12000 Mile report

[Chris Cussen]

Well that is 12000 miles clocked up since October 2009 when the Cabrio first hit the road.

Things that have happened:
1. Engine re-build. Fully documented elsewhere on MAKC but in essence I had worn valve guides and had the head re-furbished, and fitted to a block supplied by Cabrioman.
2. Total failure to start. The crankshaft position sensor failed. No Sparks!
3. Front disks. These developed a wobble under braking and were replaced.
4. Front ARB bushes replaced with polybushes. The original Sierra (c 1986) bushes had perished.
5. Two new rear tyres. Enough said. I had the rear end tracking checked and it was within the limits of a standard Sierra.
6. Manifold to exhaust system come loose (twice). Second time was despite having spring washers under the nuts.
7. Tax disk blew away when doing 70ish on the M4.I didn’t stop and go back for it. A replacement cost £7.
8. I had to revise the cooling system slightly. I had a filler neck and standard 14lb cap in the top hose and a Metro expansion tank mounted higher up. The filler vented before the expansion tank so I would gradually lose water. I blocked the over-flow in the filler neck and used a cap that did not vent. Not used any water since then.

Average MPG has been just over 32mpg.
0-60 is about 8 seconds.
I’m still smiling.