1969Mk3Spitfire

It’s an RS Turbo Series 2 @PeteH What’s a “split fox wedge”?

Many thanks to you all, I’ve enjoyed reading through the responses. Confession time. The job is an old Ford. Last MoT it received an Advisory for the inner. It’s probably easier to remove the rack and get it refurbished than to change an inner insitu. You guys give the best experiences based advice of any car owners forum. Given that the ends will most probably become sacrificial, I’ll probably stick with the 2-hammer method but I may just look for UK’s taper chisel too, at the top of his picture, in case it refuses to budge. Sincere thanks.

I need to remove the steering rack rod ends. Not a job I’ve done in the last 50 years. In the 70s, the taper was broken by a pair of well timed hammer blows. Are the now widely available removal tools any good, worth buying? Any specific brand/type recommendations?

I’ve also recently been looking at Blackcircles, do forum members have recent positive experiences to share?

The 2023 Nautical Almanac shows that the declination of the sun reaches its max north, 23 degrees, 26.3 minutes at 03h00 UT on 21st June. It stays at this same value until 04h00 the following day. I don’t have it with greater accuracy that one decimal minute of arc but it’s probably safe to assume a peak at 15h00? Similarly, winter solstice, 23 degrees, 26.3 minutes south, is first reached at 17h00 UT on 21st December and stays until 15h00 on 22nd. Assumed peak at 03h00? For example, if the longitude of Sydney is approx 150 deg E. Longitude is another way of expressing time: 360 degrees is same as 24 hours. Hence 150 degrees is same as 10 hours. Using the formula LMT = GMT +E long (or -W Long). Summer solstice happens precisely (?), say 15h00 on 21st June at Greenwich. What time is it in Sydney when it’s 15h00 at Greenwich? 15h00 + 10h00 is 01h00 on 22nd June. Locally, when it’s 03h00 on 22nd Dec at Greenwich it will be 13h00 in Sydney.

More thread drift! HF radio propagation is a good subject but probably best left for another day. Ships clock is usually moved by an hour with each passage of 15 degrees of Longitude. Most important for the chef to ensure crew welfare and fat bellies. Ships chronometer remains set to UT and used for navigation. I wear a mechanical timepiece with “superlative chronometer officially certified” engraved on its face but I wouldn’t use it without being able to check it against a calibration signal. For leisure sailors, it’s normal practice to note accuracy against a time signal each week for a month prior to making a passage, hence making a calibration curve. A £10 Casio is normally very accurate, although they can drift due to higher ambient temperature associated with longer passages. Carrying two cheap watches only confuses, which one is wrong! On my last Atlantic crossing I had 3 cheap digital watches and, fortunately, they were within a second of each other after 18 days at sea.

@JohnDUsing a sextant is pretty straight forward. It simply measures the angle of a heavenly body against the horizon. Navigators use the PZX spherical triangle (P=Pole, Z=observers zenith, X=body). Sight Reduction Tables are simply tables of trigonometry, same concept as sin, cos and tan for a linear triangle but using arguments of Lat, Declination, Local Hour Angle to give results of Altitude and Azimuth. Once one has grasped the definition of the terms, its fairly easy. The other key part of the process is an accurate measure of time (Harrisons chronometer etc). Time is basis of navigation. The Marcq St Hilaire method (intercept method) is probably the most used process of sight reduction. It compares altitude and azimuth of the body calculated from the time of the observation to the altitude measured by the sextant. The difference between the two derives a position line. By coincidence, it's the Longest Day tomorrow, the declination of the sun is 23.5 deg N, sitting on Tropic of Cancer, summer solstice. Afterwhich, it will reduce to 23.5 deg S, sitting on Tropic of Capricorn, winter solstice, on 21st Dec. Given that we are approx 50 deg N, the sun will always be due south of us as it passes overhead at local noon. Sorry for the drift to those who have fallen asleep.

Fascinating story. A sextant is a wonderful tool to own, a piece of engineering excellence and a joy to use. The sun is the easiest celestial body to use for navigation. Its meridian passage (midday, locally, wherever one is in the world), maximum sextant angle, gives a measure of latitude. Leisure sailors on an ocean crossing usually take 2-3 sextant readings per day; forenoon, MP and afternoon. The resulting Position Lines are plotted and a Running Fix is maintained to improve the Dead Reckoning position. Stars and planets can be used, too, but only at twilight when it’s dark enough to see the body but light enough to see the horizon. Polaris, the pole star, also gives a direct measure of latitude.

You’re quite right, I didn’t expect to find a pedantic celestial expert within this forum. Equation of Time shows the adjustment required. The Local Mean Time of the sun meridian passage is shown in the picture. It is as late as 12h16 at Greenwich in Feb and as early as 11h44 in October. A nautical almanac shows GHA of the sun at each second of each day. Notwithstanding, charts show longitude and this is used for Time Zones. Each 1 hour time zone is centred from Greenwich meridian. UT (GMT or Z) is 7.5 deg east and west. Cartographers use 360 and 24 hour notation. Fascinating subject to learn, I use it for celestial navigation.

………and the longitude scale along the top and bottom of the chart is also a measure of time.

Tubeless tyres have a different bead profile compared to tubed. It’s designed to not unseat at low inflation pressures / leaking. A matching tubeless wheel, once known as a safety rim, also has a modified profile around the bead area. It’s quite visible as a 2-3mm lip for approx 20mm away from the edges.

Hard if not impossible to tell from pictures alone. Worth a visit to Pickering and/or Thornton to view it (probably too late for June auction). It’s a good day out.

Clear blue skies, sunshine, lots of cars. Repeat tomorrow (hopefully)

Many thanks, @Unkel Kunkel This is the pipe and the two holes. I’ve never used MIG and have visions of the pipe disappearing in front of my eyes as a struck an arc. Every time I see MIG on car restoration TV programs it looks to be a series of bird shit tacks. I was taught oxyacetylene and conventional arc during my early 1970s apprenticeship, MIG and TIG were not available in the Training School. I’m coming to the conclusion that I’m going to make a repair patch (I have spare 60mm dia pipe) and “glue” it on with a high temp repair putty.

There are a couple of pin holes in my exhaust pipe. I’d like to braze a patch over them. Anyone successfully used one of the mini brazing sets / map gas? Any recommendations?

In my non-Triumph, I have a Gemel Serpi Star alarm which was fitted 25 years ago. Unsurprisingly, the siren back-up battery is dead. I’ve tried to split the case but it’s proving difficult. It looks as though the two halves were filled with some form of glue/filler during assembly. I’ve used a screwdriver, a Dremel fine disc and a junior hacksaw. I’ve stopped to ponder, I don’t want to break it, potentially disabling the car in the process. Ebay sells replacement battery back-up sirens which they claim “universal fit” Electrickery is not generally within my skill set, hence I’d appreciate any help or advice. My siren has 4 leads. Positive, Negative, Negative Control and Coded Communication. Ebay siren has 4 leads but only uses 3. Positive. Negative. Positive Trigger or Negative Trigger. Can I replace with the eBay siren? I’ve put my part-butchered siren back in the car and it still works. Here’s a picture. I may have another attempt to part it later……..

I’ve ordered one from Bike Parts interweb, as you say, for £25. It does seem to get consistently good reviews. Thanks to you all, an interesting and informative thread evolution, as always.

I have a Dremel so that is an option. Tried the vice and hacksaw method in years gone by but never had success, always ended in tears. I installed a Battery Monitor on boat domestic bank, 440 Ah, and needed to make some patch leads using 125 mm2 cable. I bought a huge cable cutter for the job and it worked a treat. Very clean cuts. Hence I’d like to buy one for Bowden size. I may go and look at both Halfords and Decathlon own-brands.

That’s what I’m planning to do, Pete, but I’ll need to cut the excess and I’d much prefer a neat cut. I’ll probably finish with heat shrink, too. Those gremlin creatures may otherwise take pleasure in unwinding the end, just to annoy me.

It’s for a bonnet catch. There’s a kink in the cable about 10mm before the nipple and one or two strands have now broken. I tried to solder it, for added strength as a temporary measure, just yesterday but failed miserably. Perhaps it’s Stainless as you suggest (1990 Ford). Using superglue on a new cable, when I get one, sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

Calling upon forum knowledge and experience, can anyone recommend a Bowden cable cutter? Happy to pay enough to ensure a clean cut with no frayed ends. Many thanks

Are they better/more convenient than a long screwdriver? Google shows a typical, bewildering choice from a couple of pounds upwards, all looking quite similar but hopeful more money buys better capability and quality. Any specific recommendations, please? I have a noise at idle (non Triumph), thinking alternator or water pump.

Now there’s a thought, oxalic acid. I keep a bag of crystals on my boat as they have many uses. They are generally good at stain removal from around the waterline on GRP and will remove rust/tarnish from rigging fittings. Another probable example of mother is always right. Thanks to all.

Thanks for the comments. I don’t want a polished finish and agree that it would look odd. I’d simply like to restore close to as-cast. Caustic soda sounds interesting, I may try it on something hidden. There’s the added danger of the potential to make it worse.