update time. theres not been a massive amount to report tbh. ive been using it daily, it costs quite a bit to run (compared to the diesel truck anyway), fuel economy isnt that great, but then its an old pinto of unkown heritage.
it started running like curse word, would only run at idle or full throttle. after messing around with various things i ended up changing out the motorcraft dizzy for a bosch one (as i was finding it hard to find service parts for the motorcraft one locally) and all the problems went away. fuel economy is marginally improved, but still only marginally. carb needs doing next really.
other than that, only major update is regarding the dash/gauges. id had the originals out, and had a look a recomissioning them, as none of them worked. its wasnt particulary good news.
speedo- notchy to spin, part where outer cable attaches to smashed.
ammeter- rusty on the back but the most likely to be recomissionable.
fuel- had had the control cable cut. outer was a bowden so fixable, inner is actually a very fine chain, so less so. didnt have the sender unit for it anyway, the one in the tank has been changed to a more modern type. probably not recomissionable due to this.
oil- didnt work when tested.
clock- didnt work when wound, face loose and partially repainted. seth offered to have a look at fixing it, but i didnt see much point when none of the other gauges worked.
so, i elected it was probably best to replace them all with something else. i spent ages looking, and was struggling to find anything suitable. second had things were either rough, or good money for untested items, or i couldnt find a set with all the functions i wanted. new gauges either seem to be very, very expensive, or look rubbish. i then found a manufacturer of various repro gauges in india, who do a lot of stuff for classic bikes, tractors, jeeps, etc.
to cut the story short i bought these, intended for a willys mb jeep-
mechanical water and oil, electric amps(obviously) and fuel. the price? £20.80 delivered! i figured at that price if they looked a bit cheap it didnt really matter, cos they were. tbh, they're no worse than the moon ones or similar everyone jumps up and down about and pays daft money a set for, so I'm happy.
the reason i picked that particular black face/white letter/chrome rim combo is that 1.- it looked period for what i was aiming for, and 2.- i could buy an appropriately small speedo it the same colours, intended for classic royal enfields. i could also pick what it read to, 80mph was one option but i went for the slightly optimistic 120mph
ive got no idea if/how i'll be able to claibrate it to read correctly with the speedo drive i have, but i'll worry about that when i get to it, ive not had a working one for this long and ive been fine, and at least this one has the potential to work rather than definately being broken!
the max size my speedo could be to fit the original dash without slicing up the insert was 65mm, the one i got was 60 which is the same size as the old one-
that cost me a whole £14.
i decided to make a new dash insert for the new gauges, as even though the old one had no working gauges i still didnt want to slice it up, plus its steel painted with a woodgrain effect which looks a bit rubbish anyway.
so, an offcut of ally sheet, marked out with some pilot holes-
make those holes a bit bigger-
some folds to add strength and make it fit the same as the old one-
test fit. yeah i dropped the oil gauge-
i was then going to engine turn the face with a bit of dowel and some grinding paste, i started it then decided i didnt like it, so just did a brushed finish with a sanding wheel and some scotchbrite-
and here it is fitted-
with that done, i still have just as many gauges not working as before, but at least i looks nice! i then set about making some of them work.
raided the box of fittings to find the bits to connect up the oil pressure line-
then cursed a lot at finding somewhere appropriate to fit the capillary water temp sender. there isnt many places on a pinto. eventually decided that the bit of exhaust tubing someone had used to join the two bits of hose consituting the top rad hose together was the best place, as it was only a few inches down from the top of the rad. so i pulled it out, put a hole in it, turned down the thread and nut hex off the adapter fitting that came with the gauge to step it up to 1/2NPT, so it looked a bit more proper, and welded it on. threw some rattlecan at it too-
then refitted it-
the drive home tells me its got strong (or 'optimistic' on the part of the gauge) oil pressure, 60-70psi cold or hot, and that its running way too cold. will explain the poor fuel consumption i guess. its assumed there is currently no thermostat in there, so thats the first port of call.....