enforcer

Invisible woman asks controversial battery installer to pop it in her boot

There'll be more valves in the stereo. What a tw*t!

I know Friar Tuck whipped a pair off his tin top - looked really smart

Hi I don't profess to being an expert here because I haven't touched my side panels, but I feel from reading numerous threads on the subject and watching the video through tears of laughter that your problem may lie in your front end:" I got a nice bow.." I am prepared to be corrected on this but I understand that the front end should be flat to the chassis rails, and some packing is needed either over the top rail or under the lower rail depending on your preference. I suspect that you have attached the upper and lower flanges of the side panel directly to the chassis rails without packing, hence creating the 'bow'? If this is the case I can see why your panel has buckled as you try to put a different bow on the opposite end. Does this make sense? Richard

Thanks, I feel reassured already!

Were there people doing sanatogen in the toilets?

Thanks Jim. By the 'Plough Tube' I presume you mean the chassis tube running below the engine mounts - yes it is in contact with the shallow part of the sump. The sump is standard Ford as is the oil filler cap. I have raised the engine mountings now by 1/4" by using heavy steel washers which does at least provide a little clearance between the sump and the 'plough tube'. The engine mountings are the barrel shaped, half rubber half steel with the peg adjacent to the stud. I am sure they are correct, and the mounting arms are the right way round and locate correctly on the peg. I think my solution to this will have to be welding over the existing oil filler and moving it to the rear of the cover. It has also occured to me that having installed the engine, tunnel, tunnel top and firewall would I be correct in saying that in order to remove the engine again the tunnel top and centre fire wall panel will have to come out to give the clearance? Richard

Hi all - sorry another engine / oil question I'm not 100% happy with the engine installation in that:- 1.The end of the gearbox is as low as possible without fouling the cross member 2.The bonnet will sit on the oil filler cap 3.The bottom of the sump is resting on the lower cross member I have read the various threads and I know there's still a bit of tweaking to try. However my question is this: At the moment the engine is slightly lower at the front than the back. Does this mean that the engine oil will pool in the head and possibly seep through the rocker cover gasket rather than drain naturally through the drain hole at the gearbox end of the head?

Joel Had to change only two of mine. The first one I did as per the manual, but found removing the CV joint a complete pain in the arse. Then I discovered the universal split gaiters which you cut to size, fit then seal with superglue along a seal line. I had my doubts about these at first but have to say the result is perfect and took a fraction of the time. They cost about a tenner each from your local motor factors, and come with ties, grease and superglue. Excellent!

Hi guys - thanks for the advice. I tried cranking the engine on a freshly charged battery, but still nothing. I removed the spray bar and saw that the hole in the side of the head was dry. I then took longboarder's advice by removing the cam belt and spinning the auxillary shaft. Still nothing. Finally I fixed a 17mm socket onto an old bolt, filed to roughly 1/2" square, whacked this in the drill and applied it gently to the sprocket. At first nothing, then .............. lots of brand new oil spraying out of the hole all over the carb - should have put the spray bar on first! Now have lots of lovely oil coating the cam from the spray bar on cranking, and an oil pressure light going out after a few seconds. Oil spill now cleaned up and all is well again. Ahhhhhhhhh

Having finished wiring my 2B04 I filled up the reconditioned engine with decent oil and removed the rocker cover, coating the cam and lobes before turning the engine over on the key. (No fuel connected yet). I turned the engine over 20-30 times before the battery gave up but was dismayed to see not a drip of oil from the spray bar. This was replaced as a matter of course so should not be blocked. Does the oil pump create enough pressure to produce oil at the spraybar without the engine firing? Does it need priming in some way? Or will it spray merrily on turnover with a fully charged battery? I shortened the sump as per BJ's design and ensured that the distance between the pick up mesh and the bottom was sufficient. The oil pump gears were in excellent condition, so the unit was not replaced. Can anyone set my mind at rest?

"For f**ks sake will you land it now? I can't hold on any longer!"

Thanks everyone - some sound advice there. Clearly the general consensus is not to do this and I bow to your infinate wisdom oh mighty ones.

Hi all I am toying with the idea of running the headlight wiring inside the chassis rails rather than the classic but unattractive method of cable ties. I have a 2B04, and clearly the chassis rails in question are a significant part of the structure, supporting the top of the MacPherson Struts. Could drilling 10mm holes into these rails significantly weaken them? I would like to make the car as smart as possible but not at the expense of compromising the structural integrity. Any views?

I know Salty I guess you can't polish a turd Thanks for the reply Stuart - anyone else done this? (Fit an oil pressure sender - not polish a turd)

Hi everyone I have a set of Jaguar 2" clocks I am going to use with my 2B to compliment the Sierra pod. I have the electronic Jaguar Oil pressure gauge but no sender. I bought one off ebay from 'Lowtension Ltd' (marked VDO) but the thread is much smaller than the switch currently screwed into the Pinto crankcase. I thought the thread on the sender I bought was 12mm but apparently not! Can anyone tell me the thread size of the aperture in the Pinto crankcase and perhaps recommend where I could find a sender to do the job. I suppose there may be an adapter out there somewhere once I discover what thread is on the VDO sender. Help! Ps. How do you turn a duck into a soul singer? Put it in a microwave until its bill withers

I would thoroughly recommend the kit from Rally Designs. Only cost about 11 quid but does the job perfectly and leaves a really crisp gear change with minimal lever travel. I also cut down the length of the gear stick a couple of inches, but even then with a heavy gear knob there is very little additional effort required.

Jase This is pretty much where I'm at apart from a therapeutic weekend of loom routing and solder sniffing - very rewarding when things actually begin to work. I've sent you a PM

To clarify I laminated the stainless panel to the MDF, sandwiching the blind nuts in between... My sierra clocks, 2" clocks and switch panel are mounted to a 6mm MDF panel which can be removed seperately from the main dash

You must trial fit the bonnet before cutting the dash panel down to size. Mine stands proud of the top tube by about 3/4 of an inch - don't forget you also need to leave about 1/2 inch gap for some boot seal trim or similar. I wanted a thicker dash but you are right in that the centre section needs to bend back a couple of inches to meet the uprights. I solved this by cutting a panel out of 3mm MDF to match the stainless panel. Once glued with 'no more nails' and fixed to the car it dries hard, preserving the curves in the dash. I bonded some blind nuts under the stainless to I can bolt the dash on from behind - no ugly screw in the trim for me! Worked really well - I used 6mm blind nuts from B&Q

I see from the Tuc in the background that the RAF have obviously scrapped canopies and are now fitting RHE hoods!

Here is a photo thanks to Matt's cheeky photo resizing programme

Jason I too live in Telford and am building a 2004 2B. You would be very welcome to take a look and discuss any concerns you have. I will send you a PM with my mobile number. Richard

Following on from yesterday's 'mini bitz' thread I thought I would pass on how easy and successful it is to install the powerful sierra fan blower inside the mini unit. To prepare the sierra fan motor the first thing to do is cut off the fan unit at the base of the motor and discard. The remaining fan will remain inside its full cowling which is a perfect fit inside the mini 'can' once you have cut off the plastic lugs on either side which joined the two cowling halves together. All you need is some duck tape to seal the halves together. The resister unit needs to be removed from the clip holding the motor to the housing, which is then replaced, holding the motor firmly to its original mounting. Finally the 'lip' at the bottom of the air outlet nozzle needs trimming flush to the cowling. You will need to extend the short, positive wire from the motor as it now needs to run considerably further than the resister unit. Remove the side of the heater unit with the matrix pipes on it, and the three self-tappers holding the mini fan motor in place. This will then come out, and hey presto the modified sierra fan just slides into place (almost an interference fit), secured by three self tapping screws. Even the holes are already there for you! All you need to do now is route the two motor wires through a grommetted hole outside the can, and replace the heater side with some silicone sealant. Job done, and the difference in performance is amazing! The resister unit now needs to be mounted externally, but you will retain use of the sierra loom's multi-plug and three position motor switch. I have some photos of this, but can't work out how to upload them yet. However it really is simple, common sense stuff.

Thanks all Having run both units there is no question that the sierra fan motor is much more powerful even with one of the fan rotors cut off. Since I've got the time I'm going to have a go at fitting the sierra motor inside the mini heater unit. I think I will be favouring an installation behind the passenger dashboard - just enough room and leaves all the tunnel top area for fusebox and loom.