Stage 1 V8

I've just done the reverse - got a brand new (but dusty) Joe Lucas CB Dizzy to replace the old Opus one. NO SPARK!!! I hesitate to confess this, but it was a FUSE all along! So the old Opus that everyone slags off survived my shorting it & is in perfect working order...........well, it DID need ...

Thanks - I'll take a look in W H Smiths tomorrow!

Thanks for that, Mattv8. Ive been thinking on this & looked at loads of websites & I'm wondering how sensible it is to try & skimp at this stage of a major rebuild. So I've been looking at options - a non- original electronic Lucas type (new) or a hard to blow new Mallory dual point (abo...

That's true, and according to an item I'v just read on the internet, the old contact breaber type won't replace the electronic one as the former has a male fitting, & the electronic ones female - I reckon they do it on purpose!

Australia would have been a bit far - even with a cheap flight!

Just coming to the end os a major re-build which has been the usual battle every inch (centimetre?) of the way & about to set up the timing when the old Lucas electronic distributor passed peacefully away. No doubt about it, like the Monty Python parrot, it is deceased. That's the way with trans...

Hi! I fitted one early 2006 & all it needs is full choke 'til it fires, then ease choke in straight away (maybe it's running a bit rich). Pumping mine would flood it. Is your pump filling carb? Mine ticks all the time, just slows down a bit as carb fills. Not having had the problem, can't really...

Thanks for the interest, jonnyboy. Alas, radiator cap & rad both new. I tried pressure cap on rad & swapped it to overflow bottle - no difference. Nor was there ever any sign of water or steam at the bottle's overflow pipe. A real headbanger! Changing the lot ought to cure it, but it's a bit...

Sorry, the only details I have are as per my last e-mail, which is as they appear on the invoice. From the instruction manual, the carb is a Performer Series. I got the bits from RPI - they say their deal is a comprehensive kit, but having done the job there's no magic about it. I ended up with a ch...

Hi there, Punter! I'm back now & fitting new front diff while weather stays warmish. You were asking about my setup. It's a Webber Edelbrock 500 Carb on an Edelbrock manifold on a 3.5 litre. Like I said, its brilliant, but if they bring in road charging @ 80p per km, admiring it will be about al...

Hi! I put a cheap bicycle digital speedo in my SIII as I change diff ratios from time to time! Reads direct from rear wheel via sensor on brake drum & magnet on drum itself. It's worked a treat for several years now. Only snag: no backlight. Has to be lit directly in front of face to read in dar...

Marvellous! New diff arrived in box marked "Fragile" ( a landrover diff fragile?) Somewhere en-route somebody had dropped the box & BENT the tailpiece flange! Box looked ok so I had signed for it - fortunately the sender was understanding, & replacement tailpiece on way. Lesson lea...

Well, a lot of interesting stuff has come up. I'm always wary of firms that rebuild engines; my current engine was a rebuild & after a few hundred miles made nasty noises on start up & lost oil pressure. I stripped it down & found No. 7 big end like a ploughed field. Obviously somethong ...

Well, Jonnyboy, we live & learn! I'd never thought about that. I can see the logic, though. It's years since I fitted the composite gaskets, thinking they might give a better seal, & reduce oil seepage. I never liked the look of the tin gaskets - couldn't see how they could do the job, being...

OK Onno, Ginga & Pyro Mike, thanks for that, Water has been disappearing over a number of years, getting steadily worse. New hoses have have been fitted also rad, composite head & valley gaskets. No water has ever been seen dripping under any conditions & oil is not contaminated. It's an...

Thanks, Londoner. Like everything else, once you get on the net the mind starts to boggle! I once read that the famous Red Baron had a chandelier made out of an opponent's radial engine (with light bulbs where the cylinder heads used to be) but that coffee table made out of a V8 block on the Lund si...