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You picked them up, dialed the number you wanted on a funny spinning-disk thing, and talked into them when someone answered.
Oh, I see what you mean - no cells back then. Dunno but they must have been analogue radio based so best guess would be radio links available in big cities. Bandwidth wouldn't have needed to be much cos they weren't exactly in everyone's cars.
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Good afternoon in Llandudno today. Decided on a whim to pop up there for some trailer wiring stuff from Maplins and found this in the car-park: Went in, did my shopping and it had changed to this: How often do you see two blown bentleys in one car park in one day??? Apparently the Three Castles Rally is starting tomorrow so it looks like this lot were having a last-minute Halfrauds stop for provisions. Also around was a rather nice Healey: And a TR4:
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That's what I thought. Unfortunately, don't have a stereo with an aux input any more or there'd be one sitting in my front room by now. As it is, have to reserve the magic of carts for the car edit to add for the OP: Don't know what year yoru car is, but 8 track was technically current up to the early / mid 80s so why not fit the car one and enjoy the period choons? (you can get carts of most music styles up to the 70s / 80s on the Bay cheap as chips)
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I thought you resealed the brake master around 19th / 20th of this month?
Strongly suggest you bin the cylinder for a new one if it's gone again in 2 weeks - anything else would be irresponsible in the extreme and loss of licence (at a minimum) when it all goes tits-up would be richly deserved. Of course, depending on what, or who you hit, your licence might be the least of your worries......
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Yes you should check the float level, full instructions (and a lot more) are available for download as a PDF here: www.dafmobile.ournet.org.uk/downloads/Tuning_SU_Carbs.pdfNote that it's an old (mid 60s) book but the info is still good even if some details have changed edited to add: haven't got SUs on mine but do like collecting useful literature. Should have one for Strombergs up soon (when I get round to it).
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Legally there is an offence of "failure to display" a tax disk which you could be found guilty of even if you've already paid. It's a bit of an out-dated offence now, from the days when the disk itself was the only practical way of checking if the tax had been paid or not.
Now the car will show as taxed on the DVLA computer (including ANPR system) as soon as you paid and that's what the Police normally use to check (it's more reliable than a disk that might be forged). The only worry you might have is jobsworth traffic wardens, who could have the car towed for failing to display.
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May 30, 2010 16:32:38 GMT
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The wiring to the plug should be standard 12N 7-pin so no need to run through the car electrics. Wire it up as standard and the trailer will be right for any correctlly wired car socket. If (extremely unlikely) it then doesn't work right on your car it means that your car's wiring is incorrect - in which case, change the car wiring, not the trailer! The correct wiring includes an earth connection on pin 3 so it's no problem getting that from the car to the lights - don't just run the earth to the lights, earth the whole trailer chassis as well! The pins on the plug are laid out like below, as if you're looking from the end of the plug where the wires go in. Note that the connections with an X in them are male pins (in the plug) and the ones without are female sockets: The connections by number are: 1 LH Indicator 2 Rear fog or Aux (eg: trailer battery charging) 3 Earth 4 RH Indicator 5 RH side light 6 Stop lights 7 LH side light If you use a correctly pre-wired plug then the wires will be coloured the same as the pins in the piccy. Also, the separate LH and RH side light connections are provided to enable "parking light" functionality on the trailer (one side light left on for parking). You can safely wire these together but, if you do and use it with a car with a parking light facility, then it will turn on all the side lights on the car if you turn parking lights on cos they'll feed back through the trailer wiring. *** edit: the Toaster beat me to it while I was drawing pretty pictures ;D ***
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May 23, 2010 21:43:34 GMT
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1200 quid would get you a really, really nice 1500HL (preferably with overdrive) or even better an 1850HL. The 1850 has a much tougher engine.... [cough]headgasket[/cough] [cough]slanty head studs[/cough] [cough]hacksaws for head removal[/cough] ;D Seriously, the 1850s probably are the better car in a lot of respects and the engines are longer lasting if they've been (and continue to be) well maintained. But they won't just keep on truckin' with endless abuse like the OHVs do (well, up to 1296cc anyway) and you're unlikely to find an 1850 with really good history for that money (might get lucky though!). They're also nothing like as easy to work on, which is usually a + for a first car, and they don't come with folding window winders
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May 23, 2010 17:25:47 GMT
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I'll put in another vote for old Triumph. Decent 1300 / 1500 Dollys, Toledos and 1300 /1500 FWDs are all possible in the price range you're thinking. Everyone wants 1850s or Sprints which puts their prices up a bit and leaves the smaller models affordable. The engines (especially the 1300s) are reliable, easy to work on and reasonably economic. Parts are generally plentiful (more for the Dollys than FWDs but a lot of interchangeability). They're not completely sluggish as standard and there's room for fairly big performance boosts in the future for little more than a bit of spannering if you ever feel like it. Their road manners are good and ride quality (especially on the FWDs) is excellent. You get a proper wood dash and, if you go for the 1300 FWD, folding window winders that are just sooooo cool! There's lots of technical expertise and friendly advice on the TDC forum, as well as fairly regular cars coming up for sale, but you have to make allowances on there for the people who think that a real engine should be fitted at a silly angle and use head gaskets and water pumps as service items Of course, I may be a little biased!
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May 23, 2010 16:51:59 GMT
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For my 2p I'd say the opposite to many of the suggestions so far. It doesn't really matter if it's "definately a keeper" or not. What matters is if you're having even the slightest doubt about selling. Even ignoring your last couple of posts, the fact you started this thread at all suggests that you're not 100% sure. About a week ago when she failed her MOT on a couple of unexpected bits my Sheila-related Mojo went on holiday. Then she passed on retest and I thought it had returned. I was wrong. As the camshaft change went to rats I began to suspect that what I thought was returned Mojo was actually his evil twin brother Ojom - the one that keeps you plugging away at something because you don't have another clear option at the time, even when every sense is telling you to give it up for a bad job . Mojo himself got back yesterday evening when, in spite of everything, the car fired up and turned in some (for her) blistering performance. Mojo is now back, tanned, healthy and so strong I suspect he's been sneaking down the gym while I wasn't looking! If I'd listened to the inner voice of sense then Sheila would have been thrown on the Bay as spares / repair, I'd have about 5 less cuts on my hands, and Mojo would still be off in the Bahamas not bothering to send a postcard
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May 22, 2010 21:03:58 GMT
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I spent lots of years doing proper fixes on helicopters - no, they don't let you improvise on those (unless there's a war on!) but I agree that there's a bit of an extra satisfaction kick when a little ingenuity works out as hoped
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May 22, 2010 19:19:16 GMT
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The trouble with a proper job here is that bearing shells are available but the early engines (like this one) never had them fitted so using them involves pulling the block, stripping and sending it to be line bored. Seeing as Sheila's my daily driver that would be far too long off-road if it can be avoided!
Anyway, as promised, a running update:
Obviously no instant explosion, which was good, and on first road test (about 19 fairly hard driven miles) she's performing beautifully. A while ago after doing some head work I took 30-50 times in 3rd and 4th and was disappoined that they were a little slower than she was when new.
Motors figures way back when were 8.7 seconds in 3rd and 12.7 seconds in top. While I was out I repeated the test and got 6.9 in 3rd (average over 4 runs) and 11.8 in top (single run). So, if she doesn't fall apart next week it seems like it's all good ;D
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May 21, 2010 21:37:29 GMT
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Someone should gather all the successful solutions like that into a book - Mr Haynes never covers that sort of repair ;D
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May 21, 2010 19:50:58 GMT
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meh, I arc welded up the seriously worn lobes on a honda CB250A and profiled the cam with an anglegrinder once just so I had transport, so yeah, if it works, do it. It's not like you can make it worse I'm not the only one then - did the same on a BMW 2500 auto back when they were just old tanks that no-one wanted using some hardfacing rods I had. Work-hardened up a treat after the initial wear ;D
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May 21, 2010 18:37:27 GMT
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No, the apparent bend is cos my camera distorts a bit in macro mode.
I do have the offer (I think it's still open) of a Herald engine if it all goes horribly wrong but it's a couple of hundred miles away and I'm not convinced the reserve car (Daf 33) would be all that happy lugging it back here!
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May 21, 2010 18:08:36 GMT
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I've always had a small (ish) streak of bush mechanic about me. Maybe it was growing up in Queensland, maybe it was years of running cars on a shoestring (one between all of them), or maybe a bit of both. I don't think it means I value the cars any less, just that if I can find a successful improvisation I'm generally happy to use it. In fact, it canbe a very useful trait on cars with limited parts support. I've noticed that not all car owners, and certainly not all classic owners, share this outlook. Some would rather see their beloved classic laid up for 5 years waiting for just the right spec of indicator lens screw than be seen with any old self-tapper. OK, that's maybe a little extreme but you get my drift. So I thought it might be interesting to see what sort of owners Retro Rides attracts by presenting a little job I had today and seeing your reactions by way of a poll: Sheila (my Triumph 1300) has needed a camshaft replacement for quite a while (probably since before I got her) and I finally got hold of a good used one off EBay last week for the princely sum of £2.99. Today was sunny so off came her bonnet, some cunning hooks were devised to lift her tappets: And out came her camshaft. As suspected, there was virtually no lobe left for No1 inlet and most of the others were looking pretty sorry for themselves: Not so expected, in fact a bit of a curse word, really, was this (No3) journal: Not so much from the fact that it had shrunk by about 10 thou as the fact that the bore in the block had also shrunk by a similar amount thanks to welded-on cam lobe. I knew there was a problem when I needed a hammer to get the shaft out Number 4 journal was also worn by about 5 thou but at least it was smooth. So, what to do? Bearings are available and small journal cranks but that involves money, time off road, and getting the engine out with no lifting facilities. On the other hand, it's been running like it is so, if only the replacement shaft had the same amount of wear on those rear journal, there seems a fair chance that it'd keep going - and would have all its bumps again! Obviously, the solution must be to induce similar wear on the replacement journals. For that we need two lathes back-to-back - the shaft is slightly too long for my trusty Hobbymat: and something to rub against the journal. 80 grit flap disk seemed to fit the bill just right Haven't finished reassembling cos it was hot out there today and I started feeling distinctly unwell, but there should be a running (or not) report sometime tomorrow. So, quality initiative, pointless waste of time or the most heinous form of car crime you've ever seen? *** edited to put up correct piccy of journal ***
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May 20, 2010 12:15:45 GMT
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The tyre inspection applies only to those fitted to the road wheels. A faulty spare should be advised if it's noticed by the tester. First inspection point is that all tyres on the same axle must be the same nominal size, so fitting a spare that's a different size will be a fail. All available from VOSA online thanks to the wonders of technology: www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m3s04000101.htmThe police also can't get you for a faulty spare wheel unless you've fitted it to the car - in which case it ain't the spare any more! Otherwise any time you got a puncture and put your spare on you'd be driving illegally for having a hole in what is now your "spare" wheel
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May 18, 2010 22:57:18 GMT
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Paul, if you've had to loosen the gland nuts to get movement then it's almost certain that the strut rods are bent - a known issue for them and part of the inspection in the manual when rebuilding struts. From memory the run-out limit on them is about 3 thou and by the time you need to loosen the glands you'll find you've got about 1/16th or more bend.
If they are then until you straighten or replace them you won't get a seal without locking them solid no matter what you do - if any seal is close enough to the rod to seal then it'll grip as the bent bit tries to move through it. They may seem to free up for a while but they will lock again when you least expect it.
You're unlikely to need spare parts to get them working 100% if you can get the rods straight.
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Apr 11, 2010 12:43:56 GMT
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Give this guy off EBay a ring. He's a "proper" shop down south and everything I've had mixed by him has been pretty well spot-on. He also does 500ml versions if you want a little more than a can but not enough for two. Phone number's on the EBay page and he's a helpful bloke - even sent out a couple of empty litre cans for me to mix some celly in for no charge when I asked him. He forgot to put them in the box with the paint so sent them out the next day as a separate parcel (still no charge) when he realised. The cans are nice to spray with as well (unlike the last Halfrauds I used which seemed to have a jet nozzle fitted) cgi.ebay.co.uk/400-ml-Nu-Agane-Professional-Aerosols-Any-Colour_W0QQitemZ330378227173QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Body_Shop_Supplies_Paint?hash=item4cec13ade5
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