churchy

Thank you gentlemen, I shall wait until I have wired that ignition light and let you know how I get on. Very much appreciate your input. Cheers andy

Car stopped charging while out on a run, I managed to get home but when I checked voltage across battery without car running and with the car running was the same, 12.35 volts. To lazy to check wiring I ordered a new alternator, fast forward 3 days and in the garage with the new alternator fitted and checking voltage across battery to find exactly the same readings. I walked back into the kitchen because everything looks better with a cup of tea, 15 minutes later when I started checking wiring. I found a connector at the alternator end burned out as the wire had come loose. Great I thought easy but being the person I am and 3 years ago I completely rewired the car with a gbs wiring harness but that harness does not cover the alternator wiring, so I thought lets rewire the alternator wiring and be done with it. Now I'm running a pinto engine with a bosch alternator. On the bosch are 3 connectors two large and 1 small. One large connector went straight to the battery live the other large connector went to my kill switch, so when the key is connected it goes straight to the battery. The little connector goes to my warning battery charging light but I haven't connected this yet as I'm waiting for a 86 ohm resistor to put in line before it goes to the warning lights as l have smith flight dials and this is what they say, this light wasn't connected before but as I am rewiring I wanted the light to work. All excited turn the key on stared the car checked the battery and went to make a cuppa as things always look better after a cuppa. Still 12.56 volts with car running and the voltage drops to 12.34 volts with lights on so not charging. After a lot of swearing I check the two large connectors when unplugged from alternator, I have continually across both to the battery and also 12 volts with battery connected, the alternator has a good earth back to the battery as I checked continually. Last chance I put the old alternator back on with the same reading the voltage is the same with car running as not. Sorry for the long description but my question is have I made a school boy error or are both alternators faulty. Any help gratefully received as I'm all tea out. Cheers andy

Hi, I have a pinto running a oil temp gauge that the sender unit is in the oil sump plug, my gauge is a smiths flight with the correct sender unit, the sender unit is smaller than the plug in the sump so I use a brass bush to the correct size and using brass I have a good contact to earth. On the oil system I have a thermostatic controled take off unit from the oil filter that opens at 70 degrees to allow the oil to flow to a air oil cooler at the front of the car, this oil cooler does not have a fan connected to it, the oil cooler only cools when the car is moving,my temp gauge runs around 70 to 80 degrees on a cool day and may reach 80 to 90 degrees on a hot sunny day, 25 to 30 degrees air temp, hope this helps.

Thank you guys, it is great to know what I have to do and I best way to tackle it, the pictures are great and it just goes to show how important this club is, the wealth of knowledge and everyone's willing to give advice is tremendous and I am so grateful. I will keep you up to date with my progress and thank you again

Thank you guys, so once I have removed the nuts the threaded bar should knock out, then once removed the tube with the bushes should lift out so I can get to the bushes if I understand correctly

Hi guys, need some advice before tackling my next job. On the drivers side I have about 1/4" play on this bush at the back that I have circled in pink, now I think there is a Bush the other side of this threaded bar/ bolt, it looks like it doesn't travel all the way through so another bush on the front, has anybody tackled this job and what is on the other side that I cannot see, my last question is how do I get in to repair, amy advise would be very appreciated. Thanks Andy

Silly question but have you tried the car without the bonnet and nose cone off to see if the car still overheats, if it does then I think there could be something causing the problem but if it's fine then it could well be not getting enough air directed through the rad

Is your rad sitting upright so the air is hitting it straight on and did you have this problem before the engine was removed

I run a 2 litre pinto and had overheating problems a few years ago and the previous owner had removed the thermostat, I found out after trial and error that my radiator just wasn't getting enough air flow through it. I put a double core rad in which increased cooling capacity and then a electric fan but made sure that when the fan ran it pull air across the whole of the rad and the car now runs lovely with a thermostat back in even in traffic, to me if the thermostat is missing this has been an on going problem, also at the same time as my cooling problems i changed my volt meter for an oil temp gauge which I think is far more benifical, I noticed my oil temp was high especially when I was high revving the car, I do have a sump guard fitted but i did fit an air to air oil cooler in front of my rad, ran it from my oil filter with an thermostatic sandwich plate so not to cool the oil too much as this is worst than getting it too high, I had to change my oil filter for an cosworth filter, it passes the same oil rate and is ok with 20/50 oil but is smaller in length so it would fit inside my engine bay. The filter came from Burton and is a EFL298 FILTER this did bring my oil temp down and now it is happy days. Hope this helps Andy

Hi, I have a Sierra base S7 and this is about the only job I have been putting off for some time. The rear suspension, at the moment I am running is a Sierra set up with standard Sierra shock absorbers(new) with springs inboard on the rear subframe these springs are not standard but I have no idea what they are. I love the ride height of the set up at the moment and the wheels sit nicely filling the wheel arch but when riding along the rear is too soft and over pot holes and large bumps the suspension bottoms out . My question is what's the best way to sort this out with keeping the ride height the same and not going too hard, any advise will be gladly appreciate. Cheers Andy

Thankyou guys, for that information and as usual it is a great help to me. I have just sworn my motor and will be doing the rear first. Thankyou Pete for the offer of your spear springs and i may take you up on that when I come to the fronts but i will let you know if that is ok. Thankyou guys once again for your time and help cheers

Thankyou guys. It always amazes me the knowledge from the owners club and that is worth the membership fee in itself. Thankyou again, now I know what I will be looking and asking for. Cheers again Andy

Hi, my winter project is to change the rear and front suspension, i have the rear suspension covered but the front I need a bit of advice on. I have a sierra base S7 with in board spax adjustable coil overs that came in the kit I would think, I want to keep with the in board adjustable coil overs but i think the the springs are a little to hard but do not know what spring rate is fitted but more importantly what springs and shocks should I get and where to get them, i love the ride but just think a softer spring would be better without going to soft. Any advice would be grateful especially from anybody who has changed there shocks with this set up. Cheers Andy

Hi, in the end I took engine, gearbox and then prop out. Took the prop to Morris Bailey who made a updated prop in 24 hours and while I had the engine out i put a Kent cam fast road cam kit, a Kent Vernier pulley and lighten the fly wheel on my pinto. The car has been back on the road for 2 weeks and what a difference the upgrades had made it is almost like a different car the engine sounds different but it also spins up so much quicker and the cam doesn't slow the car down at low revs at all but when i put my foot down the car is so much quicker and more enjoyable. Thanks for all the advice and as always that advise has lead me to look in the right place, i think it is always nice to hear how our topics end. Once again thankyou guys

Thankyou guys for the advice even if it's not what I want to hear but thought that would be the answere. Two questions engine and gearbox out together or can I strip them out separately as last time I took the engine out there wasn't much room and i don't know weather both will come out together in one. As for the mot then yes I suppose he should of seen it. Thankyou guys for the advice as always it is much appreciated. Cheers Andy