My HPE....now a rolling recommission

[Nigel]

The HPE went for its final mandatory MOT early this morning.

It failed, he found the nearside rack boot had split, something
I probably wouldn't have spotted had I given it a going-over, which didn't happen
as I only checked my diary late last night!

I removed it to measure, and having exhausted local options I took a drive to Car Builders
and got their universal item. It's the type where you cut until the correct size of
flanges is reached. It's slightly too fat, but does the job.

Not easy, and dripping ATF gets everywhere. I think the other one is maybe do-able in situ,
but that would be even harder to get to.

Going forward, it makes sense to me to have an mot, perhaps biennial.

[peteracs]

Hi Nigel

Looks like we are working on the same thing, yours a little more successful than my progress. I have a spare boot should you feel the need to revisit it….

Peter

[Nigel]

Thanks Peter.
It'll last long enough for the retest on Tuesday afternoon, and it's only a dust
cover, no oil.
My only concern was the 2 concave washers on the oil fittings. They have a rubber lining
which seem to have survived the ordeal , no leaks so far.

It's fairly sure that the other one won't last long.

Nigel

[peteracs]

Interesting washer/seals those, they come flat washers and are pretty tough to bend by hand, so only way I found was to allow them the bend whilst tightening the bolts which is a bit hairy given the bolts are hollow and have a hole drilled through them. The spare rack I bought had a broken one in situ.

Peter

[Nigel]

Glad to read yours is good now Peter.

I forgot to say that I smothered those concave washers in Hylomar
which also held them in place, conveniently.

N

[WestonE]

They are called dowty washers if I understand what you mean and you can buy the easily in multi packs

[Nigel]

Thanks Eric, we learn new words all the time.

As they come flat, is it correct that the tightening action is used
to 'wrap' it around the rack surface?

N.

[Nigel]

During my numerous lengthy drives this year and last, I suffered
from cramp in my right leg. Not ideal on the M25 with no chance of stopping
for stretch relief.
I put this down to a short squab, not having any support for my knee.
I tried a Porsche seat which appeared to be suitable, but wasn't.

So, to the ideas section, and I came up with this.
I cut and shaped a piece of 4mm aluminium plate, sandwiched with dense foam
either side then carved to shape. I fitted a mounting bracket, a flat steel bar between
the front runner brackets for it to bolt to. I gave it a fairly long test run and the additional
support was very noticeable.

Then the obligatory matching cover made and fitted.

[peteracs]

Hi Nigel

Shame about the Porsche seats, but looks a neat solution to your problem. Nice one.

Peter

[Nigel]

As with many of my mods there's always some fettling.

I realised after the last drive that my seat extension was a little too bulky.
So the task today was to reduce its girth a bit.
Took the cover off, cut away a lot of foam from the leading edge, re-sewed the cover
to make it a bit smaller, and refitted. I'll put the seat back in tomorrow provided
the temps aren't lower than today, being a lovely 5 degs.

[Nigel]

I have started rewiring the indicators and wipers.
I made up a new loom with all the factory colours and found a blanking
grommet just to the side of the brake servo to pass the wires through into
the cabin. From there, its an easy route to the column area.

The intermittent relay is now mounted in its fresh location in the new fuse box
where the battery used to be, and connections are almost complete there.
The new indicator relay will also mount here. I've still to decide on the best place to take ignition
feed from, likely to be from the multi-connector at the under-dash left side.

I'm adding/modifying earthing to various points on the assumption that earth doesn't
necessarily mean good earth everywhere.

All the under-dash connections to be done, and then the testing...

Nigel

[Nigel]

Following on from the previous post, all connections are now done
and the new system works. I now have fully functioning
proper speed wipers.

The indicators now flash at the correct speed and the dash warning lamps
are also nice and bright.
The indicator relay is now in its new position meaning I can't hear it, but it
seems audible is not a requirement.

Hazards still to do, and a general tidy of under-dash wires.

Happy so far.

[Nigel]

Well, most embarrassingly, I broke down earlier today.

Luckily I was only on the other side of town. It started to hesitate, cleared itself,
then stopped. No visible signs but I suspected an ignition fault.
No tools with me so called GEM Assistance who got a truck to me within 30 mins.

Recovered to home and after some simple checks, confirmed no spark.
I found that the rotor arm had no connect between the centre and point.

Thanks to Peter who had a spare item, and he checked the resistance at 5k ohms.

I had already removed the distributor, and also realised that I'm missing an O ring
at the base, hence all the smatterings of oil everywhere.
I seem to remember some having a gasket, is that so?

I've found the hopefully correct rotor arm on ebay and will locate
a generic O ring locally.

Thoroughly recommend GEM from my experience anyway.

Nigel

[WestonE]

Hi Nigel,

Pleased they got you back and you already know the fix.

Eric

[squiglyzigly]

Hi Nigel,
Yes there is a gasket on all of my distributor to block engines.
Don’t recall ever seeing an o-ring in that position as the mounting faces are flat, only on the cam mounted dizzies. Could be wrong though.

Maybe a little paranoid on my part but I carry a bag with a few spares in the boot. Dizzy, rotor, coil, fuses, clutch cable etc. of course something you don’t carry will fail but it helps me sleep.

Cheers
Ian

[peteracs]

Hi Ian

I think he means further down the shaft, not the block fixing.

Peter

[Nigel]

Gents,
I did actually mean at the block face. There's a slot in the distributor
at the mount face that appears to take an O ring.
I've got a selection of some hopefully suitable
O rings on their way, however if the rings don't fit
well I'll make a gasket instead.

Eric, thanks for that GEM suggestion, top marks.

[peteracs]

I stand corrected!

[Nigel]

Follow up on the rotor arm failure:

A new Bosch item (1234 332 271) supposedly correct gives a reading of 1k ohms.
This is now installed and working although I have radio interference.

The other one I got online is a Beru EVL029 and shows a reading of 5k ohms.
This I might fit during the NEC show.

Changing the subject, I took my documents, including the LMC certificate from Neil, to the Post Office
today for Historic classification.
I'd assumed that they would merely send it on. However their computer wouldn't accept it.
I know why, as the V5C incorrectly states " declared manufactured 1984" whereas actually the correct
date is Nov 83. So I posted everything to the address given on the V5C for changes.

I hope there's no dispute!

Nigel

[squiglyzigly]

Hi Nigel,
I’m about to go through the same process as you.
Wasn’t intending posting mine until April 1st as I thought I’d read somewhere that it’s the date you can request the change.
Look forward to seeing how it goes for you.
Keep us posted please.

Cheers
Ian