brumster

I've seen these fitted upside-down on another (non-Ford) car and it doesn't make a difference, but not sure whether the Ford servo is different in any way (I would doubt it)... not an air leak on it, assuming you're 100% sure it's bled up properly.

Might put my engine bay side vents in.... might not depends if it warms up enough to warrant them!

I understand where you're coming from - we used to be on oil. I bet once you factor in the loss of the heat through the pipes/coil in the tank, heat soak out of the tank as you mention, it struck me there probably wasn't a fat lot of difference. I guess one question is whether you use a full tank of hot water in a day anyway? We moved to gas over 12 months ago, and took the opportunity to move to a modern cylinder and unvented system. I tell you one thing - the new cylinder holds the water at temperature for so much longer than the old lagged copper effort. When the engineer installed it, before he got the boiler working, he rigged it up so that we could at least use the immersion for some hot water. We heated the tank and the water coming out of it was still hot 2 days later! I was amazed, the old cylinder would never have managed that, water was luke warm by 24 hours (airing cupboard was nice and cosy though). You can tell the difference because the airing cupboard doesn't get anywhere near as warm any more.

There's a good point there - it takes a lot longer doing it yourself on the road. This isn't necessarily an issue, of course, because you're possibly not in a rush when you're not paying someone else's wages - your time is 'free', so to speak I don't dick too much with the advance, to be honest. I was toying with a little electronics project to rig up a knock sensor for a level of 'safety' but it's no replacement for a good session on a RR.

There is nothing wrong with the self-learning, adaptive mapping of modern ECUs but holding the engine in a controlled load is difficult on the road, so there's limits to what can sometimes be done without a rolling road. If you're after the last tenths of an engines performance then a rolling road (or even better an engine dyno) is the best way to go, but for average road use or fine tuning of an engine that's already been RR'd and just needs adjustment, self-learn by wide band gets my thumbs up. There are further steps to it - I would always refine the map afterwards by hand, rather than just relying on the self-learn... and as you say, it won't correct a bad ignition map - but it sounds like this bit you already have sorted (and I'm not sure the reality of things is that the ignition map needs to be that spot on - on many a tuned engine I've seen the ignition map to be quite basic!). edit: I should add, the software does a good job of making the process easy. You get a nice 'target' system on the display to assist you in holding the car at or near a load site, and there are good shortcut keys (1/2/3 and 0/-/+) to manually adjust both the fuel and ignition maps at the current load site up, down or reset to original base setting. You can use this to 'nudge' the curves one way or another on the fly. I would still say it's easier to map with two people in the car, but it's just about doable by yourself once you've had some practise. Best thing to do is find somewhere nearby with a long, steep hill

Sounds cool - one of my mates is the spanner monkey on the drift cars, maintaining and building them... he was probably there at a guess, being doughnut'd around and risking his toes the cars certainly get maintained, he's always working on them, so I am guessing it's pretty hard on them. 60psi van tyres - love it

Don't suppose you've got an unfitted tonneau have you (did they even do an "official" tonneau or was it only full weather gear?)...

I can do a "leg" from Birmingham to Milton Keynes if that helps

I think it's far more likely people's browsers have been compromised because clearly some people aren't seeing the advert. Also, I can't see our site being the typical target for this kind of advertising. Also, it sounds right out of character for Matt - I'm sure adverts would be put up as banners on the forums, not as pop-ups?

Never seen it here, or even the popup blocked. Using Win 7/Firefox/BetterPrivacy plugin/MS Security Essentials, nothing more.

I think, unfortunately, there's been a fair bit of spin been put in this from both sides. I would read the following links and make your own mind up. http://www.bikesport...per&newsid=8775 http://www.thisislei...2MZvaab9l</p><p The first smacks a little of 'blackmail' - "agree to let us run more days or I'll sell up!". The second one I think is important, it puts across a better view of what the residents in Kirby Mallory are concerned about. It's not the noise per se, but the desire to up the number of race days significantly. Many discussions don't touch on this point. There was a meeting scheduled between the relevant parties, but in the end it was cancelled. So, to be clear, I don't believe I've seen any evidence that this is people moving into the area fully knowing about the track, and then complaining about the noise levels. The business isn't viable on 92 days a year, a restriction made in an agreement made in 1985, and wants to up it to 160. Personally I can see both sides of the argument but, being a petrol head, I would quite happily agree to the upped limit for a free entry pass (if I lived in KM, which I don't...)

Completely agree. The most relevant thing after a rolling road session is how it feels afterwards, and whether you're happy with it. You can chase big numbers but that might not ultimately satisfy you, whereas a nice driveable, responsive engine might not make the big numbers and impress people at the pub, but will have it where it matters - on the road

I'm not all that sure they're really needed; I'm guessing, but maybe on the day-to-day map they turn off overrun fueling, or at least raise the target AFR on the overrun to help consumption a bit, at the expense of response? Just thinking theory myself, never actually bothered trying it (I just run the one map, but it's not like the car gets used that much it warrants an 'economy' map!)

Speak to Emerald and ask if they have a base map close to the spec of whatever lump you're fitting. If so, fitting a wide-band lambda and using the self-learn facility is perfectly achievable if you can read and follow a set of instructions, so don't worry too much about it. If you're seeking the last 1% of horse power then yes, you need to factor in a rolling road session, but if you've got time and patience you can get the engine running perfectly well yourself 'at home', so to speak (ok, out on the road, but you know what I meant ).

Yes, correct, from K3 onwards.

I've worked on Emerald and a rather obtuse system, EFI Technologies, mainly used in motorsport (big with touring cars). It's only when you've used something like the EFI that you realise what a joy the Emerald software is. The ECUs themselves are very comprehensive and there's not much to separate them (the EFI seems a bit more robust maybe, I suspect it's slightly higher quality inside but couldn't verify) but feature-wise they're very similar - in fact the Emerald promises new features with firmware upgrade in the future, like traction control. What sets them apart in my experience is the software, and the availability of the skills out there. Also, the Emerald is mappable from your laptop using a simple serial/USB interface, whereas EFI make you splash out on a £500 USB<->CAN interface of theirs before you can work on it. Groan. Go with something mainstream and popular. The ECU feature list isn't the be-all-and-end-all; if you can't find someone to work on it it'll cost you in the long run!

Are we talking a Sierra diff here? CV joint bearings, that's got nothing to do with the diff - it needs new shafts, or joints at best - but the backlash perceived could just be the CVs, as Grim says. edit: Scratch that, just seen the other threads diagnosing a shot diff and looking for a new one. So sounds like you've diagnosed the problem already, nothing to do with CVs?

I think Dunlop do an E-marked CR311 in a few of the compounds (designated R04/R08 instead of X04/08) which, in terms of dry performance, will knock the socks off an R888... but their size range is limited so I'm not sure they'll do something in your size. But still, something to consider. edit: Pants, just found them : http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/competition-tyres/dunlop-cr311-fia-historic-rally-tyre They're only available in 13" Mind you, gives me ideas for mine!

I don't know where you are, but I would really recommend http://www.105speed.com/

Al's right, boycotting one forecourt does absolutely nothing. The only way you'll drive down the price of the stuff is to buy it less - old supply and demand - which means using the car less, or reducing how much fuel you use. I don't believe the UK is the worst in the world with how much of our fuel cost is tax. I'd love to see everyone in the UK down the car for a day and try and go about their business by public transport, just to give the government the message can you imagine the chaos? The lost income for corporations?! Imagine a week-long refusal to use anything that involved buying petrol or diesel from a forecourt anywhere in the UK, and to use the so-called alternatives that we apparently have at our hand ....

If you do end up taking it somewhere I can recommend Centre Gravity near Atherstone - little bit closer for you. Didn't do my Hood (although lord knows I'm toying with the idea!) but I've had discussions with him about my other car and he's very knowledgeable, respected in his field (particularly with Porsches) and has all the kit. Prices you'd have to discuss with him. http://www.centergravity.co.uk/ He really takes time to listen to you, understand how you want the car to handle, and tailor his recommendations/work to what you ask for. Cheers, Dan

It was indeed! Thanks Gaz for organising. Sorry we had to depart early

Nice idea - my 6 year old would probably like to join in! One for you :- "C855 YVM is powered by what?" Answer - "Rover". I don't have any other stickers or distinguishing marks on the car, other than a creased bonnet where father-in-law kicked over a load of wheels onto it

Gaz - myself and the missus will be coming along provided we can bribe nanny into child-sitting duties. Failing that, I will at least be there myself

I recently swapped to a 3.9 from a 3.6 as it suits the car use and engine more. The 3.62 was a nice setup but with a revvy motor and only occassional fun use, it really didn't warrant it. So I got the BGH uprated HD gearkit with tall 1st and short 5th, and dropped a 3.92 in. Much nicer; suits the car more and with only 110-odd bhp in a heavy old Exmo it punts along just a little nicer. With a grunty 2-litre lump you would be fine with a 3.6... mind you I've never seen RH's as long tourers so would always plump for the shorter, sportier gearing I think!