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[Herald1360]

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Interestingly, earlier this summer I'd done the Hugo Holden "freewheel diode" "improvement" to stop the sparking across that contact
https://www.series2club.co.uk/new_forum/index.php/topic,10998.msg119730.html#msg119730

Now I wonder whether the sparking across that regulator contact actually performs a cleaning action, which is no longer occurring, because this is the first time I've ever had a contact-resistance problem on that relay.

That sounds like attempting to gild a lily! There's already a resistor across the regulator contacts which would damp down any field collapse inductive kicks quite effectively. I suspect you're correct about any residual sparking helping to keep the contacts happy.

[g6anz]

Odd that sparking in the regulator box keeps the contacts clean when the exact opposite happens in the contact breaker. In the contact breaker case a capacitor across the points helps to reduce sparking and premature wear, but nothing or only a resistor in the regulator box.   

[andrewR]

Yep its interesting. The "snubber" resistor in the back of the regulator is ~66 Ohms, and actually it was that which got me home on sunday, allowing just a trickle of field current through, so at >2500 RPM I could get just enough current to cover the ignition draw.

The Hugo Holden regulator documents are a really good read. I did the modification with a suitable schottky diode, and the sparking on that regulator is visibly reduced away to nothing. I'll keep an eye on it. It could just be purely coincidental that a piece of dirt happened to get in there recently, while its worked flawlessly for years before. But if a high-resistance contact happens regularly again a few times, I might just pop off the regulator, and remove the freewheel diode that Hugo recommends fitting. Its an easy removal process, just snip it out or drop it off with the soldering iron, but it requires removing the regulator from the vehicle, and there are 2 tiny nuts round the back of the bracket that are a bit fiddle. Not a job to do in a rush, or you'll end up with the teeny nuts lost in the grass.

Easy to diagnose in the field (pun) now. Just remove the regulator cover with the engine idling, pump the throttle a dab (by hand under the bonnet), and the cut-in relay should operate with perhaps double the idle revs, or even less. If it doesn't cut in until the engine is really revving, the field current isn't working properly.

[Alice B]

Got a new shiny new MOT OK with the obligatory advisory of an oil leak, 

[Bonnet-rouge]

Trip to local supermarket to collect some pallets …

[Ironchicken64]

Finished welding the last little pieces on the Bulkhead. I was hoping to re paint the whole thing but I don't think that will happen this season. Happy with the progress I have made this year. 

[CliffCharter]

Spent the afternoon ripping out the skylight that the previous owner had installed as it leaks like a sieve! Cleaned the hole up, primed and painted DBG ready for sealing up properly.

[Cedric]

Investigating a loss of clutch function from December (no rush for this things), had found previously that the housings for the spherical bearing on the clutch operating shaft had split. Finally got the shaft free, and this was the state of the old bearing. How it ever worked, I don’t know

Clutch operating shaft re-seated with new bush, housings and felt washers (thanks to Messrs Blanchard); forward and reverse motion restored! Also had the rocker cover off to investigate what I thought might be a sticking valve. Nothing amiss under the cover, and with a new (thicker) gasket on, the noise disappeared. Result!

[Genem]

After the tracking/tyre scrubbing issue on the way to Cheddar, a new tubeless tyre & rim to replace the gubbed one. Probably about time anyway, the date on it was 1998...
On the other side I've put the old but so far unused spare, so I have two "new" tyres on the front and a usable but part-worn spare.

The Tyres are General Super All Grip radials in 7.50r16. I find them a good off-road tyre with equally good "road manners" and no-where near as noisy as the Xtra-grip copies you may find. The two "new" ones are tubeless, he two rear one and the spare are tubed.

Overall 7.50 r16 is increasingly difficult to obtain, my local tyre retailer said they did not sell them, full stop. That one tyre, bought online, cost me twice as much as the last tyre I bought for the Merc !  The local retailer did, with some reluctance, agree to fit and balance the tyre even though they had not provided it, probably because they get my custom for the cars...   

[ChrisJC]

Drove from John O'Groats back home to Peterborough.
 

Wiper performance appalling though - will start another thread, and probably one about condensation too!

Chris.

[Eve]

Got it an MOT pass. No advisories.
 

[Herald1360]

Drove to the Severn Valley pub meet, 72 mile round trip. Even overtook a couple of slow cars on the way there!   

[Genem]

Tonka and I were asked by the National Park Rangers to help another tourist stuck on the Forest Drive...
I ended up pulling at a much more acute angle, the ditch was deep, with almost vertical sides.

Belgian Tourists in a hire car...

[Eve]

^^^ that's very good of you, Gene.
Makes you wonder how they got in that mess.
Shame the car's towing eye wasn't on the other side of the car. Would have given a better angle on the tow rope and made pulling the car out a bit easier.

[Genem]

^^^ that's very good of you, Gene.
Makes you wonder how they got in that mess.

The driver was distracted by the scenery he said. I can believe it.