enforcer

You've got to admit that the cars do attract a bit of interest and attention down the MOT centre. They also bring out a different side to the examiners. When I submit my 10 year old Omega Estate for the annual scrutiny you end up feeling that you are doing them a huge disservice, and feel the need to apologise for putting them through such a mundane ordeal. This is inevitably punished with some obscure failure points (usually involving the dreaded emissions machine). Roll up in the hood and it's a different story. All the mechanics stop what they are doing, go and get a cuppa then watch and nod as the Inspector does his stuff. I pace up and down like an expectant father, trying really hard not to get in the way or appear over-protective. But they love the car. First bit of head scratching is the headlight beam alignment. I've upgraded to Halogen conversions over the winter and these were way off the mark. For the omega this is a £5 per headlight adjustment. The hood?..."can I adjust them for you? Ah, that's better; they were all over the place weren't they? Don't worry about being charged for that". I was a bit apprehensive about the emissions, having put the new DGMS carb on the manifold and, Oh dear, it's way too rich. "Hang on, let's bring those needles in a bit and have another go (tearing up the score sheet) ..... there we go; that's much better!" Another MOT, another pass (and at £25 with free headlight and emissions adjustment I'm not arguing with that). I move towards the driver's seat in the testing bay - "Oh no, no, no; I'll bring it around the front for you ....." Happy days!

It does seem a bit over dramatic but that 747 that flew through the ash over Indonesia trashed all four engines and ended up gliding for miles before they managed to restart them ... I think the ash contains particles which are very abrasive....

The 38DGAS/DGMS was designed for a bigger engine so needs rejetting to run on a Pinto otherwise it would introduce too much fuel. I seem to have finally got the set up where I want it using the vacuum port nearest the head. It works well and has a nice smooth idle at around 900 rpm. Only slight glitch with it is when you accelerate hard in a higher gear, when it can hesitate - a change of driving style has sorted this, and i may be due to idle mixture settings which I will look at again when it goes on the MOT machine in a couple of weeks.

I'm thinking of getting the car booked in for a rolling road session as I'm not convinced I'm getting the best out of it. My question is, what exactly are the variables for setting my car up? I have a 2.0 pinto (standard cam) running a 38DGMS (correctly jetted) and ESCII ignition. Apart from setting the right idle mixture and timing what else would they be tweaking? Is it worth it? Rich

Just had this back from the guy who runs Fast Road Cars: "The pipe between the chokes is for an air filter pipe so use the other which is designed for distributor vacuum advance".

Thanks Brian, Dave. Dave, I think I'm there with the mixture settings; settled on a precise match between the two needles and have got a really smooth idle and pick up now. Just have to see later this month when it goes on the dreaded MOT machine Brian, thanks for that. I can easily swap the vac tube over between the two and will have a play with this tomorrow. The one thing that was instantly obvious when I tried running the vacuum off the tube behind the quadrants was a higher idle - seems to match up with your observations about an increased advance?

Hi folks; more twiddling with me new carb. My DGMS has two vacuum pipes. The one I have been using appears to exit from the bottom of the barrell nearest the cylinder head: The other one exits between the two barrells, but slightly higher. It has been covered over with a rubber bung, and has a noticeably stronger vacuum. It also affects my vacuum gauge differently when connected. I use the ESCII system which means that the vacuum take off from the carb is connected to the ECU, and not to the distributor. Can anyone advise which one I should be using??? Ta Rich

I want to see Richard Stewart in HD!

Daft question of the day but can anyone please confirm for me whether the DGMS Idle Adjustment Screws are 'screwed in' to richen, or weaken the mixture? I've read the stripdown pdf that has often been helpfully signposted from this site, but even that isn't clear. I've more or less got my 'nearly new' DGMS running right, after a few hiccups. It's the Fast Road Cars version, correctly jetted for a 2.0 and with the air corrector jet 'fix'. I cured an air leak which was caused by the pump delivery valve not being tight, causing the upper casing not to seal properly against the main body. Then I found an horrendous back-fire when accelerating under load; this turned out to be a blocked pump jet only allowing a squirt down one barrell. After a few bends in the choke connecting rod to get just the right fast idle I now have a smooth starting and idling carb which picks up instantly from idle. I'm not sure though that I've got the right idle mixture because when the engine is cold a blip of the throttle produces a nice black cloud! I'm pretty sure from looking at the diagram that you richen the mixture by screwing the needle out, but can anyone confirm??

Treated ourselves to a spangly new 37" tv, with Blueray and now an upgrade to Sky+HD. The first BlueRay we watched was District 9 - have to say it was just awesome! The HD is great too, especially with those 'Discovery' type channels (love watching the Teutal family scream at each other and throw furniture around in HD). But why oh why can't the BBC get their act together to show the GP in HD? Today's race was fantastic; it would have been amazing in HD ....

Same here. Wasted half an hour of my life in the post office queue (so depressing....) to be told that because my car is SORN the earlies I can tax for the 1st April is the 30th March. What a shame to waste such a lovely weekend! Still, I've got a rare midweek day off on Tuesday, so maybe the sun will shine ... and then a nice long easter weekend!

Yep. Made my own up after checking with Shrewsbury DVLA - 'RHSC2B4' plus invoice number and the initial of everyone in my family! Thought this was a nice idea and added to the uniqueness of the whole thing. Strange, it's not like the DVLA to have a lack of consistency between its offices????

Hi mate I'm sure we can help but we need a few more details regarding your set up - there are so may different variations. Mine is a 2.0 205 block from 1987 and the vac pipe from the carb connects directly to the ECU (ESCII system)......

My choice: Clarke's Premium Ball-Bearing range from Machine Mart: Really good value on no VAT promotion evenings!

Break out the spanners!

You lot are all mad, implying that the car was built on the carpet in the living room. The pattern you are looking at below the car is the duvet cover!!!

All things considered, I think that was what he was after, Iain. Pete, it was in those days (taken mid construction in 2003). Haven't peered under the tunnel top recently

Like one or two others I am unsighted as to recent problems at GBS. However you clearly have the blessing of some wise old Rhocar owls and anything that looks towards taking the marque forward is great news. I would echo some of the comments on here but would throw my weight behind investing in a decent website, getting it up to date and using that as the marketing flagship. It doesn't need to cost the earth; a college student would do you a great job. I have never understood why GBS never did anything with the website. It was a joke and an embarrassment to the company - other kit car competitors in the market must have laughed their heads off. Along the same lines, I like many others would make a beeline for the RH stand at the shows to see if there was a latest brochure ... it was farcical that the only brochure you could pick up was the one that covered the 'Rager' and the Lightweight! Both were hardly a testement to the company (with the greatest respect for Graham and those other kit car heroes who got their cars through the SVA/IVA). Apart from Warwick. Remember him! I have tremendous respect for anyone taking on new business challenges in the current financial climate, so I wish you both the very best of luck and look forward to a new era of company/club liaison. Rich

Him: "Faster, faster ......"

I'd be up for the Shropshire leg ... couple of castles, the Ironbridge and maybe on to the Welsh border?? I'm quite restricted on availability though but would do my best... By the way, the bear's got to be called 'Hoodie" Who knows, might be able to get him a trip on the company helicopter ...

I've suffered this intermittantly since I built the car. I've eliminated the possibility of this being a melting clutch cable, and it doesn't always happen. Sometimes the engine can be red hot after a long run on a summers day and it's fine then another day it will judder like hell. I have no idea to this day what causes it so if anyone has any ideas I'd like to hear them!

Made my eyes water

This is starting to get as gripping as that thread a couple of years ago on another forum about a guy on one of the channel islands who discovered a secret nazi bunker in his garden. After millions of hits and hundreds of posts he eventually found .... bugger all! I suspect though that this thread is going to have a much happier ending Keep it up!

Is a very good point Jamie. I'm sure Lembit Opik would agree with you after feeling the wrath of the law after attempting to ride his Segway to the H of P!