geoff shep

Just a thought - has anyone SVA'd a series3 car. Is there inherently anything which would prevent it passing. My monococque was pre-sva but wouldn't pass one without a lot of mods i don't think.

After building mine i used to say to people that it was like doing a jigsaw - but without all the bits and without the picture on the box lid. If you only have the tub then getting the original right parts is unlikely. I think i'd go for something more comprehensive, or more current/standard so that you gan get standard parts to fit. You might be better to shift the gear you have, even at a small loss, than end up in an expensive dead end a coupe of years from now.

Yes, 'looks' like a sierra-based kit with the front suspension option. The more basic option was to use the entire sierra front crossmember. But then again didn't that model have the tunnel top 'uptuned'?

hi andy, we need to know which model your s7 is to recommend a donor. i didn't see the ebay add but pictures would help. i have a sierra-based s7 and can copy the build manual if it turns out to appropriate. if its that model you need an early, pinto engined sierra, rear wheel drive, hatchback to build it using a single donor. you can of course put different engines etc in but you will need to modify associated mounts and bits for it. not sure when i can copy the book as i've just bust both wrists montain biking - hence the lower case one fingered typing - exclamation mark. picture of v12 from the book for interest,

Mine's a series II but similar I think as far as the anti-roll bar goes. I think he anti-roll bar would actually like to sit higher than underneath the engine bay but it's ok. The fitiing on the sierra is slightly dished so mounting the bush up against he floor tends to bend the floor panel. I put a mild steel spacer, chamfered off towards the bush, under each end of the bush bracket and a longer piece on top of the floor panel to provide some stiffness.

I'm going bike carbs too, do you know what the output pressure is from the std pinto pump?

They are misnamed though - they aren't really radiators, they are actually convectors. There was a phase I seem to remember of putting foil or shiney stuff behind them to reflect any radiant heat back into the room.

Have we seen this before - (youtube link)

Can anyone work out where that panel is - and what it is actually made out of.

Not sure how much you are able to purchase it for but Office 2007 home and student version is available for £90 ish. You have to have someone in or associated with education in the household and it can be installed on 3 computers.

Hi Karl, The advice used to be to cut some of the monocoque cross member away to allow more room. You can see here that I cut some away but left enough to leave a lip so that there is still a folded section for strength. Some builders I know did cut the whole thing away. I have enough room to fir the rad and the original viscous fan. This has been fine but last summer I did get overheating for the first time in the 10 years since I built it. This may be due to sludge as it stood unused for a couple of years so I may have to visit the coolman solution.

Does this also fit to a sierra instrument pod?

I have a pinto of unknown origin, probably cortina, with a DGAS carb. It ran well before but not much over the last year or two. Decided to upgrade a few bits so removed the head and fitted 285 cam. Put it back together and (surprised myself!) it fired up first time. Drove fine to MOT and drove fine around town. Went out today for a 80-odd mile trip initially fine but from about halfway it began to pop a lot on the overrun and would not stay running at idle. Starts OK but will only stay running with a bit of throttle. Slight (?) unevenness on power delivery maybe too. Anyway, got home, checked it over, nothing too obvious but timing a bit retarded so advanced it slightly and all seemed fine. Quick test and first couple of junctions no problem but soon after same problem - cutting out at idle at each stop and now won't idle again. A couple of times after that it would start OK but once the throttle was opened and then closed it would cut out again. On closer inspection I may have a slight weep from the head gasket joint. Nothing else disturbed, ie carb etc during head off operation. Any takers??

Yep, that's too wide for me - thanks anyway.

Interested - but what was the error, are they too wide? They would be for an S7 so need to be narrow for me. I'm near York, can I have a look/try and get measurements please. Or if you could just check the width it might answer my question.

Managed to find a couple of these in my local scrap yard - they need to be off early sierras, pre about 1983 I think, they obviously weren't aware of the rarity and only wanted about a tenner.

Am in the process of removing the head to fit a better cam on an old, and I assume leaded, head - is it easy enough to find and fit an unleaded head? How do I identify one and/or where can I get one?

Yes but I need a spline bit to get the old ones out. I'm beginning to think I might lift the engine out, I only want to change the camshaft.

Thread resurrected by search! Where's the best place to get the (older) spline bolt tool from - Ford or an alternative supplier and are they still readily available? Or is the cost differential insignificant? I agree about using stretch bolts in future but still need to undo the current ones. PS - what size is the bit required? - there are some spline bits on ebay.

Its an Su27 and it was real - at the Lvov airshow. Pilots survived but 70+ killed on the ground.

Yes interested - any chance of a picture - I am not familiar with the specific design for that issue of kit.

As I remember, the ford bush expects to be fitted in a thicker bulkhead and perpendicular to the shaft - I made up a bracket as shown by the thick black line. The springy washerery thing goes down on top of the bush to prevent the inner bush bit migrating up the shaft.

PRC=Petroleum resistant compound and it is indeed used on aircraft - in the fuel tanks in fact. I'm pretty sure I used sikaflex, no leaks but its at the top and not constantly submerged. Used round the sender and round the ford rubber gasket.

Did you ever get yellow peril's or my emails about the carbs?

You can see the demise of Stig 1 from HERE, just below the big grey boat.