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Fuel cutoff Inertia switch


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Gents, while wiring in a relay for my Bosch fuel pump (thanks for all the advice BTW), I have established that my Inertia switch is '40 years old'!!!

It works, but only to the point whereby I now have added a 'shorting link' accessory (secreted in the loom) for use if/when required, to get me home!!

 

I see that many of the suppliers sell 'new' replacements as the original one is now NLA.

 

I have seen 'used' Jag ones on EBay, but they look even more 'used' than my existing one!!

 

So, the questions are :-

Replace with 'new' or buy 'used' and hope for a decent one????

 

If I buy a new one, does anybody know any good/bad types/suppliers (other than the usual suspects).

I will probably 'cunningly conceal' the new one, and leave mine in place (for appearance sake)

 

Has anyone ever opened up the original type?

How so?

I saw an exploded diagram once, and (from memory) they did not look complicated internally, but did not see how to open it up!

There was a load of rusty iron filings up in the bottom of mine, but I could not tell if they were 'foreign' or 'domestic' to the switch?

 

Any thoughts??

 

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John

 

Can't answer any of the questions although most cars I have seen still run with the original switch - so that must say something.

 

Here's a link to whats inside the switch - including how to open it up. Hope thats useful.

 

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/tlweb/tr6/injection/system/inertia_sw/switch.htm

 

I bought a spare a couple of weeks ago off ebay and will be opening it up to check condition of the inside soon.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

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Hi!

I bit the bullet and attacked mine this afternoon.

I was concerned over the usual 'opening a plastic item' but so far, success!!

It is back on, and working, and, as surmised, there isn't a lot to go wrong, apart from the age of the parts!!

So, fingers croseed.....

Thanks

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I think I mentioned in the previous post that the commonest inertia switch is used by Jaguar, Land Rover, all the French makers, Maserati, etc. etc.

The device has be reliable.

And they'll not be 40+ years old.

A self-serviced Lucas switch may be as good - I don't know, but as Vitesses never had'em, I felt al liberty to use anything!

John

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Over in NZ I couldn't replace mine when the Bosch current draw & age melted it...

I've replaced with a Jag/Rover/MG unit bolted to the same place on the firewall using a small 3D printed adaptor so I can revert to stock if one magically falls into my lap from the Lucas faries

 

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PS- I'm assuming you're wiring it to a relay?

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Gosh! 3D printed! I'm amazed, purely from an ignorant disbelief that such a bracket would be strong enough!

I'd cut out from scrap plate and weld up a bracket like that - it might take a while, but then so would doing the drawings for the printer.

But just shows us where 3D printing is going - you are in the vanguard, mattnz!

 

John

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It's actually 3D Titanium printing so definitely strong enough! Rather space age for a 40yo TR ...the irony is not lost on me

I came across the company that does this in the course of my work & explained what I needed, gave him some measurements & he made up the design, complete with cut outs to allow the riveter to install it. All printed up in a bit of spare space in the next printing run (nestled into a missile nosecone apparently....?!?!)

 

I'm assuming there's a 3D Ti printer in UK or Europe somewhere. If not, I can give the contacts to the Kiwi guy & I'm sure he can mail the part. I don't think they'd be a horrendous cost to make (I luckily got "mates rates")

 

MT

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What????? 3D printing in TITANIUM!!!!!!

I just assumed plastic.

The first I've heard of space technology in a Triumph - fantastic, matt!

 

I have a piece of Titanium, a length of wire about a foot long - I've used it as a probe, because it's so stiff.

John

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Matt(NZ) you have a good contact there (with the 3D printer).

Everyone over here who has one wants a fortune to even consider such tasks!

Maybe the register should buy one to produce all those annoying 'NLA' parts.....!

Luckily, I have 'befriended' a very enthusiastic local custom bike/engineering works, where they can make 'anything' (as the interest is there!)

^_^

Oh, and yes, my Bosch now has a relay, and a new wiring harness, which makes it sound 'happier' already!

:)

regards

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Yeah-it's quite amazing tech. They put down a thin layer of titanium dust & then a laser melts the relevant area into solid Ti. Then another layer, laser & repeat. The dust acts as a scaffold and gets recycled at the the end of the process.

 

Does make you wonder about producing NLA parts for classics. There's certain structural components they won't do (suspension parts) but I figure they'd consider others. Also no need to hold stock really, just print a part when it's required. That can be done overnight & mailed out the next day.

 

Website is: http://zenithtecnica.com

 

(Good news on the happy Bosch!)

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Several F1 teams (Caterham, Red Bull, no doubt others) use 3d printing, not for their track cars, but for rapid prototyping of wind tunnel models at 60% of full size.

I think they will have to learn a lot more about how to control the machines to fine tune the properties of the metal parts before they start using them in the full size cars.

But they will, they will!

 

John

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Those in the business tend to call it 'additive manufacture' - basically just putting in the material you do want rather than removing the stuff you don't as you would with conventional machining. Metal parts can be stronger than those made conventionally because the material properties are uniform and there are no built-in stresses as is the case with fabrication. You can produce parts with internal features which are impossible to make otherwise. The machine usually works on a fixed volume of metal powder laid down in layers and most of the unused powder can be reclaimed afterwards - so it costs very little in material and nothing in process time to add an extra small something in what would otherwise be unused space. The main cost would be in preparing the 3D computer model for download to the machine and in the additional time taken to break out and clean up the finished article. The range if metals which can be used is wide, including steels of course.

Rob

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