Welcome to the Austin Seven Friends web site and forum

As announced earlier, this forum with it's respective web address will go offline within the next days!
Please follow the link to our new forum

http://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/forum

and make sure, you readjust your link button to the new address!

Welcome Austin seven Friends
This Forum is Locked
Author
Comment
View Entire Thread
Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

It is only in recent times that I have seen Seven owner handbooks. Mention of advance on the Forum prompted me to check the instructions. Drivers are advised to almost fully advance to start (including hand crank!) and to drive with full advance and only retard when it rumbles! All pretty vague to me and certainly to anyone completely unfamiliar. It is curious that such a huge control range is provided when use of so little is implied.
The low comp auto distributors retarded 6 crank deg, corres about ¼ range of manual control. (Later h.c distributor retarded 16 deg but that head not fitted to ordinary manual advance cars).
Hand advance or override is an intriguing toy. Can often shift advance drastically and only the noise and crank stress changes.

The gear changing advice also curious. A quite spirited 8 in 1st and 18 in 2nd, but allowed to drop to 18 mph in top (by which speed on any serious hill 3rd best omitted!)

Location: Auckland, NZ

Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

Thanks to you all for those pointers

Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

As Nick has said 6 amps max or even less.
Any more it will fail in the longer term for sure.

Nick Turley

Location: The Centre of the Universe

Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

This may or may not be relevant but Ian McGowan kindly explained to me how to fit a resistor to make the summer/winter charging rates work in this thread:

http://pub25.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=2099944454&frmid=5&msgid=1006443&cmd=show

Complete success and easy even for the electrically challenged!

Michael

Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

Hi Nick L

The added switch is simply doing what the summer/winter switch does normally; shorts out the field resistor in the Winter position and with lamps on. Often used when a
simplified substitute main switch without the S/W function is fitted.
The dynamo output (as distinct from battery charge indicated by ammeter) is vaguely the same lights on or off. The vital thing is that not excessive. The lights off ammeter charge current is the guide.

Location: Auckland, NZ

Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

David.

I have recent experiance of Speedograph. Be warned they can not fully overhaul your speedo. They will not rechrome.

With respect to the high charge. I ran my RL at that level of charge for 15 years. The cut out did eventually stick and I needed a new one. This was not neccassarily high charge related.

But do not be quite so concerned about the scare stories, my dynamo is still fighting fit.

Location: not north wales any more

Re: Third brush/ Summer & winter? mileometer

Bob.
That might explain why the handwritten instructions on "how to start the car" said "move lever to full retard" - which would have been full advance....
Whatever - it starts & runs pretty nicely now. I think it was easier to reverse the plate than to try & alter the lever at the base of the column. Mind you the plate was dished, but no suggestion as to whether the concave dish went under the distributor or on to the dynamo housing.... I fitted it so the lever was engine cover side as per Mills photo.
I will graphite grease the speedo cable & if I feel strong enough have a look at the (no doubt solid) grease in the casing. My old TR3A actually snapped the rev counter cable as the instrument went solid (after about 2000 rpm!)
David