steve in stockport

Jase, I'm the same as Terry, spent well over a week with a test meter and wire cutters removing all excess from sierra loom, so no experience of vg loom. If the brown wire is an original ford wire(thats how I was reading your posts) then it is more than likely an earth as after checking all the wiring diagrams in my haynes manual all solid brown wires are earths. How does the vg loom reproduce the headlamp wiring for the sierra as the model I have used has the nearside side,dip and main beam earthed as normal to the chassis while on the offside the side lights earth as normal and the dip and main beam are earthed via a return to the dim/dip relay - that was another that had me scratching the old head for a while. Steve

brown wire coming from the middle of the column switches to a two pin connection( two male spade connectors?) sounds like the horn switch wire - when the horn is pressed the earth connection is made and the horn sounds, mine has two wires to this connection with steering wheel centre horn push but some with stalk push may have a single wire - not sure on that just guessing. Steve

are you using the sierra column switches, had a similar problem with mine ie no dip etc, turned out I hadn't earthed the light switch - just assumed that the mounting of the switch would do the job. Connected a wire from one of the screws holding the switch on to an earth point and they lit up like Blackpool illuminations - just a pity dirty little Geri didn't turn them on for me. Steve

obviously this girl didn't listen when her mum told her not to show her volvo to strangers! Steve

Friar, don't know what system the super spec uses but if you can,t get the fluid to move by conventional pedal pushing method I would try one of the pressure bleeding kits available from spares shops, halfords etc. All you do is fill the bottle with brake fluid, connect it to the filler neck on your reservoir, connect the air pipe to a tyre valve(tyre should have about 10-15psi in it) then open the bleed screws in the correct order and the air in the tyre does it all for you! Costs about £20 which isn't a great deal in the overall scheme of building a car, don't need an assistant and give a good firm pedal when you use them right. Steve GOOD LUCK FOR FRIDAY

sounds like it's self adhesive flashing for use in building joints etc, to replace or repair old lead flashing. comes in a range of widths up to about 200mm/8inches, also sometimes called flashband. available from all builder merchants,B+Q, wickes etc Steve

if you mean the holes that locate over the spare wheel hoop, then yes you probably will need to modify them so that the back panel can be pushed fully into position against the two down tubes. Once it all fits nice and you're ready to fix it in place a good dose of sealant will stop any rattles Steve

Steve, just been on ebay where I saw this and thought of you link they look a bit shinier than yours! Steve

Steve, just out of interest did any one have a play with the clutch lever arm when you weren't looking? Only asking because I helped a neighbour take the engine out of a mk 1 escort and his son decided to inspect the clutch bearing and arm as we replaced the leaking core plug, but didn't tell us and he put the arm back in back to front - result - same problem as you, gear selection ok if not running, no chance if running. Oh how we chuckled! Luckily quick to cure as there's loads of room to swing a ford crossflow around in an escort engine bay. Steve

were they the black leather ones on ebay that had a SMALLl rip on the drivers side bolster? if it was so small why was the drivers seat turned so you couldn't see it in the photo, or have a separate photo to show it? think it was probably bigger than was being let on and the buyer could end up pretty disappointed - but hey i'm a cynic and could be way off the mark. Steve

Chris, don't know if you're still looking for cylinder heads but i've just found this on ebay link sounds like he's scrapping the car, might be worth mailing him and see if he will sell you the heads Steve

i hope these will fit cos i just won them on ebay link if they do the red leather will look the business with the red grp on my car! cheers Steve

Kev just been on the locost site and came across this thread for wheel bearings at halfrauds link £10 a side seems ok to me cheers Steve

BigLee just been on ebay and came across this and remembered your post, don't know if you are already sorted but you may be interested. link cheers Steve

peugeot 205 fan switch is 22mm thread as Jim said, fan comes on at 88 deg and knocks off at 79 deg, vauxhalls opens at 99 and knocks off at 95. or go to your local spares shop and check the catalogues for the switch that gives the temp range and fitting you want Steve

had a similar light come on just as the engine died for the first of eight times whilst on holiday in france. don't know about vauxhall but on nissan it is an engine management malfuction indicator - turned out we had a broken crank position sensor and the management kept resetting itself only to pack up again later on, it was like russian roulette tpwing a caravan along dual carriageways knowing it could pack up at any time with dirty great big french artics all around!!

the sender nearest the front of the block (fan end) is the water temp sender for the dash, the one towards the rear of the block is the oil pressure sender. the inlet manifold has another sender for the ecu which helps it decide how much fuel to let you have etc. Steve

try contacting a local engine builders/reconner to see if they have any sumps kicking around. the one local to me said to bring my original sump and compare it to the ones he'd kept off dead engines - who knows might find a capri 1600 one, i think that one fits and gives extra ground clearance but i stand ready to be corrected cheers Steve

she'd never bang her nose if she fell over!

volkswagon type 2's (campervans, pickups, vans etc) had a dash mounted pull and twist handbrake that looked very similar to that, but a bit bigger. it was attached to a long lever that went out through the floor to a pivot point then it operated as a normal handbrake does. could be possible to adapt if you can get the bits off a dead v dub van cheers Steve

Gutted, the bloke went and sold the seats before I got back to him - not surprised at £30. The moral of the story is he who hesitates is lost! Thanks for all the info will have to keep a look out for more from the rave reviews you all gave them cheers Steve

I've come across some mk 1 mr2 seats for sale at £30 the pair, black cloth with grey centres, all the runners and none of the usual wear you see on so many seats for sale. I know they won't be waterproof but management is pulling her face at £400 for a pair of cobras so these could be good as a starter while i skim some cash off the housekeeping! Just got a few questions: has anybody fitted these to a 2b? if yes did you have any problems? are they a bum friendly seat or will someone have to give my backside the kiss of life after each trip? cheers Steve

just want to say the vauxhall injection micro filter between the pump and the injectors is about a third of the size of the coffee tin sized rascal from the sierra. it has 8mm tails in and out and makes fitting a bit easier when things are getting a bit tight in the engine bay

the ford pump is gravity fed and needs to be as low as possible, ie below the bottom of the tank but a vauxhall injection pump will suck/lift the fuel up to 15 inches/400mm or so. any more than that and you will sieze the pump cos the fuel cools and lubes the pump as it passes through it

Derek, first off have you tried one of the fuel pumps just connected to a battery - off the car of course, without fuel for a few seconds. If it runs connected like this then your problem will be either in the wiring, maybe a bad earth or with the box of tricks that runs the efi. If it doesn't run just on the battery then you may have been unlucky and had two bad pumps. hope this helps Steve