Conclusions and Problems to Date
The Robin Hood Owners Club & Register (RHOC&R) hosts a fantastic Community Section where builders and owners can post problems of any sort regarding Robin Hood cars. You will be very unlucky if a problem cannot be solved, or at least get you pointed in the right direction. To take full advantage of this facility you will need to join the RHOC&R, essential anyway !!
You will almost certainly I think it is true to say, that not one single item has fitted perfectly without some alteration. Perhaps this is part of the ”challenge” of building kit cars. Many of the parts that do fit could be improved. On the plus side most things are too big and so can be cut down to fit correctly. With some half decent Production Engineering this kit could be one of the best in the world, sold even cheaper and give the builder more satisfaction rather than frustration. Robin Hood have admitted that only 40% of cars are finished by the original buyer.
As the job has progressed there have been so many problems that it would be tedious to list them all. They have been overcome with a combination of money, redesign or manufacturing a totally new part. All these ”errors” are covered fully in the manual. Particular mention must be made however of the Steering Rack and Handbrake Assembly. Later chassis versions seem to have addressed some of these problems.
The 2B is by far the cheapest ”Lotus 7” clone on the market and this is unfortunately reflected in some of the components. Westfield have realized that the single donor route has a serious following and their latest kit is clearly aimed at this budget price market. How they compare regarding ease of build is not known.
This is a great pity as the ”cheapest at all costs” approach does not always result in the best value for money. A £10 tool lasts a few months, a £20 tool lasts forever. Parts that you cannot use or have to replace have effectively cost you twice as much. For example a new set of brake hoses will cost at least £20.00, but you have already paid somewhere near that for the set in the kit, so they finish up costing around £40.00 plus !!
One 2B was purchased as a school "project" and as the equipment was available, the opportunity was taken to X-ray all the welds. All were OK except one which was very poor. This may have been an isolated incident but who knows. It would be a good idea to give each weld a belt with a hammer BEFORE you do any work at all. A dull thump may indicate a problem, where a solid ring would indicate a better weld. This is a very rough and ready method, but X-ray equipment is not available to most, it should not be required anyway as a soundly welded chassis is RH's responsibility. Once a car is built re-welding chassis tubes could be a real problem.
One early problem was the mounting bolts for the Rear Upper Wishbone Brackets. It is very difficult to get a 10mm bolt into the restricted space unless the bolt hole is made oversize, or the heads butchered. Not very good engineering, especially on the suspension. This point is covered in greater depth in the Wishbone Section.
Another example is the flamecut & welded lower wishbone trunnions and some of the fabricated brackets etc. Modern laser cutting and a few very simple press tools, together with accurate jigs could result in a much superior presentation, a lot less work for the builder and may even prove cheaper in the long run, both to the builder and kit supplier.
This car is certainly not a Meccano Set and does need, to produce a good sound car, considerable attention to detail, together with the application of not inconsiderable engineering skills, this is something of a contradiction, as being one of the cheapest kit cars on the market, it is more likely to appeal to the first time buyer. This in itself proves an unexpected bonus, as no two cars are the same. The video's leave a lot to be desired as in many areas they are out of date and refer to previous models.
My Sierra donor was purchased in November 2002 & the kit collected in December 2002. The chassis rolled on its own 4 wheels in Mid March 2003, but the work has been somewhat spasmodic. Once the Engine & Gearbox are in I hope the worst is over. (In retrospect this has proved very optimistic) At least all the heavy metal bits are in the car leaving a lot more room in a very cramped garage. A Sierra rear axle, 4 wheels c/w tyres & an engine & gearbox take up an awful lot of room. All the other bits are stored away on 2 mezzanine floors.
The Flexible Brake Hoses supplied in the kit are very unsatisfactory, as there are insufficient threads on the inboard ends to allow the easy fitting to proper support brackets, whilst the rear hoses are not suitable for fitting to the existing Ford brackets.
The preformed Bonnet Panels are 2” too wide and this is going to cause a major re-think. The problem will be solved, probably for the better, yet another frustration one can do without. Robin Hood advise that the Scuttle is not designed to sit flush onto the top tube, but spaced off somewhat. Fitting the Scuttle hard down onto the top tube has not given any problems, but I have totally re-designed the bonnet mounting anyway.
Considerable problems were experienced with the Side Panels. These seem to be all flanged incorrectly.
An initial attempt was made to cut out all the unwanted wires in the Donor Loom. This was a complete disaster, as the loom was damaged during removal from the donor, had wires missing, was not made to the exact Haynes colour codes, very dirty, wires were too long or too short, wrong plugs, total complexity etc. etc. I gave up and went for the Premier Wiring Systems loom. Unless you are very short of money this must be the best option.
The "Aero” fuel cap and delivery pipe. This is in itself a nice little unit, but like many of the parts supplied is a complete disaster when it comes to fitting. RHSC's have identified this problem, and if you ask nicely will supply a unit that fits. Unfortunately the replacement is not a lot better. More wasted time and money. I chose to go my own way on this one and a revised design is given in Appendix II Link to AutoCAD Drawings Again this is a common problem.
The Standard Pinto Sump One major mistake, despite being warned by those who know better, was fitting a standard Sierra Sump. This comes out at about 50mm above the road, unladen. I have now fitted a reduced height sump. Not the easiest of jobs with the car in the chassis. You have been warned, fit a reduced height sump before you fit the engine. There is an excellent article on the RHOC&R site.
Wipers The holes in the Scuttle for the Wiper arms are totally in the wrong place. Just look at where 99% of modern production cars have the wipers located. Not rocket science, but RH get it wrong yet again.
Front and Rear Mudguards. Fitting these has, to say the least proved difficult. The Front cycle type mudguards fit, but only just. My original Rears did not fit at all. RHSC’s are adamant that they do, but the photographs on my web page prove otherwise. See the section on Mudguards. It beggars belief that Robin Hood do not point out, at the time of purchase, that builders ought to at least consider purchasing wider mudguards if they are fitting 61/2J wheels. Yes, they are in the price list, but when you are a first time builder (the target market for this car) a little advice would not go amiss. This failure of communication cost me £60.00 (they would not take back a pristine pair of panels, supplied in error, and a round trip of over 200 miles) Another side effect of fitting 61/2J wheels affects the Front Indicator stalks. The SVA regulations require that the outer edges of the lens to be within 400mm of the widest part of the car. With correctly fitted 61/2J wheels at the rear this condition is NOT met and a couple of crude extensions are required. Why the Indicators need to be in such a vulnerable position in the first place is another design mystery.
Now that the car has been run for a few weeks, a recurring problem has been the mounting of the mudguards to the tubes. The "P" clips are very close even to the (extended) ends and have now come off twice in 400 miles. A new design of alloy tube extension has been fitted with a wide groove into which the "P" clip fits. The groove is as deep as the "P" clip material so it cannot move laterally, unless the clip comes fully undone, unlikely when using nylock nuts. Hopefully this will give a permanent cure. Note that the "P" clip method of fitting is not the RHSC's method, but should prove better in the long run. (once the bugs are sorted)
Apart from the minor faults mentioned above, actual driving of the car has highlighted a couple of what I consider major problems.
The first is the noise. The RH Silencer will either need to be re-packed or a quieter unit purchased.
For my particular build ( 6'-0" ), the drivers eyeline is almost exactly in line with the top of the Windscreen Frame. I am either trying to look over the frame or crouching to look under it. As the Recaro seats are already as low as possible (with all the undeargear removed) I will need to investigate a pair much of lower seats. The RH Recaro seats must be a least 100mm off the floor pan, so there is the potential for a substantial drop, this should solve the problem. All you need is money !!
© Colin Usher 2007