NYE 751L - 1972 1850 auto

[James467]

Thanks, it will so I er... well I got a bit distracted by Britney Spears on MTV so I ordered one on my wife's eBay account. So my wife bought me an alternator!!

Winner winner chicken dinner!!

Those cappings look great, we'll have to have a conversation about them at Stoneleigh.

[xvivalve]

That's very cheap. Made in China?

I could have saved you both the postage and collected those for you handing them to you next weekend.

[James467]

Really? I had a look at the price list and they were £47.99 Alun.

I'll cancel the order if you can do it cheaper than the £43.45 I paid.

[xvivalve]

No, I meant it, that is cheap.

As for the £47.99 (old price list), since the old reconditioner had a stroke the cheapest I can get an alternator comprehensively done at cost locally is fifty quid...which is why I've not had any done recently.

[Toledo Man]

I managed to do some road testing done after sunset and the ignition light doesn't come on at all even though the voltmeter goes down at idle with the headlights on. I had to re-tension the fan belt because it would slip when setting off. I also managed to get another coat of varnish on the door capping.

[Dolly-Dimple]

Good after tea progress Dave bet the capping are looking great New alternator sounds like its doing the trick

[Toledo Man]

I'm getting there with the last door capping. I've just put the 4th coat of varnish on. I've been having a look at the front door hinge in the parts catalogue and the body side of the hinge is bolted in from behind. All Dolomite front door hinges are the same so I should have something in my spares collection that I can use.

[Toledo Man]

I went up into the loft and I dug out my front door hinges.

All these came off my Sapphire 1500fwd (GGN 573J) so they're suitable for what I need. I need to free them off so I can see if they can be used. I just hope that I can remove the old hinge with the door in situ. I'd rather not take the door off if I don't have to.

[Dolly-Dimple]

Great stuff Dave at least you don't need to source any now

[Toledo Man]

I got the hinge fitted but it was a pig of a job.

I gave the hinges I dug out a soak in PlusGas. I tried to take out the parcel shelf to get to the A post panel and had most of the bolts out before I realized that I could get to the nuts for the body side of the top hinge once I'd removed the ducting for the offside fresh air vent. I dropped a few things during removal down the inside of the A post but I was able to retrieve them from the bottom. I had to loosen the bolts on the bottom hinge to get myself a bit more room to get the top hinge out. Once I'd got the hinge in the door needed adjusting and I've got it as good as it can be. At least the door doesn't drop down when I open it and it closes better than before so that's one job crossed off the list. One advantage of trying to remove the parcel shelf was that I was able to have a sort through the junk that had accumulated over the years and it is looking tidier now.

The door capping has now had 4 coats of varnish so that job can be crossed off the list too.

[Toledo Man]

I've decided to bring the exhaust problem to the top of my list. I'm having no luck in finding a replacement rear section so it is looking like I'll have to invest in a stainless exhaust. Unfortunately, the Club supply has gone belly up otherwise I'd have ordered one. I've even PMd Dolly-Nut to see if he's got anything in his parts emporeum. I've seen his ebay listing so I might try contact him via that avenue.

[Toledo Man]

Oh feck! The battery went flat. I had to jump start it off the Astra, went to the local Lidl for a couple of things and when I got back in the car it wouldn't start. I got a family member to come out so I could get a jump start. As soon as I got home, I put the battery on charge. This was a new battery a few months back and it was fine until the old alternator started to fail so that is probably why the battery has run down. Since I fitted the new alternator, it has only had short journeys so it hasn't had a decent run to charge it up.

[James467]

Swap you a brand new 038 Lucas Premium Car Battery 36Ah, fully charged, for a set of Sprint alloys!!

This https://www.tayna.co.uk/038-Lucas-Premi ... P8927.html

[Toledo Man]

I'm sure the battery on mine is fine. I took it out for a decent run and the alternator's putting out a decent charge (an indicated 13v) even with the headlights on. The ignition light goes out when the engine is started and stays off when it is running. I took out the washer bottle bracket and the strap is broken and threadbare. Mine has the motor mounted on the bracket. Also the bottle is lacking the proper lid for the filler. These 2 are on my list of jobs which seems to be growing as I find more small jobs that need doing which doesn't really detract from the driving experience.

The job list is like this:
Replace the rear exhaust section.
Fit the correct downpipe/autobox bracket (157568)
Fix the strap on the washer bottle bracket and get the correct filler lid.
Fit some speakers on the rear parcel shelf.
Paint the headlining.
Replace the diaphragm on the driver's seat.
Fix/replace the radio aerial.
Fit a bracket for the trip reset knob.
Fit a switch for the heated rear window and wire in a warning light for it.

[Toledo Man]

I forgot to metion the throttle springs (on my handwritten list). I've just bagged a set of 3 on ebay. Thought I'd get them while I can. Exhaust still remains a high priority. Something else I've been toying with is an LED conversion. I've seen some warm white LED car bulbs on ebay which will fit our cars so I'm willing to take the plunge and give them a go. Little current consumption, long bulb life and a light output similar to the original filament bulbs. What more can you ask for?