brumster

I'd agree, I'd probably see more value in selling all the bits and plan on the fact you'll just throw away the body/chassis. The wings for example might be of value to someone building a kit/locost, and then things like the steering rack, radiator, lights, etc probably all have more value individually than you'll get as a job lot. You might be lucky and find that one person out there itching to build a lightweight but I think, if we're being openly honest about it, they are few and far between

HELIflipper03, if you find a car where the V5 doesn't match what you're actually looking at, there are a few possibilities as to why. And let's be honet, the most likely reason, irrespective of what the seller tells you, is that they (or a previous owner) wanted to avoid the paperwork, effort, cost and red tape of going through an IVA but wanted to build a kit car. So they found an existing kit car, bought it, and used the identity for the one they built. Whether it's actually MADE from that car (ie. they stripped it and put the bits into a new chassis) or they just swapped number plates and chassis number, doesn't really matter. It's illegal. If you did it with a conventional car, you'd be in trouble for it, and it's only because some people don't question what a "Dutton" looks like that it's so rife (many non kit-car types will look at any unusual kit car and won't have a clue, so if you tell them it's a Dutton they'll probably believe you, whereas trying to make out a Volkswagen Beetle is a Ford Mondeo is a tougher sell). Does it mean the car is nicked? No, of course not. Does it mean the car is unsafe? No. Can you buy it and "make it right"? I'm not an expert but I believe you can, yes - but tread very carefully, seek the advice of wiser men, and know what you're getting into in terms of work and cost to put right. Maybe others with experience in doing that can comment. Assuming the ownership/source of the parts of the car aren't in question, I am guessing you effectively start afresh - start the IVA process anew, a 'clean' identity for the car. Almost certainly a Q-plate. And certainly not worth strong money on anything... 'seek significant financial compensation' as part of the deal, I would say

He only said "I'd be tempted...". If you're going to jump down his throat at least read exactly what he wrote rather than misquoting him as saying "RINGERS are fine" which he, quite clearly, didn't?!

Cool, ok. I wouldn't really choose a 2B as a trackday car then, if I had £5500 burning a hole in my pocket.... I'd probably go more for a Locost chassis with a more fruity engine. You'll have way more options in terms of chassis tuning, it'll weigh less. 2Bs are great for the road but for what you're after, I think that sort of money would be better spent on something a bit more track-focused...

Is this purely a track day car? You're bit "hold it's own on track" has thrown me a bit, that can mean different things to different people

They're in the IVA guide (table 1) but referenced as "position lamps"... 400mm max in from the side, max 1500mm high (or 2100 if impractical) and at least 250mm off the ground. And bear in mind the angles of visibility

I may be showing my ignorance, but I thought the test checked the pattern and intensity of the light so why does anyone care whether the actual emitting source of light is a conventional filament bulb, a HID gas bulb or an LED? So, like said above, if the output of light conforms to the requirements in terms of spread, not blinding anyone, etc then I'm curious as to why it matters (assuming e-marked, etc, that's all fine)... presumably the MOT test doesn't check some critical aspect (genuinely curious)? edit: did a google https://blog.motoringassist.com/news/fit-led-lighting-car-legally/ Makes an interesting point that I've always felt that even new cars with LED lights seem to be harder on my eyes (as an oncoming driver) than the old ones but that's probably just me getting old!

I would say you're going about things the wrong way. Make a shortlist of the types of kitcar you want first, then explore what suitable donors you can find. Buying a 'donor' car (Volvo or otherwise) and then trying to find a kit that will fit is just the wrong order. Do you know what style of kit car you're after? Open top, soft top, hard top? Sports/lotus 7 style ie. very much a fun/weekend car, or something more 'useable' with an enclosed body, roof, something more suited to long distance, etc etc?

True, I suppose if you only had 100 miles range out of a tank then you'd get a bit fed up of stopping to fill up (even if it's out of a 5L jerry can type affair!)

Errmmm... just an accurate fuel gauge, or am I just a bit weird ?!

Could always buy it and just sit in it and rev it every day, probably get your moneys worth from just doing that

Unless GBS have some, you'll probably need to CAD them up and get a metal cutting place to cut you some

fwiw, the original windscreen supports provided with the Exmo looked different to yours - they had wider webs and were quite basic. I think the angle might be a bit different, but I'll let you decide

I've got an optimate 3 which I've had for *utterly ages* (like, 20 years) and it does my dry cell batteries fine - I've used it on motorbikes and also the dry batteries in the kit car and a competition car. More recently I purchased a NOCO and I must say I am really impressed with it for the money; I bought it because I needed 2 connected at the same time and also I'd bought a Lithium battery for the motorbike - the optimate wouldn't do that, being so old. If you're only looking to maintain a battery, then the base model 1 amp NOCO will be perfectly fine and at £33 honestly, it's a cracking bit of kit and a bargain at that. If you was after something to charge up a flat battery in a short period of time then sure, no, it's going to struggle - but if you're just after a maintainer it will do you proud.

<raises hand>

I don't mean to sound cruel but whoever told you the Exmo is an 'exotic' was having a laugh We bought our Exmo in 96/7, there had been a batch before us, so the above dates ring true to my memory - it didn't run for long. They were picked up in batches; everyone turned up to the factory "en masse" to collect what must have been 50 to 100 kits in one day! Quite a fun day actually Most Exmos had a Ford 4-pot SOHC ("Pinto") put in them, 1600/1800/2000cc. Most people were buying Exmo's as a budget build so I don't recall anyone putting anything special in them, bar a couple of Ford V6 lumps. They were very much aimed at the budget end of the kit car market, that was their selling point (single donor, and the kits were incredibly cheap) so *most* customers were buying with that in mind - hence used as much of the donor car as they could (Sierra). There will obviously be exceptions - but *generally* that was the pattern with the Exmo.

I never managed to get much of a recentre effect on the Exmo; there was a little bit at small steering inputs but there was an "over-centre" effect where, past a certain point, there was none whatsoever. At extreme steering angles, the wheels would actually fall outward into the turn - bloody dangerous! When I put the tie bars on I tried to push the strut bottoms forward as much as seemed reasonable to do but you have to remember that the way the tops mount, anything other than perpendicular to the buttress (and the top bearing) you're loading up that bearing incorrectly and potentially bending the damper rod (although I'd bet the buttress would bend first, particularly if you haven't done the re-enforcing mod). I don't think it's probably possible to get the desired/ideal amount of caster without re-thinking the way it all mounts up top, maybe with some sort of spherical bearing that would allow the strut to angle forwards. Even then, you'd have a point at which the springs would start to interact with the buttress and put a stop to any further adjustment :). I think maybe your best bet is to, as you suggest, push it forward as much as you're comfortable doing given the points above. If you moved to tie bars instead of the ARB, you'd have some inherent adjustability by turning the rod ends in/out of the tie bar (up to a limit obviously). And to be honest, the extra compliance you get with tie bars over the ARB is a far greater overall improvement - thoroughly recommend it.

Try Mark 2 Escort

I'd say you've definitely got to do something about the position of that rad and the ability for air to flow through it - it's tight and messy in there, hard to see from photos so apologies if I get it wrong but it looks like there's all manner of things stopping a good passage of airflow, let alone the fact that it's hanging around in open space rather than having anything effectively controlling the air flow through it. Moving it even just the other side of that shock arrangement would allow you to use the nosecone as something to butt panels/ducting up like Richy's lovely arrangement (slightly angling you'll get away with). If I needed to swap to a smaller radiator to get it in there, I'd even do that, sell that massive aftermark ali rad for good money and get a smaller OEM one out of a hatchback/etc. I tell you it'd still have plenty of cooling capacity, people love to think they need massive expensive aftermarket radiators but it's just not necessary when you've got proper, decent airflow through it.

Q plate : I'd say yes. It *shouldn't* and people like to make out it doesn't, but I think realistically, it does, there's a bit of Q-plate snobbery that we don't like to talk about :). Up to you really, these cars aren't typically investments so do you really care? Ignore what other people think. I've seen good and poor examples of Westfields just as much as Robin Hoods but, on the basis there are more Westfields out there, and I suspect a lot of them were factory built, you *tend* to see more good examples of Westfields. I'm generalising, but I feel that's probably fair to say, particularly with the older models. Yeah we'll all chip in and critique your choice on eBay, I'm sure I'll get the popcorn, wait one...

I've always put fans on the back of my cars rads than the front, just habit I think, I've heard people argue over the benefits of either but I suspect it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other :). No clearance issues here so it's neater and less likely to get damaged, but obviously my car is a different setup to yours, being a Zero and with a different engine, my clearance behind the rad is pretty massive. I would say yes, mine is a 12" or possibly a 10". It's a SPAL. Radiator is Seat Ibiza/Cordoba diesel but again, not being an S7, that's probably irrelevant for your setup.

Any pics without the nosecone on? In addition to the very valid points above : to me, in your last-but-one pic, it looks like there is a gap at the left side of the rad? If there's no ducting in the nosecone, then air will get scooped in via the nosecone front and (assuming we're at speed here) will take the path of least resistance to get back out again to low pressure. Depending on the course through the engine bay - I see side vents on the right, I'm going to guess there's one on the left too (?) - I'm guessing it will go straight through this nice, convenient gap at the side of the rad, and out the side vent, and very little of the air will take the arduous route through the radiator matrix The "proper" way to do it :

Yeah, no pics for me either, sorry!

Be good to see pics. In my experience with seeing cars that have overheating issues it is almost 90% of the time down to bad air flow design. Failure to control the consumption of air into the nosecone and THROUGH the radiator (by ensuring there are no lower-pressure routes around the radiator instead of through it), and likewise blocking the flow of air once it's gone through the radiator - blocking the back of the rad, or not giving the air any suitable low-pressure exit route out of the engine bay. It could still be bad rad, blocked channels, knackered 'stat or whatever, granted, but if I was generalising, I'd go with the above....

GTM Libra? All the weather protection you need then (they do a couple and soft top version, and the coupe has a removeable roof section)...