R Cubed

To check your fuel level

:red::red::red::red::red::red:

I wrote too soon!

 

The 5-mile trip to the prom went fine, however on the way back it began doing the same coughing and spluttering thing. The owner pulled over and as he was trying to call me it cured itself and he drove home with no further problems. On Saturday he drove it 20-odd miles to the Capel show with no trouble. I've not yet heard whether he got back ok.

 

Someone suggested excessive alternator output as I measured 14.5V at the battery at high revs. This does seem a bit in excess of the 13.8V I've always understood to be the normal maximum. However I have no idea if or how this could be the cause of the problem.

 

I plan to fit a spark tester in line so that next time it misbehaves he can pop the bonnet to see if it is losing spark.

 

- MG

It seems the newer alternators do put out 14.4 volts have seen this on several cars now dont think thats a problem, one other thing are you sure the coil is not a ballasted one and is being over volted this might cause it to short out !!

But what do I know...

I would not knock NGK spark plugs until you are sure the ones you are using are not fakes. It has been widely known for several years that there are a lot of counterfeit NGK plugs in circulation. I generally use Champion but also NGK and never had a problem. Probably due to the fact I but them from a reputable supplier. If you buy these plugs from places such as Ebay and they are cheap then a good chance they are not genuine.

Check out the makers warning, http://www.ngk-sparkplugs.jp/english/techinfo/fake/

Quite agree, I have always bought most stuff from my local motor factors which have been going for more years than I can remember, did discuss with them at the time and they were going to look in to it but I was assured by them they source all their parts from reputable suppliers.

Still wont touch NGK any more.

Interesting comment what was the problem with the NGK plugs ?

 

I've got a bit of a mission at the moment about some manufactures plugs and their unsuitability for older engines so I'd be keen to know your findings.

 

Pete

Well, it was not on anything military, but an old E reg sierra 2Ltr pinto, our daily driver, about march time decided to carry out some maintenance and changed the plugs (NGK), leads, dist cap and fuel filter as I had not done any of this for some years, no reason to change any of it, did not have any running issues at all just though it was about time to do it.

Come november time it started getting colder like it does and the wife started saying it was getting hard to start in the mornings, (never ever had anything like this with it before) it did however eventually start and ran fine even when hot also would restart when hot too.

Steadily got worse and worse till it would not start. Discounting the plugs as they were "new NGK's" tried everything else ran out of ideas so got a friend round to help and we started working through it in a methodical manor. First thing he said was lets see the spark, I took a plug out and gapped it and he saw it was an NGK plug, he said well thats your problem, pointing to the plug, ? I said, ngk throw them away and get some proper ones. We did test the spark and to say it was weak and tiny and only a yellow glimmer was an understatement. I had kept the old motorcraft plugs which we tried and lo and behold got a masive fat blue spark. !!!!!! fitted the old ones back in and had no more problems.

Another friend who has a Triumph 5SW and after an engine rebuild he could not get more than about 10 miles out of a plug, he use to swop them round, but it got worse and worse down to only a couple of miles !!!! they were NGK's too changed to Champion's and I think he is still on the first plug he put in !!

Draw your own conclusions to this but I will not ever touch another NGK plug.

Hi Mike, glad you got home ok from A and E.

Are you sure its an ignition problem ? Did it do this before you fitted the electric fuel pump ? might be too powerfull and is over coming the float valve in the carb and flooding the engine, if so changing the carb would not help. Try using a gravity feed to the carb to rule this out. other than that its down to the electrical bits, need to be changed for known working items. One last thing make sure you have not got NGK plugs in the engine they can cause all kinds of problems, as I know.......

Good luck

It looks like Cowleaze Road is a bit on the narrow side via google maps on street view or is an optical illusion ? there are various cars parked on one side miaking it look quite a squeeze.

What? He can't walk on water then

No no no, he can just wave his arms and part the water and just walk across the base.:bow::bow:

Less than a week to go :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :cool2: :cool2: :cool2: :cool2:

Sadly not Cubed :-( the laws have changed soooooooooooo much now - it easier to fly a light aircraft and film from that.

Well Jack, Best you get on and sort one out then

Glad to see its all progressing. Hope one or all of your film people have access to a drone or 3 for that ariel view down the convoys when we are in the countryside with that type of technology it would be a much too good a opportunity to miss.

Drones all the way.

Various friends have used both and do a good job even with matching to original colours, as well as using standard paint codes.

http://www.cromadex.com and http://www.express-paints.co.uk

Great, thanks for that.

Hi all, I have got a vehicle which is currently SORNed, due to expire soon, but I have heard that they now last indefinitely untill you re TAX or scrap.

Does anyone know if this is the case.

Cheers

If that is the situation as above reply, use a plate with loop in the front of it and bolt to concrete floor, but floor needs to be in good unbroken condition and fairly thick. I would never bolt to a wall as you could just pull the bricks or blocks out which the anchor is fixed to.

Would need either dimensions or one to copy but I'm seeing the chap Thurs so I'll see what he thinks

Cheers for getting back, shell and shell case together 32 inches and dia 105mm top 10 inches of shell taper from 105mm to a point.

I do have one as a copy too.

WLF's were made to make Jimmy owners feel small and insignificant. :embarassed: Diamond T's are for aspiring Ward owners. Jimmys are merely "my first truck". Any more questions?

ah but each to their own, hmmm where would a WLF owner put 2 1/5 tons of jerry can full of fuel used to keep their thirsty engines running !!!! oh yes they need a jimmy, like the red bull express hmmm didnt see many WLF's in there...

Nice work as I say each to their own

Yeah that could be done Andy. Gimme a shout if you need

Hi sorry to highjack this but would you have any idea how much the cost would be for a 105 howitzer shell and case simmilar to the pics posted but with a brass case on the bottom. could do with about 20 ish if the price is good.

Any reference to them being off the Series IIA or IIB forward controls as I seem to remember these being 5 stud but having different wheels to the standard series Land Rovers.

Good starting point, real nice. try to find markings under the paint before blasting as once done you wont see them :nut:

Post lots of pics as you go.

Great hints and tips thanks, I always follow the Tony tip of fuel in the carb top from standing , as you say this saves loads of cranking, but have forgotten to check earths , and did not know that 6v should be a greater core , so will check:thanx:

Try to remember John, that the earth straps are just the return path of the supply cables so should be the same size as the battery cables, ie big.

I have had several six volt military vehicles over the years and still have a Ford GPW and Cadillac Staff Car. Both are still 6v, in most cases poor starting and lighting is purely down to either bad earthing or the wrong earth cables/battery. My GPW was a sluggish starter and I considered the 12v route but then discovered an American website which explained the above causes. I hadn't realised that 6v earth leads are virtually twice the thickness of 12v ones and sometime in its life my jeep had had modern 12v earths fitted. I changed the leads to proper 6v ones and my jeep actually starts better than virtually all my friends running 12v. Most cannot believe mine is 6v. Again the Caddy is 6v and it is a 5.7 litre flathead V8 no problems at all, both have good lighting and start virtually instantly. As long as your battery is the correct amperage your starter is in good condition and your leads are both correct 6v items and earthed properly there really is nothing to be gained by going to 12v. As they said if 6v was good enough when they were being shot at they are good enough now. Try checking your system from top to bottom especially the items mentioned first you may save yourself a few quid :-D

Just an addition to all this, dont forget there are two separate parts to starting.

(1) the circuit from the battery to the starter motor which has the big cables.

(2) the wiring from the starter to the ammeter through the ignition switch to the connection on the coil, this is probably more important than the starter circuit as this feeds the coil and you need all the volts you can get when cranking the engine over try measuring the volts when someone else is cranking the engine over you will be quite surprised how much is lost.

Before I steam in and purchase one of the conversion kits available , I though I would use the power of the forum to ask those that have moved from 6 to 12 volt their opinion .

Sorry to purists , but Starting reliability and better lights push my decision.

So , is it worth the purchase of a kit or can with the adjustment of the regulator and replacement of the dynamo to 12 v with battery and Bulbs do the job ?

Love to know good / bad experiences and comments, thank you.

Hi John, when I converted my gmc I used a Ford sierra alternator and used the original dynamo pully of the original dynamo, pulled it off and pushed it on the ford alternator fitted a treat, jammy wasnt in it :shocked:

As many have said leave the starter as it is, at 12 volts it turns quick but for much less time than winding it over on 6 volts.

The ignition issue I decided to steer clear of electronic as if it plays up its harder to sort out in the field and a coil and point have been used for years and years. I used a 4.2 Ltr Jag coil as it is a very close match to the gmc engine spec ie ( 4.2 ltrs and a straight 6 so the refresh time for the coil to recover from one discharge to a spark plug would be about the same ) also used the jag condenser in the distributor, never ever had any starting issues, but remember to prime the fuel system before starting.

As others have said connections and rough cables dont help, when my truck was 6 volts I had all new battery cables and when cranking was only getting about 3 volts at the coil connection so not much of a spark this turned out to be a high resistance connection inside the ignition switch on the dash !!!

The battery cables I used were 50mm csa from a welding supplier, much cheaper than the vehicle wiring suppliers, vasaline on all connections and good earth straps battery to chassis and engine / gearbox to chassis dont forget to earth the cab as well it all helps.

This is all incidental to me now as I think mine would now still start even it it was under water :cool2:

Good luck

Any more pics need more pics.....

Cheers. I'd be very interested to know what sort of job that was - thinking of something military and bigger / older (so Bernard may allow the off topic stroll......:bow:).

Hi NOS, for my GMC I have used the same box and made a gear leaver from scratch no real issues if you are a dab hand in fabrication I will try and post some pics on the engine conversion thread. Now knocked up getting on to 1000 miles with it so far.

cool thanks, did find the directions on the web site after looking for it.

see you all there. What sort of time is best to get there as I think the gates open at 9.30am so need to be ste up before then !!!!