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Member postings for Nick Wheeler

Here is a list of all the postings Nick Wheeler has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

Thread: recycled Henrys
02/07/2023 20:25:00
Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 02/07/2023 19:58:25:

One has to wonder why so many dismantled specimens in that area!

What on Earth do they do to 'em?

Probably got them from window fitters. They can break anything

Thread: material choice
30/06/2023 22:19:54

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 30/06/2023 21:17:45:

You can fit the end-caps by screwing them on, or as press-fit, then the ends peened and cleaned up. The end-caps are only there to stop the handle from falling out. They are not part of the function.

You could even move into the twentieth century and Loctite them on.

Thread: Mini Lathe Ways Lapping
30/06/2023 12:10:34

If it's just one high spot, lower it with a scraper. You don't need the whole years of practice, tubs of engineers blue, fancy tool made from unicorn horn and 2000spots per inch deal, just a few strokes with whatever you have. I found all three of my tools benefitted from a few minutes of this, once use made such spots obvious.

Thread: Identify imperial bolt size
25/06/2023 08:10:13
Posted by Martin Connelly on 25/06/2023 07:59:38:

I have to object to the idea that something from the 60s is vintage wink

Martin C

You're not American.

Thread: So what do readers want to read about?
23/06/2023 12:04:32
Posted by Neil Wyatt on 23/06/2023 11:37:59:

Now I'm waiting for someone's article about restringing a tennis racquet yourself to appear in my inbox...

Neil

Perhaps the server is down?

Being serious: a series of occasional and short articles on similar jobs would be entirely suitable for MEW. I bet most of us have some interestingly random repairs from family/neighbours/etc to show.

Thread: Titanic submersible
21/06/2023 19:10:52
Posted by Bill Phinn on 21/06/2023 19:05:08:
Posted by Chris Pearson 1 on 21/06/2023 19:03:10:

I struggle to sympathize with those involved because I think that Titanic should be left alone - it is a grave.

I thought visiting graves was an acceptable everyday occurrence.

It is, when the person in it meant something to you.

But getting in the car, driving across the country, parking nearby, beating your way through bramble hedges and admiring the gravestone of Cedric Arthur Tollbutstone(born 1883, died 1912) by the light of a torch would be considered a bit odd...

Thread: Making a large washer.
18/06/2023 13:31:23

Were the four bolt holes in the original request?

Because they change how you make the part:

Start with a piece of stock big enough to create the piece

Mark the centre of all three(centre hole, outside edge and PCD) circles.

Draw the centre and outside edges with dividers.

Mark out the PCD.

Drill the PCD

Bolt the piece to a (sacrificial)faceplate using the PCD, and ensure it runs true to the centre mark

Machine the inner and outer edges.

 

You make several pieces by bolting them to the faceplate at the same time

 

Edited By Nick Wheeler on 18/06/2023 13:32:39

Thread: Hoppers 4 way toolpost thread ??
17/06/2023 15:52:35

Posted by Clive Foster on 17/06/2023 14:31:23:

If you use insert tooling, with its fixed cutting tip height, purchasing a conventional QC system means you are paying lots of money for a versatile height adjustment capability that you will never use.

Surely the height adjustable feature of QCTPs is a useful freebie from how the holders drop into place? If it was the most desirable part, wouldn't they have been call Height Adjustable Tool Posts?

I consider the QCTP to be the best value tool I've bought for machine tools.

Thread: An expesive day
15/06/2023 13:58:35

Hopper, BMW are not alone in failing to produce reliable timing chains. VAG, Jaguar and Nissan are known for similar problems.

Current hydraulic tensioners don't seem to be compatible with modern oil usage, and the plastic guides they tension for the chain to run on are worse. And then there's the curious decision to put the chain on the back of the engine

15/06/2023 08:31:25
Posted by Michael Horner on 15/06/2023 00:25:44:

Slightly off topic, does any know jf a Fiesta Haynes manual does cover replacing the fibre timing belt?

Or simply says you need £1000 of special tools, take it to a Ford garage!

Wife's Eco Boost is 10 year old next year, working ok but so was Bev's until it wasn't!

 

You can buy the timing tools for <£100, but that doesn't include the torque multiplier for the crank bolt. It's a job I really wouldn't want to do without a lift. Ford took over a week to deliver half the ordered(in advance) parts when ours was done last year.

Many mechanics suggest it saves time to remove the engine on Fiestas.

 

A properly designed timing chain isn't noisy until the rest of the engine is so knackered you'd be rebuilding the whole thing. Jag 6s and Rootes 4s are good examples. But they have tensioners; Rover V8s and A&B series don't, and exhibit noise and wear as a result.

 

I'll be getting rid of the Focus at the first opportunity, but my mother(it was her car) and sister have managed to damage every panel lower than the bonnet so the value is badly affected.

 

One thing we haven't mentioned in all the nostalgia is that cams do work harder than they used to, driving more valves, through oil driven VVT mechanisms, often at higher speed into high compression cylinders. And that's without considering the high pressure fuel pump for the direct injection.

Edited By Nick Wheeler on 15/06/2023 08:34:23

14/06/2023 13:32:37
Posted by blowlamp on 14/06/2023 13:08:30:

I don't understand some of the responses to my comment. Are some of you saying that if this engine were made with a reasonably spec'd timing chain setup, then we could still expect it to fail in a similar way?

I'm suggesting that the same engineers who came up with the wet timing belt can't be trusted to not complicate timing chains into similarly unreliable designs.

Dave: timing belts do have tensioners, and they're often the failure point especially when combined with other parts like the water pump. But, the whole assembly is on the outside of the engine, and doesn't use a hydraulic tensioner fed with oil that's often contaminated by a lack of changes of weirdly specified oil, stuck piston rings, direct fuel injection and all the other problems that are common on modern engines. All that makes them much easier to service, within a more predictable service life and fit for purpose.

14/06/2023 12:03:14
Posted by blowlamp on 14/06/2023 11:34:33:

Why use rubber belts when chains would work without issue?

There are several recent engines with poorly designed timing chains. Google for images of VAG's vee engines, or BMW's four cylinder diesels. The I Do Cars Youtube channel mentioned here has tear-downs of many of these which highlight just how bad they can be.

14/06/2023 08:46:27

If you've had three of them, presumably you've not kept them long enough for the scheduled belt change? The 9 hour job that sucks up any savings(which are mostly the road tax) made in the preceding 10 years in one unforgettable payment? The one that requires a big stack of parts from Ford that aren't necessarily available at the same time?

as for the video engine being neglected, that crap in the sump is from the belts and not the usual rubbish from a lack of oil changes. It's also typical of the Citroen/etc engine that uses a similar wet belt. Anyone who does this job without removing the sump and cleaning as much as they can is setting themselves up for an expensive customer complaint...

11/06/2023 11:49:32

It's highly likely the designers of these engines are native German speakers. They have all the hallmarks of German engineering; complication for the sake of it, fussy maintenance requirements that cannot be missed, any improvements are theoretical rather than practical, horrible to work on, over optimistic use of materials(like the plastic water feed to the turbo) etc etc.

11/06/2023 07:48:34
Posted by Steviegtr on 11/06/2023 00:26:29:
Posted by Nick Wheeler on 10/06/2023 23:32:54:

A delight to drive? Not in a Focus. It has always idled like a cement mixer, and reminds me of an Essex V6; a mild surge of bottom end torque, and then asthmatic wheeziness once it gets to 4000rpm. Engine braking is virtually non-existent and it's not easy to drive smoothly. They're down to the tiny turbo and, I suspect, a heavy flywheel. I'm not basing that on just one example, and I've never met anyone else with anything good to say about them.

It's not even particularly economical - getting more than 40mpg takes a lot of effort, or driving in lane1 of the motorway.

Hi Nick. That is not the experience I have had with the little Fiesta ST line 125 ps. It actually goes like stink & very smooth too. Fuel economy is as you say around the 40. What other petrol car is better than that. It is just a shame about the failure otherwise I cannot knock the car itself.

The 1800 Zetec engined Focus it replaced did over 40mpg. So does a 25 year-old 1400 Metro/R100. Hell, I can get almost 40mpg from a tuned 2.0i Pinto in a Capri. None of those have the Ecoboom faults, and can be maintained /repaired by anyone who knows which end of the screwdriver to hit with a hammer...

I haven't watched this yet, but here's another tear down VIDEO of the things.

10/06/2023 23:32:54

A delight to drive? Not in a Focus. It has always idled like a cement mixer, and reminds me of an Essex V6; a mild surge of bottom end torque, and then asthmatic wheeziness once it gets to 4000rpm. Engine braking is virtually non-existent and it's not easy to drive smoothly. They're down to the tiny turbo and, I suspect, a heavy flywheel. I'm not basing that on just one example, and I've never met anyone else with anything good to say about them.

It's not even particularly economical - getting more than 40mpg takes a lot of effort, or driving in lane1 of the motorway.

10/06/2023 07:39:14
Posted by jimmy b on 10/06/2023 07:02:52:

I'd be inclined to change the belt and have the sump off on the "new" engine, just to be sure it's ok

You have to take the sump off to change the belt. Many mechanics drop the engine when doing them on Fiestas.

09/06/2023 22:18:19
Posted by Mark Rand on 09/06/2023 19:49:11:

Wasn't there an oil pressure or check engine type warning before the seizure?

They are invariably set far too low to be of any real use when driving. If it comes on at any more than idle speed, then you're normally looking at engine damage.

And the 1.0l Ecoboom is terribly weak in a number of areas - oil pressure, coolant leaks, timing belt issues(it books 9 hours and about £600 in partsdisgust), drivability, smoothness etc. They're best avoided.

Thread: Keyless car theft has never been so easy
04/06/2023 12:05:05

Dave, security is three way battle between the clever people who develop the systems, the dodgy ones who need to break them and the poor sod who paid to be seriously inconvenienced every time they have to use them.

Thread: Bought a new vice
02/06/2023 16:07:51
Posted by JasonB on 02/06/2023 15:40:21:

Not hard to put it in the lathe and skim to a smoother finish if you have oft handswink 2

A couple of minutes with coarse to fine emery cloth would remove the flash and give a good looking, nice to handle satin finish.

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