Voltmeter Fitted

[Rolebama]

I finally got round to fitting a voltmeter in place of the blank switches next to the mfd. Unfortunately, I wired it into the radio ignition feed as this seemed the easiest way to do it. Consequently I don't get to see cranking voltage. Interestingly though, it does show just how long the glow plugs have been running in the current bout of cold weather. (I have yet to get around to working out why the glow-plug light sometimes doesn't come on.) One of these, although I did look for a red one to match the rest of the dash. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auto-Car-MiNi ... 2c8ba61bcb

[PeterN]

Good idea, at least you can see an alternator problem before the battery goes flat and as you say you can monitor the glow plug timer. Is it accurate, should read about 14.4v with the engine running.

Peter

[grasmere59]

I got myself one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360650995916? ... EBIDX%3AIT

[PeterN]

That's neat, never seen one of those.

[grasmere59]

Quick and easy way of checking the charging system

[dirtydirtydiesel]

, There are plenty of red one's on flea bay
Neat idea thou, one for when the weather warms up

[Rolebama]

I was a bit wary about accuracy, but when I checked it against multimeter readings, (I have a digital and an analogue.) it was good. Reads 14.4 engine running, 11.8 with glowplugs on, and battery recovers to 12.5 when glowplugs go off without starting engine.

[PeterN]

That sounds fine.

[Doggy]

I used to have a Capri, (one of these), with an aftermarket tacho that was switchable to read volts as well.
Typical voltage while cranking was around 5V.
(Being a Ford, you got plenty of opportunity to check while you waited for the miracle called starting).

[MixMan]

Ooooohhhhh......That is a beautifull car, my dad had one and as a kid I always imagined it was a space ship.......

[PeterN]

They had a proper engine with a carburetor and a distributor

Peter.

[Rolebama]

A customer bought one back in the early 80s, with the intention of refurbishing. After he has spent a fair amount of money, and spent lots of time on it, it caught fire one day. He had joined the Capri/Corsair Owners Club and told them about it. "Yes", they replied, "they had a habit of doing that!" Although he never got an explanation as to why.

[Doggy]

They had a proper engine with a carburetor and a distributor

Peter.

Well, it did have a distributor and when I got it a Weber DFA40, which was replaced with various things, ultimately a pair of DCOE 40's.
When I swapped my HA Viva for it, the flywheel ring gear was knackered , so I decided on an engine rebuild that wound up taking 3 months to complete due to the impossibility of finding bits to fit a bored-out Lotus Cortina engine....

It did eventually get back on the road in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, just in time for the issue of petrol rationing coupons and a series of price hikes that saw a gallon of petrol go from 36p to 75p in the space of a few months.

Nothing on this earth would persuade it to start of a morning, but it would fire up easily in the evenings.

I parked it the wrong way up after a few eventful months.
So ended 121 GOK, doggy's 2nd car.

[steve_earwig]

is that not a Consul Capri? Mate of my bro's had one, very nice.

Typical voltage while cranking was around 5V.

Fords of that era were generally fitted with 6 volt coils with a resistor wire, which was bypassed when cranking, so 5 volts isn't actually as bad as it sounds.

ultimately a pair of DCOE 40's.

I still have a couple of pairs of them left over from my Tigering days, feck knows what I'm meant to do with them.

[steve_earwig]

Oops, completely forgot what I came in here for

Is your dash starting to look like this?