Wagger

Can you take pictures of the mounts, then we can assess spacers, belts and pulleys. The plastic can be repaired using appropriate adhesive.

I always go by the Cross sectional area. This means measuring the diameter of the copper content, halving that to get the radius. then using pi r squared in order to get the CSA. Having worked in that industry for over 40 years, I just use my judgement (eyes and fingers) and fit a fuse up to 0.7 of the rating. Most reels of wire can be bought using the Cross Sectional Area specified. The reels are marked if you are lucky. If you double the CSA, the resistance will be halved.

Our cars were designed when we used British Standards. These were superceded by Systemes Internationale (SI) in the 1970's. Then they were rationalised under the EU as ENsomething. They still apply. They were aligned with all European Countries including those not in the EU. USA and Canada use UL and CSA. They differ from EU standards. Use a fuse box and fit fuses to protect the wire size. That is what fuses are for, contrary to the thoughts of those who use nails. 'Moderns' now have fuses in the battery post connectors. You do not need to go to that extreme unless you are going to use the starter to drive you when the engine fails. These cars do very well with just three fuses, but it makes fault finding tricky.

When looking at cable size and ratings on any chart, be careful because gauge, diameter and cross sectional area all need consideration. Even then, if bunched up or in a hot place you need thicker wire. It also differs between the UK and USA.

My dad used those and repeaired all of our shoes until the moulded rubber ones appeared in the 1950's.

Here is another link and, if you hover over the picture, you can read the text of how it was done. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323909437451

Does anybody remember 'Tyresoles' as advertised in 1957 Motor Show literature. Stick on treaded hoops for bald tyres. Unbelievable. I have the magazine somewhere. Here is a link to a 1960 ad. https://www.thenostalgiashop.co.uk/products/tyresoles-tyre-retreading-original-advert-1960-ref-ad2959 And treadcutting devices for lorry tyres.

I had british motor cycles for thirty years. Left foot was the rear brake. I suggest that you may brake with the foot that is left which can be the right one if you are an amputee. The left foot is the right one to use on the clutch. What a stupid language we have. I used to drive automatics imagining that I was on my Brit bike. Super for quick take off winding the torque converter up. Not good for the drive shafts though.

One of my Non Triumph cars many years back had pattern pads and the metal part was jamming as the pads wore down. Quite terrifying. On arrival at a relations place, he stripped them, ground the metal to match the old pads and all was well. They were just 1mm too big. I was in my twenties then and grateful to this Uncle in law who worked in Plymouth Dockyard as an inspector of mechanical parts. Could be worth checking, but it is, probably, the material.

Many of us have desrcibed how we do this in the past. I set the throttle so that the engine is revving between 2500 and 3000 rpm. Distributor clamp previously slackened and vacuum pipe blocked. Turn the Dizzy until you achieve peak revs then go back a tiny amount. Clamp the distributor, unblock the vacuum tube and do a test drive. If it pinks when going up a hill at 2000 rpm, retard it a little at a time until it does not pink. Those of you with a Dizzy with a vernier adjuster are luckier than me. No vernier on mine, sadly. I have done this on all of the classic cars that I have worked on and it achieves the best results wrt economy and power delivery. Stick to using the same fuel. If you have High Compression (over about 9 to 1) use Highest octane available. Some of our cars were designed for 5 star leaded fuel that was 101 octane. Unleaded fuel burns totally differently from unleaded so there is hardly any point in setting the timing to what the book states.

Pressing the clutch pushes the crankshaft against the thrust bearing. That is what causes the wear if you sit in traffic with the clutch pedal down. Ok, but I am never sure what has moved if I do not watch it all of the time when pulling the pulley back and forth. Getting into the seat and depressing the pedal always seems to move soething so the the dial doe not return exactly as I set it.

My Vitesse still had the owners manual in the glove box. It describes how to do all of the routine checks and adjustments. These may be available for most of the small chassis cars. Maintenance of Tyres, Brakes, Tappets and Fluids are all described.

I do not know what the 'Thinnest' standard thrust washer measures. However. if it wears it will be even thinner than when new. The gap between the bearing cap and crank may become equal to that thickness and that is when it can drop out. Also, if the crank has worn the gap may have increased even further. It is very difficult to measure externally. Mounting a dial indicator on a magnetic base near to the pulley is one way, but the rubber mounting of the engine confuses matters. It requires pull and pushing the pulley from the front. Pressing the clutch just moves the engine forward on the mounts unless you can jam it. Has anyone had any joy using feeler gauges?

Needle rollers can be 'Crowded' or 'Caged'. I do not know which is in the gearbox but, crowded rollers scuff against one another at twice the rate of the surface speed of the shaft. Caged rollers do not scuff but can wear the cage. This should last longer than the life of the bearings BUT I have seen broken cages on ball and roller beariings causing all sorts of problems. Sometimes a plain well oiled bearing lasts just as long and gives an audible warning when is is worn. Low oil level and dirty oil is the major contributor to wear in these gearboxes. Some Motorcycles had grease in their boxes. (Burman, I believe). Not easy to clean that out. without major stripping. However, that is easier in a motor cycle. Maybe I should get one.

Let's get back to being Engineers. As wear increases, so does the 'Endfloat' of the crankshaft. In the extreme, the conrods and small end clearances are compromised. They will be out of alignment. The cranks will wear conically and, if the thrusts drop out, it will be so bad that something wil snag, seize or break. Some 'Engineers' pin the thrusts in place so that they cannot drop out. However, the pins will wear grooves in the crank unless they are soft or well below flush with the bearing surface. This problem is not uniique to Triumph engines. I have seen it on BMC engines too. My crank is moving by 0.008 inch. (8 thou). When it gets to 12 thou the engine is coming out to fix that and other issues.

Have we established whether or not you have unwanted current drain ONLY when the battery is connected? If the voltge only falls when it is connected you have an unwanted permanent load. A new battery will not cure that. We seem to be going round in circles here instead of finding out what the problem really is.

Before you give up on the battery, charge it, leave it disconnected overnight, then connect up and try to start next day. Check how many start ups you can do. If it can do ten, then it is ok. A battery isolator that does not completely disconnect the battery will be no good to you if there is a permanent load draining it. Just disconnect the battery when the car is standing until you find the drain, if there is one. Do not fit things like a voltmeter, radio etc unless it is NOT permanently connected.

Well done Unkel. If any lead acid battery is fully charged and left to stand diconnected overnight, the voltage at the terminals should be above 12.6 volts. Under 12 is knackered. So, was it as simple as that after all our surmising?

Have you fitted a new fuse box or is it as built? It sounds like something is wired to the permanently live fuse that should be connected to the one that becomes live when the ignition is on. OR, if you have fitted a multi-way fuse box, someting is permanently live that should not be. Added accessories may have complicated matters.

As PeteL has inferred, have we made this too complicated? It is very easy for me to add stuff that is a bit OTT on electrics. If there is an unwanted load that cannot be found, fit a battery isolator. That will stop unwanted drain. Look for added items like radios and alarms. Previous owners may have done mods that are wired to the wrong fuse etc.

Hi JohnD. Presumably it is a Lead Acid Battery and the charger is for those. I have left chargers connected to old batteries for years even after they have not been good enough for the vehicles and used them in computer UPS's. I can see no reason why the battery should suffer. You could periodically check the battery voltage. Most lead acid ones can be left on constant voltage chargers at 13.8 volts. It cannot be any worse than running a vehicle daily so long as no overcharging is happening. I have lead acid gel batteries in a UPS and a mobility scooter and they have lasted for ages and are on charge permanently. Lloyd.

For those of us who were Electrical Engineers we were lucky to have the training and access to measuring kit, including AVO 8 meters and their accessories called 'Shunts'. If you can find some at auto jumbles then they can be used placed between battery post and lead and that will enable the current to be measured as a Voltage across the known Shunt. If you can find a stout 0.01 ohm shunt, then a reading of 1 volt equates to a current of 100 amps. For tiny currents, use a 100 ohm resistor. a reading of 1 volt then equates to a current of 10mA. 10V would equate to 100mA. I am lucky to have a test box with loads of fixed resistors on it. You are looking for currents to be less than 100mA really. Ideally, however, it should read zero on these old cars. 100mA will render the battery flat in less than 400 hours. Using a current clamp around my battery lead, my 'Modern' has a current drain of 500mA for 20 seconds after turning the ignition off and locking. It then falls to 20mA which would render the battery flat in 4000 hours. I do not have the patience to wait half an hour sitting in the boot watching.

If you load a battery, then disconnect it altogether, its voltage will rise. It is a peculiar effect due to internal resistance, gassing and some inherant capacitance.

Yes, but if you accidentally hit the starter or a big load you might destroy your meter. Been there, done that when I was 18.

Pete's advice is good. If you place a voltmeter in parallel with the bulb, even if it is not glowing, it should read zero unless there is current flowing. Bulb resistance varies extremely with luminosity, so use a known resistor if you have one then you can use V/R (Voltage reading divided by resistance value) to calculate the current.