Manky's Pop.

[triker_Chewie]

cutting corners to save money, then spending it all again on overtime and ending up with an overworked staff?

[Manky Monkey]

Me or Royal Mail Ben? Yeah, things have gone seriously downhill since they decided we're no longer a service, but a business. The experts they brought in to save us are destroying 150 years worth of work. There's talk of us being privatised within the next year.
Yup, I did indeed forget to put the fitting on the pipe before I flared it the first time!

[tbone]

             "Third attempt -just right -ish."

   and you can very nearly guarantee that when you do make the one with perfect bends and correct length you'll turn round to find the bloody nut still laying on the bench 

 

[Manky Monkey]

Right. A question for all you clever electrickery types:

Made up a bracket to hang the ignition coil off the front of the engine today. There's an aluminium block plugged into the wiring loom. It was on the engine when I bought it & I vaguely remember someone telling me it runs a gauge. Is that right? It appears to be a piece of flat metal plate wrapped around a block of resin. There are electrical connections on both ends, but only the ones labelled Distributor are being used. At the other end it says Start SW ...& what appears to be a picture of an anchor -?
It's made by Lucas & is numbered 47246A. As far as I know the engine's an early 1970s SD1 Rover V8.
I'd like to get rid of the thingy, but got no idea what it actually does, or how to bypass it, (electrics mean absolutely nuffink to me).

I seek your wisdom & advice, wiring wizards.

[Manky Monkey]

.

[Manky Monkey]

Distributor, condensor, coil ...odd electrical thingy.

Any ideas?

[hunter]

Looks like a Ballast resistor,it gives you high voltage for starting,
then with the engine running it lowers the voltage to reduse wear on ignition components.

[cunningplan]

Thats what I would say it was, you connect the starter wire up and when its in the start position it gives the coil 12+ volts and not 9 when running. Us it if you can, it will make the engine start better. (But make sure you using a ballast coil.)

[Manky Monkey]

Ahh, of course. Obvious now, though I've never entirely understood how ballast resistors work, (much like the rest of auto electrics).
Some of the Reliants we've stripped have had resistors & others haven't. Flap & Muffin both had trouble with ignition points burning out, yet Nige & I had no trouble at all with ours. So presumably it depends what coil you use? Can I just bung on a run-of-the-mill coil from Halfords & not bother with the resistor?
Or should I be picking up one of those chromed coils with the resistor piggy-backed on the back of it when I'm browsing the trade stalls at the drag races this weekend?

[Manky Monkey]

Working my way through the various hoses & cables on the front end, I took a look at the auto gearbox oil cooler hoses today. The original copper jobbies, screwed onto the Borg Warner box, were too short so I took them to Unimaster, the local hydraulics specialist after work this afternoon, hoping they could make up some longer ones. They couldn't, but did knock up these rather hefty rubber ones, mated to short sections of the original copper pipe. A bit agricultural, but they actually suit the truck.  Obviously they're not as self supporting as copper so routing them to avoid chaffing on suspension, fan belt, gear change etc will require lots of clips. No room to run them on the driver's side of the box, plus they'd have to negotiate the steering ...stuff, in the engine bay. So I looped them over the top of the box & along the left side of the sump. All this gubbins will be tidied up, then hidden by the floor & gearbox tunnel panels by the way.
Should do the job.

[Manky Monkey]

The aftermarket oil cooler sits in the top of the grille shell, in front of the radiator, so the hoses will run up either side of it.

[cunningplan]

Ahh, of course. Obvious now, though I've never entirely understood how ballast resistors work, (much like the rest of auto electrics).
Some of the Reliants we've stripped have had resistors & others haven't. Flap & Muffin both had trouble with ignition points burning out, yet Nige & I had no trouble at all with ours. So presumably it depends what coil you use? Can I just bung on a run-of-the-mill coil from Halfords & not bother with the resistor? Or should I be picking up one of those chromed coils with the resistor piggy-backed on the back of it when I'm browsing the trade stalls at the drag races this weekend?

Yes, no problem, as I said, the only thing is that you MIGHT have starting problems, this will be mostly when the engine is hot when it needs the extra spark.
How it works is, if the coil is 12 volt (13.8v), when you start the engine, as the starter takes so much power, you might be only getting 10/11 volts to the coil, so you get a weak spark. with a ballast coil, its 9 volts, so when you add the extra wire to the live from the starter, every time you start the engine, you still get only 10/11 volts to the coil, but as its 9 volts anyway, you are putting in extra so you get a better spark.

I dont know why you don't just hide the one fitted out of the way  

[gsxrsam]

or just convert to full electronic dizzy.. 

sam.

[Manky Monkey]

Cos the one that's fitted is ugly with a capital UGG Tony. I want to keep the engine as self contained as I can, without extra bits & pieces bolted to the body panels around it & there's nowhere convenient to hide that. I was planning on replacing the coil, condensor, points, plugs etc anyway, so will look for a coil with a built-on resistor. I bought one for Taz's trike, then sold it on to another forum member, so I know they're available.
Again Sam, I don't understand vehicle electrics at all, & just feel more comfortable with more basic, non electronic stuff. At least you stand a chance of repairing it at the roadside if you have to, (yeah, I know you'll probably have to more often, but if the black box packs up, you're buggered).

[cunningplan]

I fitted one of these on my Mini with the electronic dizzy to match, dont look much in the photo but mine cleaned up nice (And my coil fitted it the recess made for it) and di not look out of place.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROVER-V8-3-5-SD1-LUCAS-2CE-COIL-AND-MODULE-/190444531187?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2c5760edf3