DFD702K.

The coil lead is supplied by Sussex Promotions - HERE. It is basically the old penny inserted in the wire device from many years ago. They are also the company which will supply you some lead musket balls wrapped in chicken mesh to drop into your fuel tank in order to act as a lead substitute.

Splitfire was a brand of spark plug using a bifurcated earth electrode, supposedly to improve spark quality. They were pursued for misleading advertising in the US and are now rarely seen.

Chris.

I'm curious about your LED headlamps. There are hundreds out there, some good others worse than useless or with illegal beam patterns. All the good ones seem to have fairly elaborate heatsinks to ensure the LEDs don't overheat. They typically use a fan or have sufficient aluminium fins to dissipate the heat. I wonder how these can work in the crab which like many cars of that age have the rear of the lamps exposed to road dirt and moisture? Did you have to fit a deflector?

Baulking when changing down to second gear especially when the oil is cold is a known issue and can be improved slightly by adjusting the idle speed or matching the revs. Worth checking that the clutch is fully disengaging and not being impeded by the carpet.  The issue with the choke can have many causes but usually indicates the engine is not tuned correctly.

David

Regarding the intake - it's certainly made a difference. The engine will pull from lower speeds in a given gear (from 25mph in top) without bogging & complaining and given the evidence - when the mixture is sorted out - will accelerate better in the gears too.
The vacuum advance position on the dizzy is an odd one but I don't think it's anything to do with the bad running because this started the very first run after I changed the filter. It was never a problem before I did that - but the minute that filter went in the problems started.

Apologies for the essay.

Rosie, do you own or have access to a voltmeter (multimeter etc)either digital or analogue?

regards

David

I understand, many do not like electrics, especially car electrics not many people do! However, it may well be that your odd fuel and temperature gauge readings are down to the same basic issue as the dim headlamps and slow flasher unit.

If this is the case, and I think it highly probable, then the issue is either a problem with the charging system, dynamo / voltage regulator or with the wiring.

We are not talking about replacing wiring looms, just taking a couple of voltage readings to discount a problem with the voltage regulator or dynamo. It can be a simple as a bad earth on the regulator that wasn't uncommon even when the cars were 5 years old and is a 5 minute fix - it was a design fault.

If you want to have a go, let us know and we will talk you through some simple checks.

If the dynamo and voltage regulator check out OK then the issue would seem to relate to the wiring/switches/connectors/ fuses.

As you seem to like numbers, here are some to play with. The original headlamps were dim, let’s say they were standard 40/45 watt bulbs /sealed beam units.

At full brightness you would expect around 13v at the headlight allowing for a charging voltage of 13.8v and typical maximum acceptable l wiring /switch losses with the engine running.

The fact they were dim suggests they may have only been receiving (at a guess) 11v.

There is therefore a loss of 2.8 volts (13.8-11). Using the formula power (watts) = volt x current. A single 40 watt bulb at 13.8v takes 2.9 amps or 5.8 amps for the pair. The power loss in this example is 2.8v x 5.8v = 16.2 watts. I have a small soldering iron rated at 15 watts that reaches a temperature of well over >250C.

If the loss occurs over a large area eg along the length of a wire then it probably won’t be an issue, but usually if in a wire it is at a small portion that is damaged or corroded. Similarly if it at a connector it could create a hazard by heating up as much as my soldering iron! That’s why I suggest any electrical issues are resolved rather than taking short cuts.

Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable not knowing the cause of an electrical issue because of the potential fire risk.


Do you have a link for the LED headlights, I've not been able to find any so far suitable for the hostile environment of the crab /mini etc.

David

Well it's been fun today. Charged the battery and it started no problem cold - then it wouldn't start warm. No mystery problem. I flooded it by trying to start a warm/hot engine on choke. Swapped the spitfire lead out - and found an unexpected advantage to that item, minute I put the standard lead in bearings started making a racket - I think the multiple spark period means less of a hit on the bearing at ignition.

As to the tuning. I only started having a problem the second I put that new air filter on. Nothing else was touched and previous to that it'd sit at 70mph all day (and more but I didn't want to push it). It may well be set up odd but that is not the cause of the lean running because that ONLY happened within 2 minutes of changing that filter. Before that it was absolutely fine - if not on the rich side .I will get it professionally timed & tuned in such a way as I can learn how to do it.

LED headlights - I got a pair of them from Ebay. There are two versions Chrome & Dark Chrome, and various connectors, you want the green ones with the three pins that look like a H4 bulb connector, I'd recommend normal chrome, not dark, goes better with the car. These will *not* work with positive earth cars (unless, possibly you make up a switching cable but I wouldn't try it). The ones I bought, the listing isn't available but the nearest I can find are 263603359092 on eBay (you won't need the mounting but it could be useful for spares). The writing on the lens goes to the top with the biggest round lens at the bottom. You will need to buy two. Unless you find a listing for the same headlight for the jeep or landrover, those will come as a pair.
This morning I had headlights, wipers, indicators and fan going (for what it's worth) - with the old sealed beams the poor thing would have been suffering - with these nothing was slowing down. They definitely make a difference.
I wouldn't worry about durability, the entire rear casing is aluminium - and looking at that listing it includes a LED driver which mine did not - which will probably solve the flicker at low idle mine have but will be fun to try and shoehorn in there. You can also get them with DRL and indicators built in but I'd avoid the indicator ones because they'll be a pest to wire (you'll have to only wire the outboard flasher on each headlight). These are DOT marked like mine. Best not to buy ones that aren't DOT or CE marked. They do take a little getting used to, and they're a little worse to use where it's lit (ie streetlights) but they're sooo much better in full dark its literally like night & day. You *might* need to drop beam aim a little.