A TR7 16V

Well I've had a bit of a look at what's up and the possible solutions. The spring wedge is free, maybe even a bit slack. But the striker plate is quite worn where it engages with the surround to the door lock. It looks like it's just been the door's been hung too low for too long and has worn a rebate all along the front top edge of the striker plate. So it looks like the the proper solution is either a new plate, which appear to be unavailable, or to shorten the gap between the A and B posts by about several mm, so a less worn part of the striker is in the door latch plate. However, I assume that will have a bit of an impact on how the hood fits. Also, While the door shut ain't great, I didn't think it was that bad on a Herald. I have, for now, made it better with more washers behind the striker plate. I'm not sure there should be any, as there are none on the drivers side. But it now holds on the second latch for a good pulling at, and I can get it so it seems to hold properly for being able to push the door closed with a good shove, not a slam. But despite there seems to be plenty of thread still into the holes in the mounting, I don't like it. Graham

Ta for the bit on the nuts being caged. It does have the anti-burst catches on the passenger door, which is the problem one. I have yet to fit the one I have on the driver's, which a PO fitted off a hard top, so drilling will need a bit of guessing. But the driver seems to be able to shut that door successfully enough. Graham

I'll look at the position of the striker (again) and the wedge later today. If the visit from the Washing machine engineer goes to plan. But I've got a couple of questions still: Is whatever the setscrews through the striker go into captive or do I need to take care it don't fall anywhere inaccessible; and is the angle the striker sits at critical - I've moved the engagement up down, in out (and done the Hokey Cokey), and it's not seemed to make a difference other than how much the door rattles when the latch is properly engaged. But I've got thinner door seal rubbers on (maybe I should have said before), because the ones I was sold as genuine seemed over thick and made the problem worse - to the point where the kids couldn't get it to shut properly at all. Graham

I've got a bit of a problem with the passenger door (mostly) on the Herald looking like it's shut properly, but coming open on corners, unless it's been well slammed shut. If it is, then it's fine. But when it's not slammed enough, it looks and feels shut till there's enough g on it, when it just opens. Obvs. I've tried adjusting the door and striker plate - I would try a new striker if I could get and knew how to deal with the "spring not included" aspect. But I'm not too clear on how it should be set so the door holds on the second latch, or if the problem is wear. So, what reasons are there for the second latch not holding at all and for the fact that the door looks to be shut the same, but if it wasn't slammed hard enough, it will spring open? And, perhaps more importantly, what's the solution? BTW, this don't seem to be affected by whether the hood is up or down. Graham

If you modify this kit for a 4 lamp setup, you'll also need to check the feed wires from the battery/fuse are up to the current needed to feed 4 mains, possibly allowing for the 2 (or 4) dips as well, if you flash lights driving on dips. Also, you'll need to check any wire feeding the left and right pairs of mains from the output of the relay is up to that current load. Assuming 60 Watt mains and 55 Watt dips and max of 14 Volts supply, that's 4.3 Amps per main (60/14) and 4 per dip (55/14). However, you also want a reasonable safety margin in case of things like the bulbs are 60 Watts at 12V and you are driving them at 14. Current won't go up pro-rata for that one, because the resistance of a filament bulb is changes with the current - the current does not increase linearly with voltage because the resistance (volts/amps) is related to the filament temperature which is related to the power (Volts x Amps) being dissipated. I'd allow at least 1.5 (maybe 1.414) times the calculated requirement for safety/ageing - but my background is avionics where weight is an issue. So I think you should spec. the wire working on at least 6 amps per bulb. And if there's any chance someone might fit 100W mains later, you may want to allow 9 or 10 Amps per main.

I had the front pipe snap off in the middle of a 400 mile drive to the south coast. Luckily I had some 10mm OD copper pipe in the boot and a mallet. They were there, along with a very long 10mm twist drill because I was sort of expecting it to go and intended to put the pipe in parallel till I could run the drill up the hole and put the pipe through inside. But it went at the services when I caught it mucking about while checking the oil level. So I had time to shorten the pipe, which was overlong, drove it in the hole. and then sawed the damaged end off. The jubilee clip went on and there was no leak, and it got us there and around and back, and went on for months till the exhaust one cracked and I took the opportunity to replace it. I assume there was no leak because the copper pipe was sealed by the rust and crap in the steel one. If there's anything good about it, it is that with the hose on it's not visibly modified.

Capacitors out of the ark for getting arcs out of capacitors. Bet the discharge from them Hertz. Graham

I would also say that the easy test is to take the condenser out. As to there being a load of crap condensers around: I got two new condensers from Bad Boy Classics a little while ago, both of which failed sequentially in about a week of daily driving - which led me off down many rabbit holes and the fitting of a new coil I didn't need. I got one from the Distributor Doctor that seems fine - though the lead were a bit short for the Doly Sprint. But I would also add there can be a few more variations on the failure modes than open and short circuit. Like, for example, the dielectric breaking down at higher voltages and different temperatures. So it can measure okay and yet still cause there to be an insufficient spark. Some may ask what's the dialectic: A capacitor (as the more modern terms is) is simply a pair of plates separated by an insulating material called a dielectric. The capacitance (how much voltage stores how much charge, in effect, how many electrons) depends on the area of the plates, the distance between them, and the properties of the dielectric (esp. its relative permeability). That dielectric can be one of many materials, including air, paper, and various plastics. A possibly surprising choice is water, as pure water is not a conductor (which is why polaroid lenses cut reflected glare off water). My EM lecturer at Uni reckoned a 1 Farad air gap capacitor, which would store 1 Coulomb of charge (about 6,241,509,128,999,772,821.6 electrons) at 1 Volt, would just fit in Moscow's Red Square. But that's very probably FTMI.

Further on the removal of the control box: The old housing is a good place for a fuse box. You can keep the external wiring as it is, and still add a number of fuses (I have 3 and a spare slot in mine): Graham

I've been pulling what little is left of my hair out trying to get the choke knob to sit vertical like the others. But, I think because of the kinks in both the inner and outer, it just wouldn't. Anyway a nice bloke included an old herald choke cable he had with a Mk2 Cortina 1600e Kienzle clock he sold me as a fixerupper. And I see from that, the inner shouldn't turn in the bit fixed to the dash at all. So later today I'm off to see if it's just the inner of mine that's bust, and I can swap that easily. Graham

Next. I further broke the quarterlight with the broken top hinge from the passenger side taking it out - the nut and bottom part of the bottom hinge sheared off. So, as its essentially scrap, I thought I'd look at whether that bottom hinge pin can be replaced. I think it can, though I haven't got further than taking it apart. I took the glass out, with some advice from Colin on that, which proved easy as he said. Under the inner seal, the pin is attached to a rectangular plate that's riveted into the swinging frame with one of them 1/8th brass rivets: So I drilled that out (which didn't go perfectly, and I damaged the hole in the frame, but it would still repair were it worth it). The stud still wouldn't come out, because it's composed of a steel bolt with a brass tube too used to being together to ever separate, and the brass tube won't go through the hole in the frame. So I ground that off with the angle grinder (without damaging the frame anymore). Here's the rump of the bolt and plate laid on the goodish one from the other side: So, I reckon with a bit of threaded stud welded at right angle to a plate with a hole for the rivet, a flat filed on the lower part of the thread, and the right ID brass tube slid on, it should be easy to repair one of these that's sheared off and put it back into service. The spring and tab washer off the one that sheared look like they'd go again. Graham

So, having done the passenger side quarterlight, I set too to improve the driver's. The problem there was the seal had perished and split and was flopping about a bit in the wind. I should have taken a pic of it first, but I just started without thinking of that. But here's what it looked like when I took it out, and the splits were there already: So, as I had the seal from the spare door, which I'd taken the quarterlight out of to see if I could, which is not in that great condition but much better than the one in the car, I set to to see if I could replace it with the quarterlight left in place. That meant cutting in at the hole where the bottom hinge pin goes through. I tried to cut just the inside of that, but when I did, the other side fell apart - I said it weren't a goodun. Anyway, looking at the job, it looks like hard to get the outer bit in going down the side of the pin, so I think it wouldn't have worked. However, if I was doing it with a good one, I might try. So, with the seal cut like that, and a jar of Vaseline (yes, I do remember the Bonzo's sketch about it's use) it was an easy job to fit. The results aren't perfect, but I didn't start with a good one. However, here are the pics: This is much, much better than what it was like before. And while it may leak, there are already holes in the seal to let that drain into the door. Graham

Problem is that it needs access at both ends of the bolt, so I'm not sure that's a one man job. Also, I have a bit of an oil leak at the front of the engine somewhere. Not so much that it's bigger than the normal usage. But enough that the carport floor is not what I want to lie on. The annoying thing is that with the panel off, access is absolutely wonderful. It's just such a bugger to get out and back in - well, might be easy with the rad off, but... Graham

Any suggestions for an easy way to access the steering knuckle, especially the bottom bolt by the rack? I thought it would be easy with the engine side panel off. And while it was, getting the panel off, and worse, back on, was a bit like hard work to access one flippin bolt. I doubt it makes any difference but I've had that awful FAM1718 thing replaced with a Group 1 Escort UJ. Wasn't impressed that the garage that did it cut a piece out of the side panel and then welded it back in to do the job - they might have used a bigger plate and some screws! Graham

Oh well. Thanks anyway. It's not a job I do often. I was only looking for an easy way to access the bottom bolt on the steering knuckle (mine is) cos it's a bitch to get at. But while it gives wonderful access once the panel is off, the whole job is still a bit hard. Graham

Not entirely sure if this is bodywork not engine, but close enough I hope. So is there anything I'm missing about taking the Herald's engine bay side panel out with the rad in place, like something that make it easy? Graham

The relay and the brown and blue striped wire arrived this lunch time and the jobs now done bar a tie wrap or so. The spare spade (top right) on the master light switch that's in parallel with the permanent live feed: This may be the biggest problem in the project, as it needs a big terminal and a crimp tool for the job: The crimp tool I linked to before is what I used. It's two wires because I chose to run separate feeds to the two relays rather than a common one and a jumper. This shows the completed additional loom: The runs of thick and thin blue and white (main) and blue and red (dip) wires are a bit longer than perhaps would be ideal. That's because I had to mount the relays to the left of the radio/USB player or move the lighter/power sockets. This shows the relays wired up and ready to connect: This shoes where I'm going to splice into the existing wire for the dips: And this shows the dip relay feeds spliced in: This is where the mains are to be spliced: This is the set of mains and dips spliced in, with just the wires to tuck away above the column: And this is the two relays mounted under the front of the dash: Finally, the pile of shame - the terminals that went wrong: Why's the editor adding this last one and not letting me delete it?

Looking for just the front centre section of the alloy bumper cover. Condition almost irrelevant: as long as it will fit and stay on. Graham

Have you thought of a 12v soldering iron plugged into the lighter socket (and adding a lighter socket)? I got one from CPC for very little cost. I think I spent more on a stand for it. Seems to work well enough. I can see there might be a problem if you need the iron to fit the lighter socket though.

Here's few pics of putting the replacement quarter light in the , when I could have replaced the rubber if I'd wanted and had one. The rivets holding the top bracket of the old one drilled okay. The tab washer on the bottom hinge was a bitch and the nut sheared off rather than unscrewed despite an overnight soak in WD40. The bottom hinge pin went in first. With the quarterlight angled back from its proper position and with the rubber just pushed out of the way at the top, the top hinge bracket went into the groove for the rubber with a bit of shoving. Then it moved forward easily so the holes lined up. I put the rubber back before the rivets, in case there was a problem, but there wasn't. Finally, two countersunk blind rivets fixed it.

Oddly, I just had to use exactly the jaws for the plastic insulated terminals, like the jaws pictured on the Cromwell one Pete Lewis linked to. I don't use the terminals they crimp anymore, normally I use this type with a separate sheath: Which need a different jaw set. I also need that type of jaw for the Lucus/RIST round pin multiway connectors on the Doly and the TR7. But I needed to re-join a wire at the back of the alternator - the one that drives the dash lamp, etc. - and a crimp tube seemed best. It seemed to make a better job of it than the flat crimpers I got from RS, which made me lash out a tenner on a ratchet crimp tool. I'll see if it holds better. Graham

I got one of these to add to the one I already had and save swapping jaws for the 6sqmm cable I want to terminate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254699726167?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 Seems to work well and has a good range of jaws with it. I've yet to try it with the plastic crimp terminals I have no few of from days of yore, but it may solve some of the problems I've had with them too. The included screwdriver seems a bit superfluous to me, but... Graham

Sorry I missed this post at the time. The switch issues can be fixed by replacing the switch, though I can see why that may not be that popular an option. But putting relays in more or less anywhere fixes them just as well, if not better. The losses in the wiring, however, have to be reduced by rewiring with thicker cables and shortening the runs. And the effect is greatest in running the thicker cable more or less directly and all the way from the battery to the bulbs, which means putting relays between the two. I reckon if the existing wiring is all 16 gauge and carrying 10 Amps, and it's replaced with 12 gauge and shortened to about half the length by cutting out the run from the regulator/fuse box to the switches and back to the hole in the bulkhead, the voltage at the bulbs might go up by 4 or 5 percent (from 11.40V to 11.87V on a nominal 12V supply) . That may not sound a lot, but bulbs being none linear, they would be something like 20 percent brighter for it. There are some simplifications in the analysis, and the real answer might be much nearer to 10 percent brighter, but I think its a fair first approximation for the best you might get. Where the relays go in that run has no impact on how much brighter the bulbs are, just on how much cable you have to run, since they can share a feed but must have separate outputs and controls. If they go into the existing wiring, the nearer the bulbs the more the effect. But if you replace the wire all the way to the bulbs, they can go anywhere. But, I don't see the brightness as being broke anyway; so there's no reason for me to fix it by upgrading the wires and so having to put the relays between the battery and the lights. I just want to take the switch out of the path by using relays. In which case, they can go wherever is most convenient for access to connectors in the existing wires and to power and, if it matters, where they are least visible. Graham

Me too. It's 3mm2 CSA, 12AWG thinwall cable. So only 3.1mm diameter, but 33 Amp capacity. Seems a good margin for 2 x 55 + 60 Watt lamps flashing on dips.

I've looked at the master light switch, and there's a spare terminal that's permanently live, i.e. in parallel with the brown/blue feed. So that solves the problem of where to run the lights off. I also found a source of 2m of brown/blue, 3mm2 wire for £1.20 inc p&p, which seems remarkable. And I've found the 2.5mm2 blue and white and blue and red wire. But I've only 1 x 40 Amp relay in the box o bits (could have sworn there were 2). So there will be a small delay while I get another. Graham