Category: Electrical

  • Wiper blades and motor

    Wiper blades and motor

    Date: sometime in 2016 The mechanism that drives the wiper blades and motor is fitted under the dashboard with the stubs protruding through the bodywork for blade connections. The wiper motor is switched on from the dashboard. The unit is powered by 12v and is a single speed motor. The motor has three connections: The…

  • Battery and Charging Issues

    Battery and Charging Issues

    Date: 5 Mar 2016 Issues This article focuses on battery and charging issues in standard cars. The principles are similar for modified cars but keep in mind battery size, placement and charging needs may vary. Car does not start, engine turns over but does not fire and turnover is laboured. This indicates a battery fault.…

  • Wire / Cable Specification

    Wire / Cable Specification

    Date: 1 Jan 2023 Issue Defining terms When using modern cable in older cars the current load and cable size differs from the original cables used during manufacture. Wire is a generic term for extruded or stretched metal Cable is a better term when describing the method of conducting power from one point to another.…

  • Dynamo and Regulator

    Dynamo and Regulator

    Article first created: 5 Mar 2016 Dynamo The original cars were fitted with a Lucas C40 dynamo. Positive to negative earth The C40 can be re-polarised if converting the car from positive to negative earth. This is quite straight forward but I cannot remember all the steps. The battery needs to be turned around The…

  • Alternator Conversion

    Alternator Conversion

    Article first created: 5 Mar 2016 Issue This article focusses on cars with standard 1200cc or 1500cc pre-crossflow engines. The principles are similar for modified cars but further consideration will be needed for engine bracketry for the alternator and to align pulleys and ensure fan belt runs correctly. For ease of conversion I purchased a…

  • Battery on standard cars

    Battery on standard cars

    Date: 19 Sep 2018 Issue The original bolt top 037 batteries are no longer available from regular distributors. Type 037 batteries have square pin, bolt on terminals. After a few years (usually 10 years or so) batteries no longer hold their charge and become a liability. Diagnosis Quite simple really, car either struggles to start…