I don't know where all the angst about Lucas stuff comes from, I've owned a lot of British cars over the years and never found their electrical stuff to be any worse than that of their contemporary Italian, French or German counterparts. In fact it's oftimes better! Anyway, having owned my Jag for the last 25 years and not had any electrical gremlins in it, I think I can say I'd rather have Lucas stuff than Magnetti Marelli, Ducelier or even Bosch! God knows what we'll think when we start getting Chinese stuff......hell, we already are in our computers and TVs. This particular fuse box is considerably better made than the one I got at VB, the metal tangs are made out of thicker stuff, the rivets are stronger and installed more accurately, the plastic is slightly thicker and more substantial......bottom line I just ordered another one from Jeane at English Parts!
Well, she says she's been selling parts for British cars for over 40 years, shall I ask her to send a pic? :biggrin5:
Well.... Maybe not.... More info is always good... She sounds like she knows her British car parts.... There's beauty in that as well...
When last we left off our intrepid hero, Spaceman Spiff, had just returned from the KC Engine works where they'd reamed his rockers, we pick up the story there..... I returned the cylinder head to KC Engines because I'd changed out the springs and left in the shims that they'd used, we decided to double check the spring pressures and modify the shims as needed. Once again KC Engines came thru for me with a quick turnaround, and best of all - no charge! I did take them a box of Krispy Kremes the day before, so I considered us even! :lol: Now I could re-install the head and the rocker assembly. Once I did I noticed two of the rocker arms were really off center to their respective valves, so I pulled the rockers off again and added a couple of hardened washers to space the rockers over for a better fit. Once that was done it went back on and the head finally could be torqued down. Next I adjusted all the valves to .015" clearance (seems like a lot to me, but that's what the cam mfr calls for) and finally put the valve cover on. I installed the spark plugs too after I chased the threads to get any paint out of them and that pretty much buttoned up that side of the engine. I also popped in the inner stub axles, but I haven't added an grease yet. Once the engine's about in I'll grease the pot joints and assemble the shafts, that way it won't get contaminated. I also finished assembling the subframe today. I painted the parts for the right axle yesterday and I was surprised to see the paint had cured enough that I could handle the parts without leaving fingerprints, so I went ahead and tapped in the bearing races, packed the bearings, installed them and the seals and torqued the stub axle nut. Then I packed the CV joint, installed the axle shaft and boots and she was ready to go into the subframe. Last I added the caliper, new hoses and all the brake lines that attached to the subframe. Don's coming over tomorrow and we'll marry up the two parts and see about sliding it into the car. After that it's wiring, more wiring, and then some wiring before she's ready to crank up oil pressure for the first time. I did go down and pick up the Brad Penn oil too - I'm going to try it with 10W40, at least for the break in period.
Nice work Dave, everything looks great. Question, are you going to paint or cover the blue coil? Everything looks perfect and new and then .... The blue coil?
Yeah, it's not pretty but it works - for now I'll just leave it. I'm not going for show car, rather just for clean, running well and not rusty.... I know the kids put a Red Bull can over them, I suppose I could do something like that.....
That would be appropriate, but I don't know where I would get one, I don't drink. Maybe a Diet Coke can? Except I don't drink soda anymore either......hmmmmm.
^^^ Where there's a will, there's a way...:beer Next time you are in Columbus, I will assist you with your quandry....:devil:
You can rattle can it Black or Silver or if you want a little extra power paint it Red. :ihih::lol: On and everything looks great. opcorn:
Cinderella story........................ Out of nowhere..................... IT'S IN DA HOLE! And no one has even asked about the mysterious white box that's been sitting up there for weeks now......
It looks Great!! I know what it is, Its the horns of a pig-me steer you your going to attach to the hood.
All righty then, electric fuel pump is mounted and plumbed, just need to run the power lead to it. I bought new rear brake hoses but I'm going to wait to install them till I pull the rear subframe to clean and paint it, that may be a project for the winter....it'll probably need rear shoes by then, but at least they aren't leaking.
Nice, I'd suggest a larger fuel filter or at least carry a spare. If your tank has any rust in it that one will fill up fast. Ask me how I know this. :mad2:
There is another filter at the carb, this is just to keep the crap out of the pump - the tank is clean inside. Today I'm in wiring mode again......the plastic connector at the alternator had three wires in it, one was connected solidly, one was broken off and one had burned thru the connector mounting tab. Sheesh. So today I'm on a quest to find a female flag-style crimp-on push-type 3/8" non-insulated blade connector - HAH! Failing that, I can get a straight rather than flag style from Victoria British on Monday - if they have one - they show it in the catalog. Failing that, I may have to repair the burned one somehow.... And of course, I'm also repairing and running the other new wires for relays, horns, lights, fuel pump, auxiliary connections and so on....plus tidying up the existing wiring so it's not such a hodge-podge mess and will actually work.