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PollyMobiles Rebuild
- Thread starter pollyp
- Start date
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pollyp
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2021-09-04 Japfest Silverstone
3am with little to no sleep I drove 5hrs down to silverstone for the huge Japfest show
it was a great turnout of micras and the event was insanely huge to explore
kassandra had lots of interest & giggles ?
after a long day I cruised home for another tiring 6hrs ? but managed 50mpg from a constant 60mph
3am with little to no sleep I drove 5hrs down to silverstone for the huge Japfest show
it was a great turnout of micras and the event was insanely huge to explore
kassandra had lots of interest & giggles ?
after a long day I cruised home for another tiring 6hrs ? but managed 50mpg from a constant 60mph
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pollyp
Club Member
changing oil & filter after 7mths
relatively quiet sunday car meet
time to trim the excess subwoofer cables.
discovered the halfords 10awg CCA/copper cables are bout 1/2 the thickness of a 10awg lug end so even after crimping, it easily slides right off
ended up having to fold the cable & force twice the strands into the lug till the crimp holds
little neater
relatively quiet sunday car meet
time to trim the excess subwoofer cables.
discovered the halfords 10awg CCA/copper cables are bout 1/2 the thickness of a 10awg lug end so even after crimping, it easily slides right off
ended up having to fold the cable & force twice the strands into the lug till the crimp holds
little neater
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pollyp
Club Member
In the last few months I noticed the tyres seem to scrub against the arch more than usual.
Measuring the arch gap I found the new 6/5kg front/rear springs I fitted 1.5yrs ago has actually sagged down 10/15mm front/rear therefore reduced bump travel.
Raised it all back to an equal ride height, hope this reduces the rub.
The coilover covers doing a gr8 job keeping it clean.
the clutch pedal is slightly bent from the heavy loading and it's getting sticky more & more often, re-lubing the cable barely helps
looks like the tiny ball bearing on the modified clutch pedal has totally collapsed under the years of stress, making it feel very sticky/binding ?
Think I'll first repair the current clutch pedal with fresh roller bearings for now and then completely re-engineering a whole new stronger custom framed clutch pedal to fit in this space at a later date
Measuring the arch gap I found the new 6/5kg front/rear springs I fitted 1.5yrs ago has actually sagged down 10/15mm front/rear therefore reduced bump travel.
Raised it all back to an equal ride height, hope this reduces the rub.
The coilover covers doing a gr8 job keeping it clean.
the clutch pedal is slightly bent from the heavy loading and it's getting sticky more & more often, re-lubing the cable barely helps
looks like the tiny ball bearing on the modified clutch pedal has totally collapsed under the years of stress, making it feel very sticky/binding ?
Think I'll first repair the current clutch pedal with fresh roller bearings for now and then completely re-engineering a whole new stronger custom framed clutch pedal to fit in this space at a later date
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pollyp
Club Member
decided to machine this 18x49mm bushing from a spare alloy wheel nut to get the clutch pedal working again
replaced the battery ground cable ends with fresh crimped lugs and the cranking is noticeably stronger with less resistance. I just have the really old oxidised starter motor ground lead to replace.
replaced the battery ground cable ends with fresh crimped lugs and the cranking is noticeably stronger with less resistance. I just have the really old oxidised starter motor ground lead to replace.
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pollyp
Club Member
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pollyp
Club Member
time for some underglow ?
removed the scuttle panel & arch liner for routing the LED wiring
wiped the slippery underseal off so the foam tape can stick to the sill
bonded the LED strip to the sill edge with double sided foam tape and routed the wire up the wings, across the scuttle.
I'll soon add some clips to stop it peeling off too.
looks nice & bright
just the bumpers & the bonnet to do next
removed the scuttle panel & arch liner for routing the LED wiring
wiped the slippery underseal off so the foam tape can stick to the sill
bonded the LED strip to the sill edge with double sided foam tape and routed the wire up the wings, across the scuttle.
I'll soon add some clips to stop it peeling off too.
looks nice & bright
just the bumpers & the bonnet to do next
Perhaps it's an age thing, but why??fitted the front LED strip and further secured to the bumper edge with simple paper clips
View attachment 76338
the thick waterproof strips create too much glare from a shallow angle
View attachment 76339
so covering 1/2 the strip with electrical tape did the job ?
View attachment 76340View attachment 76341View attachment 76342
just the rear end left to do
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pollyp
Club Member
cos it looks cool at night
? sorta like a presentation backlighting
Paul, you are not 18 years old any more...............cos it looks cool at night
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pollyp
Club Member
& free to do whatever I like to my car, always have always will ?Paul, you are not 18 years old any more...............
bare in mind the lights ain't always on
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pollyp
Club Member
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pollyp
Club Member
the 6pk815 alternator belt I brought in 2018 is getting slightly old & thought the tensioner pulley was sitting too far from the long belt..
so I ordered this shorter 6pk803 belt off ebay with long delay thinking it'll sit the tensioner within it's adjustment range but turned out to be wayy too short and couldn't even fit it on soo I'm gonna have to order another 6pk815 instead
the glovebox lock snapped off, so I printed another one
the old rubber seal around the dizzy had swollen out of shape so I fitted a spare dizzy
the airbag light on my dash (left) was accidentally blown so I brought a spare preface dash (right) to salvage the airbag light
notice on the bottom photo of the spare dash that the check engine light & fog light warning are missing so I definately cant use this unit
shining light through, you can see the graphics & bulb holes are missing
my old airbag light used two LED whereas the spare dash uses a combined bulb
fitted the bulb to my old dash
and now I have a working airbag light for her winter MOT
for the subwoofer, I replaced the RCA cable that came from the cheaper Vibe CCA cable kit (left) with the blue RCA cable from the Stinger Autolead OFC RCA kit (right)
they both have exactly the same 0.8ohm resistance & sound quality so the difference is purely cosmetic ?
so I ordered this shorter 6pk803 belt off ebay with long delay thinking it'll sit the tensioner within it's adjustment range but turned out to be wayy too short and couldn't even fit it on
soo I'm gonna have to order another 6pk815 instead
the glovebox lock snapped off, so I printed another one
the old rubber seal around the dizzy had swollen out of shape so I fitted a spare dizzy
the airbag light on my dash (left) was accidentally blown so I brought a spare preface dash (right) to salvage the airbag light
notice on the bottom photo of the spare dash that the check engine light & fog light warning are missing
so I definately cant use this unit
shining light through, you can see the graphics & bulb holes are missing
my old airbag light used two LED whereas the spare dash uses a combined bulb
fitted the bulb to my old dash
and now I have a working airbag light for her winter MOT
for the subwoofer, I replaced the RCA cable that came from the cheaper Vibe CCA cable kit (left) with the blue RCA cable from the Stinger Autolead OFC RCA kit (right)
they both have exactly the same 0.8ohm resistance & sound quality so the difference is purely cosmetic ?
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pollyp
Club Member
Replacing Starter Ground Lead
The 28yr starter motor ground strap is getting pretty old & oxidised now which could affect cranking power
I brought a battery cable from halfords for £5
but the starter motor uses m10 bolts whereas the new lead has a thin m8 bolt hole and no room to enlarge
so I simply chopped the small end off and crimped it into a larger 0awg terminal ends I had spare and drilled it out to fit m10 bolts
that it soo much cleaner looking & performing
The 28yr starter motor ground strap is getting pretty old & oxidised now which could affect cranking power
I brought a battery cable from halfords for £5
but the starter motor uses m10 bolts whereas the new lead has a thin m8 bolt hole and no room to enlarge
so I simply chopped the small end off and crimped it into a larger 0awg terminal ends I had spare and drilled it out to fit m10 bolts
that it soo much cleaner looking & performing
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pollyp
Club Member
got a 6pk815 belt from work
The tie-rod ends are already worn loose cos I used to weld longer threads on the ends to reach the standard inner tie-rods, and the welding heat probably damaged the teflon lining.
So I brought some new XFRM12 x 1.25mm tie rod ends online (these look a lot beefier than what I used to buy) and I'll lengthen the inner tie-rods to reach them instead.
The tie-rod ends are already worn loose cos I used to weld longer threads on the ends to reach the standard inner tie-rods, and the welding heat probably damaged the teflon lining.
So I brought some new XFRM12 x 1.25mm tie rod ends online (these look a lot beefier than what I used to buy) and I'll lengthen the inner tie-rods to reach them instead.
Is this related to the work you did to lower the outer end of the wishbones to raise your roll centre? Keep meaning to ask how that has stood up to the test of time?
Craig
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pollyp
Club Member
yup, after extending the lower ball joint & lengthening the control arms, I use rose-joint tie-rod ends to relocate the point & correct bump-steer.
the spherical bearings generally last bout 1-2yrs of daily & trackday abuse till they wear out sloppy
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pollyp
Club Member
The roller bearing linkage bushings are perfectly fine, sharp & no play
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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pollyp
Club Member
this battery terminal sharing the clamp & connector with a single hard to access fastener has always been awquid
machined a bolt into a stud adapter for the other end
so now one bolt handles the clamping whilst the other end has easy access & better contact for the power connections
machined a bolt into a stud adapter for the other end
so now one bolt handles the clamping whilst the other end has easy access & better contact for the power connections
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pollyp
Club Member
I found the plastic mounts holding the bolts on the new headlights are already cracked
(not help by the fact the poor copy-stamped front wings have the mounting holes 6mm too far back, which angles the unit by 2deg)
quite a weak design flaw
cut & drilled it out to 9mm to fit stronger rivnuts
few nuts to restore the spacing
(not help by the fact the poor copy-stamped front wings have the mounting holes 6mm too far back, which angles the unit by 2deg)
quite a weak design flaw
cut & drilled it out to 9mm to fit stronger rivnuts
few nuts to restore the spacing
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pollyp
Club Member
checking the engine compression 20k & 2yrs since it was last rebuilt, it's dropped from 11bars to 9bars.
not sure if the gauge is inaccurate (will calibrate it soon) or if this engine is wearing out fast or if the valve clearances need rechecking
the NGK BKR5E-11 plugs were also really worn out to 1.25mm gap after 2yrs ?
work didn't have any NGK but they did have an equivelant Denso K16TT ?
compared to the broad normal NGK tip, the Denso Twin Tip has a narrower dual petruding tips which perhaps concentrates the arc to a spot?
I also had to widen the gap to 1.1mm since it came with a 0.9mm gap.
we'll see how it performs & lasts over the months
not sure if the gauge is inaccurate (will calibrate it soon) or if this engine is wearing out fast or if the valve clearances need rechecking
the NGK BKR5E-11 plugs were also really worn out to 1.25mm gap after 2yrs ?
work didn't have any NGK but they did have an equivelant Denso K16TT ?
compared to the broad normal NGK tip, the Denso Twin Tip has a narrower dual petruding tips which perhaps concentrates the arc to a spot?
I also had to widen the gap to 1.1mm since it came with a 0.9mm gap.
we'll see how it performs & lasts over the months
Why are you using red wires for the negative feed from the battery Paul?
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pollyp
Club Member
Cos it was the only 0 gauge spare cable I had remaining at the time for making the short length of lead from battery to the chassis
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
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pollyp
Club Member
plug looks fine after a week. good colour, normal AFR & power & cold starts
after aligning the headlights & grill to the bonnet, it's annoying that the front bumper now sits too far back. 7mm behind the headlights and 15mm behind the grill.
it's never actually sat correctly tbh
marked the new holes after nudging it forward 7mm to fit rivnuts
added rivnuts to the sides, but cos it's shifted forward 7mm, I ended up adding another rivnut to line up
even after moving the bumper forward 7mm to line up with the headlights, I'm 100% certain this bumper ain't for this car (she's been crashed before I owned her).
the overall curve of the bumper is actually much flatter/square than the curvy/pointy grill & bonnet.
the total width of the bumper is 5-10mm too wide, so when the sides of the bumper are bolted under the wing panels, it's actually bending it narrower which warps the inside corner of the plastic bumper upwards till it fouls the wings/grill
I'm gonna have to source another preface bumper & mount that may fit better.
if not, I may have to cut & shut to make the bumper narrower.
went for a little cold sunday meet in Northallerton ?
after aligning the headlights & grill to the bonnet, it's annoying that the front bumper now sits too far back. 7mm behind the headlights and 15mm behind the grill.
it's never actually sat correctly tbh
marked the new holes after nudging it forward 7mm to fit rivnuts
added rivnuts to the sides, but cos it's shifted forward 7mm, I ended up adding another rivnut to line up
even after moving the bumper forward 7mm to line up with the headlights, I'm 100% certain this bumper ain't for this car (she's been crashed before I owned her).
the overall curve of the bumper is actually much flatter/square than the curvy/pointy grill & bonnet.
the total width of the bumper is 5-10mm too wide, so when the sides of the bumper are bolted under the wing panels, it's actually bending it narrower which warps the inside corner of the plastic bumper upwards till it fouls the wings/grill
I'm gonna have to source another preface bumper & mount that may fit better.
if not, I may have to cut & shut to make the bumper narrower.
went for a little cold sunday meet in Northallerton ?
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pollyp
Club Member
with halloween coming up this weekend, I wanted to give kassandra some spooky red eyes
but rather than spending £2-3 on some red ebay 501 bulbs for a single event, I simply coloured some spare bulbs with red marker pens which did the trick and totally free ??
just gotta finish the rest of the disguise ?
but rather than spending £2-3 on some red ebay 501 bulbs for a single event, I simply coloured some spare bulbs with red marker pens which did the trick and totally free ??
just gotta finish the rest of the disguise ?
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pollyp
Club Member
???
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pollyp
Club Member
the old scissor jack tool was lost yrs ago and using the screwdriver technique is slow
so I welded a hex nut onto the end
so I'm able to use a 17mm socket with either a hand ratchet or a speedy impact wrench, lifts the car in seconds ?
the old halfords compressor tester was also getting a bit dinged & inaccurate, so I brought a new one off ebay
top of the phone holder broke off from repeated bending of the thin area so I redesigned it with less localised bending
so I welded a hex nut onto the end
so I'm able to use a 17mm socket with either a hand ratchet or a speedy impact wrench, lifts the car in seconds ?
the old halfords compressor tester was also getting a bit dinged & inaccurate, so I brought a new one off ebay
top of the phone holder broke off from repeated bending of the thin area so I redesigned it with less localised bending
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pollyp
Club Member
2021-10-31 Halloween car meet at NY500
washed & dressed her up for halloween, she has a thirst for ppls engine oil ??
met the group at Northallerton on a soaking wet sunday
we convoyed over to the NY500 cafe through the Moors in the pouring rain ?️
few hours after some tea & food, the sun finally came out on the afternoon ?️
washed & dressed her up for halloween, she has a thirst for ppls engine oil ??
met the group at Northallerton on a soaking wet sunday
we convoyed over to the NY500 cafe through the Moors in the pouring rain ?️
few hours after some tea & food, the sun finally came out on the afternoon ?️
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pollyp
Club Member
my 15yr old halfords compression tester has been reading the engine at a consistant 8.9bars across the cylinders, which seems abit low considering the engine still runs fine ?
tried my new ebay compression tester and once again that one reads 8.5 - 8.7bars.
haynes says it should be 11-13bars.
I rechecked the valve clearances to make sure it ain't out of spec & affecting compression..
and nope they're exactly the same perfect spec as when I rebuilt the engine in 2019.
I tested the new gauge on the peugeot 307 as a comparison and that showed a consistant 9.38bars
(note: peugeot has a higher 10.8:1 CR vs the micra 9.5:1 CR)
considering both engines are running fine/normal with no misfire or issues,
all cylinder readings are consistantly equal,
and both gauges are reading wayy off the oem spec,
I've concluded that these gauges are totally inaccurate and I'll need to recalibrate them against a known reliable compressed air source
tried my new ebay compression tester and once again that one reads 8.5 - 8.7bars.
haynes says it should be 11-13bars.
I rechecked the valve clearances to make sure it ain't out of spec & affecting compression..
and nope they're exactly the same perfect spec as when I rebuilt the engine in 2019.
I tested the new gauge on the peugeot 307 as a comparison and that showed a consistant 9.38bars
(note: peugeot has a higher 10.8:1 CR vs the micra 9.5:1 CR)
considering both engines are running fine/normal with no misfire or issues,
all cylinder readings are consistantly equal,
and both gauges are reading wayy off the oem spec,
I've concluded that these gauges are totally inaccurate and I'll need to recalibrate them against a known reliable compressed air source
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pollyp
Club Member
the tie rod ends are already slightly sloppy so it's time to correct this issue
removed the tie rods
new rose joint (bottom) has a similar design to the old one (top) but slightly chunkier
the main issue is that the M12x1.25 rose joints I buy are 5cm shorter than a micra tie rod end so every time I replace them (they only last 1-2yrs) I have to weld an extra 5cm of thread onto the end to reach the standard micra tie-rods & this welding heat damages the rose-joint teflon bearing reducing it's durability.
the shiny new rose-joints are the same length but this time I'll lengthen the tie-rods themselves with some spare rods.
this will make future rod-end replacement much easier, faster & last longer.
chopped & chamfered the tie-rods to correct length
welded together
and grinded smooth
removed the tie rods
new rose joint (bottom) has a similar design to the old one (top) but slightly chunkier
the main issue is that the M12x1.25 rose joints I buy are 5cm shorter than a micra tie rod end so every time I replace them (they only last 1-2yrs) I have to weld an extra 5cm of thread onto the end to reach the standard micra tie-rods & this welding heat damages the rose-joint teflon bearing reducing it's durability.
the shiny new rose-joints are the same length but this time I'll lengthen the tie-rods themselves with some spare rods.
this will make future rod-end replacement much easier, faster & last longer.
chopped & chamfered the tie-rods to correct length
welded together
and grinded smooth
'Cut & shut' welded track rods?? What could possibly go wrong? https://www.basicwelding.co.uk/blogs/news/the-day-a-welding-fracture-killed-a-brazilian-idol
Reminds me when the mk3 escort van rs turbo conversions were about ?
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pollyp
Club Member
So over the yrs I noticed that batteries didn't last long in kassandra.
Something not right here ?
Strangely, I fully trickle charged both the previously faulty batteries overnight till they're 12.9v and they're able to hold 12.75v for days only dropping upto 0.05v per day, so the battery ain't the issue.
Tested the parasitic draw of the car to see if anything is draining the battery overnight, nope it draws an acceptable 10mA.
In this 1993 1.3 SLX, all the electronics were swapped over from my previous 1998 CG13 5dr SLX.
It had a various mish-mash of preface & facelift parts but oddly uses a simple 2-pole alternator
(thick white/red cable for charging, thin yellow/red wire for warning light, -ve grounding via the casing/engine block/earth straps)
Whereas most other micra's I've seen use a thick white/red charging cable and a multi-pin connector (for regulator sensing wire & warning lights)
According to the service manual, my charging system is from a LHD diesel engine? ??
Did a voltage drop test and this is where I found the possible issue.
The alternator itself outputs a strong constant 14.3v
Meanwhile at the battery it only receives 13.8v with nothing powered, 12.9v with all electronics turned on (barely enough to charge it)
Checking voltage drop from alternator to battery terminal was an insane 1.3v (normally should be 0.3v max).
I attached jumper cables from alternator to the battery to bypass the faulty alternator cable and immediately the battery receives 14.1v (nothing on), 13.8v (everything on), and voltage drop improved back to 0.3v ?
So the charging wire is where all the electricity's been wasted all these yrs! ?
This is further verified by recalling back in 2015 where I noticed the charging wire was already badly oxidised whilst I crimped a replacement section onto the ends.
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-131#post-720325
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-136#post-725519
So it definately needs replacing with a spare loom or ideally remake with fresh wires/connectors soon
- 1st gel battery lasted 2011-2013.
- 2nd gel battery lasted 2013-2019 (often requiring a jump starter pack).
- Switched back to a normal lead acid in 2019.
- Failed to hold charge in Feb 2021 so I replaced the battery under warranty.
- Even that one's been struggling to hold charge in Nov 2021 and out of warranty, so I brought another one
Something not right here ?
Strangely, I fully trickle charged both the previously faulty batteries overnight till they're 12.9v and they're able to hold 12.75v for days only dropping upto 0.05v per day, so the battery ain't the issue.
Tested the parasitic draw of the car to see if anything is draining the battery overnight, nope it draws an acceptable 10mA.
In this 1993 1.3 SLX, all the electronics were swapped over from my previous 1998 CG13 5dr SLX.
It had a various mish-mash of preface & facelift parts but oddly uses a simple 2-pole alternator
(thick white/red cable for charging, thin yellow/red wire for warning light, -ve grounding via the casing/engine block/earth straps)
Whereas most other micra's I've seen use a thick white/red charging cable and a multi-pin connector (for regulator sensing wire & warning lights)
According to the service manual, my charging system is from a LHD diesel engine? ??
Did a voltage drop test and this is where I found the possible issue.
The alternator itself outputs a strong constant 14.3v
Meanwhile at the battery it only receives 13.8v with nothing powered, 12.9v with all electronics turned on (barely enough to charge it)
Checking voltage drop from alternator to battery terminal was an insane 1.3v (normally should be 0.3v max).
I attached jumper cables from alternator to the battery to bypass the faulty alternator cable and immediately the battery receives 14.1v (nothing on), 13.8v (everything on), and voltage drop improved back to 0.3v ?
So the charging wire is where all the electricity's been wasted all these yrs! ?
This is further verified by recalling back in 2015 where I noticed the charging wire was already badly oxidised whilst I crimped a replacement section onto the ends.
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-131#post-720325
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-136#post-725519
So it definately needs replacing with a spare loom or ideally remake with fresh wires/connectors soon
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pollyp
Club Member
Thanks JohnNice detective work Paul
It's a good thing I document everything so I can look back & piece together the causes of issues like this.
Just wished I found & fixed this problem yrs ago, would've saved me lots of batteries, money & inconvenience.
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pollyp
Club Member
didn't have time to remove the alternator harness from behind/under the engine to rewire it, so instead I had some spare 10awg amp cables & decided to make a temporary bypass cable.
connected it from the alternator +ve to the battery terminal.
side note: whilst unhooking the old alternator cable, it was very stiff & coated in oil and most likely oxidised inside
went for a cruise to charge up this battery, rechecked voltages and yup it's sooo much better.
battery now receives 14.17v with nothing powered,
13.77v with everything turned on,
voltage drop from alternator to battery is 0.43v
and after shutting engine off, the battery rests at 12.72v
when I have more time next weekend I'll definately be replacing/cleaning up the alternator wiring
connected it from the alternator +ve to the battery terminal.
side note: whilst unhooking the old alternator cable, it was very stiff & coated in oil and most likely oxidised inside
went for a cruise to charge up this battery, rechecked voltages and yup it's sooo much better.
battery now receives 14.17v with nothing powered,
13.77v with everything turned on,
voltage drop from alternator to battery is 0.43v
and after shutting engine off, the battery rests at 12.72v
when I have more time next weekend I'll definately be replacing/cleaning up the alternator wiring
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pollyp
Club Member
when I brought my TIG welder yrs ago, Andy gave me some spare Gas-Lens pyrex cup kits to try out and we could never get em to work properly (very poor gas flow, unstable arc, zero shielding of the weld area), which was frustrating at the time.
so tday I brought a new "45v43" gas lens collet body for a 1.6mm tungsten rod from ebay to compare & see if it works better
notice the bad collet is threaded only 1-2mm from the lip
(threads may bind prematurely before the edge lip seals against the torch body?
although the standard collet has the same amount of gap and works fine)
whereas the new collet is threaded all the way (so it can be tightened fully without the risk of threads binding prematurely?)
new collet is also missing an O-ring groove
the bad gas-lens has a smaller restrictive 57mm2 diffuser screen compared to the wider larger 78mm2 diffuser on the new lens
here's the issue.
all the inner collets have the same 3.95mm diameter shafts.
the bore of a standard collet body is 5.30mm (0.68mm gap) and flows fine.
the new collet body has a larger bore of 5.60mm (0.83mm gap) and flows much better inbetween the wall-gap.
whereas the troubling bad collet body has a choking 5.15mm bore (0.6mm gap) enough to affect gas coverage, shielding, arc stability.
machined a new groove for the O-ring
pyrex clear cup sits nice & snug.
after a few tests, this new gas-lens works soo much better, good stable arc, good shielding keeping the heat zone small, plus the clear lens lighting up the whole area more visibly
so tday I brought a new "45v43" gas lens collet body for a 1.6mm tungsten rod from ebay to compare & see if it works better
notice the bad collet is threaded only 1-2mm from the lip
(threads may bind prematurely before the edge lip seals against the torch body?
although the standard collet has the same amount of gap and works fine)
whereas the new collet is threaded all the way (so it can be tightened fully without the risk of threads binding prematurely?)
new collet is also missing an O-ring groove
the bad gas-lens has a smaller restrictive 57mm2 diffuser screen compared to the wider larger 78mm2 diffuser on the new lens
here's the issue.
all the inner collets have the same 3.95mm diameter shafts.
the bore of a standard collet body is 5.30mm (0.68mm gap) and flows fine.
the new collet body has a larger bore of 5.60mm (0.83mm gap) and flows much better inbetween the wall-gap.
whereas the troubling bad collet body has a choking 5.15mm bore (0.6mm gap) enough to affect gas coverage, shielding, arc stability.
machined a new groove for the O-ring
pyrex clear cup sits nice & snug.
after a few tests, this new gas-lens works soo much better, good stable arc, good shielding keeping the heat zone small, plus the clear lens lighting up the whole area more visibly
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pollyp
Club Member
time to rip out the engine loom to replace that faulty alternator wire
oops, with half the wires snapped off the terminal, a blotch of bad solder plus a loose connection where I crimped this red cable to the original/oxidised alternator 14v cable, no wonder there was a huge voltage drop to the battery ?
peeling all the old tape off, most of which was all brittle & very oily inside after 24yrs
so here's the layout of this engine loom.
I had a dilema of whether to keep the 24yr old white/red alternator cable & "black connector block" (neater) and crimp a new section of cable to the alternator end (more connections, more voltage drops, more failures),
or run a single, fresh, thicker cable (less connectors, less resistance, more reliable) from the alternator and simply bolt it to the cars loom separately to the "black connector block" (cos it uses a special blade terminal).
...decided to just replace that cable and began wrapping it all together (I only had red electrical tape ?)
fed it through the engine
you can see where I bolted the new thicker red alternator wire to the white/red wire leading the to the fusebox (bolt was later heatshrinked).
so the original "black connector block" just holds the black/yellow starter solenoid wire now.
I also joined the white/green cable & white/red cable into 1 lug terminal (make it neater) where it's bolted to the battery cable.
tomorrow I'll finish securing the new loom, and the new earthing wire
oops, with half the wires snapped off the terminal, a blotch of bad solder plus a loose connection where I crimped this red cable to the original/oxidised alternator 14v cable, no wonder there was a huge voltage drop to the battery ?
peeling all the old tape off, most of which was all brittle & very oily inside after 24yrs
so here's the layout of this engine loom.
I had a dilema of whether to keep the 24yr old white/red alternator cable & "black connector block" (neater) and crimp a new section of cable to the alternator end (more connections, more voltage drops, more failures),
or run a single, fresh, thicker cable (less connectors, less resistance, more reliable) from the alternator and simply bolt it to the cars loom separately to the "black connector block" (cos it uses a special blade terminal).
...decided to just replace that cable and began wrapping it all together (I only had red electrical tape ?)
fed it through the engine
you can see where I bolted the new thicker red alternator wire to the white/red wire leading the to the fusebox (bolt was later heatshrinked).
so the original "black connector block" just holds the black/yellow starter solenoid wire now.
I also joined the white/green cable & white/red cable into 1 lug terminal (make it neater) where it's bolted to the battery cable.
tomorrow I'll finish securing the new loom, and the new earthing wire
