YEEEEAHH!!! I FINALLY GOT A SIERRA FOR TWO HUNDRED QUID!!

however, i keep having these background voices in my head telling me "What the hell did you buy this pile of junk for????"

im quite happy of temporarily owning (gonna rip it apart soon) such an old car! its as old as i am!
so, summarizing: its a 1986 Sierra 2.0 GLX basic spec (no rev. counter ) with a damaged head gasket and general rusty bits. steering is in bad shape, obvious MoT failure.

i have a couple of questions though. i was lucky i found the original handbook in the glove compartment and read there that in order for the car to use unleaded petrol, some necessary adjustments to the ignition should be made...
right now its running with about a litre of leaded petrol so i will want to refuel it just a bit. problem is, leaded petrol is no longer sold. does anyone know about these adjustments necessary to the ignition in order to use unleaded?

and the last thing: the clutch pedal is ridiculously stiff!!! it takes some effort to engage it. i think it might be a severely worn clutch cable, or even worst, the clutch release arm?

any other advise would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!!!!
now i cannot wait to start the locost!
cheers
tom

[Edited on 15/2/06 by robertst]
Rescued attachment donor.jpg

Wah hay. Should be rust free too.

Hi Tom,

Looks like your ready to begin the build then

How far are you planning on driving it before breaking it? Not that far or that fast I expect - I'd just use some unleaded if necessary and not worry too much about the ignition timing changes.

Once in the locost you'll want to reset the timing anyway so it can be set-up correctly yhen for unleaded.

If the manual says it only requires timing adjustments then that should mean the valve seats are hardened and suitable for running unleaded long term anyway - what age is the car?

Good Luck
Nick

PS - Rev counters are driven from the ignition coil, so it will be easy enough to fit one when you're ready.

[Edited on 15/2/06 by nick205]

its 20 years old. 1986.

no problem to drive it on unleaded , just fill up and drive...

I'm Starting the same project so hope U'll post some pics alog the way