1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Completed it mate - see page 46

9,548 · May 22

I wanted to replace the Sierra's number plates.

The rear number plate, despite being the supplying dealer's original plate, has the fixings in the wrong place. The right side screw interferes with the jack, which lives on the inner side of the rear panel. The screw cannot be fixed in a straight line at the jack is in the way, hence it is fixed at an angle. Not a major issue, however it is impossible to remove the jack without removing the screw first, which is lame.

The front number plate has these marks on it.

I did my research and the correct number plates for a 1987 car should have a pre Charles Wright font. A chap at Beaulieu could make up a set but he wanted £65 and it would take him an entire day, apparently, as the digits are difficult to align. Don't ask, I don't know either.

So I bought these metal number plates on eBay.

I fitted the rear number plate, with the enclosed sticky pads and it looked absolutely fucking awful.

For comparison purposes, old versus new.

I've put the old number plate back on, despite the issues that affect the right side screw.

I'm a number plate snob. I hate anything embossed / 3D / gel / show / wanker.... when it comes to number plates and don't get me started when it comes to black and white number plates on a post 1979 car. Why???

I could drill another couple of holes in the rear number plate, in the correct position and re-fix it, however that would leave two very ugly redundant holes in the yellow part of the number plate, which I could not live with.

Or I could leave it as it is and enjoy the rest of my life.

7,034 · May 22

10 minutes ago, Peter C said:

I'm a number plate snob. I hate anything embossed / 3D / gel / show / wanker.... when it comes to number plates and don't get me started when it comes to black and white number plates on a post 1972 car. Why???

I could drill another couple of holes in the rear number plate, in the correct position and re-fix it, however that would leave two very ugly redundant holes in the yellow part of the number plate, which I could not live with.

Or I could leave it as it is and enjoy the rest of my life.

FIFY

11,949 · May 22

Glue caps over the screw holes. Fix plate with double sided tape.

9,548 · May 22

3 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

FIFY

Apparently the DVLA changed the date, it’s now pre 1st January 1979.

7,034 · May 22

Just now, Peter C said:

Apparently the DVLA changed the date, it’s now pre 1st January 1979.

doesn't make it right! 🤦‍♂️

9,548 · May 22

1 minute ago, Mally said:

Glue caps over the screw holes. Fix plate with double sided tape.

Has crossed my mind, however the Sierra’s rear panel has two small raised areas in the middle where the correct fixing holes are and sticking the plate down is unlikely to be a permanent solution.

16,170 · May 22

1 minute ago, Mally said:

Glue caps over the screw holes. Fix plate with double sided tape.

+1, the Maestro plates are held on with double sided foam tape, that's an 88 (E) so period correct.

Took some bravery to stick them on but I made pencil marks to help me line them up straight.

9,024 · May 22

1 hour ago, Peter C said:

I fitted the rear number plate, with the enclosed sticky pads and it looked absolutely fucking awful.

I have to agree!

10,010 · May 22

1 hour ago, Peter C said:

That is fucking gopping.

39,785 · May 22

Fancy plates do an 80s tastic honeycombe background….

They also have a curvy fornt that looks good but with some characters it doesnt look quite right

Plates for cars doesnt do a honeycomb background but you do get the bs leagal detail in the corner, a convincing font and a more realistically sized footer for the dealership of your choice….

edit- that one was more expensive as i played with the size to make the border look better.

9,469 · May 22

I have those plates for cars jobbies on a couple of cars - that's the only one of their fonts that's any good. 👍

May 22

Never understood the hate for metal stamped plates.

Cars made of metal, why not the plate?

It's not an original style to the car, granted, but it's not exactly a full-blown cursive fonted 4d gel-embossed mess either.

Looks minimal and makes the back of the car look stylistically cleaner, in a way. 👍

12,992 · May 22

'Serck'umstantial 😀

9,548 · May 27

The Sierra's gear shift has been a little too notchy for my liking. According to the world wide web, greasing up the shifter mechanism can make a difference. I had a similar problem with my W123 and about 14 years ago I applied fresh grease to the shifter mechanism and ever since the shifter has operated smoothly.

Removing the shifter is easy.

Admittedly, the grease had gone hard and manky....

But I doubt that the fresh grease that I've put in will make any difference to the operation of the shifter.

My research also revealed that the Type 9 gearbox does not have a drain plug. Whilst an oil change for the gearbox is recommended, the only way to remove the old oil from the gearbox without removing the gearbox is to remove the prop-shaft and lift the front of the car as high as possible and let the oil drain out of the back. Sounds dodgy.

The Sierra has great patina, which I'm getting used to, however the front and rear FORD badges were too weathered for my OCD.

I replaced both badges with new, period correct, FORD badges that I found on eBay.

Much better.

The Sierra's 12V+ socket / cigarette lighter is in an awkward place. I once plugged my phone charger into it and kept knocking it out with my left leg whilst driving. Also, whilst the cigarette lighter works fine, any other plug has an intermittent connection.

I removed the 12V+ and negative plug from the back of the cigarette lighter.

And wired in a new 12V+ socket.

Which I cable tied to the dashboard strut. I can now power / charge any accessory and the mod is reversible within 2 minutes.

In other news, I can still smell fuel. The Sierra's engine hasn't run for about 5 days but whenever I come into close proximity of my workshop, I can smell 95RON.

It's definitely not the carburettor. I have stuck my head as deep below the air cleaner housing as possible and it smells fine. However, the fuel vapour separator whiffs. It's a metal sealed unit. Three pipes extend from / into it - fuel supply from the pump, supply hose to the carburettor and a vent hose that connects to a solid line, which extends beneath the car and into fuel tank. The top of the unit and the three pipes all smell of fuel. But, they are completely dry.

Underneath the car, there is no sign of any leaks and no smells. The fuel tank and the filler neck area don't smell either.

Online research revealed nothing.

The Sierra is heading into London on Friday for its first MoT under my ownership. A frightening prospect.

3,276 · May 27

@Peter C - try Retro Plates on facearse, he’s very good and will replicate your Haynes plates with minute detail. He may also sell a rear window sticker. It should also have a small badge with the Haynes logo on the bootlid. I’ll try and dig out some pics.

17,771 · May 27

On 22/05/2024 at 17:13, Peter C said:

I wanted to replace the Sierra's number plates.

The rear number plate, despite being the supplying dealer's original plate, has the fixings in the wrong place. The right side screw interferes with the jack, which lives on the inner side of the rear panel. The screw cannot be fixed in a straight line at the jack is in the way, hence it is fixed at an angle. Not a major issue, however it is impossible to remove the jack without removing the screw first, which is lame.

The front number plate has these marks on it.

I did my research and the correct number plates for a 1987 car should have a pre Charles Wright font. A chap at Beaulieu could make up a set but he wanted £65 and it would take him an entire day, apparently, as the digits are difficult to align. Don't ask, I don't know either.

So I bought these metal number plates on eBay.

I fitted the rear number plate, with the enclosed sticky pads and it looked absolutely fucking awful.

For comparison purposes, old versus new.

I've put the old number plate back on, despite the issues that affect the right side screw.

I'm a number plate snob. I hate anything embossed / 3D / gel / show / wanker.... when it comes to number plates and don't get me started when it comes to black and white number plates on a post 1979 car. Why???

I could drill another couple of holes in the rear number plate, in the correct position and re-fix it, however that would leave two very ugly redundant holes in the yellow part of the number plate, which I could not live with.

Or I could leave it as it is and enjoy the rest of my life.

You could leave the screw heads on - and shave them off smooth on the rear and fix them with glue

Then

Screwfix do - or did - I've not checked - some velcro tape with the hook and pad M+F. This is for holding tools on walls etc. The backing is very very sticky - you can then apply one side to the car and one to the plate - and velcro it on. It's durable - needs a good pull to get off (fnar fnar) and means if you need the plate off again it's easy.

16,170 · May 27

<bad joke>Should've got red Ford badges m9. </bad joke>

Is the fuel tank made out of steel? It may have rust holes and that would lead to a fuelly smell.

But you'd only know if you took the tank off to check, which ranges from 3 to 5 spanners on the Haynes-ometer depending on whether the driveshaft, prop, diff etc have to come off.

My Puma one went where the road crud washes over it in the rear wheelarch.

9,548 · May 27

1 hour ago, grogee said:

<bad joke>Should've got red Ford badges m9. </bad joke>

Not sure about that, @HMC is the expert on red Ford badges.

9,548 · May 27

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Is the fuel tank made out of steel? It may have rust holes and that would lead to a fuelly smell.

But you'd only know if you took the tank off to check, which ranges from 3 to 5 spanners on the Haynes-ometer depending on whether the driveshaft, prop, diff etc have to come off.

The tank is steel but 75% of it is visible and looks solid. There’s no fuel smell coming from anywhere near the tank area so I’m pretty sure it’s ok.

9,024 · May 27

If you did need to take the tank off, I don't think it's a massive job on these. A scrappie swapped the tank on mine for a second hand one in under 2 hours back in the day.

61,393 · May 27

4 hours ago, Peter C said:

It's definitely not the carburettor. I have stuck my head as deep below the air cleaner housing as possible and it smells fine. However, the fuel vapour separator whiffs. It's a metal sealed unit. Three pipes extend from / into it - fuel supply from the pump, supply hose to the carburettor and a vent hose that connects to a solid line, which extends beneath the car and into fuel tank. The top of the unit and the three pipes all smell of fuel. But, they are completely dry.

I'll ask what is probably a stupid and incorrect question - but as it could be a safety issue - could it be deterioration of the fuel hose due to E10 pez?

Also, when this first came up I did a bit of reading (by which I mean I put 'vapour separator' into Google) and did find that in principle how these work - there should be a filter inside maybe? This looks to be a very old one, but principle may be the same - and could the filter rust or get blocked?

I dunno, one for the more engineer minded on here, I don't want to pretend I actually understand the physics.

11,949 · May 27

45 minutes ago, Peter C said:

The tank is steel but 75% of it is visible and looks solid. There’s no fuel smell coming from anywhere near the tank area so I’m pretty sure it’s ok.

Fill it to the brim and see if your feet get wet!

9,548 · May 27

@egg

The fuel / return hoses smell of fuel but there’s no evidence of any leaks. Perhaps you’re right, the hoses could be deteriorating from the inside. Shame this has come to light today as there was a stall at the Enfield Pageant with every type of fuel line and fixing ever made.

The separator looks like a sealed unit, there are no fixings that I can see, which would enable me to open the unit and check the filter.

I will wrap the separator and hoses with an arrangement of rags, which for a short period would absorb the smell. If the smell disappears then I will know for certain that I have identified the problem area.

9,548 · May 27

15 minutes ago, Mally said:

Fill it to the brim and see if your feet get wet!

I’ve brimmed the tank a couple of times, my shoes stayed dry.

9,548 · May 27

@egg

Smelly.

No smelly.

I think you’re bang on with the hoses deteriorating.

25,506 · May 27

Yes. E10 (or indeed E5, just less quickly) will almost definitely attack any hoses not made specifically to withstand it. Only ones on an older car that you don't need to worry about are metal or nylon.

9,548 · May 27

@egg

In your magic online parts diagram thingy, is there any information about the diameter of the fuel hoses?

61,393 · May 27

8 minutes ago, Peter C said:

@egg

In your magic online parts diagram thingy, is there any information about the diameter of the fuel hoses?

No can't see anything. We did have a thread about fuel hose at some point that talked about marine grade hose?

On 04/10/2019 at 22:48, Zelandeth said:

Only going to get worse given that all pump fuel now has a minimum 5% ethanol content in as of a couple of months ago. V-Power used to be safe...but no longer.

The last couple of hoses I got from Halfords had the SAE marking but no sign of a manufacturer name or anything like that - so proving where it came from would be challenging.

A1 Marine grade hoses (ISO 7840) are your friend. Made for a far harsher environment than a car engine bay and one where their reliability is even more safety critical, they're resistant to just about everything short of direct nuclear assault.

I found that the hose I got was far easier to work with too, much more amenable to being routed tidily than the Halfords stuff which kept trying to kink whenever presented with a corner.

Good quality hose clamps and appropriate grease for them are important too.

25,506 · May 27

34 minutes ago, egg said:

No can't see anything. We did have a thread about fuel hose at some point that talked about marine grade hose?

A1 marine hose is a good choice, but it's become a real crap shoot now with there being so, so much counterfeit stock on the market now.

These days I exclusively buy this, from here.

https://www.glencoeltd.co.uk/cohline-fuel-vacuum-hose/

Yes it's more expensive than the Pearl branded stuff you'd get from your local parts store, but it should pretty much be fit and forget.

One thing which springs to mind about that vapour separator - it's two halves crimped together, could there be a leak from the seam between the two halves? Bit fiddly to test for.

9,548 · May 27

33 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

One thing which springs to mind about that vapour separator - it's two halves crimped together, could there be a leak from the seam between the two halves? Bit fiddly to test for.

I will give it a full once over when I replace the hoses.

1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Completed it mate - see page 46

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