Squire's voitures

[Eddie Honda]

This is obviously a wind up from JM or he's been replaced by something else.

Aye the T-101 has been superceded by the T-1000...

[fried onions]

MG news. I am selling the car on, but addressing some simple faults beforehand. First up the hazard warning lights, which never worked, the only sign of life being a feeble click from somewhere dark. Out with the switch which gives better access to the gubbins behind.

IMG_5787.JPG (389.35 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

I spy non-standard wiring and equipment. The two exposed Lucar terminals are an original Lucas FL8 unit.

IMG_5788.JPG (418.99 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

This is what I pulled out. Two wires are standard whilst the other with blue crimp I traced to the interior lamp earth.

IMG_5789.JPG (242.37 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

This is the other flasher unit, again a modern replacement, for the indicators.

IMG_5790.JPG (286.01 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

Out with the HBOL wiring diagrams, to make as best I could out of their shitty schematics. And yes, yes, whilst they might have reproduced the manufacturer's diagrams, they still managed to make them worse. British wiring diagrams are usually very good.
I rooted around in the garage for some genuine FL8 flasher units. I was taking an educated guess here, seeing as the one already in the car is of that type, and so are the ones in the Allegro, the two cars being a similar age. I fitted them in accordance with the diagram, with only the additional earth wire left over, and operated the circuits, where some weird shit commenced. The hazard warning lights made a faint tinkling sound and the tell-tales came on constant, starting at half brightness and fading away, whilst the indicators clicked once and stopped. This is where intuition and years of experience come in. I ended up using the Ring unit I'd removed for the hazards, it being rated at 4x21w, and an FL9 unit for the indicators. This had everything working.

IMG_5793.JPG (497.98 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

Whilst I was examining the wiring, checking fuse box connections and so on, I noticed this.

IMG_5791.JPG (585.12 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

Wtf is that. I pulled it out and tossed it away. The other end can be seen in photo number 2 at the start, a white domestic connection. It was basically disconnected from either side of the fuse box, extended and ran through another fuse, then terminated in nothing. Bizarre. Just replicating what happened at the fuse box.

IMG_5792.JPG (300.86 KiB) Viewed 4149 times

[Junkman]

I bet there is purest gold leaf underneath those paint bubbles.

[Hooli]

Ahh the joys of previous owners.

[fried onions]

When turning left with the indicators on, the stalk always cancelled too soon. The stalk looked a little awry to me, pointing down slightly with the switch in the central position, which also means I sometimes accidentally sound the horns as I catch the stalk with my knee getting into the car. So I took the shroud off to examine and see what I could do.

IMG_5794.JPG (660.6 KiB) Viewed 4125 times

The cause of the early indicator cancel fault became immediately obvious, with the position of the slip ring. So I tapped it around, and noticed the stalk switch cannot be rotated as it engages with securing slots on the steering column outer tube, which also cannot be rotated, at least by me.

IMG_5795.JPG (389.16 KiB) Viewed 4125 times

So I put the slip ring like this and will road test to check function. The physical position of the stalk remaining the same, pointing downwards slightly.

IMG_5796.JPG (399.72 KiB) Viewed 4125 times

The high beam tell-tale has always been very dim. Earlier investigation involved checking the bulb, which is fine and rated correctly. So I removed the lens tube and found this obstruction.

IMG_5797.JPG (345.26 KiB) Viewed 4125 times

Like on certain other cars, there is a white rubber tube to direct the light and the rubber perishes over time, blocking the lens. But, it made sod all difference. This is high beam off:

IMG_5798.JPG (487.51 KiB) Viewed 4125 times

And high beam on:

IMG_5799.JPG (493.13 KiB) Viewed 4125 times

I guess it's just the thickness of the lens, blue being quite restrictive in terms of light filtering.

[SiC]

That stalk looks suspiciously shiny and new at the base. Is it a repro part or original Lucas?

Repro indicator stalk on the Dolomite is offset slightly downwards. This means there is a big gap when pushed up but then hitting the shroud when pushed down.

[fried onions]

No idea, didn't check, it works.

[SiC]

The high beam indicator on the MGB is just as dull and is a similar clock unit. A fresh bulb helped slightly but it's still barely visible in daylight.

[Junkman]

I think they made them like this deliberately. On most of the older Euro tat I had (and have) they were (are) only really visible by night, unlike the red ones in the old yanks that burn a hole into one's retina.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

They did. The P6s had an almost opaque piece of plastic behind the main beam light.