agent_zed

@florin can't be much worse than i already have actually hopefully these will be far better as i currently have flat glass and i can't even see the passenger side mirror with the sidescreen in place. Hopeing these (or similar) will be able to be positioned better. @Kelvinnoel - is it these ones? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Chrome-Rearview-Mirrors-For-Kawasaki-Z1000-ZZR-600-1000-1200-Z750-MTB/291979189252?hash=item43fb50dc04:g:C0cAAOSwdzVXldLdare they any good? are they all alloy? thanks .... oooh they do black https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-Pair-Motorcycle-Rearview-Mirrors-For-Honda-CBR-125R-250R-500R-600RR-1000RR-/292333013339

Hi, looking for some new mirrors and currently liking the look of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GBno1-Ellipse-black-rearview-mirrors-w-matte-black-base-Emark-for-sportbike/122829124220?epid=1060261400&hash=item1c992fb27c:g:PsgAAOSwnCFaGflRalthough they are a bit more than i want to spend. Anyone seen something similar for cheaper? I've also seen these adaptors https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GB-no-1-motorbike-fairing-mount-mirror-adapter-gloss-black-for-sportsbike-1-pair/122909854540?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D5097ff03aee3430dbebeaf76dfb15d50%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D9%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D122895637019%26itm%3D122909854540&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598so i could choose mirrors to go on them. The advantage being that if i don't like the mirrors in the future, or i break one, i can just change them not the whole thing. Although again these are quite expensive but i haven't found similar for cheaper yet. I think they would be good though as my current ones aren't great now i have sidescreens on as i can't adjust them to where they need to be. The ones above i imagine have a massive range of movement.

I was hoping to bend by hand like the rear panels. yeah sorry prob not explaining it quite so well but if we ignore the return bend in the diagram above for now and just concentrate on putting a ~5mm return edge on the rear what i was thinking was that i'd cut a flat shape out of steel with 1 inch extra. tack weld a 5mm rod along where i want the bend (an inch in from the edge) and bend the steel over. Perhaps tack that too so the rod is trapped. Once that is done i'd then bend the panel and hopefully the rod will keep the curve from collapsing. Is that going to be too hard without a former do you reckon?

even the caterham website itself shows some high arches http://uk.caterhamcars.com/cars?! could it be they haven't got fuel in yet or something or the ride height not set? Not slagging caterhams off, as i think they are awesome machines, just surprised to see they have some of the same problems that RH's get criticizm for. Interesting i think the 2b follows the lines of the caterham incredibly closely (from the side at least). The rear arches sit in the same place, following the curve of the tube. The newer GRP wings on the superspec sit lower and don't match the caterham as there is more of an infill above the wing (but a smaller gap above the wheel). Was toying with black front arches but just saw a full yellow one on their site and now wondering if i should stick with it. Definitely have to paint my headlights black though as the chrome is gone and prob not worth re-chroming. decisions decisions

I wondered if it was left over from the days of live axles and trailing arms?

My head is in car mode again and thinking through all the things i'd love to get round to doing on the car... todays thought - I quite fancy replacing my scuttle (i made it a separate one from the begining by chopping the aligator bonnet). At the moment it has black edging on the cockpit side as it would be a sharp edge otherwise. It is also in 2 pieces the same as the bonnet, so there is a bit of flex, where 1 piece would be stronger. So i was thinking if i made a new one out of a single piece of steel (guess it could be ally) but at the rear i tacked in a piece of 5mm rod and bent the steel over it so it is now a nice rolled return. Then put the big side bends in it would it keep the rolled edge? My thinking being the 5mm rod would stop the edge collapsing. To make it even better if i left the return across the front edge and down the sides (but not on the curve) quite long i could then put a 90 degree bend in. Hopefully the pic shows it better. The dash would then sit under the rolled edge in front of the screws fixing it to the chassis. Anyone tried anything like this?

oh that's quite good. I thought i'd seen that one before but i think it must of been something similar as that one seems to have more features. Thanks for the link. Yeah i'm used to 'colors' as i am a web designer so have to use that spelling or it won't work Florin - you could be right on the wheel size as i know caterhams use anything down to 13's. I just thought it was interesting to see that they have the same problem as our cars with a large gap above the wheel.

Next question.... Should i use anti-bloom thinners? In the past i've just used standard thinners. Could this be the problem with the white marks/reaction to water and plastic? Or perhaps just premium thinners? any thoughts?

wonder how many of those covers 'fall off' then? Also i've noted before the arch on the passengers side doesn't go all the way down for some reason http://www.shmooautomotive.co.uk/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_7897.jpg? can't work that one out.

I was looking at caterhams as i wanted to see if there was one that was yellow with black cycle wings as i am thinking of changing my colour scheme (not that i want to copy caterham just checking what it might look like)... I noticed on https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/uploads/cars/caterham/6717982.jpghow high the rear arches are. This seems to be the case in general (another for example http://www.chapmancars.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/download-2-3-1030x686.jpg). They also seem to have more of a gap to the rear of the tyre than the front rather than equal. I know RH's get a bad press but i think my rear arches sit better than this as although they are as high they are equal to the tyre. Also how do they get away with the metal bonnet clips? The first pic link is a 2012 plated car so it must have gone through a test. Not knocking caterhams as such as i am sure they are pretty good but surprised that the bits people complain about RH's are similar on the 'real' thing.

always concerning though when it says for metal drilling on the box and then in the contents below it says 11 masonary bits and in the description lists masonary as one of the things they can drill. I always find cheap drill bits very brittle. I've taken to buying slightly more expensive packs of the ones i actually use a lot. Sometimes worth a shot though. Bought a cheap router table from Aldi i think it was £20 or less and that's been brilliant.

Yep i failed SVA on a lack of crush tube. I somehow tacked it into place. can't remember how. Doesn't need to be super strong weld just enough to stop it moving when you fit it.. I like Florin's solution too. For the infill i made a cresent shape. The outer bit just touches the side panel. The inner part has an angle on it to attach it to the inner back panel. Doesn't seem to let water in, or if it does i haven't noticed and i've been in some pretty heavy downpours. hth - Thinking about it i probably used the stick welder as it would long enough to get down the tube and just catch it a bit

Thanks guys, yeah i guess i did answer it myself a bit half forgotten what i did last time so just needed a bit of a prod in the right direction. i won't touch 2k, i don't have the breathing kit that i would be happy with. I use a chemical P2 respirator with celly which seems to do the job as i can't even smell anything when spraying so must be working. Wouldn't 2K need a barrier primer also? don't think it will go straight over celly will it? or it that the other way round. It's only a flat colour so no laquer required. Think i'll go the primer route to be sure. Going to go for a little change this time i think though and spray the front arches black. The rest of the car is yellow. I did consider doing the nose cone black too but i think i won't as i have to sort my lights as the chrome is gone so i'll spray them black too. Hopeing to go to Stoneleigh so have a date to aim for to get everything spruced up.

Hi, the 2b needs a bit of love again so just planning what i'll need. In the past when i've resprayed various panels i used the etch primer that i already had (i sprayed the original mild steel panels with it) and then top coat. This seems to have worked ok, i.e. the paint has never flaked off, but the problem i do get is that if any plastic sheeting touches the car and gets wet it's has some kind of reaction and goes white and the paint softens and takes up creases from the plastic. Still don't know why but as long as i don't put a sheet over it then it's fine. So long story to get to the question... should i use a normal primer over the existing paint? or can i just flat it back to a decent surface and spray the topcoat straight on again without bothering with a primer? I am guessing you'll say use a primer but thought i'd check as it has been a while since i last sprayed.

@obecanobe best not to put your email and phone on an open forum. Use the personal message system instead. Don't want you getting tons of spam.

Probably a wise choice to have a rain tyre when going wide on a light car so you don't end up aquaplaning. I drove my 2b in the wet with cheapo V tread tyres on the front, lots of standing water etc, and it was really skittish and they are only 195's

I've fitted uniroyal rainsport 3's to the rear. Can't give much feedback yet though as haven't driven it that far on them yet and i also fitted camber shims so it feels different from before anyway. But in the few trips i've done i haven't noticed anything odd and it seems to roll nicely (might be more the camber shims as i've got less toe-in now as well). I like the look of the tread pattern which i know isn't actually important but if it makes you happy and all that Think they were £49 fitted each which i thought was a pretty good price.

I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing that they can find more fail points. I know it is a bit of a pain for the builder but ultimately you'd want the car as safe as possible, although you would really expect them to pick up all the points of failure. I guess if you had an mot and it failed and you took it away and fixed something but the exhaust dropped off on the way back they would still fail it. Ideally take a van full of extra bits and pieces. If it's a small failure point they will normally let you fix it while they are looking at other bits. personally if i was going to put a car through iva again i'd want to have built it myself so i know every inch of the car. For example my car failed (SVA) on not having crush tubes in the rear suspension top mounts. I had to weld tubes inside to stop the bolts crushing the tube when fully tightened. I had to photograph it so they could see it was done. Unless the builder was really good at photographing all those bits then you'd be ok otherwise you might find they ask how something is fixed in and you won't know.

what type of front suspension does it have? There were 2 main options. The standard one had 'sliding' pillar system which has 2 fixed arms and the hub moves up and down on a rod. It works but it isn't the best system and has a fair few issues to get it working right. There was an option for double wishbone setup which is much better than the sliding pillar, although this too still has a few issues. Some people cut off the sliding pillar arms and put bespoke double wishbone system on. This is likely to affect both the price and the ease of getting it through the iva test. Also is it stainless body? Is it stainless chassis? Does it have a stainess exhuast system What carbs is it running? these will all affect the price.

I um'd and ah'd about glueing mine on and eventually just accepted the holes and bolted it. You are right though i do have little cracks around the holes but i think if i used bigger headed bolts it would help. I tapped the tubular arch bracket for 6mm bolts so there is no nut on the wheel side. The arches are sat on silicone to give it support as they don't match the shape of the bracket 100%. Another thing that might work better is bolts/nuts like these https://www.screwfix.com/p/joint-connector-nuts-m6-x-17mm-50-pack/83521?tc=GT1&ds_rl=1249481&ds_rl=1245250&gclid=CjwKCAiA4vbSBRBNEiwAMorER5avzsnuQATiaGaIJgZQHa7_0cQeDtQXEkzsdqoTq9K9wHVZweDTBRoCYeYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CM3ohqSW3NgCFYvhGwodGokAAgif you welded a threaded bar up from the arch bracket these would screw down tight to the bracket. If you were careful with the measurements these would stop the arch moving but wouldn't be tight on the grp as they would be tight against the bracket. The advantage being that you aren't stressing the grp. haven't tried it just thinking outloud.

Another advantage over other 7's is that the 2b is quite a bit bigger. There are a few others out there that are big too like the Quantum but you are paying quite a lot more. Very few people can tell the difference between a 2b and a caterham, not that i want to pretend i have a caterham or anything. You are unlikely to lose a lot of money if you wanted to sell it on later they seem to hit a base price. For me i quite like that my car doesn't have that much power as it keeps me safer. The roads around me are fun and twisty but also have a lot of trees and sheep and boar etc looking to get me at a moments notice. I can make lots of noise and get the buzz without finding i am doing silly speeds. I'd rather get better handling than more power, i enjoy trying to improve the line i take, my gear shifting, carrying speed through a corner and when and where to brake. But that is how i enjoy my car so it really is up to you.

I made mine up in 2007. Wasn't even questioned. I like it as very few people get to have a vin number that is their initials - birthday - date started build - date finished build with a few X's here and there to get to 17 digits overall. Worst case they will tell you you can't have it and will generate one for you. DVLA rarely know what is going on, especially with kit cars

I sprayed my entire car as it was mild steel. You will need an etch primer to create a key. Mine has been on 7 years and although ive had a few problems with the top coat doing weird things if wet plastic touches it and the sun hits it (goes white and will take the pattern of the plastic where it touches???) it's otherwise stuck without a problem and shown no signs of peeling off the grp. That is celly though which you can only use on agricultural vehicles now so it's lucky if you happen to have a matching blue tractor. Water based is the current way but that from what i've heard is a bit more fiddly as you have to force dry it. Many light coats, flat down between, get to final coat and either get a fly to land in it or scrape it with the bottom of the gun, flat that out and try again. Leave it a week if you don't have an oven and then cut it with a polishing compound and wax it up. Nose cone is small enough to do by hand. If you are lucky you can get a pretty good finish from the gun and won't have to do a lot of polishing. You'll need to be up around 20degrees though i reckon to stand a chance. good luck

I used flexible drain pipe like this https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/9u8AAOSwz-5Zh3ni/s-l225.jpgIt's used on sink overflows and for cable tidy as well (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/cable-management-accessories/rabalder-cable-tidy-white-art-20281419/). It's been on there for 7 years without a problem. Just clips around doesn't even need any cable ties etc as it holds itself on. I had longer extender/converter pieces made as i didn't like the RH ones as the threads were slack so the pipe covers from the steering boot to the tre on my car. B&Q, homebase etc etc are likely to stock it. hth

open wheels are one of the worst offenders for causing drag. Was reading about this in F1 cars. From what i've read the 7 shape has a drag coefficient of about 0.7 (1 being a brick - 0 being super slippery) which compared to the sierra which is about 0.33 is pretty awful. Modern cars are even better than this. My peugeot 3008 is 0.296 which is great for such a bit car. Most of the time though under 50mph most of the problem is other factors e.g. weight and transmission losses etc So just drive slowly and you'll not have a problem