agent_zed

one option i was going to try was putting a nicely curved piece of pipe the correct size for Unleaded nozzle within the rh supplied pipe. It would only need to help the fuel round the corner and could just be tack welded in. Less work overall if you already have most of it done. I have my fuel filler currently as it was intended on the back although i do have to fill carefully i only have a small tank so its not too bad. hth

Welcome, i guess one plan of action would be to check you have all the bits that came with the original kit. If you have a RH brochure there is a list of parts you should have. Once you are sure you have all the bits have a look at the videos (if you have them) and get an over view of what you have to do. Any problems post a more direct question or have a search as there is a lot of useful information hidden on this site. As for the front suspension i guess you have the wishbone version so its pretty robust as far as iam aware. Depending on your skills there are many mods you can do. One thing that is often changed is the bonnet if it is the aligator type, there are a few threads that talk about changing it to a fixed scuttle. It just depends on how much time you want to spend sorting things. Also if i was you i wouldnt post my phone number on here as you never know who could be looking, people can send personal messages to you which are probably a bit safer to pass your number on. good luck HTH

Um am i missing something as ive heard it said a few times now that you can adjust the caster by shimming the wishbones back or forward?! i dont understand how as on my 2b the top wishbones sit into box section front and back and the lower one into a box section at the front. I dont see where you can move it? Sure my car has shims on the lower wishbone but that is because RH welded the back mounting in the wrong place by 1/2 inch. Ive just assumed that castor is set, hopefully iam not missing anything important cheers

I have a big mig that should run off the big bottles but i too found it difficult to get the big bottles so i just bought the small disposable bottles and a regulator. Works ok and cheap to switch to Argon if i want to weld ALu or SS. They are about 10pounds a bottle. Machine mart do the regulators. hth

not sure if it is too big a diameter but IKEA do some in silver for tidying cables in the home. I think it is like $2.50 or something like that. hth ...found it http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20097954

i was thinking perhaps there should be a dashboard gallery in the wiki thing. So people can see what other people have done for interest and ideas. just a thought

This is my dash which is made from standard hardboard. Its covered with 1/2 inch of foam then vinyl. It uses the standard seirra clocks and also the heater fan switch. Costs hardly anything as hardboard is cheap and the vinyl is only $5 a metre. Ive used fixings on the back so you cannot see any screw heads etc from the front. hth

no worries glad you got it sorted cheers

is that the weird square switches with the round button with a dot in the center and a square bit above? (from a H reg) i may have one lurking in the garage but i wont be back home til the weekend to look. i'll try and find it then. for the cost of p+p its yours if i can locate it....

i hope it is one of those stories that just circulate like when you are 16yrs and everyone is saying that the government is going to change the driving licience age to 18yrs so you dont get to drive for another 2 years! The other story i heard recently was that cellulose paint was banned and was no longer for sale. Which also seems to be false. it would be a shame to end the british tradition of men tinkering in their garages.

Dont do what i did when a changed a head gasket a couple of years ago. Trying to be careful i stuffed newspaper in the cylinders to stop bits of old gasket going in as i cleaned it. It was getting near to being dark and it had just started to rain so my dad came over to help me get it put back together quickly. Because we were rushing and light was a bit bad we just threw the head on. After she was back together we tried to start it but it wouldn't catch, and there was a smell of burnt paper. weird Turns out cylinders stuffed with newspaper doesnt work. Had to fish out the burnt bits of paper through the spark plug holes. On the plus side it did eventually work As they say just make sure it is clean. Put a metal ruler across the head and block to make sure it hasnt warped too much. Just follow the book and you'll be fine. good luck hth

What engine/ecu do you have? my dads transit van with a 2l petrol pinto with a carb and a big ecu thing has a weird problem that sounds similar. If you drive for a long time it will then start missing but if you turn the engine off and on again it will be fine for another couple of hundred miles (although it hasnt done this for a while now). We first had it happen in france and thought we would have to be towed home but just restarted it and it was fine again. We put it down to the ecu getting out of sync somehow and needing to be reset by stopping and starting. Occasionally if it happens my dad will stop start the engine whilst moving as long as noone is about and again it is fine. hth

i custom made my ss tank for my 2b. I used the shaped sender hole from the sierra tank and cut it out so i could then rivet and glue it to the ss tank. The sender now fits exactly like it did in the sierra tank just by twisting it in. I had to bend the float arm as the tank is lower and it didnt read empty and also had to shorten the pickup pipe a little. i made my tank to fit perfectly flat across from the diff/tubes so i believe i have one of the biggest boots in a 2b as my floor is completely flat. hth

Hi, i dont currently have a relay in my fan setup, although i am planning on adding one soon. Your fan system should be independant of the ignition like in most production cars where the fan will continue to run after the engine is off until it is cool enough. I simply ran a heavy duty cable from my battery with an inline fuse to the thermostatic switch and then one to the fan. My only problem is that i put the switch into the end of the thermostat ally housing which means the fan cuts in a bit soon and takes ages to turn off as the engine cools slowly. I am not sure but i think a relay is more likely to turn on and off cleanly when a current is reached where as i would think a thermostatic switch will turn on a bit more slowly as the temp gets close and may therefore wear the switch more as the heavy current arcs across. I am probably completely wrong on that one but thats my thinking ?! hth

hi, i decided to ditch the metal dashboard as soon as i got the kit as i didnt want a sheet of steel above my legs in a crash. I made my dash out of Hardboard covered with foam and leather cloth. Its very strong and doesnt flex or vibrate. My pet hate is visible screw heads so i made brackets on the back before the leathercloth. The dash can now be removed from behind with no visible fixings. It Passed SVA with no problems. Just make sure to use rounded switches or very low switches. hth

when i took my car to sva i boiled over. It kept boiling over until i found that one of my pipes was loose and allowing pressure to escape and there seemed to be a lot of air still in the system, my fan temp switch also needed replacing. After a week or so it eventually got rid of all the air and everything is fine now and the temp has always been in the norm since then even in traffic. I didnt have a cooling problem last summer using the coolman radiator and the rh supplied fan. I dont have any cowling at all and the fan has had the plastic surround removed and a custom holder fitted. iam not running a high performance engine (standard 1.6 pinto) so dont know if it would over heat with something a little more tuned. HTH

i passed in june 07 with the rh motorbike type indicators on their own, if these are the ones in question. hth

saw her racing ginetta G4's at pembrey a couple of years back. Her Brother beat her

had a look and i have 165 on the side, i must have looked at the 2l in my dads transit and got confused with the 205. Think i'll start with the carbs first and go from there, fingers crossed wont find too many problems when i come to changing cams etc but it is an old engine i guess. Maybe have to wait til i have more time Thanks for the help

cool thanks for the info. I must have been dreaming about the block having 205 on the side but i'll have a check anyway. I dont really drive very hard so im unlikely to ever get into the red so iam not too worried about high revs just wondered as i knew the later 1.6 was different to the earlier one. Can i really just swap the cam for a 2L cam ? is it that simple. Ive already got a big open air filter so it should breathe ok. If i changed to some bike carbs/ bigger carb whats the chances of making 100bhp? or is an extra 25 bhp a bit too much to expect.

Hi i was reading another thread about pintos and someone said that the injection engine rods are good for 7000rpm is this just the injection engine or do other pintos share these rods. I have a 1.6 pinto with a 205 block (i think i remember seeing that on the side anyway) which is the later engine with the longer stroke and an unleaded head. Is this likely to take higher rev's than the older 1.6 or is there little diffference? On a side note if i added bike carbs what kind of bhp am i realistically likely to get? or would i need a new cam as well. I just want a little more power, 100bhp would be fine. I dont want to change the engine as it is part of the car now but what can be easily achieved at a low cost on the 1.6. Your thoughts appreciated Thanks

Am i mistaken or can you still just go to a DVLA office with reciepts and photos after SVA. This is what i did last June (although i didnt have any photos with me just reciepts). Just seems simpler than sending off reciepts and photos into the sometimes unreliable postal service you can also sort out the build up inspection at the same time. I guess it may take a few days longer if you do it post SVA but at least you can talk to someone in person. Just a thought.

So what would you say on the forms when it says Make and Model. Can you just call it whatever you want if you built it? Do you think insurance is more difficult ie do they want to see it etc. My 2b was no prob to insure as they knew what it was but if i had built something from scratch i'd have to explain it somehow. Prob never get round to building something from scratch but i like to dream and after building the 2b it was like starting from scratch most of the time... cheers

Hi, just wondering on the current rules if i wanted to build a car from scratch. Anyone know what happens at SVA or if you can even get insurance anymore. What do the locost boys do? or if i used a known chassis such as the 2b and built a different body shell am i likely to get insurance? cheers

watch what you say about the DVLA or that big menacing black box with the flashing light will stalk you at night and come to your house and crush your car. The DVLA knows who YOU are !!!!! Is it just me or are the DVLA bordering on threatening behaviour when reminding you to tax your car on the TV!!! who knows what the penalty is for complaining when they are incompetant... you may be taken away and crushed