That was a year that was..

[Z320]

9 hours ago, Bfg said:

I'd be very glad to help you Marco.  Might I suggest you buy a villa with four car garage in Portugal, or somewhere with similarly sunny weather, and I would be regular guest to work with you on your cars.

Pete

I will invite you, if this will ever happen…

[Bfg]

This passed Sunday I went for a drive to go for a walk (..not least because I've been getting unfit and fat these past couple of months). And so looking on the map I opted to drive across to the River Alde (as in Aldeburgh), Suffolk.  The Alde, I'm guessing, used to flow directly into the sea, but that river's mouth was eventually closed off by a shingle beach - which is now Orford Ness.  In doing so, the bottom end of that river's name changed to become the Ore, on which there was a shallow crossing and a small fishing village called Orford. This in turn is where Henry II had a castle built and developed the village into a port.  

Up the river Alde there was of course a bridge (..for many centuries just a crossing ) and a small village of Snape - which, according to the doomsday of 1085 book, records 49 men, and a church standing 8 acres valued at 16d (old pence).  A thousand years before that though - this place had a settlement and there was a Roman site for salt production. Later on the Saxons favoured Snape as a burial ground. And then the small port from Snape bridge shipped coke, as well as corn and other grains like barley, around to London ..on thames barges.  And then (c. 1846, I gather), the malting house was built.  Within just a few years they were shipping 17,000 quarters of barley a year from Snape.  However by the 1960's - the malting process at Snape had come to its end, and by coincidence the nearby and fashionable port-town of Aldeburgh's music festival was outgrowing their Jubilee Hall.  The composer, a chap called Benjamin Britten, had the vision to see the largest of the now unused malt-houses, which literally overlooks the saltings (the salt marshes and the River Alde) as a possible site for a concert hall.  In 1967 HRH Elizabeth II formally opened Snape Maltings as the now internationally famous concert hall.

Well, although I did drop in there for a cuppa, I actually wanted to go to Iken, and to walk along the river path. . .

Iken Church is at the end of a one track lane to nowhere and yet is rather special, insomuch as although it looks very similar to so many Norman churches, this one traces it's history back some 400 years earlier to Anglo-Saxon times. The chronicle for the year 654 records " in this year Anna (the Christian king of the East Angles) was slain and Botwulf (Botolph) began to minister at Icanhoh"  . Although other sites lay claim to this, it is widely believed that 'Icanhoh'  is now Iken, and where he built his minister. This makes Iken one of the earliest centres of Christian activity in East Anglia and one of the pioneer Benedictine religious communities in England.  It was a nucleus of worship, witness and learning for a wide area with a community of monks or priests from which missionaries traveled to spread the faith and establish satellite churches. The seventy-five or so English churches which bear (or have once borne) St.Botolph's name may give some clue to the extent of their missionary.  These include sixteen in Norfolk, four in Essex, and six in Suff0lk.  Botolph apparently traveled broadly but then remained Abbot until his death c.680.

In 870 invading Danes destroyed the monastery, and it is believed that shortly afterwards, the faithful marked the site with a stone memorial cross, part of which may be still be seen inside the church (see photo below ). Although the timber church was probably rebuilt around 900AD,  later, c.1070-1110 it too was rebuilt in stone. The existing, early Norman flint-rubble nave (in the photo above) has plastered walls - over which is there is still a thatched roof (although that was renewed after a fire in the 1960's).  The small slit windows of those walls were in part replaced or enlarged with larger windows.  At the back of the church the wall shows one of these (now closed off) slit windows and also a closed-off arched door.  In the mid c.15th the western tower was built and three of the four bells were cast c.1465 with the forth around 1507.   The porch was also built and the present font installed. . . 

    

The remains of stone memorial cross, which may be still be seen inside the church, dates back to 870 - 900 AD.  It was originally twice as long (some 9-foot tall).  And the beautifully carved but much later (late c.15th) Christening font. 

   

  

The benches were given by to St.Botolph by the cathedral of Bury St.Edmunds. They were designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott for the cathedral restoration in 1865-69.  The altar carved from English-oak dates back to just 1959 and it's reredos are based on Leonardo de Vinci's painting of 'The Last Supper'.     second photo is looking back towards the open bell tower.

It's a modestly sized but beautifully presented building, with the exposed stonework and architectural features of the early Norman period retained, but still very much a contemporary church that serves the community as a spiritual home and with regular services. On the walls are brass plaques to the fallen and in the church yard are both ancient and very recent gravestones, and a simple wooden cross (for two persons, died 1998 & 2016) . . .

   

- - -

^ Katie with 'The Sandings' and the River Alde in the background.  Although said to be 12-deg.c. and forecast to be dry but overcast all day - it was not too busy to make finding a parking spot difficult.

   

Suffolk coast and AONB (areas of outstanding natural beauty), and protected habitat .. a veritable haven for sandpipers, oyster catchers and host of other coastal wildlife ..and a great place to just go for a quiet walk.

 

All in all, a very pleasant afternoon out..,  a little spiritual reflectiveness for the soul, a whole lot of history for the mind, and some exercise for the body too.

Hope you had a good weekend out with your TR this, almost spring time ?, weekend ...before the roads become overly busy with holiday traffic.

Pete 

 

p.s.  Katie  & I are booked into. . .

• Hedingham Castle Spring Joust (Knights of Middle England) on Sunday 9th and Monday (Bank Holiday) 10th April.
• the Ipswich to Felixstowe classic vehicle run on May 7th 
• MG & Triumph 100, Silverstone on 10th and 11th of June
• The Adventure Travel Film Festival,  Hatherop Castle, GL7 3NB, in the Cotswolds, on the 11th – 13th August
• IWM Duxford - All Triumph Day  on September 10th

We'd be glad to see you there.

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

Not much happening this weekend for Katie  & I,  but during the week I replaced the polytunnel's end flap ..a sheet of heavy duty black plastic, which I folded and clipped up every time I pulled the car out and put it back in again.  It was tiresome but tolerable, however the wind and it flapping around for the past two years had taken its toll and it was falling apart and generally looking pretty crappy. 

^ As this is rental apartment and whatever I do is, at best, temporary, and at worse unacceptable to the landlord - I opted to make the replacement doors out of plywood. . .   

^ crude but for the time being quite efficient (ie., they were quick to make, cheap, and they work !). However if I were to leave them like that, then within weeks of spring showers they would soon look stained with black mould.  I needed to seal them, and because they look like exactly what they are, I thought to pretty them up.  I spent a good amount of background thought, regarding painting on what would look like a nice garage door frame, but in the end decided - that too would look just like it would have been   .. pseudo timber garage doors made out of cheap plywood.

So I'd just to paint them. In the back of my mind I'd decided on a colour so when out and bought some cheap paint. Actually although it was inexpensive it's Ronseal Fence-life plus, which recons on +5years before the wood turns to look like something found in the bottom of a muddy lagoon.  After an afternoon of thought,  helped formulate thanks to a bit of internet inspiration, together with the backside of an old boat drawing - i started by removing "the garage doors" to turn them to face inward (ie., out of the wind and rain).. And then began painting . . .  

^ 6-30pm   well I only had a small paint brush ! 

^ 6-47pm   Ah ha, some dark secret is coming out of the woodwork.

^ 7-45pm   close of play ..working by extension lamp lighting wasn't brilliant and I was getting cold. 

Being an old fart of a single fella., Sunday morning is a time to either get out and go somewhere in the Triumph, or else to just have a lazy morning in bed - with leisurely time to drink good coffee and read an inspiring book.  This Sunday morning was dribbling with rain, that being neither drizzle nor rain per se ..just miserable consistent dribbling.  So i opted for ground coffee and set down to reading The Hobbit  for my first time.

But then when I was ready - I reviewed the design.  And it very much came down to one of life eternal questions . .   Yin or Yang  ..or not ?   

^ After much deliberation I went for yin or yang, and inverted my makeshift template . . .

 

^ 2-30pm    There's a lot of symbolism in this drawing ..which was just beginning to take root 

^ 3-38pm   Whoa, how much work have I let myself in for ?  ..the tree-of-life was reaching new depths.  It's all downhill from here.

 

^ 6-pm today..   I don't yet know if this design will work but it's been an interestingly creative weekend, and something I've never done before. 

There's a whole long way to go still  ..with outside / surround and background colour to be added (timber/fence sealant), and the tree ..a twisted willow (stylistically of course) is presently just in a light wash.  So I don't know if the idea will even work .. but we'll see.  And if it doesn't then I'll just paint over it, with nothing but a few days of my retirement years lost in an enjoyable experiment.  Btw., The golden colour is yacht varnish, which I happened to have on a bottom shelf.  I'm hoping it has soaked into the plywood and will dispel / shine through the back-ground wash.

That's it for today. I hope you've also had an enjoyable weekend and I bid you good evening, 

Pete

 

p.s. please disregard the TR4 estate car under wraps in the first photo. you didn't see that !

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

Exceptional spring weather today, such a contrast to yesterday, and so I was pleased to make noticeable progress. . .

^ The surround, in cornflower blue-grey is quite like the Royal-Air-force blue I grew up with. This fence/shed preservative took three coats (with a roller) to cover, but I guess that was deliberate by the manufacturer to encourage users to apply three coats for protection as well as looks.  

^ just starting to fill in the background colour around the roots.  Assuming three coats to cover, cutting in the edges is going to be rather time consuming.

 

^ I finished (at this stage) soon after 5pm today.  My neighbour came home from work and started talking. He's a nice chap but.. I'd have otherwise filled in the background around the roots on the Rhs. 

The mural's design is now very apparent, and it might at least be a topic of conversation &/or critique   ..and I'm certain not to everybody's refined taste. 

Still, imo much better than broad expanse of cheap plywood, whether painted or not. 

I suspect with this painted on.. people will now like or else dislike it ..but they'll not even notice the plywood it's been painted onto. 

Pete

 

 

[john.r.davies]

WOW!   Somehow, very Tolkienian.       

The doors of Moria - but you were reading The Hobbit!

Edited March 28, 2023 by john.r.davies

[Bfg]

^ Like it    chicken or egg though..  as I'm only to p.34 in readingThe Hobbit.. and they haven't got out of Baggin's round front door yet..  Still I do recall from the Lord of the Ring's films the particularly exquisite architecture and clasps, hilts, etc,  of the Elves.  

Apart from being rather scruffy, dwarves and I have very little in common.     There may be a little celtish blood running through my veins though, as i've always been short n' hot tempered, am instantly attracted to red-headed ladies, and fascinated by the intertwining within their traditional art.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

final Tolkienian doors update . . .

 

^ Today the sun was glorious but still there's a cold northerly breeze, and so I've swung the Chrysler around to divert the wind as I sealed the end grain of the plywood with thinned boat-varnish.

^ rehung, albeit with just one screw in each hinge. The side door, which when closed just looks like a fixed panel - I've repainted blue (because rain water poured down it last week) and have given it two coats of thinned varnish to help seal the wood. That door is useful though.. because when the Chrysler is parked back in place, the two muralled doors cannot be opened. 

Because the doors edges were still tacky-wet with varnish, I'll do their finally adjustment and add other screws to the hinges next week.  In the meantime the neighbours are beginning to notice, but no one has complained yet.!

Pete

 

 

[john.r.davies]

Very nice indeed - have you renamed your house "Khazad-done"??

[Tony_C]

Great stuff Pete, I’ve missed a couple of weeks (used to think I know all about the ‘challenges’ of running TR4’s after having a few and busy all over Asia and then straight onto N Denmark)…… Who’d have guessed Tolkien door’s the next time I look in?………… My first and favourite all time boat in the world was called ‘Gwahir’ when I managed to acquire her …. Story was ‘Gwaihir’ was the Eagle "who would carry you to safety" from Lord of the rings story, hence the ‘Eagle’ on the main sail.. Sad to say, I could never get into the books… to date?!………. And promptly renamed her "Josephine C’ after my Mum 

[Nigel C]

Nice work Pete, the neighbours should be grateful they have someone who is willing to make a temporary building as a tractive as possible 

[Bfg]

20 hours ago, john.r.davies said:

Very nice indeed - have you renamed your house "Khazad-done"??

Khazad-dûm  no.. I think khazi doom  might be more appropriate at times !   

 

[Bfg]

On 4/2/2023 at 9:04 PM, Tony_C said:

Great stuff Pete, I’ve missed a couple of weeks (used to think I know all about the ‘challenges’ of running TR4’s after having a few and busy all over Asia and then straight onto N Denmark)…… Who’d have guessed Tolkien door’s the next time I look in?………… My first and favourite all time boat in the world was called ‘Gwahir’ when I managed to acquire her …. Story was ‘Gwaihir’ was the Eagle "who would carry you to safety" from Lord of the rings story, hence the ‘Eagle’ on the main sail.. Sad to say, I could never get into the books… to date?!………. And promptly renamed her "Josephine C’ after my Mum 

Well travelled Tony,  Tolkien round ports in square panels are surely what you've come to expect from me  ? 

Impressive yacht, nicely proportioned with the long coachroof and its pilot house a good way back. The unusual but easy to handle rig and other details suggest Asian built perhaps with real teak interior. 

Speaking from the same situation, naming your favourite boat after your mum, is very appropriate. 

Pete

 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

6 hours ago, Nigel C said:

Nice work Pete, the neighbours should be grateful they have someone who is willing to make a temporary building as attractive as possible 

Thanks Nigel

[john.r.davies]

1 hour ago, Bfg said:

Khazad-dûm  no.. I think khazi doom  might be more appropriate at times !   

 

I was thinking more "Dun Roamin"

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

1 hour ago, john.r.davies said:

I was thinking more "Dun Roamin"

Our office door bore the sign

’Dun-Moanin’

That was after our new American owners took exception to the previous sign

CRAPO.  ( catalogues, research and parts office )   

Edited April 3, 2023 by BlueTR3A-5EKT

[james christie]

My office door when I was involved in Publicity and Promotion carried the title of a book written by Jacques Séguela a very well known Advertising Agent in Paris in the seventies.(He worked for Mitterand)

”Ne dites pas à ma mère que je suis dans la publicité, elle me croit pianiste dans un bordel” =“Don’t tell my mother I’m in publicity, she thinks I’m a pianist in a brothel”

james

[Bfg]

Katie  suffered an electrical affliction on Sunday morning, insomuch as soon after I drove off to go to Hedingham Castle - a fuse blew. The first I knew of it was that Tom-Tom's power was cut and a screen notice came up asking if I wanted it to shut down or resume. I then noticed that the fuel gauge read zero, despite the tank being filled the previous day, and also the temperature gauge read zero.  I then discovered the indicators didn't work and nor did the overdrive   ..and yes, I did check the power lead connection into Tom-Tom 

Ooh, this was annoying, not least insomuch as I was booked in (read ; pre-paid) to an jousting event at the castle (an hour's drive away) rather than my usual day out in the sunshine of getting in the car to go somewhere where I'd pay on the door.  Naturally, the main event was going to happen at midday whether or not I was late.  In addition, I was faced with a car that worked but which without instruments and indicators wasn't roadworthy.  One cannot blame Katie  for this, it must have been something the plonker (me) who checked the wiring didn't do right.

I pulled into a filling station and checked.  Yes, it was the fuse for green wires (..ignition switched-on power). There was no wire obviously shorting out to be seen under the dashboard, so perhaps it was just an iffy fuse that had blown. I had two spare.  I replaced the fuse and all seemed fine

Now, with with just one fuse as a spare - any diagnostics would require a methodical approach..  A fuse blows when the component draws too much power too quickly or else when the wiring circuit shorts out to earth.  The latter is more usual, particularly on a car that had been reliable for the passed 2000 miles in six months.  So., with the new fuse in and the engine started . . .

• The fuel gauge was now working, as was the temperature gauge.
• I had not used the wipers, the screen wash (converted to an electric pump on this car), nor the heater's blower.  So the blown fuse was unlikely to have been caused by an overload through any of those circuits. 
• The indicators flashed ..all is good so far !
• I put the car into second gear (foot on the clutch) and even though were were still parked I could hear the overdrive's solenoid click to activate.  So that too was OK. 
• I touched my foot onto the brake pedal and the new fuse blew.  The fault, by deduction my dear Watson, was somewhere to be found in the brake-light circuit. 

Following this simple but systematic approach - I very quickly knew where to start looking for the fault ..it was going to be somewhere in the brake-light circuit.

Because i was still nearby, and although I had the tools in the car - I drove home to sort it out ..and to replenish the car's spare fuses . . .

^ This photo (turned on its RHS because it seems clearer that way around) shows the ex-motorcycle brake light switch I'd fitted in Katie's  footwell, not far from the fuse box which along with the voltage regulator is now also under there.  This switch is a very simple pull-the-rod ..connected, via a spring, to the brake pedal, to bridge the electrical contacts.  The green wire to the right (middle of photo) into the switch, is the green switched-power from the fuse lead.  That was not going to be at fault ..because the fuse doesn't blow until the switch is activated ..so the fault must be in the switch itself, or anywhere thereafter ..all the way back to each brake-light bulb (which btw are now low-amperage / high luminosity LED's on this car). 

The switch's bracket attachment of the brake-light-switch had fluff in the screw hole (centre of photo), which at first I thought must be fine wire filaments that would short from the electrical connection to the screw / to the bracket / on the underside of the bulkhead / to the car's body / to earth.

My screwdriver's blade attracted the fine filament, which again implied magnetic.  However when pulling the filaments out I found that they broke, and were mostly trapped under the screw head.. They were probably filaments of the felt underlay, I'd used over the gearbox tunnel, and were most likely attracted to the screwdriver blade by static rather than magnetic.  Even when pulled out and the surrounding area wiped clean (..of Vaseline smeared into the wiring connections), the next fuse I tried also blew.  The fault was not there then !   

I pulled the switch and visually inspected it, ensured that its body was clean and not cracked (..which can cause electrical tracking). I refitted it and tried again.  Another fuse blown, so the fault was not there then either.  Nevertheless, the methodical approach of working my way along the circuit made good sense, if only in eliminating the power feed wire and the switch itself from being at fault. 

Nevertheless, although I'd just traced the wires between the fuse holder and the brake light switch ..for obvious sign of fault, I checked them again.  Satisfied with my logic, I proceeded to check the wiring, wrapped as part of the loom, as it drops down the front corner of the bulkhead and then back along the inside sill corner of the floor (under the carpet).  No fault could be identified in that stretch of the circuit either. 

Thereafter the wires disappear up behind the B-post's trim panel.  The wiring harness is next seen is within the top corners of the boot space, as it leads from behind the fuel tank covering board to the rear lights.  Again all looked fine.

I then pulled each rear light bulb to check for anything obvious (like a bulb that had half fallen out or otherwise blown to bits ..and those bits were shorting against the bulb holder).  But no each were very clean, and the bulb holders lightly smeared with Vaseline to minimise corrosion.  There was no tell-tale sign of anything having arced an electrical short. 

The one connection I couldn't see was that hidden by the boot / fuel tank covering board.  This is a double-bullet-connector which splits the brake light circuit to both left and right hand rear lamps of the car.  So out with my overnight bag and the car cover (which I take to hide the car under when I'm parking overnight away from home) to unscrew that end of the covering board. With that pulled forward on just that one side I could, ease the wiring connector into the boot space. 

I had replaced & Vaselined that double-connector just last year and it looked fine.  I made sure that each of its three bullets were thoroughly pushed into the connector and refastened the lining board, but this time with the connector still inside the boot space, rather than hidden behind the board. 

When checked the brake lights now worked again ..without blowing the fuse.  Success  ..but I still don't know for certain where the fault was.  It may have been one of the bullets into that rear double-connector was just touching / shorting against the angled bracing under the rear deck ..in there besides the full of petrol fuel tank ~ which on reflection is not at all a happy prospect.!  Or was it that in pulling the rear section of the car's wiring loom out of the corners, and twisting it to inspect all around its insulation for a fault, that it was shorting in some other place.  I cannot be certain.

I'll sometime revisit this wiring. in the meantime I wanted to get to the Spring Joust at Hedingham Castle.  I was almost 2-1/2 hours late and so just missed the first bout of jousting, but still in good time to see the castle, and other attractions before the second bout of the day.     

- - -

Although long-winded, I've written this episode out - in the hope that it may be helpful to those who are less-than-comfortable with vehicle electrics &/or those of us who can generally fix things ..if only they can find  / identifying the fault or faults (ie., what to fix).

Methodical approach ..checking one thing at a time in order, and then as required changing and retest before moving on.  It may seem slow and laborious but in the end it's inevitably quicker and less frustrating. So ; 

• When several things are not working - what's the common factor to those ?  - in this instance ; it was the power feed that came from the same source  ..one fuse
• in looking for the fault - start by looking for where there was not  a fault.  ie., eliminate what you can, so then you can hone-in on where the issue is.  In this example ; the things least likely circuit to draw heavy electrical current, and also the least likely to be faulty, were the instruments.  With a new fuse, turn the ignition on and start the engine ..with nothing else turned on, and check the gauges worked.  No fault there then. 
• You can also mentally eliminate (check off ) those things that were not being used (in this instance ; the screen-washer pump, the wipers, and the heater blower). 
• Then systematically try other things...    Indicators = check.    Overdrive solenoid clicking in = check.     Brake lights = FAIL.
• Acknowledge that the brake lights caused the fuse to blow only after  the brake pedal's switch was activated.  So the fault was not before the switch ..otherwise the fuse would have blown when the ignition was turned on. 
• So - after the wire, which feeds power to the brake light switch, comes the switch itself.  I checked this and then checked again to see if the fuse still blew when the brake lights were switch. They did = FAIL     ..the fluff seen in the screw hole by to the wires terminal-connector was my chasing a rabbit down a blind hole  ..It happens.  But take heart ..not finding a fault is progress, as it eliminates that component. 
• I then methodically followed the wires and any connectors, looking for any sign of fault (cracked, slit or otherwise broken or chafed insulation) or perhaps signs of arcing (very localised burn marks on adjacent metal) ..all the way back to the bulb holders and the bulbs themselves.
• I couldn't find any sign of fault, and so I retraced the route back to the one connector I couldn't see, without first undoing pulling it out from behind the boot's trim panel.
• Had I not found the fault then I would have gone back to the start and gone through the process again, perhaps with better lighting &/or with my reading spectacles, to see what I'd missed.

If you are not intimately familiar with your car's wiring, then please do carry a diagram ..that you've previously checked is accurate to that particular car.  Note ; having a diagram doesn't tell you the route of the loom as it runs through the car, so have a look beforehand and then also recognise that certain coloured wires only go to certain places.

Lucas tracer-colour wiring codes are particularly easy to work with, and it's worth becoming familiar with those colours ; for your own car's primary earth and live wires, for each of the different light & indicator circuits, and for the horn.  Any of the others can be looked up, if and when you need to know what they are.  In the meantime those tracer-colours you are familiar will allow you to say, " it's not that wire because it's an earth wire, or for the headlamps, for the side-lamps, the horn, the indicators " which immediately eliminates 50% of the wires in the loom.

A compact torch is necessary to see clearly in the footwells, under the dashboard, and into darker corners. I keep a small (waterproof) flat but adjustably bright rechargeable  LED one (..a beanie-hat head-torch) for such purposes in my car's tool kit.

A lesson I learnt - was to carry lots of spare fuses (..of the right type for your car).  Although a multi-meter (which I do carry with me) can be helpful to trace faults (in this instance ; it would be used across the fuse holder to see if there is an excessive spike in power when different things are switched on, when the fuse blows).  I'd say that fuses are easier, cheap, small to pack into a corner of the car for touring ...and absolutely definitive.

When this happened, I immediately kicked myself that I hadn't fitted a multiple fuse holder, allowing one for each circuit.  But then I thought, well if the Tom-Tom's power hadn't been lost, and then I'd been alerted to the instruments not working, then how would I know that the brake lights had stopped working ?  Or the windscreen wipers ?  ..which I mostly I use when it's miserable weather ..and not a time time when I'm happy to trace a wiring fault.  

As it was - I was alerted to something being wrong within half-a-mile, when Tom-Tom didn't (audibly) tell me which way to go.  Surely that's an aid to road safety.?  

Isolating each circuit with a separate fuse wouldn't have done that.

It's useful to note ;  that had I been unable to trace the fault, to get back on the road - then I could simply have pulled the wiring connector to that particular circuit off the fuse box.  In this instance ; I would have had no brake-lights, but everything else would still work, to continue the journey &/or until I was in a better situation (perhaps in an illuminated service station if it had been at night) to trace the fault.   

So I now ask myself - Are more than just three standard fuses such a good thing ?  Perhaps yes.. I think..  If so is it best to add more fuses, for individually fused circuits, after the existing main fuse holder (which has a 10amp fuse in it). ? 

Katie's  wiring has (deliberately on my part) not been complicated with additional relays.  She now has just one horn (and it's loud) so no relay is necessary for that (the original one I've removed along with a few meters of wiring and their x-number of connections).  I think now, only overdrive solenoid has a relay in the circuit.

- - -

Katie  has driven a hundred miles since this incidence, including some pretty horridly wet weather where the instruments, brake-lights, indicators and wipers were all on at the same time ..from that single 10amp fuse - and it hasn't blown again.  Unfortunately since however the overdrive has stopped working, despite the relay or solenoid clicking. That's on the menu as the next job-of-the-day.

Hope the above notes are useful to some,

Wishing you happy and reliable motoring, 

Pete   

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Bfg

[RobH]

The obvious lesson here is that the fuse scheme is really inadequate as you say.   If originality is not an issue for you, it is relatively easy to separate the feeds and individually fuse them using a modern multi-way blade fuse holder.  If nothing else it is immediately apparent which circuit has the fault.

Here is my effort which is in the same location as for the original fuses on my '3A.

(Unfortunately the space is limited and you can't buy a fuse block with fuses as closely spaced as this. This one is home-made from individual holders glued together)

 

[Nigel C]

right back to when I was working on cars in my early teens I could never understand why(mini's/1100's etc) only had two fuses, madness.

This is a simple conversion using midget fuse boxes; due to me having one in the workshop and bought another new one to go along side, wrong move, the new one has failed and the old one is working perfectly.

went onto eBay and tracked down a a good second hand one and replaced, all works fine again.

  

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Nigel C

[Bfg]

13 hours ago, Nigel C said:

only had two fuses, madness.

 

14 hours ago, RobH said:

The obvious lesson here is that the fuse scheme is really inadequate as you say.

Semantics, but I never said that the original wiring design was inadequate, I simply said "Are more than just three standard fuses such a good thing ?  Perhaps yes.. I think.. "

In my mind, anything which has served well for 55+ years, on tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of vehicles of all marques, and which has generally been neglected from maintenance, cannot honestly be said to be inadequate.  Could it be improved ?  .."perhaps".   But then one might possibly say that about any aspect of any vehicle ever built.  My Sunbeam motorcycle has just one fuse from the battery, and 70 years on it still starts easily, is remarkably reliable, and in a worse case scenario is usually easy to fix at the side of the road, as was Katie when this fault occurred.

I did go home to fix it, but only because we were just a few miles away and I was carrying an inadequate number of spare fuses with me.  My objective with the car was to make it as reliable for touring - as economically and time-invested practical.  But then to be prepared for roadside repairs for those other niggles.  i failed in the latter respect, as that type of fuse is no longer stocked by most filling stations (on a bank holiday Sunday). 

As an aside ; other things like fat tyre valves, the wide fan belt, and a selection of bulbs, all need to be carried - if even minor roadside / modern garage repairs are to be made.

I look at Nigel's and Rob's, very neatly done, eight fuses and think of the latter - where's one or two for the lights ? - it or they must be on another fuse.  And then I think what is the real benefit of having that many fuses ?   If your own car's brake light fuse blows - then would you even know about it ?   This is surely a deficit to be balanced against the benefit of it not having effected other circuits.  So., could those multiple fuse wiring systems be improved ?   " perhaps "  

The benefit of multiple fuses it seems - is in isolating and therefore in tracing the fault to a particular circuit.  Seems a lot of effort to save me putting a new fuse in and then trying one switch at a time ?  That is after all - all the diagnostics came down to ..in tracking the fault to the brake light circuit. And if I hadn't found the fault - then I could simply have pulled the brake-light's wiring connection off  ..then all the other circuits still worked fine.  

What am I missing ? 

Pete

[RobH]

2 hours ago, Bfg said:

Semantics, but I never said that the original wiring design was inadequate

No - I said that because it is.  RH

What am I missing ? 

 

Perhaps the fact that ALL modern cars individually-fuse the circuits because that is the right way to do it Pete. 

 

The TR ( and other classics)  way means that you lose several functions at once.  It was really just silly penny pinching on the part of the makers but lots of them did it. Not a good idea for instance to have indicators, brake lights and wipers defunct together and not many drivers will have the knowledge to isolate the fault at the roadside as you could even if they had a good supply of new fuses.

Agreed that most people have been very lucky and have not encountered this problem because electrical short-circuits are surprisingly infrequent (a fault is much more likely to be an open-circuit)  but when they do the result can be catastrophic, particularly on circuits like headlights which were left un-fused.  Think burnt out car. 

You don't get any indication when a fuse has blown but then you don't either if a joint in the wiring goes open circuit, which is rather more likely, so I don't consider that a particularly valid argument.

Incidentally on my car there are more fuses than the eight I have shown. Those protect only the circuits originally connected to the standard fuse box. Others protect ancillaries and the previously unfused circuits but they are hidden inside the case of the now-redundant dynamo control box.  There is also one large fuse in the main feed from the battery to the ammeter. 

I appreciate that many will consider I have gone OTT on this and perhaps I have but it's driven by 50 years experience of electrics in safety-related and safety-critical applications. Old habits are hard to break 

Edited April 13, 2023 by RobH

[MilesA]

Over the years I have been convinced by members here of the merit of additional fusing. My 3A had about half a dozen additional electrical items (including the fuel pump and fan) all wired through the original, single, open fuse box when I acquired it. Seemed pretty high risk to me, so like Rob, Nigel and others I installed two covered fuse boxes: one for the original functions and one for all the auxiliary functions (with great assistance and guidance from folk here). 

Pete, like you I am working to make my recently acquired TR6 a reliable and practical tourer. One area is to install half a dozen or so relays for various functions old and new to minimise risks and fuse each line to further minimise (one can never eliminate) the jeopardy of classic car use. After lots of thinking and searching I will be installing this (in addition to the existing fuse box) with an ignition line, an open line and earthing collection for the relays. Not attractive. Not period. But there is space in the engine bay of the 6, it will not be seen from outside, all lines can be labelled along with the relays and it will make things much easier for someone like me, who is less talented than you, to manage (I hope).

Miles

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by MilesA

[Mk2 Chopper]

And surely the fuse rating has to be enough for the highest draw (everything switched on/ being used on that circuit) rather than suited to individual components? 

Gareth

[stuart]

Or you could go right over the top and go to a fuse box like this on a 6 I built years ago, custom made loom by Autosparks, ever single circuit on the whole car individually fused and relayed.

Stuart.

 

[Bfg]

3 hours ago, RobH said:

Perhaps the fact that ALL modern cars individually-fuse the circuits because that is the right way to do it Pete. 

The TR ( and other classics)  way means that you lose several functions at once.  It was really just silly penny pinching on the part of the makers but lots of them did it. Not a good idea for instance to have indicators, brake lights and wipers defunct together and not many drivers will have the knowledge to isolate the fault at the roadside as you could even if they had a good supply of new fuses.

Agreed that most people have been very lucky and have not encountered this problem because electrical short-circuits are surprisingly infrequent (a fault is much more likely to be an open-circuit)  but when they do the result can be catastrophic, particularly on circuits like headlights which were left un-fused.  Think burnt out car.

I suspect that if Standard-Triumph were now building cars, then they too would have had many more fuses.  To think of the electrical items on my 2002 'modern' car is intimidating.  Off the top of my head, and in addition to what we have as standard on the TR4, there's . . .

• engine management controls with fuel injection, and on petrol vehicles electronic ignition
• auto-shut down to limp mode
• diagnostics for all sorts of things, from engine coolant temperature and pressure, from near-empty fuel tank to brake pad wear warning, from icy conditions to you're farting too loud.
• twin electric cooling fan
• electric windows with individual door switches, and warnings when you've parked with one of those windows left open.
• headlamp delay,  that stays on while you open your homes front door
• five door central locking by remote fob, with stages of locking and unlocking
• hands-free electrically opened rear side doors and tailgate
• built in alarm, with door and motion sensors
• auto tinting interior mirror
• door foot lights
• boot light
• under bonnet light
• six interior lights with switches on each of the five doors
• fog lamps, front & rear
• hazard warning lights
• air conditioning with multiple vents opening & closing for directions,  as well as multiple speed fan(s)
• intermittent and multiple speed wipers
• an audio system, with all around speakers ..louder than Italian air horns !
• steering wheel switches for audio and cruise control
• built in navigation system (gps)
• dvd player, with remote and screen to the rear seats
• electric seat adjustment, forward and back, up and down, backrest tilt, and recline
• heated seats
• warning lights and buzzer to say when seat belts are not fastened
• warning light and buzzer to advise when a door is not fully shut
• electric mirrors  (mine does not have mirror demist heater elements)
• rear screen demist element
• rear screen wiper
• rear screen wash
• electric instruments
• cruise control
• fuel consumption and fuel range
• electrical relays for numerous systems
• mine does not have headlamp wash or wipe
• mine does not have an opening roof

And I'm sure there is an equally as lengthy list of many other things on more modern upper-market cars, such as key-less ignition, voice recognition controls, screen displays and warnings, different user seat preferences, electronic gear change, wet screen sensors, parking 'aids' and low tyre pressure warnings, theft tracking, etc, to suggest just a few.   How many fuses do they now have, relative to the number of functions, and do you need a masters degree to understand them  ?

In short, the modern  automobile's wiring is chalk to cheese compared with a standardTR4.  The vehicle is generally comfortable and convenient - but at the end of the day it mostly does the same job in getting me out and about, albeit in a detached sort of way. 

And you know what.. along with all those fuses comes a screen full of warning lights that tells me when a brake light or indicator is not working.!   Sometimes however the warning icon is so obscure that necessitates getting the manual out to see what the issue is.  And then it takes specialist diagnostic equipment (up to date, but at the same time not so up to date that it cannot read older versions of the same model) to tell you what might be  wrong and to turn the flipping warning light off again.  As it happens, the warning light switch on my car's brake pedal failed and it cost over £200 + tax to fix because that switch was only supplied together with the brake pedal.    

No, in my considered opinion "The right way to do it" is not necessarily the same as we see on a modern car. 

 

By the way the TR's light circuits are on another fuse. 

Pete 

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Bfg