Rusty Custard

[Carboy0]

Ah well there you are then Charles!

If it’s not possible to source a Mk2 Stag wiper switch, it could be possible to add a latching relay to trigger the intermittent wipe functions and use the standard (sic) Big Saloon switch, one flick to latch the relay and trigger the intermittent relay and a second flick to turn the intermittent off.

Hopefully a sensible update for a Big Saloon.

[Carboy0]

Went to Stoneleigh today with two parts in mind to shop for, a wiper switch with loom and a plain 2500 grill badge. I’d only been there 15 minutes when my mobile rang, it was johnnydog, “You know you were looking for a plain 2500 grill badge? There’s one on the stand in the club shed”. As it happened we were only about 50 feet apart at the time and a little later got the badge for £10 - bargain. Thanks John

Later on wandering the stalls looking for an early Mk2 wiper switch with the rubber plug arrangement, I was amazed at the spread, everything from £80 cleaned and bagged down to £12 with a sticky action and the loom covered in Scotchlocks. I settled on a clean and free-moving unit for £15. I’ll set to on the intermittent and wash-wipe conversion and document it here.

[johnnydog]

No problem Chris!
It's always good when find items you were after, and even items you weren't after but the price is right!
You can drive home with a smile on your face knowing that the journey wasn't in vain!
As I did with my nos genuine Laycock clutch cover (suitable for a 2.5 / 2500 with the blue paint brush marking). Not a recon either (as many now are) - excellent! Not exactly a tenner, but considering how rare they are in nos condition, I definitely drove home happy!
It was a good day for the Register too! Very busy stand most of the day with a good number of lapsed members re-joining!

[Carboy0]

Not much done since lockdown, however with the car 82 miles from home it’s not really surprising. However my RBRR colleague Martin has fitted the LED boot lights (because you only need to find things when it’s dark), drained and refilled the O/D gearbox, changed O/D filter. Fitted appropriate speedo drive to match 3.45:1 diff, the old one would be 16% out. Fitted 2kg fire extinguisher.

[Carboy0]

Update on last post. Partner in crime Martin jacked up one rear wheel today, to test the gearbox and overdrive are OK after the oil and O/D filter change, together with the change of speedo drive to match the new diff ratio.

Overdrive works in 3rd gear, but no speedo! Undo cable on the back of the speedo - cable not turning!

Get the car up in the air again, disconnect the cable from the gearbox. Output end of drive wheel turning with engine running and in gear. Check cable end seems OK. Refit old speedo drive - all working fine.

Compare speedo drives. Existing one has a smaller hole for the cable than the new drive, the new drive is physically longer and also the cable does not have a threaded end unlike the picture in the parts manual.

Martin left it to me to call Overdrive Repair Services Ltd who are thankfully still working during the lockdown.

It would seem that our gearbox speedo drive and cable are for a J Type fitted to a Ford Transit. The key being that the hole in the Triumph drive is for a 0.125” cross section cable inner, and the Ford cable is 0.105”. So the Triumph drive will never connect with the narrower Ford cable. On the spot the guy offers to send out the Transit 17 tooth speedo drive and asked us to send the Triumph one back - will do! Great service from Overdrive Repair Services Ltd - recommended.

It remains to be seen whether the O/D is also ex Ford Transit or not. But as long as it works, I’m not too fussed.

[Carboy0]

The new Transit Drive arrived in double quick time, fitted perfectly, speedo works fine - another win.

[Carboy0]

Ever onwards - this isolation stuff is getting in the way of prepping the car. Ages ago (last year) I said that I would document fitting headlamp relays, I finally got around to doing something about it, as poor old Martin has been working on his own.

I saw a relay conversion kit on eBay, it works by taking the feed from the nearside dipped/main beam connector off the back of the headlight, by fitting a matching plug. It seemed like a good idea although was no provision for the inner main beam only lights. I bought one for £12 to get most of the hardware I would need, with a plan to splice in some extra leads for the inner headlights.

The trigger signal from the existing loom routes through two relays which then power the headlights, taking a new feed straight off the battery. The extra loom runs across the front of the car behind the grill and plugs directly onto the headlights. This renders all the standard Triumph headlight loom redundant, so that can either be stripped out or made safe to avoid any shorts; we are making safe so that it can all be converted back if required at a later point.

The quality of the new loom is very debatable. The relays, relay holders, plugs and sockets are fine, but the wiring is very poor. On first inspection the cables look fat and capable of taking the power requirements of 4 main beams. However in the process of splicing in the cables for the inner headlights, I realised that’s it all plastic shielding and very little copper wire. I suspect that the power lead from the battery is no more than 10 amp rating and the individual headlamp leads and earths are 5 amp rating.

As it happens, from another project I had some 35 amp cable for the battery lead and 17.5 amp Lucas colour coded wiring, so I completely rebuilt the loom using the original hardware. I have sent it to Martin to fit. I’ll report back on my efforts later.

[Carboy0]

The interior light bulb had blown, so in the spirit of further lighting upgrades, we have fitted an LED replacement to the old festoon bulb.

[Carboy0]

Relay fitment

1. Instructions for non-electrically minded colleague.

[Carboy0]

Martin followed my instruction to the letter.

We bagged the old unused but still live wiring loom in zip-lock bags and tucked them out of the way to avoid any short circuits.