9 Terminal Lucas Regulator Replacement Project

[Kameron M]

Kam-
Money has never been a prerequisite to running these cars. Elegant simplicity often means you can do an end run around costly repairs. The Luvax Girling dampers are a good example. I think I may have spent $30 on going through all 4. 8 little lip seals, 4 brass freeze plugs. I already had some Hylomar and some bits of thick gasket paper and drills and motorcycle fork oii. Access to a decent drill press and a strong hydraulic press is important. Info like this is typical of what is available on TC's. http://www.mg-tabc.org/library/luvax.htm

That's pretty darn nifty. I will give it a try.

[Steve Simmons]

I wish I could have afforded a TC when I was 21. I didn't get one until my 30's. Sure was a great day.

Funny, the SU fuel pump is probably something a lot of people DO replace, and you're keeping it. Well, maybe not replace but many put a pusher pump behind it to avoid vapor lock. I still run the fuel pump as stock and so far (knock on wood) it has never let me down nor suffered vapor lock issues. My car isn't stock, but it's period correct except for a couple things you can't see. Primarily high strength rear axles and a roller cam. Both are a reliability thing and change nothing about the driving experience. You'd never know they were there while behind the wheel.

[Kameron M]

I got a good deal. Also, the car was in boxes, which helped. Lot of rat turds in those boxes.
I've discovered I have a lot more parts than I need for some things, and nyet enough parts for other things. I've considered starting to list crap for sale, but I want to get a bit further along so I know what is needed and what isn't.

[Steve Simmons]

When you figure out what you're missing, you may be able to trade some extra parts for it. I'd be interested in that clapped out starter if you sell it.

[stephen stierman]

Sorry Kam, we were all kids on a shoe sting budget once, some of us are old kids still on a budget for other reasons. I must ask, what was so difficult about fixing that pull starter that it needed to be replaced, it is about the simplest control on the car. I understand that you are an electrical engineering student, but at the risk of offending other engineers on this list, I will tell you that what is needed when working on these cars is not engineering skills to look for another solution but good old fashioned mechanical ability to fix something that worked well for many years and can still work with a bit of repair.

Let me suggest this to you, when you have a problem with something, why not consult with the list for a fix instead of making modifications or trying to make "improvements". Most of us are glad to offer assistance. By the way, I cannot speak for others, but my car is not a concours restoration. I restored to be close to what it was when it left the works, I did the work and it gets used regularly, I don't own a trailer.

[Kameron M]

The starter motor I'm not selling, it fits my car and works, and I rebuilt the whole motor by hand. Some time in its life it was apparently dropped on the switch, smashing it. It is in a pretty bad way, the arm is gone, the cap is mangled, the insides were out of allignment. I'm fairly sure, from looking at it that it needed a total replacement.

It so happened that Abingdon spares was selling conversions to solenoid-start for $5, and replacement Starter pull switches for $85.

It can be reverted at a later time.

[Duncan M]

Kam-
So the damper article was from this sites technical articles in the resource section. Some other places of interest to check out are:
http://www.tcmotoringguild.org/tech/
https://fromtheframeup.com/Tech_Tips.html
http://www.chicagolandmgclub.com/techti ... ttips.html
and a very interesting British T-type online magazine at http://ttypes.org/ttt2/ No index yet of the every other month articles at ttt2 yet.

[Eric Worpe]

That over 50% of these 70 year old cars are still around is due partly to their charming simplicity. In the absence of advanced electronics, the generator control used an ingenuous electro-mechanical contraption that has proved to be robust. Although I'm involved in electronics , I have a great respect for the mechanical contrivances used to achieve complex functions before the advent of u-processors. They stand a better chance of being repaired, even by the village idiot.
If you had to choose between a TC and a modern car to do the Peking to Paris run, what would you choose?