richardm6994

Just a quick note to say that because of all the help I have received so far on these forums, it's only right that I pay the membership fee and join the club. I'd encourage everyone else who is a non member and uses these forums frequently to do the same and support the RHOCAR club. Finally....a big thank you to everyone

That could be a way forward. Fortunately my farther owns a machine shop full of lathes and milling machines etc....etc.....so I could turn a mild steel collar that fits over the end of the roll bar at one end (to be welded onto the roll bar), and at the other end of the collar drill and tap it to suit the rose joint! With regards to the rose joint, what thread size is generally accepted as okay to us? I'm thinking M10 or M12?

Cuttin the roll bar and drilling and tapping the end has crossed my mind but thought that the roll bar might be too hard? Also would you go m10 or m12? Mowerman is comin round on saturday so im sure he will put me straight!

okay........so I'm sad enough to do this on my lunch at work; I'm not going to list all the parts as there are approx 40 different items, however summary engine spec I worked on; 2.1 Pinto Aluminium block and head 82mm stroke omex Throttle bodies and ECU dry sump total £16.333.94 But don't worry, free delivery on orders over £100! Now how much do you recon the engine would sell for?

The 2012 Burton Power Catalogue appeared this morning and it got me thinking................. how much would it cost to scratch build a 2.0 pinto engine (running) from the most expensive parts that they sell? I also wondered that after building this engine, how much you'd be able to sell it for?!? I'd imagine a lot less than you'd paid thus making a massive loss!!! Pointless topic I know.........but it's in chit chat so........................

Did the tiebars fix to the body above the original location of the arb body fixing or did u have to locate them further forward?

Burtons do a sierra kit and an escort kit. Apparently the escort struts are shorter and as such might be a better option for a RH? The frustrating thing is that the bloke at Burtons couldnt tell me thier lengths? Ive read loads of forums about the pros and cons of tiebars, but there isn't much about the installation of them and any problems to look out for. I'd like to buy these at the end of the month and gather as much info as possible in the mean time........ so anyone whos fitted these, can you please let me know how you got on. cheers everyone

Hi, I realise views are divided regarding the fitment of the comression struts against using thinner arb's, however I've think I'm going to go ahead with the conversion on my exmo and buy the kit that burton power sells at circa £150 for the sierra. My question............has anyone had any problems with compression struts clashing with thier wheels on full lock as I realise my arb has a bend in it to clear the wheels???? Any help or guidance regarding the installation as always would be greatly appreciated. cheers

Hi everyone, I've just used CBS for the first time online for some bit and I'm very impressed with their service. I ordered online on Tuesday, paid via Paypal and the bits have arrived today. They emailed me at 3 different times updating me with the order status and even gave me tracking number plus a link to the courier's website so that I could follow the package as it made it's way to me. I shall certainly be using them again!

Mark, I take on board your comments and it sounds as tho your garage is one of the good-guys! One consideration would be to increase the cost of an MOT to make an MOT-only garage a feasible option? If an extra £20 or so on an MOT price ensures that the garage isn't bias towards finding faults which arn't there because they're not allowed to carry out the work........then I for one would happily pay it. I don't think there are any easy answers to this one......whatever masures are put in place, there will always be someone to find a loop-hole and exploit it. My main view is regarding 2 yearly MOTs potnetially costing lives! and as such should not be even considered an option!

I'd imagine that everybody in this forum is of a mechanical mind, and as such we all dislike the fact that we have to take our cars to a garage, and pay to have a mechanic declare it safe for another year….especially when we all could easily do this ourselves. Unfortunately (or fortunate depending on your point of view), kit car builder and other car enthusiasts only represent a small percentage of the UK’s population. The rest of the general population wouldn’t be competent in identifying potentially dangerous faults on their own cars. This eliminates the argument that it is an individual’s responsibility to check their car given that the individual is not capable, and as such, it leads us onto my second point regarding the expectation of the general public paying to have a non-compulsory check-up………….. The suggestion of a non-compulsory check-up during the 2 year MOT period in my opinion is a non-starter. Given the choice, do you really thing that the cash-stricken population would pay to have this done when they don’t have to? Most of the population don’t pay to get their car checked over right now when an MOT is annual, so do we really think they would do it if the MOT was every 2 years? This is a great idea on paper, but in the real world it just would work because people would simply wouldn’t have it done, especially given that policing safe car’s on the road would be extremely impractical……….how is Mr. plod in his police car going to spot corroded brake lines????? And this now leads me onto my third point (I’m on a roll here lol)……………. The suggestion of heavily fining people who drive unsafe cars? Isn’t this supposed to happen currently????? Let’s be honest, it’s proving hard (and costly) enough for the government to monitor which cars have current MOT’s, tax, and insurance……..and this is all done with a computer data-base with people sat behind desks! What chances do you this they have of policing “safe” cars on the road??? Random spot check would work at vehicle check points (as with lorries) but this would only scratch the surface of the problem given the volume of cars on the road at any given moment, not to mention the traffic congestion problems this would cause. On a final note, and putting to one side all of the financial and practical issues, the important thing in my eyes which is NOT to be overlooked is that the death rate due to mechanical fault is high, and in my opinion a 2-year MOT would increase these figures which is simply NOT acceptable! I agree that this is a good topic for debate and I’m sure that my opinions will probably split the board. My solution would be to keep the annual MOT, but enforce cars to be tested at an MOT-only testing stations in an effort to drive out all of the the dodgy-money grabbing MOTers which give the MOTs thier bad name! and also focus more efforts and funding on getting unsafe/insured/taxed cars off the roads……….oh and completely agree with the statement of implementing a safe-tyre checking system!

A quick 10 minutes on google; Around 10% of car accidents on motorways are caused by mechanic faults or vehicle defects. That equates to 182 deaths, 1300 serious, 8,800 slight. I know you can use statistics to prove almost anything, but most mechanical potential failures are picked up during an MOT. If MOTs were every other year, it results in twice as much time passing before potential mechanical faults are idenitifed.........surely this could only lead to an increase in the above figures? I hate MOT's as much as the next person, but surely this is the lesser of the two evils, given it could be someone else's faulty car crashing into you or family/friends? Also 1 in 6 cars currently on the road doesn't have an MOT, and probably no insurance or tax. Imagine how that figure would rise if MOT's was every other year............and who'd end up paying for the mess..........us law abiding tax payers!!!!!!!

I knew I hadn't dreamt it! My opinion (others may argue) would be to not bother boring it to 2.1 (94mm) because head gaskets (especially if you're turboing) become expensive in comparison to standard 2.0.........(50 quid for a adjusa which arn't that good or £100+ for a cometic multi layer steel). It may not seem a great deal for a one time buy..........but if you think you've gotta buy a new gasket each time the head comes off (which in my case has been quite a lot and I wished I hadn't gone 2.1!!!!) Stick a turbo on it and a good cam shaft and great times ahead!!!!!!!!!

I've heard it runs a lower compression ratio........can't remeber who told me this.......or even if I dreamt it

Big Jim's complete right. I have a shorten sump on a pinto and the dipstick is as original which you must not fill oil above the max marker. If your sump has not got side extension which adds the oil capacity back to the sump from what was removed when the sump was shortened, then you will be running with a lesser volume of oil than originally designed, and as such this could get hotter than standard. If the oil gets too hot, firstly it will not do it's job as well as it should, but also it will be a lot thinner and as such you will loose oil pressure. I ran an oil cooler on mine as it didn't have the sump extensions, however after a while I sold the oil cooler and now I simply run with less oil. I have an oil pressure gauge which never drops below 15psi and I'm not having any problems with the oil overheating. My sump has been cut short level with the bottom of the bellhousing.

That looks really good. Did you buy the wish bones as a kit or make them yourself? Am I correct in saying that 1 side of the wishbones are connected to there the original strut was, and the other side you've fabricated a sub-frame in the nose? Also are they still the seirra hubs? If you ever find the time to take some pics without the nosecone, I would be extremely greatul because I'd love to get rid of my Mc-c*appy struts and have a double wishbone set-up! Good work buddy! There's still life left in the old-skool exmo's!

Hey, Just wondering if you ever did the wishbone conversion on your exmo? I love my exmo to bits and think it looks and sounds awsome ............but the front struts are the only thing I wish I could do something about.

Last night I noticed a small dent on the top-edge of my piston. its about 2mm across and about 0.5-1mm deep. I'm not sure how it's happen but it looks as though I've knocked the piston against something during the rebuild it's going through at the moment. The dent doesn't go as far down as the pison ring and the piston holds wd40 for the last couple of days! I really don't want to because money is tight after xmas, but should I change the pison or am I just crying over spilt milk and it will be fine???

Hi, I'm only a stone's throw away in Ripley. I'm in the middle of a mega jolt conversion which should be ready end of Jan so if you're out and about any time, we could meet up for a run? My mate who also live down the road from me has a locust and is usually up run out! (He also owns an MOT garage and is very kit-car friendly! lol)

Yep, mine was the smaller terminal as well. All the best in getting it sorted. Happy new year

There is already a bronze bearing at the bottom of the dizzy just above the drive gear. I've cut the drive shaft so the it passes through the bearing and only protrudes by about half an inch. With the other end of the shaft connected to the oil pump the shaft should be supported enough (fingers crossed!!)

I had this problem as well!! I never got 100% to the cause of the problem but I think something dodgy was going off in the starter solenoid because a terminal was loose in the plastic moulded cap. I replaced the starter motor and all was solved!

hi, i'm in the middle of a megajolt conversion on a pinto. I've used an old dizzy for exactly the same purpose and I've cut it down so that the only thing on show is about half an inch of drive-shaft (and body) poking out if the block. I was just going to cap the end of this shorten dizzy stem to stop dirt getting in. Just wondered what your plans are????

Hi, I'm currently in the middle of a megajolt set-up on my pinto and as such, I have my electronic dizzy, coil pack and ford module etc....up for grabs (£50) if you want to collect (derbys). Worked well but I've upgraded to a megajolt system for better tuning capacity.

I understand what you mean but why wouldn't you use just 1 standard twin 48 carb on a manifold? Surely it would be the same carburetion but only cost a few houndred quid, not £1400???