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Flash's 1965 Ford Thames


Flash

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In relation to your sway bar mounting, i take it that's a Mitsubishi one your using? Mitsubishi has a wide variety of sway bars that could be interchangeable for what your trying to achieve. Some mount further forwards on the body than others and some give more wheel clearance but in general the mounting points to the sway bar link are fairly similar in width. I've always used starion/sigma swaybars in Lancers and direct swap in 

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Thanks for the tips.

Yep, the current sway bar is out of an '84 Mitsi L300 in its standard forward facing configuration. Today I'm going to test fit a sway bar out of a '95 L300 which is rearward facing. My third option is to try mounting the forward facing bar in a rearward facing configuration thus freeing up some real estate in the front. Option 4 entails using the original Thames sway bar which was also rearward facing. If all else fails I'll start hunting around for some of the options that you have suggested.

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  • 2 weeks later...
13 hours ago, Flash said:

Second observation is that the engine bay wiring is an absolute rat's nest with almost everything disconnected and lots of wires cut. I spent a bit of time trying to figure out which wires should go where, but eventually gave up. Figured it would be less time consuming if I just jury rigged my own wires to get the engine running. It was easy enough to identify the main power lead for the starter motor so I re-attached that. I gave up on identifying the exciter wire for the starter motor so ended up running a wire directly from the positive terminal on the battery via a push switch to the small terminal on the starter so I am now able to get the engine to crank over.

Moved on to the coil which again had no wiring present. Managed to find the lead from the distributor so attached that to the negative terminal on the coil. There is an existing wire that runs from one terminal on the ballast resistor to the positive terminal on the coil. All of the other wires near the coil have been cut.

It is at this point that I need some help as I've no idea how the ballast resistor that is attached to the coil should be wired. 

Below is a pic of the setup. Is anyone able to confirm what I should have wired to terminal A and what I should have wired to terminal B ?

 

Coil.jpg

Hey Gordon, 

I can answer that one mate. Ballast resistor does not care which wire you put at which end. So terminal "A" going to coil + is correct. Terminal "B" goes to ignition +12v, ie. the ignition switch. Some people fuse this, I never do. You run the risk of melting the wire if you ever short it out. But more likely to give problems if you run it through a fusebox. Manufacturers have done both over the years, although I would say most are fused now. Also, if there is a spare spade terminal on the starter solenoid, this is the "ballast bypass" and can be connected straight to the coil + or terminal A in addition to the above wiring. This gives the coil full battery power while cranking, instead of the 5-6 volts it would otherwise receive via the resistor, and gives it a nice fat spark while cranking. But don't be tempted to bypass the ballast resistor permanently, you will burn out the points in a very short space of time.

 

Hope this makes sense :)

 

P.S. I am doing my last run into town this morning for some parts before NZ goes into full lockdown  mode. Lots of work I can do on the Mk1 while this is happening.

 

Conrad   

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Conrad, thanks heaps for taking the time to respond. You have now armed me with enough info to tackle the jury wiring. I've only ever worked on really old cars that don't have the resistor or new electronic stuff, so I'm a total noob when it comes to this. Thanks again.

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Oh, just saw your PS Conrad. Hope you get everything you need to keep you busy during the lock down. Gotta say that NZ has made the right call on the full lock down. OZ is just postponing the inevitable in my opinion. At least we have got our projects to keep us occupied. All the best.

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no worries Gordon, I was an auto sparky in a former life, so feel free to ask electrical questions ;) 
 

Yep must admit I was really pleased when Jacinda announced the lockdown. We are ahead of the ball at the moment, and better to take a bit of pain now, than be dealing with a fuckin huge disaster later by  dragging our feet. I have never been a Labour supporter, but the way our PM reacted to the Christchurch massacre, and now to COVID-19  has been really impressive, and I am full of admiration for her. Can't believe Trump is going to ease the lockdown and send people back to work! What a moron!  This really is history in the making, and with the wide range of reactions from governments around the world you just know that some of them are going to get it so wrong. I feel really proud to be a Kiwi at this moment, and think we are in the best place in the world to deal with what is about to unfold.     

I have just been to Supercheap, BNT etc and stocked up on parts. I'm actually looking forward to getting some solid time to spend on the projects without interruptions! :)

 

 

 

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Too true Conrad ! I'm hoping that the fact that we are out of a major metro will work in our benefit, but time will tell I guess. Glad you got to stock up on the essentials :-)

Hope you get some quality time with your van.

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If the electric power steering doesn't work out, there are a few cars that have had a combined alternator and power steering pump

https://xks.com/i-7150766-jaguar-alternator-kit-mk-ii-mk-ix-with-power-steering-28-0397.html

M143867465.png

http://www.accuspark.co.uk/dynamatortype4.htm

3dc0eeb191aa121864501d97104ab26e0e811027

... and quite a few that had an alternator and vacuum pump, that could possibly be cobbled up to do power steer or ac pump.

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  • 2 weeks later...
21 minutes ago, tortron said:

you wont need the isolator on the head. you could fit one at the carb end. its to help with heat soak, if the carb is away from the head it wont be an issue

Thanks for confirming Tori.

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  • 4 weeks later...

@Flash Have you checked the fluid in the dash pot plunger?

I always used ATF or something equally thin viscosity and you want just enough that you can hear/feel it make a slight squelch noise just as the thread is about to engage before you do it up.. You should find that will make a bit of difference.

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7 minutes ago, CUL8R said:

@Flash Have you checked the fluid in the dash pot plunger?

I always used ATF or something equally thin viscosity and you want just enough that you can hear/feel it make a slight squelch noise just as the thread is about to engage before you do it up.. You should find that will make a bit of difference.

Thanks heaps for the pointer. Funny you should mention that as I hadn't checked the level and the same thought crossed my mind when I was posting my last update. So after I stepped away from the computer I headed over and pulled the plunger and sure enough it was dry as a bone. Thanks for the ATF tip as I looked around my shed but couldn't find anything lightweight oil wise. I'll try to scrounge some ATF from one of my neighbours. Should only need a little bit.

At the same time I noticed a bit of fuel weeping where the manifolds join. Hadn't bothered to make a new gasket so that's on my list too.

Thanks again.

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