DRL152K Marina based roadster rebuild

[martinclan56]

The plan was to complete the coach painting of the body but, after a bit of a problem, I have temporarily put that on hold. Instead I have been doing the many small jobs required before the fitting of the windscreen.

I have done the final fit of the scuttle top to the bulkhead sealing it in place to (hopefully) discourage water leaks. I had a problem in that the temperature capiliary and oil pressure lines wanted to be in the same place as the demister hose. Eventually solved by turning the gauge through 90 degrees. Well it will at least be a talking point...
demister_hose by Robin Martin, on Flickr
dual_gauge_90 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

I have fitted a rear veiw mirror from a motorcycle which has a long arm so it means you can actually see something useful in it even with the hood and sidescreens fitted. I made a plate to fix it to the windscreen frame - it looks a bit ugly ATM but should be fine once it is painted the body colour. I also fitted some wind wings. These are mounted on the inside of the windscreen so thay can be left in place when the hood and sidescreens are on. Tapping the windscreen frame for the fixings definitely better done before the glass is fitted!
wind_wing2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
mirror_and_windwing by Robin Martin, on Flickr

And solved the problem of the front of the hood tipping back when it is tensioned. Without this fix, I think there was the distinct possibility of the hood coming unclipped from the cant rail when at speed. I understand YKC used to make some plastic wedges for this purpose but I have used a couple of lengths of heater hose fixed to the inside of the cant rail which do the same job. You can clearly see the difference in how the top of the hood fits in the pictures.
hood_before by Robin Martin, on Flickr
hood_after by Robin Martin, on Flickr
hood_wedge by Robin Martin, on Flickr

And finally some opinions required :-) I have rescued the original stamped chassis number from the under door closing plate which I no longer have as my doors are larger extending all the way down to the chassis. I thought it would be quite cool to fix it somewhere visible as a homage to the original kit before I rebuilt everything. What about the dashboard. Here perhaps?
chassis_number1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
Or here maybe?
chassis_number2 by

[martinclan56]

Power supply is a nackered car battery. The two gizmos are a couple of resistors to limit the plating current. A variable resistor would have been better. The more current the faster, but rougher, the plating is. As I understand it - I am no expert!

[HairyDave]

A little more information, please. What is your power supply, and what are the two Racal gizmos?

[danny_nelson]

Always interesting to see something different.

[greyV8pete]

Just love the low tech plating set up and the good results it has produced.

[martinclan56]

In between applying the numerous coats required with the coach paint I have decided to use, I have been getting on with some of the numerous other little jobs.

First a little home chemistry to nickel plate the door hinges. Done with vinegar (acetic acid) a nickel anode, and a 12 volt battery.
Unfortunately the door hinges were already pitted with rust so the results aren't fantastic, but at least they shouldn't rust! They now look a bit like stainless steel.


nickel_plating by Robin Martin, on Flickr

hinges by Robin Martin, on Flickr

I have also completed the resto of my old school Triumph steering wheel, finishing it off with a leather cover from Ebay. What you can't see is that I have replaced the horn button with a little wireless electronic gizzmo which operates the horn - err - wirelessly. It just happens to fit exactly where the horn button used to be.

steering-wheel by Robin Martin, on Flickr

Now I must get on with the painting but don't hold your breath.....

[andyf]

For those that have Pinto engines fitted be careful there are a lot of cases where 3rd party distributors have stripped the oil pump drive gear so there are a few recommended manufacturers that you should stick to. As for the Magnetronic versus Optronic comparison all I can say is that even when the hall effect versions were working the results were better than points but nowhere near as good as what I'm witnessing with the Optronic setup.

[lil_red_roadster]

Aldon do several variations of distributor for the B series, depending on location of vacuum take-off, different camshafts & with/without Igniter module. Expensive compared to alternatives but worth a look (I have one fitted).

[MOC Chair]

I fitted a Magnetronic to my pinto engined Cabrio and it was still going strong when I sold the car 16 years later. I fitted an Aldon Igniter with Flamethrower coil to my Berlinetta this year after getting fed up with the points.

[listerjp2]

It is expensive but yes they are manufactured in England The price put me off the last time I replaced the Accuspark unit with the Luminition Magnetronic one but that also only lasted a few years

I've had my Accuspark one in for some 8 years now, no problem.

Adrian

[andyf]

It is expensive but yes they are manufactured in England The price put me off the last time I replaced the Accuspark unit with the Luminition Magnetronic one but that also only lasted a few years

[martinclan56]

If you want to go electronic I would recommend the Luminition Optronic setup. I have had a couple of the hall effect types and they have failed in about 2-3 years each. Having installed the Optronic setup the performance is totally different and so much better than it has ever been.

Gosh it's expensive! Probably means though that it is NOT made in China

[andyf]

If you want to go electronic I would recommend the Luminition Optronic setup. I have had a couple of the hall effect types and they have failed in about 2-3 years each. Having installed the Optronic setup the performance is totally different and so much better than it has ever been.

[martinclan56]

However the Accuspark electronic kit to fit inside your rebuilt dizzy is well worth installing to replace the points and condenser.

If you type in this deliberately misspelled word " Lucal 25D" on AliExpress. They do the kit for approximately 1/2 the price of Accuspark & mine arrived in Accuspark packaging for £22.

Yes I was thinking about doing that. Appart from anything else the quality of the points available nowadays leaves much to be desired....

[Ye Ol Ripper]

I have found that the Chinese distributors from Accuspark, Powerspark & the MG club are actually incorrect for the B series engines , having the incorrect advance curve as you have now discovered. All originate from China.

Don't forget they also fit the A series engines.

They also had various advance curves.


However the Accuspark electronic kit to fit inside your rebuilt dizzy is well worth installing to replace the points and condenser.

If you type in this deliberately misspelled word " Lucal 25D" on AliExpress. They do the kit for approximately 1/2 the price of Accuspark & mine arrived in Accuspark packaging for £22.