Darren Groves

A year or 3 ago I added intermittent wipers to my Herald using one of the build it yourself jobbies from Maplin and it has worked pretty good but it was a bit of a bulky solution. I decided to swap it out for a Universal 5 Pin relay which gives a 5 second delay. The relay works by switching through terminals 3 & 4, however with the wiring as suggested it's switching a positive circuit, whereas our wiper motors switch on the negative side. I had a very quick play to make it switch the negative but couldn't get my head around it, so is there anyone out there that knows how I can wire it so terminals 3 & 4 are negative rather than positive. Thanks Darren Recommended wiring from supplier How our wiper motors are wired.

So my Smiths Voltmeter has stopped working. There's >12v on the live feed and the earth does go to ground so definitely a gauge problem. Are they repairable, is it worth me opening it up, if so what am I looking for?

I have forwarded a link to your post to Dave Rumens (Vitesse Register), he may know of it.

Is the bulb holder a 1 or 2 wire type? If it's a single wire it's earthed through the gauge, so ensure the gauge has a good earth, if it's a 2 wire then check continuity in both the live and earth. Should it be a green or white light? Some gauges have a little green plastic dome on the inside where the bulb goes, unless that has got very dirty or covered not sure why the light wouldn't come through to the face.

What Casper said......I have a Spitfire MK2 OD gearbox in my Herald.

The feed back to the battery will be a cable with around a 25amp capacity for an original dynamo set-up, I suspect any alternator off a scrapper will produce more than that so do ensure the cable(s) back to the battery are man enough. I used both the large spade connections on the back of my Lucas unit to double up the cables as it was rated at 45amp.

Just an update for anyone else considering fitting Spit 1500 gauges to their Herald. The cable Canleys suggested (Part #V11) is 67" and plenty long enough. With a Std 4.11 diff and 165/70/13 tyres the gauge reads too high by just over 20%, will probably get it recalibrate at some point.

Hi Mark, This was my initial thought, but stick with it as after a while it makes sense and you'll see the benefits of being set up this way. Darren

Got to be electrical on older cars due to the lack of fuses. I saw the wire from the ignition to dizzy melt in front of me on my car some years back (see pic), I now have several fuse boxes and all circuits are protected. Someone like http://www.autosparks.co.uk/ sell everything you'd need, and it would definitely reduce the risk of your pride & joys going up in smoke.

Thanks Clive. I emailed them earlier, they suggested their Part No. V11, which was originally Part No.156316 and they say is 67" long, everywhere else it's listed around 56", maybe a variation between suppliers. I was putting an order together for Canley's anyway so shall try that one.

Hi Pete, Good idea. I'm just about to fit a Spitfire 1500 Speedo so was trying to work out which cable to order. I remember having to buy a longer cable when doing the OD conversion but no hope of remembering which length. The Spit Speedo has a different connection on the back so hence the need for a different cable. I know the speedo won't read correctly, but then again neither does the standard Herald one so it's just a matter of using the Sat-Nav to see which way and by how much it's out, or stumping up to have it re-calibrated. Darren

Does anyone know what the minimum length the speedo cable needs to be for a Herald fitted with a D-Type overdrive, just to save me the bother of crawling under the car to measure. Ta.

Fitted the Regulator & Diode Pack today, all working fine now, satisfying little job.

Was there on the Saturday, here's a few pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/118405833255801197437/ClassicMotorShow2015?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Thanks, I did spot the difference, so should get the 2 wire version.

Thanks Derek, I ordered elsewhere before I see your post, so hopefully this supplier is OK.

Brushes looked fine, so might go for diode pack as well while it's apart.

I'm guessing the back of the voltage regulator of my alternator shouldn't look like that. You can see where it's melted and run down the casing. After a day of intermittent charging, it's now completely died. Hoping a new one will fix the problem.

I've googled hysterisis and I still don't understand what it means....

Happy Birthday Pete.

What sort of crud, Black & Sooty or Black & Wet?

Hi Larry, This is worth a read: http://canleyclassics.com/technical-archive/rear-end-noises

Dave Mac Propshafts

I would echo Clive's comments. Had a strap type and couldn't get not to vibrate and after some experimenting had a new Dave Mac propshaft with a sliding joint at a very reasonable cost made. I would definitely recommend this route.

Chapman & Cliff do (or at least used to) the club shop dashboards, and will do any modifications you want, go direct or via Garth. Quality of the work is excellent.