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Now off road and on sorn . Few issues to be dealt with any helpful advise welcome..not should have bought a ford lol.
Brake master cylinder failed and just fitted new seals. Waiting to bleed system but note handbrake is crap even though it passed an mot.
Wondering if there's a modern swing caliper(s) that will fit to replace the 40 year old Girling ones.
Know zephyr zodiac mark 4 are same but these are hard to find too. Plus don't really want to use same old rubbish ones. engine pulling power also rubbish as a 12 year old fiesta outruns my 3500 v8 rover with ease. Had both carbs refurb end with new seals and jets. Colour tuned both banks and strobes initial timing. Pulling skin off a rice pudding still difficult..tried replacing dizzy advance unit but new providers almost zero ( as far as I can see with strobe is in fact zero) advance. Compression test to be carried out nearer Xmas.
Last but not least is terrible smell of petrol when opening garage every day. No leaks found. No overspill from carbs. Assuming it some sort of blockage on venting system but can't seem to locate. No leaks in boot or around tank etc. anybody else had and cured this issue?
I don't know P6s but I do know rover v8s so I may be able to help with some of your issues. assuming your rebuilt carbs are correct, set up properly and the air filter is clean.
How old is the fuel in the car? modern fuel does not like sitting around.
Rover v8s are not the fastest things on earth and I would expect an ST fiesta to outrun you, especially if yours is an auto. Saying that how is the engine running? Does it sound smooth? A compression test will tell you a lot. Why are you waiting until Christmas? a tester is very cheap on ebay and is a handy tool.
Have you been setting the timing according to the book or by driving it and advancing the timing until it starts to "pink" then retarding by a degree?
You say you have done some work on the dizzy, if you suck on the advance hose do the weights move? if so do they return?
modern fuels require different timing to that described in the workshop manual so use that as a starting point but it will require some "by ear" tuning.
When was the last time the cam chain was replaced? They stretch and the timing drifts over time. Cams wear badly especially if cheap oil has been used or not changed frequently.
The one from my range rover was so badly worn by the time I took it out at 142,000 miles that not one component could be used on the replacement.
I have checked for fuel leaks before by blocking the tank breather and using a bicycle pump to push air in to the tank then looking for drips / listening for where the air is escaping.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
There is no need to replace the calipers. The Girling ones perform very well when properly maintained, my car sailed through the MoT. Seal kits are available to overhaul them yourself, the process is fully covered here http://www.classicroverforum.net/viewto ... =14&t=8560 Or MGBD Parts will sell you a reconditioned one, re-sleeved in stainless steel. The hard part is getting them off the car, being inboard, a lot of owners remove the discs, but it is possible, with patience to leave the discs in situ. I suppose your poor performance isn't binding brakes? They can fail to release due to the air valve in the remote servo sticking. You may well need a servo overhaul, as the braking system doesn't sound in very good condition.
have a compression tester already. too busy to spend time on rover at moment. brakes not working at moment due to master cylinder failed ( new seal kit fitted but not filled and bled yet)
already dismounted rear axle and diff. reworked rear callipers with new pads. discs etc . tested dizzy vacuum unit. and replaced with new (?) it fails to move more than 1 degree even at 21 inches of mercury. replaced again with vac unit off different vehicle ..can advance it easily now. all weights and springs work ( test and release ok )
new leads. plugs electronic ignition etc.
lack of power being assumed simply as same engine used in old range rovers etc and these weight more and can also outrun me..
would expect 0-60 in around 10-11 seconds but think its more like 18-20 .
hand brake is mechanical and not good even though adjusted. reworked etc. car has approx less than 36k from new. my old zephyr ^ MK4 has same callipers fitted but they worked well. otherwise when bakes were working they did well ( footbrake)
oh well back to storage ..
You really do need to do a compression test, it only takes 10 minutes, pull all the plugs wedge the throttle open and turn it over half a dozen times to measure each pot. 36k is very low mileage but if all of it was done foot to the floor it could easily have done some damage. have you checked for exhaust restrictions? it could be as daft as a mouse nest in the pipe.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Low mileage can also be a curse - if the miles were done at a nice steady 30MPH, the engine will get choked up. My sister bought a nice 7 year old Austin 1100 (mk1) with 11K on the clock and it was dire. A year later, with more than double the mileage, much of it on the motorway, it ran as sweet as a nut!
Of course, my sister (who had got married during the year) sold the car and they bought a nice new Mk1 Escort estate (HZ433B if memory serves - my brother-in-law was posted to Germany).
At the moment I am driving around in a 2 year old ex privite hire Ford galaxy with 237,000 mikes on the clock, and a full service history it even has the original clutch you wouldn't think it had done more than 30k , in my experience mileage means nothing go on condition and if possible service history.
kstrutt1 wrote:At the moment I am driving around in a 2 year old ex privite hire Ford galaxy with 237,000 mikes on the clock, and a full service history it even has the original clutch you wouldn't think it had done more than 30k , in my experience mileage means nothing go on condition and if possible service history.
Kevin
Bang on, IMHO. Cars that reach big mileages are usually those which were better looked after in their early days. The only real dogs I've been landed with have been those with very low mileages that were used by the ministers to drive to their churches once a week. Aye right!
J "Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
its like the Diesel Escort van that Ford acquired with 500k on the clock, it was only 2 or 3 years old. They wanted to know how it had done it.
They soon found out that it was run up and down the motorways on a daily basis, London- Birmingham- Glasgow. Turns out that the engine was only ever cold when it went in for a service/repair . Other than that it was always pretty much at working temps. They took the engine apart and found very little actual wear.
engine pulling power also rubbish as a 12 year old fiesta outruns my 3500 v8 rover with ease. Had both carbs refurb end with new seals and jets. Colour tuned both banks and strobes initial timing. Pulling skin off a rice pudding still difficult..tried replacing dizzy advance unit but new providers almost zero ( as far as I can see with strobe is in fact zero) advance. Compression test to be carried out nearer Xmas.
