is great, you never know what's going to happen next, (The Civil Service on the other-hand wouldn't last 6 months as a private business!) I've been with them for 5 years from the start of the Traffic officer service in the Northwest, and have another 6½ years left before I retire. (Then I'll be bored!!) The shifts are "unsocial" and the money isn't great, but I actually look forward to going into work each day.

Good reply dinger. As I deal with all the recovery companies on a daily basis, I also know who turns up at the broken down vehicle when they say they will! The RAC tend to be the quickest, but with a patrol van, if they can't fix it they'll move it with their special 'dolly' that pops out of the back of the van (90% of the time they can) Greenflag and the other smaller companies use acredited garages for recovery (as do the RAC for full recovery jobs) they'll turn up within anything from 45-60 mins usually. The AA............Sorry, I can't put into print what I think about the AA! But the absolute worst of all is 'Kwickfit' it'll take them ½ hour to decide if you're covered or not!! If you breakdown on a motorway, and you don't have any recovery, you have 2 hours to get yourself off, or it will be removed off the motorway, to get your car back, it'll cost you £150 plus £20/day for any storage charges. Fee's go up depending on how your vehicle is positioned, ie. off the tarmac, upside down etc. Although most recovery trucks are 'slide & tilt' now, it's always worth telling the operator that you don't have much ground clearance if you're in the Hood. PS. Breakdown on one of MY motorways, and I will take the piss!!

Well I have my recovery with my Landrover Insurance (Premium Choice. ie "Roadsure") I used to be with the RAC for over 27 years, paying over £130/annum for personal cover for both Mutley & myself. but when I wanted to take the Landrover to France for a week, the RAC, A) Wouldn't cover me because it was over 12 years old........for crying out load, that shows out of touch the RAC is about Landrovers!! if it wasn't over 12 years old, they wanted a fee of £79 just for the weeks cover. I've got to say, that even after checking out all the various recovery websites etc, they are all the same. As a last option, I phoned Premium Choice to see what they could do (The Landy is insured with them with a policy similar to our kitcar jobby) I explained just what I had with the RAC. ie. Full personal breakdown & recovery (for any vehicle that I'm travelling in) but that I also wanted European cover as well, the nice lady said, "Yes, that'll be £49/year but it will need to be renewed with your insurance, I questioned her 3 times about what was covered, as I didn't believe it, she was adamant on the cover & price. so I snatched their hand off!! I have used it once during the year, with great service, incidently it was the same garage contractors that all the other recovery operators use incl the RAC. (know this as I speak with them on a daily basis!) When It came time to renew my Landrover insurance recently, the prices had gone up considerably, and I found that I could get just the insurance at least a third cheaper with "Frank Pickles" BUT I couldn't get the same breakdown cover through him or anywhere else, and it was still cheaper to take the whole package with Premium Choice. I does pay to shop around before actually buying your recovery. I'm also very surprised that Greenflag gave you cover on the Hood as a named vehicle. I've just bought 12 months basic cover for my daughter for Christmas (Bah! humbug!) I'd checked the various websites etc, and Greenflag offer 12 months personal "Recovery" for £64 for 2 people on their website, but when you put in the details of the vehicle, the fee increased with the age of the car, and it turned out to be considerably more! I finished up with 12 months cover for them with the RAC.

Don't forget the front antiroll bar!

What he said ! spray everything metal with WD40, keep the battery charged, or better still, take it off and bring it into the house, they don't like the frost!

When I've done core plugs before, I've belted a sharp screwdriver into them, this "folds them in" and loosens them, but also you can then remove the old plug from the screwdriver. Make sure that the hole in the block is nice and clean & dry, before fitting the new plug, and give the sealant time to "go off" before putting water back into the system.

Definately done the right thing there Andi, I wish there were more upright citizens like you. Good one!! you'll get all your expenses back from the court, and a good feeling when you see the guy get his come-uppance, because too many don't!

I always had problems with batteries dieing over winter, although I had a number of battery chargers, they would never "rekindle" them. I used to knacker up the motorbike batteries as well, probably because the car chargers were too fierce a charge for them. I bought the CTEK XS3600 charger (the 2nd one in your post) and use it for the normal car, the kit car and the motorbikes, it's great. I use the 16amp/hour for the landrovers with BIG batteries on!!!

I doubt very much that oil/water mix in the engine is anything all all to do with any sender. you'd have to have been very brutal to crack the block/head with a sender, the sender threads would strip first. I would suspect that it's the head gasket thats gone, £20 plus oil/filter & new head bolts and it should be right as rain. As for 4 into 1 manifold, the GBSC one should be OK, but be aware, you MUST fit it into the side of the car, either whilst the cylinder head is off, or the engine is out, otherwise you'll not get it in.

I have water filter & pressure regulator (adjuster) straight out of tank, then a T peice with 1 hose to workbench, and I hose to front of garage near door, with a long air line that when connected, will reach ½ way down the drive. I only put a couple of drops of oil into each tool prior to it's use. As I sometimes use the air for spraying, you don't want any oil in the line for that.

check here NW website

That reminds me of my next door neighbour, those that have visited will know him, he's an Irishman, and a typical one at that! any jobs that needed doing on his car he came knocking on my door as he could barely work out how to open the bonnet. Each September or there-abouts, I used to remind him to make sure that he had enough anti-freeze in his car, "I'll check it tomorrow" was his usual reply, anyway, he obviously didn't. Every year him & his missis used to go up to relatives in Scotland for the Xmas and New Year holidays, this particular year being no exception. We'd had a very mild winter up until the 23rd of December, then it froze serriously overnight, followed by a day of snow. On going to get his car out that morning, he found most of his coolant spread across his garage floor frozen!, yep! he'd never topped up the antifreeze, and it had blown the coreplug out at the back of the engine block. that meant that muggins here, finished up on his back under his bloody car taking out the g/box, clutch, flywheel etc. half in and half out of his garage, with snow blowing in all over the place, just to fit a new coreplug, as they were supposed to be setting off that evening. He was told in very choice words, NEVER AGAIN!!

Chris, First of all, get onto a solicitor, one of the "you win all" type, the companies hate them, because not only do they have to pay up to yourself, but the solicitors costs would double the amount very quickly.If you're claiming from the water company, and £5k is what you're asking, then £5k is nothing in their expenditure. Also what you should do in readiness for making a claim on your insurance, is to get a quote from GBSC or someone similar to rebuild your car, if the quote comes in at say £7k, you could offer your insurance that you would do it yourself for £6k. You would have to have the rebuilt car examined by an insurance engineer afterwards though. I hope that you manage to sort things out to your liking. PS. I doubt very much this was a "Highways Agency" road, it's more likely the local council "Highways dept"

It'll be all reet! The hub should have copious amounts of grease in, not oil, so it's not that, the drive shaft joints have a very dark grey runnier carbon type grease in, so it's not that. It MUST be the wife!!!! any more terrorist doings, and we'll have to pay her a visit!!

Assuming this is a Sierra rear hub we are talking about, once the brake drum (or caliper) has been removed, just undo the large nut (Bloody seriously tight! good socket and long tube req'd, easiest to slacken slightly with wheel still on etc) then pull off the hub, you can then change the rear seal in the hub. The hubs don't have oil in, but grease. Reading your post again, is it the CV joint on the driveshaft you mean? if so, you need to either strip it down to replace the rubber boot, or I believe you can get a "split" boot, that you glue the joint up once fitted. (other will say where you can get these I've no doubt) As you're discription is somewhat unclear, a photo would help.

I would be looking at the state of the dizzy, are the bearings knackered? it may be time to get it reconditioned.

1994...........that puts it probably a Sierra based series 1 (S7 as most call them) maybe. unfortunately, the cycle brackets that RHSC used to produce nearly always failed sooner or later, that's why when you look around the older cars, you'll see so much different designs, these will be whatever the owners have come up with. If it's the same as the mark 3 (I can't remember off hand) then the upright tube was held with the dummy strut pinch bolt, and the horizontal tube was held by the nut on the bottom ball joint, (The bracket usually failed after a time) I would suggest looking around the earlier cars and asking the owners if they've failed, etc. also take photo's to give you idea's. If you go to our NW website (see bottom of this post) then go to "build tips" you'll find a couple of photo's there

I've been in this club now for over 11 years, and it goes from strength to strength. It's the biggest and most friendliest kitcarclub, but if you're a newbie, you need to make some sort of effort. As Snoopy said, just ask a question and anyone will do their best to give you the benefit of their experience, explaining the ups and downs of owning a Robin Hood. Stand there just looking, and apart from a smile, you may get nothing, you could be a Westfield Owner (Sorry guys!) you do need to join in, and asking mechanical type questions is always a good starting point. The Comittee do a brilliant job, each and every one of them, also remember that the club officials aren't paid at all, in fact all the humping and carrying etc, attending the shows (They may have other places that they might need to be at the same time) is done for the benefit of the club and it's members. I don't go to as many shows as I used to, as my work dictates what weekends I can have off, but when I do, I chat with A.) Old friends. B.) Anyone who askes me something, whoever they are. Now-a-days I don't tend to wander about (just in case I can't get back!) You will always get small groups of friends sitting together behind their cars, usually at least one of the cars has the bonnet up, this is like in the "old days" ie, leaving the front door of your house open, it's an open invitation for ANYONE to stop and talk *Robin Hoods* (The old bloke with a beard)

Was with Roadsure, but renewal quote said that I needed to pay £30 for administration, and £20 for an Accident manager (never had one, they must be blaming me for all yours!) total price £161.66p. Decided not going to mess about with them, so called Frank Pickles (who I have the off-roader with) £85. thank you!

Your problem is, if your car went through SVA, then the emissions that it has to conform to, will come up on the MOT data sheet that the garage prints off prior to starting your MOT. This is the main test criteria for testing your car, it has to pass just the same that it did at SVA. I'm not sure about where the emissions fell into on SVA, but a full explaination about emissions and the MOT, is on our website. Oh, and mine would never pass emissions, but it passes a visual test OK.

Don't get a series landy, far too slow & noisy!

Oh dear! I worked on most of the stuff that'll be on parade, including the steam wagon!!!

All monocoque Hoods will crack in certain places over time. The mark 3 / 3A, will crack at each corner of the engine bay, the front corners first, the crack will appear in the vertical weld in the corners and travel across the top fold of the chassis if not caught quick enough. Where the front suspension top arms pivot, 2mm plate just isn't sturdy enough to take the punishment, this will wear then crack. Where the front shockers clamp to the chassis at the bottom, (in front of the rad) another weak point. now go to the rear:.......................... The rear shockers mount to a piece of angle iron that it bolted to the top of the chassis fold. After time, the angle iron will bend, and tear out of the chassis. The whole thing neads strengthening. The other thing is, if you still have the Zimmerframe RH shocks fitted, throw them away ASAP and fit something better. Depending on how you've mounted the fuel tank, hanging it by straps/long bolts/threaded bar from the boot floor, as in the RH instructions, will in timebend your boot floor nicely! Each and every one of these faults, I've had to overcome and sort out. I've also seen them in many other monocoque cars, along with other problems that are relevant to that model. Exmo's; Top front shocker mounting. Mark 1 sierra (or S7 as a lot of people want to call it) has a fabricated assembly that contains the front suspension bolted to the front of the monocoque tub, this in turn can pull and crack the tub where the stresses are most.

Others have altered the side mountings to be a channel for the screen frame to fit in, giving the "3 self tappers" *BIG brother* help!!

Rumour has it they found class A in his kitchen class B in his lounge, and Class 3C in his bedroom.