iansoutham

Suppose it is time I made an update to this. Decided that I had too much stuff cluttering up the loft @ my fathers place, so the best thing to do was to sort out what I had. Turns out that it included 8 tyres, most of them brand new and 4 brand new chalked inner tubes So, as you can't fit new tyres to old shitty rims, it was time to get the rims cleaned up and painted before getting a good friend of mine to fit them all for me. So, on with the piccies..... The collection The wheels themselves Back of the wheel Original wheel condition New innertubes Nice new tyres The tyres are all a mixture of Avon HM Tourist, Dunlop Silver Seal and Dunlop Gold Seal, with @ least 2 of each type. The new spare is a Firestone. All tyres are 4.50 x 17"

Peter D. James for me. 1986 cabby valued @ £4,500 on agreed value, no mileage limitation, no NCD required, alarm optional, but must be garaged if @ storage location after 10pm and before 6am, but can be parked on the road or anywhere if elsewhere. £50 excess, 2 drivers just over 30 years old. £141. Extra £80 added the 2000e to the policy as well. They also quoted me £81 for the Pop

Some new parts, yay..... New outer roof material, very important This is stretched over the roof and the ash beams after the inner support foam has been laid and provides the overall protection. The aforementioned new foam Inside this, you have the inner rooflining, very similar to what most modern cars have. It is attached in the same way as most cars like MK3/4 Escorts. A set of rods pass through the lining and are attached to the body of the car. The material is then glued to the window and door apertures and held in place by the seals. New set of door and window felt seals. These are simply cut to length and inserted into the panel spaces as needed. New bottom end gasket set for the engine build New top end gasket set, including head gasket. The inlet manifold gasket is not from the 103e, but instead the 100e as this had a bigger carb, air filter and better flow, so I will be using one of these instead. The carb, along with the 100e cam should make the car a little bit more lively. Think of them as the 1950s version of a K&N filter, twin-choke weber and performance cam and you get the idea There are no new head bolts simply because they are not used. It is a simple stud and nut way of doing things, and the nuts are available from most places.

And unfortunately, the roof Fortunately, the rust is all just below the surface, as in, if you dig it with a screwdriver or similar, it does pretty much scratch off to good metal underneath. So, next time I go round to it (hopefully to take the engine out) I can put some rust treatments on the areas affected and it should stop any further rust. The rest of the car is spot-on as far as corrosion goes. The roof needs repainting now due to scratches, etc... and the drivers wing needs paint due to things having been rubbed against it during its years, but not visible whilst in the garage. The rest of the body just really needs a good t-cut and wax and it should be good to go. The list of things to get is not that long, mainly silly things like wheel brace, jack, starting handle, some assorted clips, etc... to get the ball rolling. The wheels in the pics above are to go away for shot-blasting and will be going back on the car in their original colours with new tyres. The "new" tyre in the picture will be used for the spare. What is more amazing is that, although it has sat for over 30 years without moving, and on flat tyres, they all pumped up to 30psi and the car simply rolled out of the garage. All the interior door cards, etc.. will be getting replaced with new board and most likely, a velour finish. Eventually, the seats will be going from blue to red and a carpet will be installed.

Old wheel with knackered tyre Spare gearbox Ash roof bracing bars (impossible to find nowadays) I have already purchased a new roof material and fixing kit for the outside, but have not taken any photos of these items yet. Heater system and 100E carb and airbox Radiator was filled with 50/50 antifreeze and water when it was put into storage. There does not appear to have been any leaks, and there is still traces of water in the radiator, so possibly looking good for salvaging the cooling system Jacking holes in the floor

Main beam switch -- Fog and spot lamp switches -- Brightwork Radiator grille trims Old and new "Popular" badges for bootlid -- Bootlid lock cover -- Bonnet rear retaining clip -- Original radiator grille emblem -- Brand new emblem to go in its place -- New inserts to go between wings and body -- Spare wheel with brand new tyre

Dash and gauges -- Accessory wiper motor -- Aux air vent control --

Trim --

Well, it has been a while, but it @ last moves from its resting place for the last 30 years. I have managed to get some photos of the actual state of the car, some bits are better than excpected, a couple, including the roof itself, are in slightly worse condition. To give you all an idea.... Outside Inside Wiring -- Floor --

Single rear spring The aim is to completely rebuild this, including a full respray in Dorchester Grey (original shade). A new wood floor will be made, all instruments rebuilt and a brand new engine installed. I actually have said brand new engine in the garage just under the bench to be fitted straight from Ford :shock: :w00t: Somewhere, my father has some brand new steel wheels and original cross-ply tyres to fit as well (tubed tyres), so that should be interesting. All the glass is present, just not fitted. I need to find a boot lock as that has gone missing, and I need to repair the electric little "flip out" indicators that go in the B-post just behind the doors, although apparently the bits are around somewhere. The whole underneath will be stripped back and fully coach-enamelled where necessary and painted elsewhere. The electrical system will be going negative-earth with an uprated 35-45A alternator and a decent alarm fitted accordingly. This is gonna be fun....... First job though will be to actually relocate it to my fathers driveway where it will be getting done, get the roof repaired and the windows fitted to make it watertight..........

original 44,922 miles from new on its original engine Some kids got into the garage a few years back and managed to climb over the roof, so that will all need repairing and a new wooden framework made. We do have the original schematics for the frame around somewhere, so they will be remade to exact specs. Engine bay is completely untouched. Unfortunately, the engine will need replacing as it died due to a premature hole in the piston :cry Underneath was painted in coach paint about 35 years ago, but will be getting stripped back and enamelled.

Thought I'd show you all some of the other stuff I do in my spare time. I inherited a 1953 Ford Pop 2 years ago and fully intend on making it "worthy" again. This is an example of what they should look like in good condition Well, this is how it starts.... this is an original Ford "Pop" 1100 side-valve. All the bodywork and interior is 100% original. The car has been in the family since it was almost new and has been stored in a lockup for @ least the last 30 years without turning a wheel. All original bodywork

Was interested, but have just been told by the other half that I am @ a wedding reception in Hemel the night before, so won't be making this one Sorry Ollie.

Speak for yourself, mine stayed up :biggrin:

If you want security for a cabriolet, then an alarm with external protection (doors, bonnet and boot), dual-zone proximity sensing (for when the roof is down), glass break sensor (optional for visible sound systems really) and an extra back-up siren is all you need. If you have fancy wheels, a tilt-sensor would be a good idea, but make sure it is one that can be set to 2-degree activation, not only 1-degree or every big truck that passes close by will move the body enough to set the alarm off. Anything else is optional and purely down to the owner. I have fitted Cliffords and Toads as an approved installer on a part-time basis, before you had to spend a fortune just to get a VSIB certificate stamp, and I always said the same to customers: do you want form or function? Form: Clifford is ideal, lots of add-ons available, with easy integration and diagnostics due to the Cliffnet facility. These alarms ONLY go wrong if installed quickly and sloppily. A good installer is worth their weight in gold with these alarms. I only know of 4 installers I would call "good". I was one of them as I took my time, do the job properly, do not rush and make sure the car comes back a few days later for any "tweaks", and most the others have retired from the alarm industry due to the number of cowboys. To give you an idea, most mobile installers will fit a Cat 1 alarm in 2 hours, my system in my 4be took the best part of 3 days. Function: Toad ai606. Does what it says on the tin, again, add-ons are avilable. The ai606 actually is easier to fit than the basic alarms (like the ai101CL) and offers slightly more protection and upgradability. This alarm is for people that want to simply press and button and walk away. On any alarm, I refuse to fit ultrasonic sensors. They false-alarm too much and too easily. Even a sharp drop in temperature overnight with an airvent open can trigger an alarm on some models. A good glass-break sensor is much better every day of the week. In addition, do not go advertising your alarm or radio system. You draw attention to yourself. A good mechanical security device is just as good for detering thieves that want the car, not the contents. A DiscLok is a good start, stay away from StopLoks and all the other ones than do not cover the majority of the steering wheel. A good thief will remove them in seconds. Trust me, I've seen them do it (a good alarm installer knows many thieves to find out how they steal cars so as to make them less nickable.... know your enemy). If leaving the car in a garage or somewhere "hidden", a wheel clamp is a wise investment. Make sure it is one that goes round the back of the wheel as far as possible. Cheap £30 ones aren't worth the metal they are made of. Same as size, too big a clamp is just as bad as a cheap one. You want to make sure that the car cannot be rolled away, nothing more. And, remember that, at the end of the day, if you make it too secure, they will either "grab" it with a lorry or set light to it. One final word on the matter, people often get "insurance-approved" alarms to lower the insurance without finding out how much it actually lowers it by. Fit a £350 alarm and lower the insurance by £50. You might as well save that £50 by spending the difference of that £350 on a non-insurance alarm that provides more security. You will probably still have change left as well to pay the extra £50 on the insurance.

As long as you go for an 8mm or bigger lead you will be fine. Many of the "cheap and nasty" leads in motor factors and the like are 7mm, these will not supress interference and will break down quicker. I use Motorcraft 8mm leads on all my Fords and they work, even when pressure washing the engine bay with the engine running, no issues. You do that on a 7mm lead that is a year or two old and see how long it takes to get a mis-fire.

I'm sorry, who are you again? :biggrin:

I assume you are running EFI? IF so, check the crank position sensor (CPS). IF that is not working/picking up the signal from the flywheel, the ECU does not know when to fire the spark plugs.

Not interchangeable. The injection system is different for a start, before you go near anything else.

What year XR3i? They changed cylinder heads around 1986(ish). Early heads have a dished chamber, late ones have a big "V" built in with much smaller exhaust valves and would be no good for turbocharging.

Series 1 heads had sodium-filled valves, but nothing else. The springs are the same rate, and the cam is specific for turbocharged applications. IF you put a turbocharged-spec cam in a N/A engine, it will be down on power due to the overlaps.

Was a good afternoon Ollie. Nice and laid back, quite a few different cars there as well. Although I did find it slightly amusing that nobody actually knew I had a Sierra as well as the cabby

Well, I'll be there, most likely in the cabby as the weather is meant to be okay. Might even bring the 4x4 as well.

It would be very unusual for just the clock dash illumination bulbs to blow, especially together. You can pull the dash clocks out and check for +12V on the illumination feed wire to the clocks to confirm.

Turn the lights on and go to the back of the car. Are the rear lights working and the numberplate lamp? Chances are you will find that they will not be. If so, you need to change the indicator/wiper stalk. When the stalk goes on the sidelight circuit, you lose the following: front side lights dash light numberplate lamp rear lights fog lights lights-on buzzer radio dimmer These are all controlled by that circuit, and I have repaired more than I can remember.