Nods news , A fixorage happened

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Ugly wiring on show when you open the door ( my not very neat rewires to blame )
Not anymore

[bazzateer]

Tidy!

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Fitted a digital temp gauge and used it as an oil temp gauge just to see what happens .
Modified my oil pressure gauge take off for the sensor which is surrounded by silicon vacuum hose so isolated from the metal completely .
Ive been over to my parents to cut the hedge so naturally took the Singer on an extended run out ( self isolated in my own car ) .

Having checked my random records the stat fitted is a 72˚C one .

Anyway the oil temp ( assuming its correct gauge wise ) reads between 68˚C and 72˚C .

Top of rad was 72˚C - bottom of rad was 34˚C.

So it seems the oil temp mirrors the water temperature which mirrors the stat rating ( assuming whats stamped on it is correct.)

[The Nun]

Doesn't the temp gauge sensor normally go in the sump rather than the hotter parts towards the top of the engine? then you're getting the temperature of the bulk oil before it goes through the pump under pressure heating it up?
I suppose its debatable do you get the temperature before it's drawn into the galleries or at the head after it's been right through the engine?
I would have though the sump would be better then you have the temperature before it's pumped into the engine?
Is an oil temp gauge used to see what the max temp of the oil is or how effectively is been cooled once its back in the sump ready to go around again?

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Made a small guard for the back end to hide / protect the filter housing and cooler pipes , I think matt black would of looked beterr however you get the idea

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Good idea. Stops you sucking up cats, dogs and small children as you pass by!

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Done the rad stoneguard black as well

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Steering wheel swapabout , Vuskys went in the Singer and a spare one went in the Vusky , the Singers went in the loft
Lots of badge making / swapping about followed

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Change of switch panel design , didnt like the black or the switch spacing

[The Nun]

Have you disabled the ejector seat one now?

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Been for a good run out - everything is spot on so nout really to report .
Have a couple pics though just because

[bazzateer]

The black was fine but the white is heaps better.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

In a modern " cover stuff with plastic " kind of way ive made a plastic cover for the steering column clamp which always looked unsightly to me

[The Nun]

I think it looks better if the bulkhead under the dash black too?

[bazzateer]

The leather on the wheel could do with some dye Dave

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Well not me exactly .
My good neighbour has made me a one off gear knob , i supplied the badge and the mount and suggested the colour scheme ( Guinness inspired ) and a week later this arrived

[bazzateer]

That's very nice Dave. Is it resin?

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Im always faffing about

Had a broken Rootes parking light , both lenses were cracked so rather than chuck it out i used the " Rootes " bit off both lenses for some fake genuine looking accessories.
Did the brake light yonks ago so youve probably seen this however the lighter knob was done today

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Now the paint and glues set it was time to fit a rubber grippy surround on to finish the job off

[The Nun]

Gear knobs look better, it was balls before wasn't it?

[Bobbycham]

Excellent knob Dave
How many times have you heard that

Bob

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Just got a Rare Smiths 0 to 60 full faced oil pressure gauge for the Singer .
Should be good and accurate although from memory these older ones have damped needles so dont fly about as the later ones do , these are more gentile in movement

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

NOS 0 to 60 Oil pressure gauge fitted and working in the Singer , its very accurate and easy to read which is a bonus

[tuk841]

That's nice - I've only seen 0 to 100 over 270 degrees.
Is 60 enough though first thing? as my Smiths gauge (from a Mk2 chamois) reads 75 when cold...

[617sqn]

I am. Volvo ones. Valvolene VR1 20w50.

Andy G

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Pressure relieve valve is factory set to 60PSI so it should never get higher .
The only time i ever saw higher was with a spin on filter which promptly got binned as i went back to paper ones which solved it . apparently the filter microns on modern spin ons cant cope with cold 20/50 so it goes way over unless you use Volvo filters so motor factor ones are no good , scary when you think that whilst the bypass is open oils also bypassing the filter.
Im using VR1 20/50 BTW
EDIT , Looks like Volvo ones arnt fine enough either
PS Cold start up this morning it got to 58 PSI Not seen higher even with the old gauge ( except with the aforementioned spin on )

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

LED dash bulbs fitted , well most of em , rev counter ones on its way

[617sqn]

Did mine in 2003, round dial dash with blue LEDs. Still fine after a bulb failure in 2015 which got replaced. I bought a bag of them back in the day so i still have many spares. The rear of the instrument panel needed modifying in my case.

Andy G

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Just for fun ive knocked up a top steering column cowl from a conditioner bottle

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Final version of the column cowel .

Foam padded and covered in some Imp vinyl the grain of which matches the dash and door tops

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Proof you dont need a front rad in an Imp and that with the right rad fitted and tuning spot on they DONT over heat
Ambient temperature 26˚C
Heater - OFF .
Two occupants
Pics taken after a sustained 60 - 70mph drive of 12 miles and on tickover following said blast .
Maximum Oil temp reached 79.9˚C ( sustained running temp 78.4˚C )
Coolant temp 76.6˚C ( top of rad )
Coolant temp 36.4˚C ( bottom of rad )
Oil pressure ticking over after said blast 27psi ,
Oil pressure at 4000 RPM 48 psi ( bit lower that id like )

[The Nun]

I see youve got a bad case of IMP owners thumb there

[617sqn]

Haha, so he has. Black Thumbs Matter, in this case ?

Andy G

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Rewired the entire interior light circuit on the Singer these last few evenings.

Many of you might recall the dash catching fire many years ago . I did rewire 90% of it but a few bits were just repaired - one being the interior light circuit .

On this I had to splice wire in to get it working and as such it had more joints that it should have .

Anyway ive replaced the lot , both door switch wires and main feed to the light , all joints are now in the boot rather than under the dash rammed in the corner of the drivers side parcel shelf .

All done with special Radox 155 0.25 wire that somehow will carry 13A , I Used the same colours as factory although the purple doesnt have the white stripe ,
Boot light ( also rewired ) and the interior light now also have a dash mounted on / off switch so they only come on when i choose - ie. when its dark

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Your temps all nowt to worry about Dave.

I guess your 79c oil temp is measured at the bottom of the sump (oil drain drilled for sensor)?

As you probably know I have two oil temp sensors fitted - 1 within the oil drain plug of sump, 1 within oil gallery. Both feed the same dash gauge via a changeover relay. The sump oil temps are consistently lower than the gallery oil temps by about 10C. So your 'after run' 79C oil sump temp will be more like 90C in the gallery. Hence the 48 psi oil pressure when hot.

All nothing to worry about in my own experience. I've had 95C gallery oil temps and similar oil pressure at similar revs and 30C ambient summer temps. 875 Sport engine still pulling well and sounds like a well-oil sewing machine!

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Your temps all nowt to worry about Dave.

I guess your 79c oil temp is measured at the bottom of the sump (oil drain drilled for sensor)?

Its actually located where the original oil pressure gauge is taken , cable wouldnt reach the sump plug , pis on here somewhere , not done long ago either , sensor isnt touching any metalwork BTW

[johnh875]

Fair enough. Our convoy of Imps to the 50th anniversary event in South Australia had a 38°C day, and hills on the highway saw temp gauges fluctuating with the gradient and probably a bit higher than ideal on the flat. I drove mine in 43° once and that was too hot for highway speeds with just a rear radiator, but ok on 60-70km/h roads.

[Lotus-e-Clan]

That's a neat install of the oil temp sensor Dave.

Is the sensor one of those generic short rod sensors you get with the Chinese digital temp gauges?

I have four of these in Clan -great value and very reliable so far (a few years).

1) reads Ambient air at front spoiler
2) ... Heater coolant INPUT
3) ... return coolant from heater /rad circuit to rear
4) ... DHLA air intake

So if 80C is your gallery temp I guess your sump will be 10 C less most of the time except on long high-rev motorway way stints (5000 rpm ) when the sump tends to read similar (or hotter) compared to the gallery.

All good temps in my book.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

That's a neat install of the oil temp sensor Dave.

Is the sensor one of those generic short rod sensors you get with the Chinese digital temp gauges?

It is indeed , £6 or so , seems great value and thus far utterly reliable , came with two sensors which look like tiny black blobs , a short one for air and a 10ft long which is the one im using

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Last weekend the Singers brake lights went all to pot and only came on if you really braked hard .
Ive fitted a new switch and its now working as it should .
Anyway just to show you what goes tits up in them ive cut the old one up .
You can see brake fluid has leaked inside the electricery part , the copper contact is burnt especially on one side and the two small contacts on tother end of the spade terminals are black and corroded - springs are the only bits that are still OK .

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

So ive been pratting about again .
This time brake reservoir caps.
Im using separate genuine Girling reservoirs as fitted to Jag XK150s as well as Aston Martin DB4 - 5 and 6 etc .
They hold a lot of fluid , so much so i can bleed the brakes and only top it up once .
Anyway whilst the reservoirs themselves are superb the lids are anything but . They are made from thin aluminium and have no seal as such , if you add a seal they often loose grip on the reservoir , no seal and they can leak , added to which we have aluminium , steel and brake fluid all in one place resulting in corrosion . Basically the lids are shit.
Ive been looking at other reservoirs to replace them but luckily happened upon a scrapped car with what looked like a lid about the same size on its reservoir - only in plastic
Took it on and it fits exactly , nice tight thread with a seal that actually seals - proper brake fluid proof and perfect --- well almost .
Problem is it looked wrong and way too modern , i got another and one was English and Japanese and one English and sommat else so even worst .
Anyway i carefully removed most of the writing on both - hacked the crappy Ally Girling lids to bits and put the two together .
They now seal but still look the part

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

So rather than update on a daily basis and bore the socks off you all heres what ive been doing since my last visit

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Also completely redesigned the alternator support bracket , made a cover for the steering column top , fitted the door pockets with riv nuts not the self tappers and done some other stuff in the engine bay ----- again my files are too large so just imagine it .
This place really needs to sort itself out.
Back in 6 months

[Bobbycham]

Yes Dave
But good to see some MOVEMENT on here , apart from the norm.

Bob

[Bobbycham]

Ok
The names not Norm.

Bob

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Ive been open venting the crank for decades .
This has usually been using any old bit of pipe that fits so bits of fuel pipe , bits from fish tank pumps and anything else i could find.
So today I thought id tidy it up a bit and make it look less bodge up

[moose]

Yep that looks tidy Dave.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Today I changed the rear drop links on Ingrid our W203 C18OK Merc .
Bottom bushes were utter toast however the top ones were still perfect.
Whats the relevance you may ask .
Well my lateral thinking bonce got thinking and it turned out the top part makes a great rubber mounted exhaust strap

[moose]

Tidy job as usual. Very simple job to do and i bet you could buy poly bushes if you ever felt the need.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Done the carpet protector and went for a 60 mile drive - all is well