Thread: Galvanising

After a long break I was inspired by a trip to Tasmania and waking up to see Wrinkle Arthur's series 1 looking back at me. The hold up was that I was a bit shy of the wiring. Following Dinty's thread made me think I could do it, with images posted of the colours on the loom aligning to the wiring diagram.
I mucked around with the carbi and got a braided line made up at Pirtek with my fittings.

I had some help with the final part of the non standard wiring and the indicators now reside in the sidelight and the main headlight contains a parker light.
Finishing the wiring showed up a couple of issues that I am working through. The dynamo was full of mud wasps after sitting for so long. I linished the armature in the drill press and reinstalled it which has taken the ignition light from bright red to the dullest of glows. Still looking at the voltage regulator as the light is near undetectable as the revs rise. There was a leak in the fuel pump which was fixed by swapping the rear section with another unserviceable unit and a new gasket. The green oil light did not work initially, until I realised the oil switch was a Smiths sender for a electronic oil gauge. By fitting the standard switch it now lights on ignition and extinguishes a couple of seconds later. I will look at a temperature and oil gauge in the future.
Took it for a drive. No brakes yet as there is a leak in one of the fittings where I did a poor job of the flaring so I just stuck to the flat ground.
With the car off the stands and on the ground there is a bit of a lean. I may have got the springs on the wrong side so this may get swapped over the weekend.

One other observation that raises a question. I wired the loom as a positive earth, as per the wiring diagram with the thinking that the fuel pump, dynamo, coil, starter motor and dash gauges are polarised to suit. The orange LED's that I picked up for the front indicators did not work as they are polarised for a negative earth and consequently I could not use them.
What happens if you want to fit something like a UHF or is this not a doable thing with the current setup?

If you want to instal a - ve earth device you will have to isolate the case from the vehicles body and connect a power line from the vehicle body to the device + ve supply line. A line from the device case has to be run to the vehicle - ve supply. Make sure you have a fuse on the the vehicle - ve supply to device case. I ran with a setup like this for a while on a mini, eventually I changed the polarity on the vehicle. It opened up the choice on equipment to easily install.

Originally Posted by brendanm

One other observation that raises a question. I wired the loom as a positive earth, as per the wiring diagram with the thinking that the fuel pump, dynamo, coil, starter motor and dash gauges are polarised to suit. The orange LED's that I picked up for the front indicators did not work as they are polarised for a negative earth and consequently I could not use them.
What happens if you want to fit something like a UHF or is this not a doable thing with the current setup?

Most positive earth vehicles have by now been changed to negative earth, as this is a lot easier than a complicated installation for polarity sensitive equipment such as almost any current devices. The only reason for retaining positive earth is if it is a museum piece or you are a real rivet counter.

Assuming your Series 1 has only original equipment, all that is required to change to negative earth is to swap the leads on the battery and the ammeter. The generator will be remanently magnetised in the wrong direction, but this can be reversed by momentarily connecting the battery to it after changing polarity, preferably while the engine is running. The most convenient way to do this is to manually close the cutout points, but a light jumper lead to the field terminal on the regulator will do the same. Fuel pump, starter, fuel guage (but not post-67 Series 2a/3) have no polarity preferences. Coil is the same although if it is labelled with + and - and is intended for positive earth, these need to be ignored although it will work either way - just slightly better with it the intended way.

Last time I had a glowing generator light it was the ignition switch - check for a voltage drop across it (or anywhere else in the circuit providing a reference voltage through the ignition switch, but most likely the switch itself). It is likely the switch can be cleaned or improved, and they are easy to pull apart - but be careful, there are spring loaded bits in there.

John

Thanks for the information John. Once up and running I will look to convert the polarity when auxiliaries are ready to go in.
I enjoy looking at others pictures of projects especially if I can learn something out of them, so here are a couple of images of the completed engine bay I have tried to stay original as much as possible. The other is one with the windscreen up and window washed so I can see out.
I swapped the springs on the rear and I had it right the first time with the larger bow on the drives side. Given it wasn't right I figured there is nothing to loose by completing the swap. The sag on the drivers side has now increased from 40 to 65 mm.
I am starting to think some parabolics might be worth a try if I need to go down the line of new springs, I hear some good reports of them with ride comfort and articulation.
I should have added the vacuum advance was a bit of brass from a hobby shop soldered to the original fitting and a new olive from Pirtek.

Looking great Brendan,
Will it be on the road for Paxina next month??

Beautiful work Brendan.Well done
Don.