Kiajon
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Posts posted by Kiajon
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Hmm. Took the steering wheel.off and saw the plate. Heart sank! Looking for a small mirror to see what's on the back. This is going to be a challenge!
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Ooh. Is the broken terminal visible on my photo? (Complete beginner here and to top that I'm a visual learner!)
Is there anyway of popping the unit off to get better access to the back of it?
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Right. Trying to sort out my horn issue. It looks obvious! I have an unconnected purple wire. Where should I stick it?(Please keep your responses polite!)
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Thanks for the advice gentlemen. I read about the relay loom kits on one of the other streams on here but hadn’t considered them improving the bulbs I’ve got. I presume we’re talking about something like the attached image?
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First of all a big thank you for all the advice/guidance so far. I’ve been slowly getting my Spitfire 1500 back on the road after a 14 year lay up and it’s been testing/interesting/fun/frustrating/surprising.
Well today she went to my friendly local garage for her first MOT in all that time and she..... failed! The surprise was how little was wrong! A top ball joint gator had split (new ball joints ordered), the headlights need Re-aligning (more on that in a minute!), the rear brakes were binding a little and the horn didn’t work. So nothing too difficult! I hope!
The horn not working annoyed me cos it was working before. On the way home in the glorious summer weather I noticed the Rev counter illumination wasn’t working. Could the two be linked? All the other lights are fine so it’s not the fuse. Any thoughts?The headlights are still the old sealed units. I’d like to upgrade them to something that actually lights up the road better than the 1 candle power of the current ones. Is it just plug and play? I’ve seen a number of upgrade options on fleabay and other proper classic car part sites with new lights and is it H4 halogens. Do they make much difference? Are LEDs better? (I know they need less power to run) Should I put relays in? Has anyone used one of the wiring loom relay kits?
Thanks again. I’m so looking forward to getting old car road legal although with the weather as it is I’m wondering whether to trade her in for a boat?!!
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Damn you guys are good. A couple of swift taps and the plug undid without argument! And I'm not wearing a spitfire on my head! Result! Thanks!
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Yup. Penetrating oil is definitely not working. I don't trust myself with a blow torch, but I do with a hammer.... is that wrong? Also I have a hammer but not a blow torch. I'll give it a tap. Cheers chaps!
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On the topic of sorting your different oil. I'm trying to on my Spitfire 1500 but can't get the plug/bolt to shift. Currently giving it regular wd40 but are there any other options? I only have standard scanners and I'm working on axle stands! Any help would be awesome!
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47 minutes ago, Adrian said:
Just keep in mind if the hazard swith is corroded and you've cleaned it up it is unlikely to be a particularly long term fix. But at least you know what to do in the future.
Indeed. I will be looking for a replacement. But for now it'll do. My goal is to get her road worthy so I can take her down to my friends garage and have her MOTd. I'll then know if there is anything major that needs sorting. If not then I can run her and start doing some upgrades/longer term fixes.
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Dashboard out. Hazard switch removed. Given a good dose of contact cleaner and manipulated lots. Refitted and hay presto we have hazards. Now just to put everything back! You need the hands of a Thai veterinary surgeon to get to some of those fastenings!
Thanks for all your help again!
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Took fuses out. Cleaned spiggots popped back in. Nothing. Pushed on spiggots when fuses were in and the middle one moved back about 1mm. I have lights! Doug you are a God amongst men! Thank you. Obviously the fuse box will need an upgrade (I've been looking at previous threads on that and I'm not sure I'm ready!?) but for now the old ones will do as I try and get her ready for an MOT!
Now on to the hazards.
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I keep coming back to the fuse/fuse box. How can I check it and cancel it out of the equation once and for all?
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Had a rethink and second look (while trying to get to the hazards switch). What isn't working: the front side lights, the hazards, the gauge lights, the rear lights. Brake lights, indicators, headlights, courtesy light, seatbelt light, fuel gauge all work.
Trying to work out the common link but I realise as it's an old British car there is likely to be very little logical about it!
Cup of coffee and head scratch required!
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1 hour ago, dougbgt6 said:
You’d think the hazard would be a simple switch, on or off, but no! It’s used as a junction point and I think there are 6 connection?
Doug
Having looked at the wiring diagram I realise that now! This is going to be a bit of a b#gger I think!
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This is a fantastic learning curve. slowly learning how to read wiring diagrams. It’s a bit like working out the London Underground system without the social distancing concerns!
It is a three position switch, off, side, headlights. I’ll switch terminals and see what happens. Not sure how to run a new earth but I’ll read up on that! I have a spare hazard switch (currently running the additional electric fan) and I’ll see if I can change that over with the current hazard switch, once I work out how to take off that part of the dashboard...... might be time to switch that over whilst I’m at it! -
I found a light switch on a replacement dashboard and having fitted it I now have headlights but still no side lights or hazards. Back to the fuse box? Or something else?
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28 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:
Seems to be the switch, alright. They're readily available online or from suppliers. Am I right (I was never a great multimeter user) that it should read zero if the switch is working correctly?
To be honest I had to read up on multimeter usage! I believe it should be close to zero or zero depending on how good the meter is! NoS switch ordered! I’ll go back to my greasing and brake jobs while I await it’s arrival.
At some point I hope to get the old girl MOTd but that seems a way off!
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So I took the centre part of the dash out. When I put a multi metre from the connector with the big brown cable to one of the others on came the headlights! I took the switch out and ran the multi meter across it and no matter which connectors I joined or what position the switch was in the reading was 1! Presume this means the switch is b#ggered?!
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25 minutes ago, Paul H said:
I have upgraded the wheel studs on my Vitesse , not too difficult , deemed necessary if you use mini lite style rims . Here’s the link to my upgrade , your spitfire will be similar
Paul
Thanks for that. As I need to get brakes refurbed/refreshed this looks like a useful and not to scary option!
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Cheers for the service advice. The whole gear change seems alot smoother since I changed the gearbox oil. The old stuff looked grim and smelt horrible. Then again it had sat doing nothing for 15 years! I'd look grim and smell terrible if I'd sat doing nothing for 15 years. 8 weeks lock down has taken its toll!
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That simple? Really? Will the studs need pressing out?
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And the indicators work.
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Cheers chaps. It’s an 81 Spitfire!
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Thanks for all your advice. Brakes calipers will be refurbished and I've a company doing 14" knock on minilite style wheels. Which may cost a bit (lot) more but will save a huge amount of pain! And my son is happy as he wants to keep the wires. Oh the innocence of youth!
Almost there
in Electrical System
Posted
I’ll have a look later. Here’s hoping.