Richard Crawley Posted May 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2004 Richard, use a good quality relay housed in the boot, supplied by heavy gauge cable (through the Inertia switch and an in-line fuse). Use the original cable to the pump to switch the relay (very little current required for switching) and incorporate a security keyed or hidden switch for anti-theft protection. I have some new colour coded cable, a spare relay & some switches which I intended to use to fit some "as new" Lucas square 8 spot lamps. I have decided not to fit these as I don't want to drill any holes in anything, not yet anyway. I will use this lot to knock up a temporary rig; if it works I will incorporate it into an auxiliary loom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted May 22, 2004 Report Share Posted May 22, 2004 RichardFit a pair of SUs and enjoy stress free reliable motoring. What, and be beaten away from the lights by a VW Beetle???? Or, god forbid, an MGB! Jon & Richard You can't take part in the traffic light grand prix if the car won't run. :cool: Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifrog Posted May 22, 2004 Report Share Posted May 22, 2004 It's also good to hear of someone else who’s run a Lucas pump without any probs. & in a hotter climate! How long ago was it? was it “proper” leaded fuel or lead replacement/lead free I have to admit it was about 11 years ago now and I think it was "low Lead " fuel as New Zealand was phasing out lead in the early 90's. Thinking about this frightens me a bit, I was only coming to Europe for a 3 month holiday and here I am 12 years later stuck on the other side of the planet with 1 French wife 2 kids 2 cats a rabbit and in a country where they talk a funny language (French) that was not designed for the Anglo -Saxon tongue! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted May 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 the problem was eventually found in that the insulations had fractured where the wires emerge from the motor body in and just below the moulded plastic grommet. Checked the pump motor tails this morning & could see a little black mark on the cable right alongside the grommet so I wiggled the cables & the pump motor audible pitch went up & down like a yo-yo! So, it seems I do have a problem with the integrity of the old motor tails & will remove the pump for a rewire tomorrow & see if this makes a difference. The voltage at the motor is 11.3v, around 1.1v/1.2v less than at the battery. The manual says the motor voltage should be around 1v less than the battery so it’s almost in spec. is this enough to make a difference? I would have thought 11.3v was OK! Is it, or should I still go for separate relay switched, heavy duty cabling? Given the distance from the battery though, I would have thought even heavy duty cables would show a voltage drop? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 Fit a pair of SUs and enjoy stress free reliable motoring. & give away 30 or 40 bhp? The PI set up should be almost as reliable as an SU set up and when set up properly has little scope for going out of tune. The apparent unreliability of the PI system is only partly deserved and mainly as a consequence of incompetant tinkering and the knee-jerk assumption that all maladies of the running of PI cars are due to the PI system when they are far more likely to be ignition/electrical related. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted May 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 it seems I do have a problem with the integrity of the old motor tails & will remove the pump for a rewire tomorrow The cable tails pass through a tailor made grommet which is permanently fixed to the cables to prevent any mechanical strain on the motor brush plate. Apart from a small black mark near the grommet on the white cable, it looked reasonably sound but I cut away the grommet to reveal the most dreadful, black charcoaled mess inside! To all you “die hard’s” out there still running Lucas pumps check this one out. I don’t know if it’s cured the problem yet as have yet to take the car on an extended run (tomorrow hopefully) but it can’t have been helping things. Thanks to Tony.C for this one! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 You recreate the black grommet Richard with some black silicone sealer, apply and allow to set then trim with a "craft" knife or scalpel to how it looked originally. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ushes Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 Thanks to all for the info re; Bosch fuel pumps. I wrote to Bosch last Thursday and had a call on Friday, full marks for immediate attention. I spoke to a Bosch fuel injection specialist who was very helpful. I quoted part numbers that were kindly given to me from this site and his personal thoughts were that the pump is adequate for our needs but would have a limited life span, he quoted approx 4-5 years of summer use only. His advice was to use a disposable clear filter pre pump and the Bosch filter post pump. I'm now in possesion of a new pump (£75) and filter (£10) The pipes and plumbing now need sorting, I've seen a kit from Revington for £100 will three pipes, but it seems a bit expensive to me. Does anyone know of off the shelf items more reasonably priced ? Or a specialist who would make one ? He mentioned a company called "Think Automotive" in Isleworth, has anyone used them ? All I'm looking for now is high pressure pipes between pump (banjo type fitting) & filter (metric thread) and pipe between filter (metric thread) and PRV (BSP ?). Now.... Is the relay and extra wiring really neccessary? I've read elsewhere that the pump draws no more current that the standard unit. My late car runs fine with standard wiring via a kill switch. Thanks a lot Guys Regards Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim_trinda Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 All I'm looking for now is high pressure pipes between pump (banjo type fitting) & filter (metric thread) and pipe between filter (metric thread) and PRV (BSP ?). Have a look at this website BSR-Aerotek they supply fuel injection fittings plus a lot of other goodies! ========== Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted May 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 1 ---- his personal thoughts were that the pump is adequate for our needs but would have a limited life span, he quoted approx 4-5 years of summer use only. 2 ---- He mentioned a company called "Think Automotive" in Isleworth, has anyone used them ? Steve, 1 --- interesting, did he recommend a different pump that would last longer? 2 --- Think Automotive make the spin on oil filter adaptors & oil cooler kits (among other things). I sprung a leak from one of the Dowty seals on my filter housing, phoned them & recieved 2 brand new seals in the post next day, no charge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 The pipes and plumbing now need sorting, I've seen a kit from Revington for £100 will three pipes, but it seems a bit expensive to me. Does anyone know of off the shelf items more reasonably priced ? Or a specialist who would make one ? All I'm looking for now is high pressure pipes between pump (banjo type fitting) & filter (metric thread) and pipe between filter (metric thread) and PRV (BSP ?). Many (most) industrial hydraulic companies will be able to knock up the relevant hoses for you. Take your bits along to them to make selecting the threads easier! It probably is worth sorting out the wiring once & for all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ushes Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 Richard, The engineer I spoke to 'Simon' was sceptical about the Bosch involvement in the development of the aftermarket kits available. He said that 4 -5 years of occasional use would be an unacceptable failure rate from a Bosch point of view, their standards are that "pumps are meant to run over 100k miles without failure under poorly maintained conditions". Although he seemed to be reciting from the Bosch company manual I understand his point. I got the impression that they wanted to distance themselves from any involvement because of the failure rate. The part number I quoted him was described as a 'general purpose pump' not specifically developed for any TR related application. If Bosch were to market a bespoke TR pump themselves, it would probably be based on racing pumps that they currently produce and therefore it would carry a similar price tag to the aftermaket ones now available. Therefore not much point (from a Bosch viewpoint) in doing it. Regards Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted May 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 4 -5 years of occasional use would be an unacceptable failure rate from a Bosch point of view, their standards are that "pumps are meant to run over 100k miles without failure under poorly maintained conditions". Steve, that sort of failure rate should be unacceptable from anyone’s point of view! Certainly, the way it is being marketed by suppliers, I thought the Bosch conversion was supposed to be a reliable replacement for the Lucas. Nobody says it will only last around 20K miles & I don’t particularly want to spend money swapping one unreliable system for another! It seems surprising & a shame that Bosch doesn’t seem to have been as actively involved in developing the system as I thought. Personally, I would rather pay extra for something that I know is going to work & give a good service life! It makes me even more determined to sort the Lucas unit out; after rewiring the pump, I did a 2 hour run today with absolutely no problems at all but I’m waiting to see if re-filling the tank had anything to do with it. The pump is still running rather hotter than I would like & if necessary, I have a couple of other “tricks” I might try to help with cooling! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Unless the PRV is wildly out Bosch pumps last a lot longer than the 4-5 years quoted. It sounds like an uninformed guess rather than a calculation based on fact. I've run on them for 14 years and the only failure was after I dropped it when putting the car together. (I did run a Walboro Roller vane pump for couple of years but they needed a lift pump to stop them overheating & cavitating) Think how many Bosch pumps you can get for the cost of a recon Lucas! (£234 according to Rimmers) so even at 5 years life expectancy you'll need to get 15 years out of the Lucas! Whether we will still be able to get petrol in 15 years time is another matter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Whether we will still be able to get petrol in 15 years time is another matter Whether we will be able to afford it if it keeps rising at the rate it's going is another matter as well, I'm just back from a 750 mile tour of the Lake District and it don't half make a hole in your pocket. Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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