MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Jul 16, 2023 11:00:35 GMT
|
|
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Apr 18, 2023 11:39:55 GMT
|
I am torn. I love Five-Spoke wheels, but have a huge aversion to black wheels. I’d say 6, but not black. Gunmetal or Silver, or even gold, but not black
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Nov 24, 2022 15:13:32 GMT
|
I never really understood the negativity around the Allegro's styling. I always thought it was quite a well resolved design with a fair few neat points of interest. It's no Stratos, but it's a far cry from a Mk2 Scorpio. My parents had a couple of them in the 70's - the final one a Vermillion 'top of the range' version. That car was trouble from the very first day, it was simply not built well, the list of issue that we had were incredible, over the course of about a year it was in and out of the dealer more often than you can imagine. The final straw was when my mother was driving home from work in it and the bonnet flew up and flattened itself against the roof and showered her in glass. The was collected by the dealer and a brand new VW Golf took its place on the drive shortly afterwards. The Allegro should have been a hatchback, the Golf and others were proving how sensible they were and the shape looked like it was - I can remember my mother specifically being disappointed that my father had chosen this over her choice - the Golf as the Golf had a hatch and she had a bad back. My memories of that car are limited to it breaking down a lot and the door falling off one day as my mother tried to load us kids in the back
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Nov 22, 2022 13:35:55 GMT
|
This has been such a fantastic process to watch. I am seriously impressed with your attention to detail and your ability to see this thing through.
Once it is all up and running, you probably deserve some kind of medal !
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Sept 4, 2022 17:58:46 GMT
|
About 35 years ago I worked for a motorsports supplier. Beyond connections snide the ECU, everything was crimped, shrink wrapped, then a combination of Teflon tape and a foul smelling epoxy was used under the boots. This is a good example of the methods we used back then and it looks like they are still current today www.rbracing-rsr.com/wiring_ecu.htmlSolder is horrible in motorsport applications, too fragile and slow to do and hard to get right compared to a decent crimping session.
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
I get the idea of a kill switch, but most modern cars have a fuse link to the battery, within the battery cable. Suddenly start growing huge power and it blows. Super safe and while a bit of a pain to replace it, it adds a ton of peace of mind. You can even get the fuse link as part of the battery ter,I also for very few $$s
My fathers old XR3 had an electrical issue that was eventually traced to a brake light bulb manufacturers fault. Long story story when you hit the brakes the cable was shorting slightly and intermittently blowing a fuse.
We also found that if you put your foot on the brakes you could take the key out, with all of the power flowing through that light cluster. If you hit the electric window switch the fuse would blow.
Once we found that, we discovered a fair bit of wiring damage in the loom that went to the back of the car. From memory the loom was not modular, so we spliced and soldered in quite a few new lengths.
Unfortunately he wrote the car off on a notorious bend one rainy night shortly after, so the long term viability of the repair was never tested.
In your cases. I’d be lokk8ng at a fuselink for the battery to save future issues, but probably also looking for a better loom for the nonBob section of the car. It surely cannot be that complex due to the lack of tick at the time.
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
May 19, 2022 19:45:44 GMT
|
I had a black one from new. S539DFC. Put 50k on it in 14 months, handed it back to work, then emigrated.
Was a great car, but very tyre sensitive and the bloody fuse box cover kept falling off.
Watching with interest…..
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Apr 17, 2022 19:16:45 GMT
|
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
I drooled a little.
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
In for the weldathon !
I love these cars, a neighbour had one in the 1970's and I cried when they sold it and replaced it with an Allegro.
|
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Apr 24, 2020 10:23:12 GMT
|
Years ago, I bought a set of Cooper S brakes for my Mini 1275GT as I wanted to run a set of 10" revolutions on it rather than the 12" steelies.
Everything seemed fine, I bolted it all in, bled the brakes, fitter the redo's and took it for a test drive.
It felt 'odd', which I put down to the rather old and worn 165/70x10's.
As it was nearly MOT time I checked the whole car over carefully and noticed just a little play in the balljoints, not a huge amount, but just a little.
A few minutes with the ball joint splitter revealed why it felt odd, the top ones were loose and the bottom ones were super stiff.
I pulled the first one apart, thinking that a little grease and perhaps the removal of a shim would see it good and found that there were no shims to remove and the bals/cups were so worn that the previous 'mechanic' had put what looked like a 1/2p coin under the ball seat. All four where toasted - at a couple of quid each, just did not understand why anyone would not replace them...
The Mini failed its MOT on excessively crust sills, but that was an easy fix...
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
Remember that Hopper got killed in S3 . Have you not seen the S4 trailer ? 'The American' is alive and in Russia
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Nov 18, 2019 18:05:19 GMT
|
I’ve said it before, but the turbo technics Sierra Ghia 4x4 I had for a couple of years as a smoker was utterly epic in a straight ish line.
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Nov 14, 2019 12:12:27 GMT
|
As a teenager I watched these things literally fly on TV on a Saturday evening, but it was not until The mid 90’s that I actually saw one in person.
The sheer size of them amazed me.
i cannot imagine driving one on British roads, but it will be glorious to see and hear one roar again...
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Jul 19, 2019 14:16:42 GMT
|
I absolutely adore the silver one - I think that the colour and the way it is finished off is just stunning.
But the two reds are both lovely in their own ways - I am also in the 'Alloys are fine' camp - Sure a set of knock-off Magnesium Dunlops would look insanely good, but the alloys are actually fine in my view.
I guess I see it as a build that is inspired but cars of an era, but not trying to actually be one.
Are all five still in existence ?
and what is the yellow one ? New project ?
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
Total sleeper would be my vote. Keep it looking totally untouched, but have it howl up the road like a mad thing.
That or all-out low, wide, loud and race-track renegade look.
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
Jun 10, 2019 11:04:14 GMT
|
It's definately cool, but is it £2700 of cool? Not for me it isn't. I had one in that colour back in 1970-something. I've never been so disappointed in my life - all I wanted was a Chopper, and I got this abomination. To add insult to injury, my dad swapped the bars out for 'cow horns' which made it even more ridiculous. I think it was sold within a couple of years, which is a shame really, because I would actually love one nowadays ! But not quite £2700....
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
My ex-Brother-in-Laws Opel Manta GTE.
He needed more reliable 4-door car and I owned a 4-door Cavalier CD that I no longer needed due to getting a company Alfa 156, she persuaded me to swap the Cav for the Manta, then sell the Manta. He drove it over to my place, we did the paperwork and he departed. Before I wrote the advert up for the Manta I thought it would be good to take it around the block, in the rain.
Had I looked it over before hand, I would never have attempted it, but all four tyres were down to the canvas, the throttle was really stiff and sticky which meant that there were two choices 'on' or 'off'. The brakes were almost entirely non-existent, the tracking was miles out and the front suspension super soft. That little drive was the most scary of my life. Literally barely controllable sideways moments everywhere.
Before I sold it, I fixed the suspension, brakes, throttle linkages, tracking and stuck some part-worn tyres on it - it drove pretty well after that and I had a certain reluctance to let it go
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
There are standards for static and moving noise tests on circuits, on most track days you have to pass a static test whereby a sound meter is positioned about 18 inches from the exhaust at about 45degrees and the revs raised to 2/3rd of maximum. Additionally there is usually a test point on the straight with another sound meter setup about 60ft from the racing line.
If you fail the static test you will not be allowed on the track, if you fail the driver-by you will be black flagged and requested to fix It (usually fix your driving and back off for the test).
I have no real problem with sound meters being setup to measure road noise, but busy traffic may make identification of individuals tough. I also have no issue with sound checks similar to track days either. Maybe my judgement is a tad clouded, there are three cars on my street that are way beyond 'unnecessarily loud' and deeply into the 'obnoxious' descriptor. Their owners seem to come and go at all hours of the night too. Of the three cars the Polo is easily the noisiest, with the Nissan and the Subaru taking runner-up spots.
We also have a guy with a massive sound system in his car but at least he turns it down when he arrives home after about 10PM.
|
|
|
|
MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|