I have no idea what the proper tool looks like however the application is fairly restrictive..

Nothing shows up on Google images, I might try geartorque who are just round the corner from me, they might be able to suggest something.

http://www.bearingkits.co.uk/FORD-GEARBOX-PARTS/FORD-TYPE-9-GEARBOX...

Ade try these guys, all parts available surely they will know how to replace the bush. I am not to sure now but think you may need the take the housing off to do the replacement.

Its a type 9 five speed.

If I am going to take the housing off then its a gearbox out job as there are fiddly bits that I will struggle with when its under the car. I have a complete spare housing though so it may be possible to recon the spare and swap them out.

Bearing kits is where I buy all my wheel, axle and gearbox bits, I should phone them tomorrow but it's so busy at work.

mental as anything lol...

It sounds like quite a bit of work. That Escort has wide wheel arches and the front wheels look like the arches could do with being wider still. But that look would really suit a Sierra, with the wheels sticking out. And a Scooby system would make it a very impressive road weapon, plus you could chase the off-roaders too. Sounds like a fantastic idea.

Maybe not exactly under the Sierra but I thought I would give these a try for 2014's supposed 'whiteout' thats allegedly coming .

Courtesy of a very agreeable seller on eBay @ £45 for all four. Lovely chap.

I'd need a radio to connect them to first 

The chap at ATS said they would generate road noise however it would be minimised due to the light weight of the Sierra, I have one rim left to clean up and then the front pair can go on next weekend. I will also need to swap to the multi leaf springs with new bushes, saddles and replacement shocks on the rear and fit the new rack and bushes on the front. Working out the right tyre pressures is going to be fun too.

Just a side note, that rim is now only half chrome. the rest is polished steel with a coat of clear over it. The rust had done quite a lot of damage to the rim and the chrome was peeling in places. I think next year they are going to have to be sand blasted and powder coated.

Nice wheels and tyres

What size are those tyres, Ade? They look like monster truck wheels! They look good.

Cheers Dave.   

Good result on the gearbox Daryl.

215/75/15 on 8 inch rims. The asthetics could have been improved if they were on 7 inch rims but i'm not complaining.

I'm going to try it with just the rears on tomorrow to see just how much noise they generate compared to the 205/60/14's i took off, then swap them back again as I don't want to use them unless the weather gets really bad if they are too noisy. Might be fun to bring it to Stoneleigh like that though. 

On the bright side it's going to take a while before that tread wears out.

Might keep a pair in the Sierra along with the jack, I might go 'pre-emptive strike' and fit all four now we are in December.

You'll notice the difference in the gearing as the new tyres rolling radius is about 339mm, as opposed to the 288mm of your previous tyres - that's nearly 20%. In my Rickman I found that big tyres made it seem under-powered but the Rickman is quite a bit heavier, I expect, at 990Kgs.

@ James.

Speedo is now reading much closer to the GPS than it did before so thats one improvement.

The boat anchor up front is still coping quite well and I will get it onto a weighbridge at some point to work out the full running weight. Mine does have a pinto and the extra weight of comfy seats, bull bars front and rear plus a few tons of filler holding it together.

@ Mike. With my exhaust, really? I found the rears to be about the same as normal, think the tyre pressures need to come down a bit though as it seems to be quite solid.

@ Wayne... If I gave a sh1t about fuel consumption i'd buy a Diesel. It's already horrendously thirsty as it really needs setting up on a rolling road.

Its been fine today, the other two rims are finished so just need to get them shod however the steering is already stiff on right turns so I need to change the rack and check the strut tops and linkages before I take it out on a serious run.

Thanks to Morrisons underground carpark in whitefield for the dry ish backdrop

Little mare wouldnt start this morning, sorted it eventually but cost me a day off work. Still out in the garage putting tools and parts away.

Had a minor issue with the brakes (now sorted) but to do so I had to fit some type 2 springs to my calipers. The odd little things that are supposed to push the pad away from the disc by a micron or so... Anyway I was looking at diagrams to try and work out which way they were supposed to be fitted and came across a thread on another forum which may amuse you all...

I'm not going to mention any names but will refer to the contributors by number, wouldn't want to embarrass any of our fellow kit car builders would I.... 

1) M16 Calipers.......Help please..........
Hi all, 
How do the little springs attach to the M16 calipers? Anyone got a pic/diagram that shows how they attach. 
Thanks, 

2) IIRC the looped bits go around the pin, there should be a tiny hole drilled in the caliper casing behind the pads and the pointy ends of the spring fit into the hole, HTH, crap explanation i'm sure someone will do better 

3) the looped bits go round the pin, the "lugs" on the outside of the spring fit against the edge of the metal pad back (the edge the camera is looking directly at) and the ends of the spring fit into holes in the pad back the holes inbetween the pin holes . I could fit them for you in about ten seconds but its taken about ten minutes to describe how to do it(and Im still not sure it makes sense)

1) A bit like this then...... 
Thanks to all. (there is a picture)

3) that looks how I think it should go

4) What are they for? .Ive never had any on my car, the calipers were reconditioned and there were none with the pads either so I assume you can safely through them away. 

Really....... Some of these people scare me...

LINK

I've spent a lot of time working out how those pesky springs fit. Someone painted the calipers and the little hole was no more, I now have a picture of them fitted correctly on my big computer as Reference.

I fitted mine on the Sierra, same difference I suppose Dave. :-)

Another weekend another mystery. 

Went to the local tip just now to clear out some 'stuff' and on the way there and back the steering on the Sierra has gone very tight. In the three years I've had it I have replaced the steering rack, TCA's, track rod ends, drop link, column bushes so pretty much all the parts that move when you turn the wheel.

The only thing I havent really paid much attention to is the struts. Are there bearings in the tops of the struts, can they sieze / corrode and how the hell do you get into them to give em some grease?

It was only doing it slighty before I changed the rack, had the tyre pressures and tracking checked but it is slowly getting worse.

TCA's are less than 2 years old but appeared ok when I did the rack two weeks ago.    

Rod ends are tight but I can move them smoothly with molegrips on a nut when they are off the car.

Rack was smooth when it was on the workbench but tight, needed grips on the spline shaft to turn.   Column and drop link are smooth and free when disconnected from the rack.    

Top bearings are all thats left to go wrong apart from the driver...

A good idea Martin, sometimes the simple solution just evades us geniuses :)

I'll try that tomorrow night.

As for loose nuts... I have a bag full... 

often the problem you describe is caused by seized steering u/j's.

or not i see you have tried that..as martin says disconnect the track rod ends and try the steering...

UJ's are good, checked them when I fitted the new rack.   

I'll do as Martin suggested and drop the track rod ends out, simplest way of isolating the moving parts works for me. 

Here we go, it's sunday and I have another small list of parts needed...

A set of roller top strut mounts to fit the Sierra please, concentric as I don't need to mess with the camber settings.

Told you it was a small list.

BUMP as it vanished off the main page... Pair of roller top mounts to fit the Sierra, anybody got a set they want to part with? I killed the old rubber ones so want roller bearing units, price is stupid for aftermarket ones so blagging mode engaged...

Managed to escape gardening detail for a few hours and get the mechanical parts of the tailgate functional. It now shuts and is self securing, doesn't rattle and is flush down both sides with the main body. Still need to do a little fine tuning on the locking mechanism as its a bit stiff. I Cut off the little bulge on the left side that used to contain the lock and removed the now useless number plate light. I'm even considering removing the lump that the Dutton badge sits on as mine is rough and completely obscured by the spare wheel carrier.

I fitted a new seal but that will need a little work before its' perfect, it does however keep the water out. I still have to fill the holes left by the bits I removed and finish the return edge along the bottom. The lower part is a complete ally unit but with enough room around the outside to refit the outer cover once finished. Number plate will be frenched into the lower section with some neat LED bolts that throw light out at 90 degrees to light up the plate. 

Still misfiring after a coil change so going to put the old one back and change the dizzy cap etc tomorrow.

Still need a set of roller bearing strut tops, missed a set on ebay that went for £53, Well miffed as I was going to set up a snipe the night before and forgot.

I have my high level brake light in bits all over my office desk (sneaked it in under the electronics, needs soldering love, excuse...) it is a Hella one, 7 soldered in light bulbs like the one in the heater controls on the escort / capri, tiny little things in holders... Upgrading to LED's should be easy enough, although I really need 8mm LED's which means having no high brake light until my ebay supplier delivers. It was down to three out of the seven working so time for repairs. Absolutely shattered so going to nod off in front of the TV now.

I wonder if other roller top mounts could be "adapted" i.e. I know some performance Vauxhalls had them. I have a standard pair here, once I feel up to it I will raid the shed and measure. Ouch :-)

Good man Steve. I did find one set but just didn't set the autobid on my PC DOH.

Anyway, found you some Sierra wheels...

Ref. the wheels, I did  a bit of work for that guy, no thanks.

War and Peace type update on Mr G's forums LINK. Not quite a done deal yet but getting there. 

Dave, try contacting Andy Smith, he is still an administrator on G's. He may be able to sort it.

i speak to andy on a regular basis, he dont have full admin rights unfortunately...... ;-)

Good news. The Beast of Blackrod just sailed through another MOT, no advisories. 

Oh, top marks Ade. :-))

Now I can attempt to refit all the err dodgy bits...

My mate here reckons 12 months ticket is worth about £500 nowadays. He buys and sells bangers. Mainly mondeo and focus stuff.

Bit of an Oops, thats oops with a capital O...

Set off round to the unit this morning and after driving about half a mile down to the local Spar for cow juice I could smell rubber burning. Note to self, check under bonnet for hose contact with manifold when I get to the unit.

Arrived at unit, got out and thought that wheel looks a bit cambered...

So I poked the camera under and found a bit of a problem with the strut...

So.... anyone got a spare standard offside mk2 strut ?

This one is fooked...

OMG. You might want to do both, perhaps?

That would be the ideal situation but with the price of new legs being more than I paid for the car its a bloody joke.

On the bright side at least I made it back to the unit without it collapsing.

I'll look into alternatives tomorrow but I do have to take CMV back to the unit for some fettling this afternoon.

Right, found two legs, rusty as old hell, lurking in one of the lockups. Put up a hell of a fight getting the calipers off, everything is solid, not even sure I want to bother trying to pop the pistons out of those little buggers later.

Anyway. Strut bodies are way better than the broken one so... They had odd length springs, one insert has a bent top, one insert is large and one is small ...

Once the brake pipes have been detached from the broken one and its pair I will see if I can swap the inserts, springs, spring caps and bump stops onto the salvaged strut casings, then fit my discs and calipers.with new flexi's. The old ones have been on less than a year and the rust preventative hasnt, they are solid and will probably require a blow torch to remove.

Back under the car I have another issue. I have a mk2 metric rack fitted and these legs seem to have a small taper steering arm. I know they made two different sizes of taper (imperial and metric) and two different rack threads (again imperial and metric). Which vehicle had the small taper rod end with metric rack threads and are these known as 'green' trackrod ends?

I never got to the bottom of this, some say it was late Mk1 Mexico and the RS1600. But I never found the information reliable. Mk2 end taper is slightly bigger, trying to find the correct reamer was another blind alley I went down. Good luck with it. I have a good Mk1 rack here with Mk1 ends and steering arms, for your reference.

While it was fresh in my mind, I phoned my rally mate who uses a RS2000. You are correct in the green track rod end and it was for Mk1 RS2000. Hard to find now and expect to pay premium because it says RS on the box.