For those interested in old cars.

[PhilJ W]

Back in the 70's a mate of mine put a 3 litre V6 in a Corsair. Very quick until the half shafts went (every few hundred miles). Not surprising as they were basically Anglia bits.

[PatB]

Factory aircon on an A series, sounds interesting if I could fit the cooling matrix in my metro heater box that could be interesting.

There was an aircon kit on eBay a few years ago for a mk1 metro but that hat a separate box under the heater with cooling ducts

 

I'm not sure about aircon on a tiddler. Until a few months ago I owned a Suzuki Carry 1.3 whose engine, on paper at least, had similar output characteristics to a warmed up A-Series. When switching the aircon on there was a very noticeable drop in the available power. Enough that I wouldn't consider it to be worth the sacrifice in the UK climate. Here in Western  Australia in summer was a different matter though.

[russ p]

My A series has about 115 bhp , I quite fancy some vehicle for the summer with aircon.

I'd like it on the van but there was never a pump that I know of for a Perkins prima

[Kickstart]

Ford considered offering a V6 version of the Mk3 for the UK in 1972, I believe at least one development prototype was built using a 3.0 Essex with an auto box although the intention was to use the 2.5 version. Ford buffs may be able to shed more light on the subject.

 

The project finally materialised as the 2.3 in the MK4 and 5.

There were 3L V6 versions of the Cortina (and later the Sierra) sold in South Africa. They also used the 3L V6 in the P100 Pickup.

 

But then the also built a version of the Sierra for South Africa with a 5L V8 engine.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Guest]

I'm not sure about aircon on a tiddler. Until a few months ago I owned a Suzuki Carry 1.3 whose engine, on paper at least, had similar output characteristics to a warmed up A-Series. When switching the aircon on there was a very noticeable drop in the available power. Enough that I wouldn't consider it to be worth the sacrifice in the UK climate. Here in Western  Australia in summer was a different matter though.

 

Had A/C on a 950 cc Chevy Spark.

Wasn't a big deal. If you wanted all the awesome 69bhp on offer you could always turn it off.

[shortliner]

No problem noticeable on my Kia Picanto

[PhilJ W]

No problem noticeable on my Kia Picanto

I have a Hyundai i10 which is a badge engineered version. You obviously do not check your fuel consumption, you can lose as much as 10 MPG with the air con on.

[Horsetan]

I have a Hyundai i10 which is a badge engineered version. You obviously do not check your fuel consumption, you can lose as much as 10 MPG with the air con on.

The use of A/C has no noticeable effects on the fuel consumption of a VW 1896cc PDi. Or rather it has no noticeable effect on this one....

[great central]

No idea on the effect of air con on my 2.2 diesel's fuel consumption but you can feel the pull of power from the engine when you switch it on. Rarely use it though prefer old style air con, open windows!

[russ p]

Whilst I enjoy summer motoring in my MGf with the top down sometimes it is nice to enjoy the coolness of aircon

[New Haven Neil]

I have a pal back in Geordieland wo has an E Type.  He rebuilt it from a scrapper about 30 years ago, he is a sheet metal worker and very highly skilled.  He went to a car meet nearby last week, and met another local E Type owner - comparing notes....the cars had consecutive registrations!  My mate's is the blue one.

 

[Jol Wilkinson]

Back in the 70's a mate of mine put a 3 litre V6 in a Corsair. Very quick until the half shafts went (every few hundred miles). Not surprising as they were basically Anglia bits.

Putting 3.0L V6's in Cortina's wasn't uncommon. A friend did it, but the problem was that the 2000E gearbox (the popular close ratio Ford box at the time) couldn't cope withe the torque, so he never used 1st and quite often ignored 3rd as well.

[Horsetan]

I have a pal back in Geordieland wo has an E Type.  He rebuilt it from a scrapper about 30 years ago, he is a sheet metal worker and very highly skilled.  He went to a car meet nearby last week, and met another local E Type owner - comparing notes....the cars had consecutive registrations!  My mate's is the blue one.

 

marty's E.jpg

What's the odds on meeting consecutive registration plates?

[alastairq]

What's the odds on meeting consecutive registration plates?

I achieved that quite by accident some 35  or so years ago....family prevailed upon me to stop riding motorcycles, so in revenge, I bought myself a Renault 4

 

When I got it home, I discovered it had a consecutive number plate to my [then] wife's Renault 5!

 

On reflection, probably quite likely as there really was only one worthwhile Renault dealer in the entire area.....super wee car, however.......

 

What's 'air con?'

[Horsetan]

.... in revenge, I bought myself a Renault 4

...

That is actually a pretty effective form of revenge.

 

Even Pope Francis owns a secondhand Renault 4 (it's done about 270,000kms)

Edited September 26, 2016 by Horsetan

[Two_sugars]

 

What's 'air con?'

 

Ryanair?

[peanuts]

But then the also built a version of the Sierra for South Africa with a 5L V8 engine.

 

marketed as an XR8 iirc

 

Uniquely, the South African market also saw the introduction of a 5.0 litre XR8 between June 1984 and 1988. A limited number of 250 Sierras were made for the purposes of homologation,^[16] as this model was the premier Ford used in Group A racing. The XR8 was fitted with the 302 ci engine from the US Ford Mustang, and the Borg Warner T5 heavy duty transmission. Front brakes were AP Racing four-piston calipers on 280 mm discs. Max power is 209 PS (154 kW) and a top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph) was claimed.^[17]The XR8 is easily recognized by having four cooling slats between the headlights, whereas lesser versions were sold with the original smooth front.

Edited September 26, 2016 by peanuts

[w124bob]

Perana was the Ford offshoot which did various SA engine conversions http://www.perana.org/granada.asp

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ford+granada+mk1+perana&safe=strict&client=tablet-android-hms-vf-gb&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjv56OA3azPAhXlDsAKHeHXBBIQ_AUIBygB&biw=962&bih=601#imgrc=evmZeYBkZdcHMM%3A

Edited September 26, 2016 by w124bob

[Wolseley]

What's the odds on meeting consecutive registration plates?

 

 

It happened to me once, in 1991.  At the time I drove a 1990 Mitsubishi Magna, registration PZH 537 (I subsequently changed the registration number after someone stole the plates, but that's another story).  I was driving down the Pacific Highway one day and stopped at Killara for something or other.  I had parked in front of another Magna and, when I got out of my car, I noticed that the other car's registration was PZH 536.

[Guest]

Nice little photo gallery on the BBC

 

http://www.bbc.com/autos/gallery/20160919-in-pictures-the-cat-in-the-barn

[Kickstart]

But then the also built a version of the Sierra for South Africa with a 5L V8 engine.

 

marketed as an XR8 iirc

 

Uniquely, the South African market also saw the introduction of a 5.0 litre XR8 between June 1984 and 1988. A limited number of 250 Sierras were made for the purposes of homologation,^%5B16%5D as this model was the premier Ford used in Group A racing. The XR8 was fitted with the 302 ci engine from the US Ford Mustang, and the Borg Warner T5 heavy duty transmission. Front brakes were AP Racing four-piston calipers on 280 mm discs. Max power is 209 PS (154 kW) and a top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph) was claimed.^%5B17%5DThe XR8 is easily recognized by having four cooling slats between the headlights, whereas lesser versions were sold with the original smooth front.

They used the 4 door hatchback bodyshell, but were quite heavily modified. From memory the front suspension mounts had to be moved out to squeeze the engine in place. A couple have made it to the UK. They seemed to be a reaction to the 3L V6 engined Alfa GTV6, which were SA developed using a different 3L V6 than was later used in the 75 and ran with carbs; these were also a homologation special.

 

There was also a car sold in Australia badged as the XR8, but that was the sporty version of the Ford Falcon.

 

The 3L V6 Sierra was badged XR6.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Rugd1022]

What's the odds on meeting consecutive registration plates?

 

Came close to owning a pair of 1969 Mk2 Mini Coopers a few years ago, I owned 'UWD 672G' at the time and another came up for sale reg'd 'UWD 670G', alas I wasn't quick enough and it sold within hours.

 

This just in.... just got back from Henley-on-Thames having put a deposit down on the Japanese import 1275 Mini I've had my eye on, should be picking up on Saturday with a bit of luck. Having trouble retrieving the pics from the camera at present but will upload them as soon as I can. Despite being an auto it has plenty of poke (the other half only has an auto license),but someone in Japan has spent a few quid on it and it's been 'backdated' to early '70s spec with Mk2 / 3 rear lamp clusters, lowered suspension, a central instrument pod, 'Rokee' style black wooden dashboard, posh wood rimmed steering wheel and 10'' alloys. Needs some decent seats and a good service but it looks like a winner.

[Horsetan]

.....This just in.... just got back from Henley-on-Thames having put a deposit down on the Japanese import 1275 Mini I've had my eye on....

Is this LHD or RHD? The Japanese seem to have a thing about insisting on imported cars being LHD, especially the premium marques.

[Guest]

Is this LHD or RHD? The Japanese seem to have a thing about insisting on imported cars being LHD, especially the premium marques.

 

My Mk1 came from a place that exported Minis to Japan (mine wasn't worth it). They were all RHD.

 

That said a Mini is not difficult to swap the steering wheel over on, although swapping the steering rack isn't fun..

[Jol Wilkinson]

Is this LHD or RHD? The Japanese seem to have a thing about insisting on imported cars being LHD, especially the premium marques.

They used to permit RHD imports when I started working for Peugeot in the mid 80's. However they seemed to be a bit tricky with their Type Approvals and would not accept cars which had been amended/upgraded in production by the manufacturer and no longer complied exactly with the documentation.

 

As a result we would get some "weird" specification RHD models dumped into the UK through the back door. These caused the dealers' service departments a headache on occasion as they sometimes had engine, braking, steering and a/c systems that weren't common here.