Hobo Jungle

[sarge]

Well, with Lucas one expects and prepares for the inevitable- Grin! I carry fuses, spade connectors, and a crimp in the glovebox today just as I did back with my originals (including in the tool-roll that was the constant companion on every ride with my old Triumph Bonney).

My Chevs were a truly lamentable range of shitboxes from the '70s, all pickups and vans owned for utility. They all were electrically horrid and mechanically admirable. The last was a '78 one-ton van which was a trailering vehicle for horses; it was truly awful with some of the most stupid engineering mistakes one could imagine. It liked to burn up heater motors to protect the fuses in the fuse-box. Eventually we discovered it was wired in an inscrutable manner such that the fusebox was entirely bypassed somewhere. Each mechanical component was probably fine by itself, but the combinations were not matched well at all, an example being the ability of the engine to suck harder than the fuel-pump could deliver when going up a long hill under load. That one didn't even make the grade mechanically, and was the last GM I ever owned with the exception of the '40 sedan you've seen photos of here. That 1940 was a good car, yes, but it taught me that GM electricals were pretty unreliable even then; it's apparently a tradition.

I have to give the Germans their due. Out of all the Porsches I've done over the years, the VW's I've owned both aircooled and my lovely Mk1 Golf GTI, my BMW 2002, they all had brilliantly reliable electrics. My Fords, a couple "A"s through a '66 Bronco, all had electrics and mechanicals that never left me wanting (other than for emotional stimulation!), and our recent string of Chryslers and Jeeps were pretty much the same until very recently.

So how can I forgive the foibles of a Brit roadster or bike, but find the same (or lessor) sins as unforgivable with the Chevs I've owned? When a car (or a bike) has character and soul, one can accept its shortcomings (and with British Leyland, they are many and legion!) as foibles just as one does with a friend. When a vehicle never emotionally transcends that threshold from being merely a machine to being a living thing, those shortcomings are flaws, merely additions to the feces roster. Other than the '40, I never owned a Chev I liked, and including the '40 I never owned one I loved.

That really is the defining difference; is it a friend or a tool? is it alive or just a machine? That threshold is a very personal thing, so Tramp, you easily could have crossed that threshold with yours that I would not have crossed with mine, and vice versa. When you do cross the line from machine to friend, you also cross that line between the unforgivable and forgiveness.

[sarge]

Sheesh, guys, fascinating commentary! Truly poetical. I can do no better, though I would agree a woman is involved.

Before Tramp came back and spilled the beans, I was going to say you really had it nailed. Here he is at the side of the road in the rain and has plucked up his courage to turn around, go back, and ask Daisy to marry him.

There's a stout lad!

[healey36]

Stopped by Merryman's this past Saturday to pick up a set of points and an oil-filter element for the Sprite. Hooked up the battery charger. Need to find a new source for 20W-50 motor oil...the local Walmart has stopped carrying it.

Ordered a couple of 6X6X16's for the terrace. The bricks are up and it awaits:


Need to clean out the gutters...more rain on the way and they are filled with maple seedlings.

Healey

[sarge]

Ah! Life is being breathed into the little perisher! I like to hear that.

Last 20-50W I bought was at a NAPA, got a case. They were also good for straight-weight non-detergent oils I used in the '40, so perhaps a call would get some laid in if not already on hand. I've found the one in Gettysburg very keen to oblige, especially now that there is an Auto-Zone on the Rt-30 strip.

[webenda]

Maybe Sarge thought Chevy use LUCAS!
AG.

Why do Brits drink warm ((50–57 °F) beer?

[sarge]

Maybe Sarge thought Chevy use LUCAS!
AG.

Why do Brits drink warm ((50–57 °F) beer?

Yeah, yeah, because Lucas make fridges too

So, how old do you have to be to think that was somehow a recent bit of humour?

[Tramp]

Sarge, 1970 is my cutoff year for cars. After that you're on your own. My last Impala (66) cost $2,800. I immediately put $1,500 into it because I know the weaknesses. That was for parts, all my labor. As I mentioned, nearly 100,000k miles, and I've only replaced the starter motor—$32. Costs $92 a year for full insurance and about $35 to register. And it has all the human qualities I could ever want. But that's my experience. The white 1965 is in the drawing. Nice car but drew too much attention.

[sarge]

...And it has all the human qualities I could ever want.

And therein lies truth.

[AG]

Stopped by Merryman's this past Saturday to pick up a set of points and an oil-filter element for the Sprite. Hooked up the battery charger. Need to find a new source for 20W-50 motor oil...the local Walmart has stopped carrying it.

Ordered a couple of 6X6X16's for the terrace. The bricks are up and it awaits:


Need to clean out the gutters...more rain on the way and they are filled with maple seedlings.

Healey

I think you need dig at least 2 feet put gravel, compact it and then fill with sand. to prevent any later problem.
AG.

[healey36]

Thanks Andre, that seems to be the going opinion/advice here. Me, I'm still on the fence. What you see has been there for twenty-eight years, minus the brick topping. Have to believe its settled as far as its going to settle. Had a couple of guys in over the weekend who bucked the trend and advocated going with four inches of reinforced concrete atop what's here now, then the layer of pavers. I'm going to divide it up into three sections...maybe I'll do each one differently to see which holds up the best. I'm a tormented soul...

Sarge, thanks for the lead on NAPA...I have one a couple blocks from the house and hadn't considered them. Last Fall I picked up a bottle of StarTron Enzyme Fuel Treatment from NAPA, which came highly recommended by John Tokar over at Vintage Restorations. Here's John's website:

http://www.vintagerestorationsltd.com/index.html

If you ever get over to Union Bridge stop by - John loves to give tours of the shop (he specializes in British iron and Studebakers, and live steam, and a bunch of other stuff).

Healey

[robert.]

I have a 95 mustang cobra. Every 3 years the electronics die. 4 major pieces go one right after the other. If you don't replace them all at once the older ones will fry the new replacements. They all went in 98,01,04,07,10,13 now i wait for march of 16. like clock work. The car will lose spark, coast to the side of the road and start up 10 minutes later. that means it is time to get home or find the nearest shop. I would love to pull all the fancy bs. out and replace it with a points ignition. Now here is the kicker i only drive 1,800 miles a year. 5,400 5,500 miles and the electronics are shot.
You may ask why don't you replace them before they go south. the paranoid guy in me thinks a computer program is doing it. So i wait for it to happen.

[webenda]

Maybe Sarge thought Chevy use LUCAS!
AG.

Why do Brits drink warm ((50–57 °F) beer?

Yeah, yeah, because Lucas make fridges too

So, how old do you have to be to think that was somehow a recent bit of humour?

Sarge,

I don't know, how old?

Joseph Lucas Ltd started making automotive electrical components in 1902. That is when the Lucas jokes started, so you would have to be ignorant of Lucas History to think any of the Lucas jokes are new. Remember George Jacobs did not start making Enameled wire until 1911, so it is likely Lucas electrics used cotton or silk insulated wire on early Lucas Electric products. Early Lucas joke: Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone (1876), Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb (1879), Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit (1902).

Maybe Lucas Electric knows how old.

For all general enquiries please contact us direct by using the details below:

Lucas Electrical Limited
27 Roman Way
Coleshill
B46 1HQ

Tel: +44 (0) 1675 466999

[sarge]

Wayne, mate.

How did I know that was going to somehow twist round to a boffin-fest (albeit a short one).

Well done!



That said, I'll have to say this from experience. All kidding and oft repeated folklore aside, I really haven't had problems with Lucas components themselves (much like Delco stuff in Chevs). The issues I've experienced through the years are with the wiring loom installations and the circuitry designs themselves (poor mechanical connections and grounds being the most common). Perhaps it explains why both Lucas and Delco survive nicely today, for the issues I've experienced really seem to lie at the feet of the assembly line installers and the carmaker engineers if I'm honest.

[webenda]

All kidding and oft repeated folklore aside, I really haven't had problems with Lucas components themselves...

I'll second that. I had a Triumph TR-3 (10 years) and Jaquar XKE (4 years.) The only electrical failure on the two was an open generator armature on the TR-3 at ~60k miles. The Triumph also needed starter brushes about the same time, but that was a maintenance item, not a component failure. Automobile parts failing around 60k miles was common amongst all marques in 1960's Los Angeles. It was not unique to Lucas. [observation]

I replaced the Triumph's generator with a rebuilt that promptly threw its solder and windings. I blame the re-builder for not detecting an armature short, not Lucas. [opinion] Lucas jokes from my friends were non ending. That and I not trusting another rebuilt influenced me to modified the pulley to fit a Delco alternator, turn the battery around and fit the alternator to the Triumph.

[E7]

Here he is at the side of the road in the rain and has plucked up his courage to turn around, go back, and ask Daisy to marry him. There's a stout lad!

Well now we know why that smile was starting to form. The Driver had obviously made a very wise choice.

Rich