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DVD3500

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Posts posted by DVD3500

  1. The guy with the electric Spitfire gutted his heater box and put in 3 PTC elements for a theoretical total of about 1500Watts of heat. It works but only if the fan is on full blast. It works better with the car moving... It sounds though like you don't want to crack the box out.

    If you are trying to do something quick and easy double check how many watts they put out. I think you would need almost 1000 watts to make any difference.

    These things are usually severely badly wired. Add a fuse and maybe even a relay to be safe.

    One advantage would be you could theoretically heat up without the engine on and before you take off!

  2. Well electricity is paid for in some form or other. We got a break down in the mail yesterday. There are about 5 taxes on there in addition to all the other stuff so I think they are getting their share...

  3. Yeah the cost is still very high. Ten years ago the price was 1000 of your favorite currency per Kilowatt hour and now it is about 150 so if you give it time it will improve...

    The guy down the road had his MKIV Spitfire converted for about 20k€.

    That is with 20KW of battery which is good for almost 100 miles, usually a bit less.

    There are things you could do to get it to go farther.

    The cost was also higher as he was the first one to do it at that shop and it includes about 2k€ for the German MOT (TÜV) to approve the car.

    Having said that, he will pay no taxes for 10 years which here equates to a few thousand (I would have to double check).

    Sometimes he can charge the car for free, otherwise it costs between 4 to 9€ for a full "tank" so you can do the math on that. Fuel is brushing 2€ a liter here as an FYI...

    He also has no more oil changes, radiator flushes and the brakes and clutch barely get used (he starts off in 4rd and shifts to 4th, regenerative braking can almost always stop the car).

    Most importantly he has driven more than 20k KM with it since the conversion in early 2020 where int he past he maybe drove 300-500 miles.

    It really has become a second car for him. If you look at it from that perspective  20k€ isn't that much more than any second-hand car you might buy if you calculate the running costs.

    One major downside: you hear EVRYTHING.. from your neighbor's whinging to that squeaking bolt in the roof/hood frame... 🙂

    Moggy's prices seem a bit on the high side but I know they use a lot of Tesla tech that is expensive. Also I am sure they are very very busy...

     

  4. I plan on integrating a 3rd brake light into the lip of the trunk/boot. I have found one that is more or less the same shape as the chrome trim and given the car will be cobalt blue I don't think it will stick out too much.

    It isn't very high but the "rules" say it must be permanently fitted to the car. I may put one in the rear window of the hard top and then disable the trunk/boot one (you are only allowed to have two if they are in the same plane).

    So

    Many

    Friggin'

    Rules....

    Fog around here is seldom but it is often very thick when it rolls in so I just want the option if I need it.

    I will put fog lights on in the front as well. I have always liked the look of them. Those have to be on a separate (lighted/lit) switch though. I saw a Lucas switch that looked plausible.

    I presume the rear fog light was offiside aka driver's side under one of the bumper brackets... probably something squarish ...?

  5. The German rules say so in any case i.e. that is must indicate that it is on hence why I wanted to know if is in the switch or a light on the dash somewhere....

    As I am adding it to a car that didn't have it before I have to comply with the current rules...

    Would also be curious what it looks like on the car.

    I have never seen one in real life before.

     

  6. I have made multiple posts on here about a Spitfire that was converted. I'll try not repeat myself too much here.

    I wouldn't worry about weight. Once you get rid of all the ICE stuff you have a lot of weight to play with. Triumph engines ain't lightweights. You can get a decent front/back distribution as well. Might even make the care handle better in slippery weather.,...

    There are alternatives to Lithium Ion like Lithium Iron. Safer but heavier and less energy dense. Also cobalt free so less of a human slavery issue...

    Most conversion run between 10k to 30k of your favorite currency. The batteries are highest cost. Most I have seen have a range of 100 to 200 miles, give or take of course.

    Most conversions bolt on to the existing drivetrain which for a care that maybe only had 70-80 lb/ft of torque needs to be taken into consideration.

    Everyone I know who has done has discovered they drive the car a LOT more, e.g. instead of a few KM/Miles a year they drive it thousands...

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  7. There are places that can apply "mirroring" effect using a powder coating method which is very shiny but I have not seen anyone ever mention longevity or  robustness.

    The cost here in Germany is high, nearly 2/3 of "real" chroming ´probably because there are little to no alternatives.

    There was an article in the club magazine from many years ago that a guy used foil he bought at a hardware store that he said was passable. No clue how long it lasted...

    I reckon a problem is regardless of the method used you have to stop the rust first which means getting to bare metal... right?

  8. 14 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

    didnt someone here have them film wrapped  and another solution was chrome powder coat  vastly cheaper than re chrome

    we have a local spitty with a satin chrome spray can and its surprisingly good    makes it very tidy for peanuts 

    Pete

    I have been searching for something like that and so far found nothing...

    If someone has done this I would love to see it!

  9. 1 hour ago, DanMi said:

    you can always put a non return valve between the pump and washer jets. I don't think the jets on my spit have a built in valve, if they do they don't work as I had to figure it out when I purchased a replacement manual pump, the original had a valve in the outlet port.

    Yep.. cost like 1 of your favorite currency a piece at any aquarium supply store... works a charm!

     

  10. I actually tried to get kicked off a Facebook group (about Scalextric cars) because I was fed up with "y wont my car run" (actual quote) for the millionth time...

    I was very careful in my wording at first by basically pointing the numerous forums where that same question had been answered and how they were doing themselves a disservice but just bleating out the question without a modicum of research.

    I then became more and more "b!tchy" to the point where I was being accused of being elitist and statements like "well if this is how these groups are run I am out!" were made...

    I then left Facebook or 72 hours and ""boing" no one, not a single person remembered the altercations.

    The problem with all these social media is they are fleeting and the window in which you get a response is a narrow. When you are asking about what to eat for dinner that is fine. When someone is about to route a brake pipe around their cooling fan less so!


    Social media have their purpose: They are cocktail parties. You go around, picking up on snippets of conversation and mingling joyfully. They should never be used for life decisions and only rarely advice on things of any gravity.

    They are GREAT for promotion, getting new members, and keeping tabs on events before and after.

    That is about it.

     

  11. I am a moderator of a famous British slot car brand and apart from the occasional gift of a car (which has dried up as they can't/won't ship to the EU at the moment) I get 0 feedback, praise, compliments... I only do it because no one else can/will...

    Therefore I have a lot of time and understanding and sympathy for other mods!

     

  12. It isn't a whole lot better here in Germany. I stopped selling on Amazon and I seldom sell on ebay because the fees were making it a loss. When I started getting complaints from customers that they paid 4.99€ for shipping and item only "cost"  3.70€ to send I gave up because I only got 3€ from Amazon...

    Luckily there are alternatives!

     

  13. 1 hour ago, PeteH said:

    You are of course correct. It was a change "forced" on us by the Foreign Manufacturers (Not the EU for once) who wanted not to have to change sides just for a "minority" of countries who drove on the right.  Speaking only for the Herald (13/60). I can see it would not be hard to accomplish in order not to have the embarrassment of putting the wrong switch on in the wrong situation?.

    Pete

    Yeah doing something that saves time and cost is never a thing a company would do on their own. 😄
    In my experience regulations are about 50/50 of actually helping the customer or helping companies margins...

     

  14. As with anything non-standard: Document it well. That is easier today than ever. Pictures, videos, electronic notes...

    We are all short for this world in the long run (see what I did there?) and however ends up with it will have no clue what to do.

     

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