Kit car rebuild advice

[benzo]

I have a nice robin hood seven kit car. The car needs totally re-building which i intend to do. Problem is the electrics. Wiring a plug is about the extent of my electrical skills, but the car itself needs totally rewiring. The electrics are shot. So i was wondering:

1)Do i fully re-build the car then take it to an auto spark and get it rewired
2) do i strip the chassis, then get it wired.
3) Would £1000 be enough for an auto spark to re-wire the entire car?

In other words, i dont have a clue and need some input.

Also, I have a stage three pinto head. I stripped the head as it had sat for years and re-built it. Problem is, i hammered the cam pulley onto the cam during the build up. Cant get the cam pulley off. Tried hammering etc. Would i have to buy a crank puller to get this cam pulley of? Maybe a heat gun on the cam pulley?

Last is a suspension query. The front suspension on the car is 'Robin Hood coilover adjustable suspension'. Thats the description. They are shockingly bad (no pun intended).They are not adjustable at all. They do damp though. The rear suspension is off a heavy cortina estate. The car is suprisingly good on a track, but scary on the road. The car is so tail happy, that the sidewalls on the rear tyres wear out faster than the main tread. Roughly how much would it cost to get bespoke suspension made up? Who would i speak to when i cross that bridge?

thanks

[paolow]

benzo said:

I have a nice robin hood seven kit car. The car needs totally re-building which i intend to do. Problem is the electrics. Wiring a plug is about the extent of my electrical skills, but the car itself needs totally rewiring. The electrics are shot. So i was wondering:

1)Do i fully re-build the car then take it to an auto spark and get it rewired
2) do i strip the chassis, then get it wired.
3) Would £1000 be enough for an auto spark to re-wire the entire car?

In other words, i dont have a clue and need some input.

buy a sierra for 50 quid - remove loom - sell the parts on ebay - make a profit put loom in car when partially rebuilt using the old loom as a guide.

benzo said:

Also, I have a stage three pinto head. I stripped the head as it had sat for years and re-built it. Problem is, i hammered the cam pulley onto the cam during the build up. Cant get the cam pulley off. Tried hammering etc. Would i have to buy a crank puller to get this cam pulley of? Maybe a heat gun on the cam pulley?

You hammered it on????? best bet would be heat and some form of hub/crank puller and some percussion to get it off.

benzo said:

Last is a suspension query. The front suspension on the car is 'Robin Hood coilover adjustable suspension'. Thats the description. They are shockingly bad (no pun intended).They are not adjustable at all. They do damp though. The rear suspension is off a heavy cortina estate. The car is suprisingly good on a track, but scary on the road. The car is so tail happy, that the sidewalls on the rear tyres wear out faster than the main tread. Roughly how much would it cost to get bespoke suspension made up? Who would i speak to when i cross that bridge?

if its a cortina then its an early hood - the owners club at rhocar.org should be able to help!

[s7paul]

I used the Sierra loom when I built my car (one of the first Sierra-based models). Most of the limbs needed either shortening or lengthening, but at least all the connectors were there, and all the wire colours are correct. It may be the cheapest method, but it's really down to whether or not you are confident in your ability to do the job.

Cam pulley: If you've got a stage 3 head, you've almost certainly got a non-standard camshaft. The pulley should therefore be an adjustable one, so that the cam can be set-up properly ("degreed-in". If you've been beating the cr*p out of an adjustable pulley, I'd think twice about using it again.

Suspension: I may be wrong, but I thought the Cortina-based kits used modified Cortina front suspension. My car uses a pair of coilover shocks, mounted in a V shape in the nosecone, operated by rocking arms attached to the hubs. Spring compression is adjustable, and there is a damping screw on each shock. Seems to work pretty well. If yours IS Cortina-based, getting new suspension components designed and made isn't going to be cheap (bearing in mind what the car's worth). It may be more cost-effective to achieve a compromise by trying to modify & improve what is already there, rather than start from scratch. As for the car being tail-happy, have you checked the obvious stuff (tyre pressure & quality, wheel alignment [including camber], condition of suspension bushes, etc.)? My car has Sierra rear suspension, though with different springs & dampers. Slides can be provoked, but it doesn't feel skittish & still out-corners most "normal" road cars. Even if yours has the solid axle Cortina set-up, it shouldn't be too bad if everything's in good condition.

[steve_d]

My JBA had Cortina rear suspension and for some reason would eat bushes. I tried all sorts of different types but they all went the same. In normal road use they would not last a year so I agree with the comment above that you should check ALL your suspension joints then go for a full alignment.

Steve