agent_zed

Just find an old school locksmith/key cutters. They will have the ford blanks and just cut you a new one to match. The place near me does them for £5. I did ask timpsons and they put it in their machine to read the code and then looked confused as it didn't read anything. Not really suprising as it doesn't contain anything to be read Had to say it was too old for that kind of magic But they did say they could do it for £15.

you might want to edit your previous post and remove your address and email for safety reasons. It's safer to using the messaging service on here if you want to send a message to a member.

I did a video a few years back of how i did mine. hope it's of use although i just saw i got 1 thumbs down ha

again slightly off topic but whist you have bits apart and working on that area it is worth adding some sort of fail safe to the dummy strut that the pinch bolt holds in. Otherwise if the pinchbolt comes loose the strut can slide out with potentially disastrous consequences. The macpherson has a 'wing' on it with a hole in it which slips down the gap and the pinch bolt goes through so it can't come out unless the bolt comes out completely. If you can weld, you can add a piece to the strut to do the same. Some people don't like this method but i did as RH advised which was to drill a small 6mm hole though the side of the hub and strut and added a small bolt to prevent it coming out. I've not had a problem with this in over 10 years but i can understand the argument for not drilling holes. Not really familiar with the MK wingstays do they also bolt to the lower balljoint nut? Also if you aren't adding a nyloc make sure to use threadlock on the bolt. I've only done SVA and i didn't use any additional nuts on this bolt.

well it is 26 years old and it does have 128k on the clock so you are probably right. They don't make things to last do they I'll check the plugs tomorrow and see if they have sooted up again, which i guess should tell me if there is oil in the cylinder still which must be from the bores Or if there is residual oil in the exhaust that is just burning off. When i ran it earlier i left the oil separator in and just removed the pcv and i couldnt see any oil coming out. I'll put my finger over tomorrow and see if there is much pressure coming out although i don't know how much is too much as there is sure to be some. This is all still on the drive though so only idle and a little throttle as opposed to full driving, so perhaps a blast would clear it better but i dont have it taxed right now. Oh i did a compression test the other day and it was 158, 163, 160, 159 but from what i have read you can get good figures if there is oil in the bores as it seals it better. It's annoying as i want to make sure she remains driveable as i have loads of jobs to do and if i take the engine out it'll be months and months before it's back together. But i guess that's how it goes sometimes. thanks all

Think you might be confusing PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation) with EGR (Exhaust gas re-circulation) which do quite different jobs. The pcv valve on the pinto is just a simple valve that is located in the block just above the sump and when there is sufficient vaccuum in the manifold it draws gases from the crankcase. If it sticks open oil can get pulled into the manifold and through the engine, which is what i think is happening to mine. I poked the valve part a bit and i can feel some resistance but it doesn't seem to spring back to a fully closed position with much force so i wonder if the spring is either too weak or broken a bit so it's not providing enough force. i did try running the car earlier with the valve removed and the hole in the manifold blocked and it was stilling smoking a lot. Is it possible that there is still oil that needs to be burnt off? in the exhaust manifold perhaps?

Hi, Couldn't work out why my pinto was smoking so badly and eventually got around to taking a look. did a compression test and that was fine....although perhaps not as i noticed there was loads of oil on the pistons and the spark plugs were sooty. I'd put the smoke down to number one piston stem seals as they sit in oil as the engine is tipped forward so i replaced the inlet one a while ago but no change. Seeing all 4 plugs as sooty as each other and oil in the cylinders i had to wrack my brain and finally can up with the only place it could be coming from.... the pcv valve. low and behold i've just taken it off and there is fresh oil in the pipe. Stupidly i hadn't even thought about it but having read up on pcv valves the other symptoms are rough running on tickover as it allows more air in. I have been thinking the carb is just old and playing up so i'll be very interested to see if this cures the smoke and idling. So my next problem is they seem to be quite expensive for what they are at around £18-20. Does anyone know a better source? https://www.burtonpower.com/pcv-valve-straight-type-3-8-outlet-6011482.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=prodlistad&utm_campaign=gb_feed?WbRf=ProdListAd&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2-zPkt3m3wIVSLTtCh0eRwUxEAkYASABEgLjQ_D_BwE lists a part number but that doesn't seem to return much from my searches. I guess i could try ford. occasionally they can surprise. failing that i just have to pay up. any help appreciated.

to check the choke is working remove the air filter and you should see the choke butterfly closed when cold. Turn the engine on and as it warms up you should see the choke butterfly open. If it doesn't it ain't working. as above though if you have a strobe light connect it up and raise the revs and you should see an increase in advance. A tipex pen is useful for marking the timing mark so its easier to see.

darn knew it wouldn't be easy. yeah it's a taper fitting so should knock off. Although perhaps i might just spend half hour pulling the garage apart as i just can't understand where it could have gone. thanks

I've somehow lost my chuck key for my pillar drill. It's an Einhell BT-BD501 Drill Press (pillar Drill) 500w. which has a 16mm chuck. I don't know what to measure to know what size key to order. I've seen 16mm keys on ebay but not sure if that's just the size of the key not for a 16mm chuck. Does it help if i measure the hole that the key goes into does this relate to the chuck key size? I've found the manual online but it doesn't mention size. It's certainly a large size as i've got a 4 headed chuck key with different sizes on each but none of them are large enough. any help appreciated.

thought i'd come back to this topic for completion.... ended up buying the sheppach basa1 as toolstation were doing a money off offer so it cost £150 in the end. So far I've been impressed. Still on the stock blade so might be even better with an upgrade. Seems to be well built and worked well straight out the box, just had to set up the guide wheels correctly. I was concerned the fence would allow wandering as it was only one end fix but it locks down tight and is pretty solid. I've found the trick is to hold the loose end down on the bench and then lock the other end as otherwise it lifts slightly as you lock it and you get a tiny gap, but this way stops that happening. It runs quietly and seems solid. The charnwood although slightly bigger and more powerful sadly didn't look very well made. The doors were a bit more inaccurate in fitting and had no microswitches to prevent use whilst open. Not the biggest of concerns but to me a sign that corners were cut. all in all pleased with my purchase, never realised how useful it would be. I'm renovating my house and just being able to zip through a small spacer or take a mm or 2 off shirting board is just so much easier than a hand saw and safer than my chop saw.

isn't it a case that you would have to get a cowling that was made for the column that you have e.g. sierra. as surely it'll be hard to connect it to anything otherwise as the chances of it lining up with any fixing holes and the stalks/hazard light will be slim?! assuming you are using the sierra stalks/hazard light if you wanted to then make that look better then you could cover with leather or carbon etc

ah so would that be fitted where the normal oil warning light sender is fitted then? thanks

don't mean to thread hijack so can start a separate one if necessary but was looking at these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/B332-3-in-1-Car-Vehicles-Gauge-Voltmeter-Water-Temp-Oil-Pressure-Sensor-Kit-Set/153176052522?epid=11023619697&hash=item23aa01132a:g:FFYAAOSwLNpbl7fI:rk:28:pf:0and wondering how they connect up. Volts is easy i guess just connect to battery. Temp i assume needs a specific sender which looks like it's included but is that likely to be a standard size that would fit the pinto? Oil pressure? how does that connect up. thanks

I hope you aren't planning on using the original rubber coupling as the youngest it will be is around 24years old. Can you not get a proper U joint to work as the rubber ones are more likely to go pop.

yeah it's the 80hp well according to eurocarparts when i enter the reg. I just expected a ton of new ones easily available. i've got a silicone reducer on order to join the pipe so hopefully that'll do the job. thanks for looking

Trying to find an upper radiator hose for a vw polo 1.4tdi 2006 and it seems to be really hard. Found a few sites like autodoc that list it but are out of stock, so used the parts numbers and searched ebay and currently no listings for that. I've phoned up a few places and they said they couldn't get them. Even eurocarparts don't have it listed. I can't believe it's so hard to find as it must be a pretty common car. Ive done a temporary bodge with some old bits of pipe and tube but i'm at the stage of just buying a straight reducer to join the pipe with a piece of ally tube as it was only the one end that broke because the battery cover plastic had dropped and worn through. I know i can get a silicone reducer from ebay as it's what i've done on the kitcar. might try my local garage and see if they are able to get one. guess perhaps its a symptom of people not actually fixing anything themselves anymore.

I used a jigsaw to cut my bonnet but it was mildsteel not stainless. Nice clean cut though.

yeah the one i bought is meant to know when it's fully charged and drops to trickle charge. Also has some auto setting to recharge batteries that are completely flat as it does it in a different way up until a certain point then charges normally to regenerate them or something. Know idea what it does but as long as it charges my batteries all for £12.99!

I bought a battery charger for £12.99 the other day from Aldi, seems to do the job and is much smaller than my old one. Lidl and Aldi seem to have a fair few useful bits. especially when they have 3 year warranties on most of the stuff

yeah sadly the fields behind my house are earmarked for building. Luckily the house further down knew this would eventually happen and bought a strip of land off the farmer years ago so i have my garden then his garden before the field so hopefully won't be as bad as it could have been (as long as he doesn't sell the strip of land ) If there are big trees you can get tree preservation orders on them even if it isn't your land. As above though if you can buy the land as agricultural land it's much cheaper. Just do a deal with the farmer and have a clawback agreement so he knows you aren't going to profit from it.

I remember doing a head gasket and for some reason it didn't seat right at the back of the engine. took it for a run and as it built up pressure it pushed oil out and dropped onto the exhaust which then created a nice smoke cloud... just as i rounded a corner to see a police car checking cars. They were convinced it was going to blow up for a while but i let it cool for 5 mins and turned it back on again and because it only smoked when enough pressure it was fine sat there idling so they let me on my way. Had to then work out what was happening as it was only when i was driving it. This obviously won't be your problem as it's coming out the exhaust but smoking engines got me remembering. I still use the same inlet and carb on my pinto so pcv still plumbed in on mine too. Mine smokes as the engine is tipped forward in the 2b so oil sits on no.1 cyclinders valves. I've changed the inlet stem seal but i think the exhaust also needs doing. Prob need new rings too but hey ho. I mean a 26yr old engine with 128k on it and it's smoking? they don't make things to last anymore

you can change the stem seals with the head still in situ. I've done it and it was relatively easy. Using the info on this site (sorry can't remember who posted it as it was years ago). But all you have to do is remove the spark plugs and push some rope in through the hole - turn the engine until the piston locks the valve against the rope and then you can remove the valve spring and replace the seals. Is the smoke coming out the exhaust? are you sure there is no water/oil in the exhaust that is heating up and burning off? just a thought.

At some point i'll do mine but in the meantime i've got some plastic safety film to prevent flying bits if it shatters. I do wonder though whether in some respects safety film on the back is actually better than laminated. If you hit laminated hard enough shards can break away from the back and are sharp as it isn't toughened, if you have film on the back nothing can be thrown backwards. but i guess laminated must be stronger and will stop the odd pedestrian going through (well probably not in our cars as the screen surround isn't strong enough to prevent that). this had some interesting points assuming they are correct https://www.quora.com/Why-are-front-windshields-the-only-laminated-glass-in-cars-Cant-they-use-the-same-for-rear-windshields-and-side-windows

heated seat pads https://www.aldi.co.uk/2-heatable-black-car-seat-cushions/p/000000245924700