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hi all, has anyone got a lotus steel they can measure for me? i am trying to mock something up and need the dimension from the hub mounting face to the rim on the inside of the wheel. ( i.e. the depth of the wheel on the brake side ) many thanks, ian.

just came across this on ebay, not for me but be quick before someone jumps in with 7 grand! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARE-1977-MK1-FORD-FIESTA-SHELL-NEEDS-WORK-SPARES-REPAIRS-EFi-ENGINE-/130968275784?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1e7e514b48

the pinion nut has got nothing whatsoever to do with the backlash, or indeed the contact pattern between the crown wheel and pinion, this is controlled / adjusted by pinion shimming and side bearing adjustment/preload. as per the earlier post i would think that it is unlikely that you have overtightened the nut by using a normal ratchet against the handbrake ( unless of course you were heavy handed with it ). i would road test the car for a few miles and listen for any undue noise, and feel the pinion housing for any heat buildup. if you are in any doubt then the diff will need to come out, have the crownwheel and diff carrier removed then the pinion preload can be checked and rectified if needed with a new crush sleeve, then the diff carrier refitted and the preload / backlash re set. depending on your diff ratio ( the popular ones are expensive ) and the condition / anticipated mileage the car will cover, you may find it easier and cheaper to get another diff and fit that. best of luck, ian.

anglia's all done count me in!

hi I emailed Paddington about 18 months ago with the same question, I never did get a reply!

hi mate, i expect they are 3/8 unf. cheers, ian.

hi mate, what you are looking for in an ideal world is a straight driveline. it is normal practice to set the diff pinion flange a couple of degrees or so 'nose down' so that when the springs wind up under acceleration the pinion rises to the straight position. this angle will already be built in to the spring pads and won't normally change unless the car is radically lowered or the springs are shot. the method I use is this; with the car on stands ( under the axle, not the body ) measure from the pinion shaft centre to the floor and note this distance, then stretch a bricklayers line or similar from a point on the floor directly beneath that centre to a point directly below the crank pulley bolt centre, below the bolt centre by the same distance that you noted earlier. you need to set some packing up so the line can be left, or get someone to hold it for you. you then want to set the height of the centre of your gearbox tailshaft the same distance above the line to get a straight driveline, but bear in mind as you lift the box the crank pulley will fall ( and vice versa ) so you need to check again and adjust the line if needs be. when you have the diff pinion, the gearbox tailshaft and the crank pulley all the same height above your line you have a straight driveline, the uj at the gearbox will be straight and the one at the diff end should be a couple of degrees bent but you won't see that by eye and will straighten under acceleration, you can measure this angle with a cheap angle finder, just compare the flange angle with the propshaft angle and take 90 degrees out of the calculation ( you're measuring the flange vertically and the propshaft horizontally ). hope this makes sense! good luck, ian.

hi mate, ideally you want another tail housing, I made up a drive for mine by using a lucas 90 degree drive but modified to counter rotate. it was a lot of trial and error but it does work. even so I wish I had just got another tail housing, It would have been much easier! you could try the electronic speedo head from the car your box came from and trace the wiring diagram to see how it is wired, but you would still need to graft it into your dash. cheers, ian

hi, I use Croydon electro plating, they are local and quite cheap, results can be hit and miss especially on die cast parts such as door handles. there is another placre at wrythe green in Carshalton, called CCB but I am led to believe that they farm out to another company and charge a premium for doing so. as it's an escort you may be better off sourcing some better handles and surrounds, have you tried escort tec, or g.s escorts. cheers, ian.

the owners club do the spring and rivets but the carrier is a rare part now. it may be easier to modify an escort or pinto fork then use a later type carrier. good luck, ian.

from the pic it looks pretty rough, it will want opening up and checking at the very least. what do you mean by 'changing the end' could you post more info and some more pics? cheers, ian.

today i have mostly been getting the engine into my anglia, last bit now, should be on the road soon. cold beer time now, it's been bloody hot in my garage!

that car park would have been full of those in the good old days! i just about remember!

hi mate, looking at that percentage I would guess that you would want a 25 or 26 tooth gear, if indeed they are available! failing that you can get your speedo head re calibrated, I think the company is called speedy cables, you download a form and fill out the information accurately and send it in with your speedo ( or a spare one if you have one ) and they calibrate the head to that info it's about 60 quid I think, but look them up to be sure. cheers, ian.

nice one, i do love the mk 1/2 granny's. had a few in my time, one of them is still about, ( blue mk1 ghia tkj422r with a 351w small block ) owned by a bloke called mike ludlow over southend way. i used to pick them up for about 200 quid back then, nobody wanted them except the banger boys! how i wish i could have seen into the future and owned a barn!

mike the pipe! now theres a blast from the past, old mike randall died years ago now, i went for a job there once, about 100 quid a week ! longlife's work is good ( or can be! ) but the guy there, can be a bit moody. my mate got a 3 inch dual system for his 7 litre s/c capri done there, nice job, but another mate just wanted a back box fitted but it was so bad he finished it himself in the end ! cheers, ian.

hi, i got all my anglia interior ( apart from the carpet, did that myself because of new tunnel etc ) from aldridge,and i can only say good things, it took slightly longer than they estimated to make but i wasn't in a rush so it didn't matter. the quality and fit is good, and the colours are spot on. i ordered front and rear seat covers, and all door cards and headlining. i did order some seals fron ekt but sent them all back, total rubbish. i found a company that sold seal sections by the metre and used that, and it's fine. aldridge were very polite and helpfull at all times and don't even take your money until they are ready to dispatch your order, i can't recommend them highly enough. cheers, ian.

thanks for the replies, like i said people are selling junk and just because they are 5 1/2 x 13 steels, they are all 'lotus' and are going for a lot of money, i've seen rusty ones, bent ones, wheels with the nut cones badly deformed through over tightening. some of these wheels are verging on scrap and people are still paying a lot of money for them. i don't mind re furbing but i am not paying top prices for junk that people have had rusting in a damp shed or under a tarp in the garden that were scrap to begin with. i will keep looking but i am thinking along the lines of having some narrower ones banded now. i was going to get my original anglia wheels banded but the slots on anglia wheel centres are much more pronounced than corsair or cortina wheels and foul on my calipers. so i may get some of the latter and go that way. cheers, ian.

hi all, i am after some 5 1/2 j or 6 j lotus steels for my anglia, does anyone have any first hand experience or any thoughts on the retro ford steels being offered by weller wheels? they only do them in 51/2 j at the moment, and although the centres aren't pressed with the correct pattern, they do look correct when the hubcaps are on. the reason you may ask?, well i am sick of looking at 'sets' of steels that aren't! the latest set i looked at this weekend locally were in dire need of a refurb ( which is to be expected ) but weren't a set, 2 were rivited and 2 were welded, the guy was a good bloke and said he had some others so would try to get together a matching set for me, but as yet he hasn't come back to me. the price he wants is the same as a set of these wellers, which of course are brand new wheels, and obviously come painted ( or powdercoat ? i am not sure which ). any thoughts? cheers, ian.

+ 0.090 pistons in bores nearly 85mm? i am surprised it lasted 17 miles!

hi mate, that block will still go out to 83.5mm if you want to save it, plus 0.090 is about 83.2 or thereabouts in metric. cheers, ian.

very nice, looks gorgeous in the sunshine!

I did a pro street mk1 Granada years ago, with a 351 Windsor and narrowed 9 inch rear,but didn't like it so converted it back with a breakers yard rear half floor pan! it's still about, a guy called mike Ludlow has it now, over southend way. the original south London look takes some beating in my opinion, less is more as they say.

this is a great shame, classic ford mag is supposed to be doing some kind of feature next month, if you ask me they should cancel it and have nothing to do with these people. value aside it is just a sad waste of old cars that could have meant the world to someone.

it'll be my first visit to the boxhill meet, what time does it all kick off?