My 3500s project - future daily drive

Beefy looking beast that alternator...also I notice you are a gent fortunate enough to be flushed with the fun coupons...fuel gauge off the scale of "FULL". :)
 
I'd love a fuel gauge that looks like that !!
Great job on the alternator by the way
Gerald
 
Fabulous work there Quagmire :) No discharge at idle with lights etc on, have to be happy with that!

Yes the fuel gauge. I am pretty sure that mine used to look like yours, with full scale deflection. Now my Rover's needle sits at the top of the last little block, going no higher, suggesting that the float within the tank is probably taking on petrol. :(

Yes indeed, those rainy photos. I was in Sydney last week and boy did it rain,..I'll take sun any day. In another life when I become Prime Minister, I will legislate to only allow it to rain at night :LOL:

Ron.
 
Exactly the same reason I gave for upgrading from an 18ACR elsewehere on this site
Any reason for using a 4cyl Land Rover alternator ?
I wonder if the engine runs better because the voltage is higher at tickover?
 
SydneyRoverP6B said:
Fabulous work there Quagmire :) No discharge at idle with lights etc on, have to be happy with that!

Yes the fuel gauge. I am pretty sure that mine used to look like yours, with full scale deflection. Now my Rover's needle sits at the top of the last little block, going no higher, suggesting that the float within the tank is probably taking on petrol. :(

Yes indeed, those rainy photos. I was in Sydney last week and boy did it rain,..I'll take sun any day. In another life when I become Prime Minister, I will legislate to only allow it to rain at night :LOL:

Ron.

I was thinking more along the lines of having the moolah to filler rup
Gerald
 
DaveHerns said:
Any reason for using a 4cyl Land Rover alternator ?

Only because we have three series landrovers in the family, and I like parts interchangeability! I have previously done this with the 65A version of the same alternator on my v8 powered 90. Also due to there being a huge array of LR parts retailers and millions of working LR's generally prices are more competitive than the equivalent part being sold for any Classic car, Mini's being the only real exception I guess.

Finally the 4 cylinder alternators are normally cheaper to buy than the same output "v8" one.

SydneyRoverP6B said:
Yes the fuel gauge. I am pretty sure that mine used to look like yours, with full scale deflection.

GRTV8 said:
I'd love a fuel gauge that looks like that !!

My fuel gauge is always like that - it used to read empty all the time but when I moved my fuel pump to the rear of the car I must have reconnected the wires up arse about face and now it shows full. At least everytime I am out now the gauge gets tested. My float is probably sunk so am thinking I might have to pull it out and try using a lightbulb as a float instead, cant remember where I read that tip - probably on here! :LOL:

I reset the trip and base my expected mileage on my overall mpg figure. The car is always running on reserve at the moment (until I get the cable connected) and so I should in theory have a maximum range of ~350miles. I usually fill up after 300, which is about where I would have to pull reserve if it was working :D
 
Some mechanical type told me way back ,its good to keep your fuel tanks full , Apparently lowers the possibility of rust forming inside the tank . Especially if the vehicle is not used that often . I do it with my diesel trucks . Not the rover .???
 
GRTV8 said:
Some mechanical type told me way back ,its good to keep your fuel tanks full , Apparently lowers the possibility of rust forming inside the tank . Especially if the vehicle is not used that often . I do it with my diesel trucks . Not the rover .???

That was true with the good old petrol.
However with the new fangled ethanol stuff that absorbs moisture i am not so sure. :roll:
 
Demetris said:
GRTV8 said:
Some mechanical type told me way back ,its good to keep your fuel tanks full , Apparently lowers the possibility of rust forming inside the tank . Especially if the vehicle is not used that often . I do it with my diesel trucks . Not the rover .???

That was true with the good old petrol.
However with the new fangled ethanol stuff that absorbs moisture i am not so sure. :roll:

Ideally I think one has to use some sort of petrol additive to go with that full tank of petrol before a car is to be stored for a lengthly period. I'm hoping there'll be one on the market to deal with that dreaded ethanol(E10) we are going to have in our petrol from next year onwards :roll:
 
Well, as per the V8 section I had been getting a stall in this colder weather when coming to a stop. This has been resolved by changing the 20/50 in the carb dashpots to ATF. Car is noticeably leaner though on takeoff, so need to find something slightly thicker, ut thinner than 20/50. Will see what I can find in the garage or over at my parents...

I have also finally fitted my reminder buzzer to prevent me leaving my sidelights on.

This is just a small SPDT relay connected to a 12V buzzer all packaged up in a small case. All you do is test for continuity on the relay when it is unpowered, then wire it such that a feed taken from the sidelight circuit connects to one of these connected legs, and the +ve of the buzzer goes to the other. Connect an ignition switched live and earth to the coil, and solder the -ve of the buzzer to the same earth.

Then when the ignition is on, the coil is powered and the feed from the sidelights is harmlessly switched through the relay to nowhere. As son as you switch off the ignition the relay flicks back and suddenly that +12v from the sidelight circuit can get to earth via the buzzer...
 
If it's too lean on take off then that implies you need a weaker spring, but my guess is that if that is the case there is something else leaning it out...

Rich
 
rockdemon wrote,...
If it's too lean on take off then that implies you need a weaker spring

I am sure Rich that you meant to write a stronger spring :wink:

Transmission fluids are typically straight 10 weight oil, so that allows the piston to rise more rapidly during acceleration, thus the mixture at this time leans out and pinging can result. Constant speed or a slower approach to acceleration will prevent such a rapid leaning out of the mixture. Using a stronger piston spring will also slow the rate at which the piston rises, allowing a richer mixture to ensue during the acceleration phase.

Ron.
 
Errrr. Ron. Piston rising = bigger hole for fuel to escape from. The needle tapers towards the tip and the tip is furthest from the piston.

Chris
 
Back to basics here I think!

The carb spring above the piston determines the height to which the piston rises for a given suction. It has no effect on the rate at which the piston assumes the new position. The oil viscosity in the damper affects the degree of damping. It's really there to prevent "flutter" as individual induction strokes from each cylinder cause a rise and fall in manifold vacuum. A side effect of this is that it delays very slightly any change in the size of the jet opening when the throttle opening is altered.

The shape of the needle determines the size of the opening in the jet. The needle is fattest - ie smallest hole in jet - at the root which is closest to the piston. The needle is slimmest - ie biggest hole in jet - at the tip, ie furthest away from the piston. Fuel delivery is a function of airflow rate, vacuum and needle position. In all circumstances, to accelerate the engine you need a richer mixture, hence the piston and needle have to rise to withdraw the needle from the jet.

Chris
 
Back to the problem in hand! If the engine coughs or dies at a change in fuelling, then one possibility is that the piston has reacted at the wrong speed. That is solely down to the viscosity of the oil in the carb damper.

Another possibility is that the mixture setting - ie height of the needle within the jet - is wrong. This is adjusted by raising or lowering the jet using the mixture adjustment screw (HIF) or mixture nut (HS).

For my money, idle mixture sounds to be a tad on the weak side.

Chris
 
Don't get me wrong here guys, it is still rapid- just not quite so rapid as with the 20/50. I have no pinging or misses either.

Idle is so smooth at 750rpm that you can't feel if the engine is running, again no missing, popping etc so I am confident that the mixture is pretty damn close in steady state conditions.
 
It cheered me up no end seeing this tooling round the wonderful (!) Kingston one way system this morning... I was able to have a good stare at it whilst you were waiting under the railway bridge for those blasted lights to go green...!!!

Great to see such a wonderful car getting used... :wink:
 
Thanks grifterkid, Kingston's one way system is not in my list of favourite places at the mo, finished a long week (20hrs overtime) to come home last night to a penalty notice for stopping in the yellow box on Clarence street.

I seem to remember getting caught out when the traffic unexpectedly stopped one evening when it wouldnt have done normally :oops: , only to round the bend and find roadworks which were causing the hold up. Took me a total of 20 seconds from entering to exiting, no idea how long I was stationary for. Bastards! Not worth challenging though as I can't really argue that the traffic conditions I experienced would normally have allowed me to have crossed, fact is i didnt have a clear space the other side of the box to slot into, and ended up getting charged £65 for it! Thats life I guess. :roll:

On the car side, things are running well.

I got some good stuff for Christmas, including membership to the Rover P6 Club and two new rear tyres! Need to get them fitted.

I am currently working on refurbing my spare wheel to go on as a main, as it turns out that the rear right is unbalacable due to being slightly buckled, not by me I might add! The spare is silver, whilst the wheels on the car are gunmetal centres with polished rims. Cleaning it up ready for paint is taking a while as I dont get much time on it at the moment.

Hopefully work should be better next week and my wife is away on business so I should get some quality time in the evenings to crack on. Will take some pictures as I go. :wink:
 
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