I really must remember to keep people up to date with the progress I
have on this little problems as I am sure someone in the future will be
just as green and unco-ordinated as me at SOME time, and will find this
progress encouraging :-)
Yes, I found that the little spade terminal on top of the solonoid (and
carefully out of view) had broken off flush with the plastic of the
solonoid cap. This meant the starter wire (from the ignition switch/key
had no-where to go - so, no start).
Yep, there was just a little metal nipple left where the brass spade
terminal used to be rivetted to the solonoid cap. I worried about
soldering another on because I was sure that the amount of heat required
would de-solder wiring inside... and I didn't have the right rivet
equipment to re-do what was there before. I thought an auto-electrician
would have the right gear and would be able to fix it in a couple of
minutes, yeah, sure - "you'll need a new solonoid cap" he says, "and we
should be able to get one of those in by the end of next week"!!!
Nope - I have come this far... so I got the courage up to heat a
soldering iron and actually soldered on a wire with a male spade
terminal on the end of it to fit the ignition wire. This way I wouldn't
be groping in the dark in the future because the wire hangs down in
sight from under the car... but I have no idea how long it will last.
Oh well, we will see. Put it on the test bench with a battery and it
worked perfectly!
Now, to put it back...
Max Heim wrote:
>
> If it makes you feel any better, once you memorize the intricate sequence of
> moves, you can pull it strictly from the bottom in about 3 minutes. I went
> through a run of 3 starters in 6 weeks once and got pretty good at it.
>
After a few wrong attempts (and almost dropping the thing on my head
from under the car) I managed to pull from on top and reach through the
wheel arch to push from underneath and maneuvre the thing into place.
10 minutes (after a brief struggle wedging it where it shouldn't go) -
woohoo. I held it in place with one hand and pushed a jackstand under
it while I leisurely got the bolts ready.
Max Heim wrote:
> > I couldn't fit a socket up there
> > either, so it was many (many) quarter turns with a spanner in restricted
> > space.
>
> The trick is to use a long extension (longer than the starter body), or two
> 10" extensions.
>
OK, this actually didn't look right to me - just from a visual
inspection - but of course it was right. A long extension did the trick
and in a few minutes it was locked away.
Turn the key and - woohoo! It worked! See, now some of you can re-live
those times, long, long ago when such simple tasks gave you a buzz. It
wasn't something that challenged me technically... just MANUALLY. And
really it was just a case of having the confidence to HAVE A GO!
Next time - this will be a half hour job at most (with a smoke break in
the middle).
Oh yeah, I still haven't got my rebuilt SU pair right. They are on but
not doing the job, so if any of you have any further words of
encouragement :-) My books have the procedures in them so that should
be ok (right??).
And after that - I will pull the engine, strip it down and put it back
together again just as a further confidence booster. Ooops, next race
is 8th August - I might leave that the engine strip down for later :-)
Hey, I drive the things and break the things, that is MY job - the
mechanic is the one that fixes them because that is HIS job :-)
--
Eric
'68MGB MkII
Adelaide, South Australia
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