1960 Bugeye

[94touring]

On the fuel sender...new senders don't seem to jive with old voltage regulators.  Could be shorted too, but if it has a regulator, it probably needs to be new as well.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, I'll have to look and see if this one uses a voltage stabilizer - or if they even put one in, or if it was wired right or....or......or....or....  ::)

[94touring]

As a bonus the new regulators are poorly made. 

[MiniDave]

I think I know of a source that makes solid state regulators, I'll see if I can find that link.

Found it, this guy sells stuff for Jags, but the regulator is the same for all English cars with Smith's instruments.

https://www.coolcatcorp.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CEC&Product_Code=SSIVR-N&Category_Code=EL

[BruceK]

Moss used to sell those solid state regulators.   I've got a brand new never used one in a box. Let me know if you want me look for it

[MiniDave]

OK, I will - thanks.

It's difficult for me to work under the dash on this car, I have to do everything with a mirror....

Edit: Moss do still sell them, $13. - much cheaper than CoolCat, but then theirs is for a Jaguar - and it's adjustable!  ;D
BTW, that's less than Vicky Brits charges for the old not solid state ones!

[BruceK]

I looked I can't find that voltage stabilizer. Sorry

[MiniDave]

No problem, since I'm not paying for it I'll get one from Vicky Brits or order from Moss if I need it. Thanks for looking.... 4.gif

[MiniDave]

More Bug fun today....I drove it around and the accelerator stuck so badly it was almost undriveable, after I put a new cable in of course. So, I cleaned up the frays on the old cable and put it back in...works perfectly.  8.gif :-[

The fuel gauge seems to be working OK after all, it seems like it's just one of those that reads full for a long time before dropping, now that I've run it for a while and burned off some of the gas I noticed the gauge does move under braking and turns.

All I have left now is to get the trim ring on the left headlight, and I have a plan for that.....oh and figure out why the horn beeps on it's own every so often. I disconnected the wire up near the steering wheel and it stopped, so clearly the problem is in there somewhere. I love doing my work over again.....<sighs> dunno if it's another bad part or bad workmanship on my part.

[gr8kornholio]

I'd lean towards bad parts.  I've had many a problem that made me question my work only to find out it was a bad part or at the job, a bad schematic/design.

Working on cars is a lot like golf.  The frustration of it all is somehow supposed to be part of the enjoyment!?  Theory being when it goes right and its done and working/make an amazing shot, you forget all about the crap you went through getting there.

[MiniDave]

Try as I might I cannot get the right trim ring to fit on the headlight - in the car. If I remove the bucket it fits right on just as it should. In desperation, I've devised a work around. Instead of installing the bucket and then trying to fit the ring, I'm going to fit the ring on the bucket, then install the entire assembly. The fly in that ointment is once the trim ring is on you can't reach the screws that hold the bucket in the car - so - since two of the welded in nuts were already missing, I drilled out the other two, then JB welded the screws into the bucket. Then all I have to do is install the assembly and put the nuts on the screws from the back. We'll see if it works as planned, the JB is curing right now......

I already had to use the magic paste on the adjusting nuts when the owner overtightened them and stripped them out of the headlight bucket.

[BruceK]

That's a weird situation.  Aftermarket ring?

Does the owner know of all the crazy stuff you've had to deal with on this car?

[MiniDave]

Oh yeah, he's in regular contact and I send him pics of all my travails as I find them......things like the JB welded nut on the steering shaft on the 73 Mini and the hard line to the clutch on this. He is not happy with the previous owner or his builder, but he's a big boy and just pays me to put things right again.

I can't find any real reason why this headlight ring won't go on, I even bought a new pair of Lucas buckets and rings and I couldn't get that one to fit either, but I can't see anything wrong with the bonnet that would keep it form going on.

The thing that really worries both of us is that even tho I've been all over the car, I keep finding stuff....what will turn up next? And will it be life threatening?

[MiniDave]

OK, today's Bug report and a follow up.

My plan on the headlight worked exactly as expected, and now both trim rings are in place and secured.

I also installed another horn to go with the tiny one that was already on the car, what a difference!

[MiniDave]

I removed the steering wheel and horn surround, I could not find any evidence that the wire was grounding, but I went ahead and put several layers of shrink tape over the wire where it passes thru the dash just in case, I'll put it back together this afternoon and go for another drive to see what happens...the witness marks on the horn contact show that it's centered nicely.

I also need to drive it and make sure the throttle isn't sticking before I send it home again. If for some reason this fixes the horn, then this round is done.....the Moke parts will be here Wed night, but I still have some work to do on the 73 Mini too.

[MiniDave]

And now it doesn't work at all, unless I use a jumper wire to the wire in the harness.  AAAUUUGGGHHHH!

[BruceK]

And now it doesn't work at all, unless I use a jumper wire to the wire in the harness.  AAAUUUGGGHHHH!

Sounds like you need to think up a bodge!   ;D

[MiniDave]

 ::) 8.gif 77.gif

[jeff10049]

did the headlight buckets have a thick gasket behind them? that makes a difference in the rings fitting.
From the factory the ones I've seen had about a 3/16" or so gasket between them and the body.

[MiniDave]

Yes, they did.....she's all tidied up now tho - if I can get the damn horn working right again!

[jeff10049]

Wow That is weird that it was so hard to make them fit. Who knows I encounter this crap all the time at least you got them on. what a project this car turned into.

[MiniDave]

Trying to get that horn contact cup back on is a major cluster.....the screws are tiny, you can't get your head up under there to locate the holes, and once you get the cup up against the dash you can't see where the holes are for the screws. I finally worked it out by using a pointed probe to locate the top hole, then fishing around with the closest screw till I managed to get one of them started, then I could get the others in too but it is NO fun....then the damn thing doesn't work. I have no idea why cause if I jumper the under dash wire to ground it works but it I ground the contact it doesn't. However if I check continuity between the end of the wire and the contact I'm good! Frustrating to say the least.

[MiniDave]

Well, that was embarrassing......

I found why the horn wasn't working - well it was, but not from the horn button. Sometimes you just have to step away for a while and let your subconscious brain work on a problem for a while.

Turns out the neg battery cable wasn't tight enough, someone had installed the bolt backwards so the flat end didn't contact the flat on the cable end, so when tightening the nut the other end of the bolt was just turning too - you can't see any of this so you're just doing it by feel.....when I grabbed the cable it moved. So, I removed the cable and installed the bolt correctly and tightened it properly and viola! it works fine.

Next, once it dries out some more I'll take it around the block and see if I've also cured the beeping whenever it felt like it situation.

I bought a new Harbor Freight adjustable timing light so I'm going to check the timing too - both to see if the light works as it's supposed to and to see whether the timing is actually right - it seems retarded to me but it could just be the way it runs.....the rebuilder used low compression pistons so I'm sure that has an impact on the lack of power.

Checking the timing on these is really a two man job, the marks are on the bottom of the timing cover, so you have to lie on the floor to see them, and someone else has to rev the motor for you. PITA.

[MiniDave]

Wow, what a difference having the timing set right makes! It was showing 5* advanced at 3K, now it's at 28* and the car has 20 more HP! (Well, it feels like it anyway!  ;D)

My old timing light is apparently junk.......and I do mean old, it's a Mac from the 60's. I don't know if it's inaccurate or just weak enough that I couldn't see the marks correctly, but I knew I sounded like it was way retarded, and it was.

[MiniDave]

The owner just texted me that the drive home was great, the car ran really well idles smoothly, sounds great from the exhaust and he got thumbs up from 5 different people on the way home - he's really happy with it now.

It still drips oil a bit, but I'm thinking the only way I can fix that is to pull the motor and go thru it from back to front, top to bottom. For the few miles he'll drive it a year I wonder if it's worth it. If I were him I'd put a pan under it and call it good.