alastairq Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 My dailydoohdahdriver, the disreputable Daihatsu Fourtrak.....[not to be wanged with one's car door in Tesco's car park.....one's door will come off worse, against 3 mil thick 60x120 sills.....poke holes in that , Mr MoT-man!!]......came from a farm[er]....who had fitted what he referred to as a 'tractor battery'.... a lot 'longer' than what the original would have been, with a cobbled up restraint...[which included a nice lump of some sort of dark hardwood]....seems 'tractor' batteries, like 'caravan' batteries, are constructed 'in the old style', with quite thick plates.....so can be discharged, and recharged almost with impunity. Seems the big issue [ever bought one?]......with modern batteries is the thickness [or absence thereof] of the plates? Slightest bit of stress, and a plate buckles, lunching the battery. As the Arnie Schwarzenegger half-track is prone to saying, 'Don't lick the PP9'..... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted July 22, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 22, 2018 I think my alternator is rated 80 Amps. Not sure how much higher I could go.... Lucas I'm sure used to do a 100amp one, and these days I'm sure that some of them must be more than that. The problem will be that you will use up BHP in forcing electrons about rather than the car! Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Lucas I'm sure used to do a 100amp one... Lucas being "Prince of Darkness" in years gone by, I'm not sure if we should trust their electrical products even now..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted July 22, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 22, 2018 Ah, but Lucas items in Lucas boxes are not made by lucas anymore, lucas items are now sold in boxes with another name that now escapes me.. So a Lucas alternator should be ok! Infact I would say that the alternators were the better items made by lucas, certainly much better than the old C40 dynamos..... Andy G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Seen parked on a London street. Duuno what it is as US cars aren't my forte. Hopefully someone more enlightened can tell us? IMGP0781.JPG 1957 Buick Super hardtop (pillarless) sedan (saloon) - note the way the rear door line splits the angled panel between the side windows and rear screen vertically. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 1957 Buick Super hardtop (pillarless) sedan (saloon) - note the way the rear door line splits the angled panel between the side windows and rear screen vertically. One would have to assume that the internal shape of the door opening differs from the that of the outside, otherwise there's no support for the roof. Looking at the side overhangs, with the body being so much wider than the tracks, reminded me of my old (Australian) Ford Falcons. I still own the 1973 XB hardtop (2 door coupe) model, and even with wide wheels fitted, it still has some body overhang which I allow for when parking it. I previously owned a 1979 model as well (kept that for 21 years), but even though the basic platform was the same, the tracks were wider and the body slimmer, so when jumping from one to the other, I would forget and scrape the tyres on the kerb when parking it, then jumping back into the hardtop, I'd leave it too far out from the kerb. The hardtops were designed to accept racing wheels and tyres, so the base models looked absolutely ridiculous on standard width wheels and tyres (remembering those tended to be a lot narrower in the 1970s). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Jol Wilkinson Posted July 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 23, 2018 I think my alternator is rated 80 Amps. Not sure how much higher I could go.... There would be little point, 80AH is pretty high already for the probable electrical load and battery capacity. I would suggest a more "modern" technology battery. I converted the MGB from the two original type non sealed 6 volt batteries (about three years old) to a 12v Varta Silver 52AH battery. The engine cranking speed was much better and the engine also fired up much sooner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 When we first got the Maserati 222 the standard alternator was 65amp. It popped when the load was high about a month later. Rebuilt it lasted about another few weeks before popping again. Replaced with one from the later Ghibli. 105amp unit. No problems since! All the best Katy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 There would be little point, 80AH is pretty high already for the probable electrical load and battery capacity. I would suggest a more "modern" technology battery. I converted the MGB from the two original type non sealed 6 volt batteries (about three years old) to a 12v Varta Silver 52AH battery. The engine cranking speed was much better and the engine also fired up much sooner. When we first got the Maserati 222 the standard alternator was 65amp. It popped when the load was high about a month later. Rebuilt it lasted about another few weeks before popping again. Replaced with one from the later Ghibli. 105amp unit. No problems since! So my options would appear to be: - Put in a modern tech battery; or - Try to find a higher output alternator with a similar footprint to the CX one (difficult given that Citroen cars of that age are difficult to modify); or - Fit both! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) That rear windscreen pillar is distinctive feature of the 1958 General Motors saloon car range. Everything from Chevrolet to Cadillac used the same basic styling but with different twiddly bits to distinguish the different marques. It was also the first year that GM used quad headlamps, federal law having been changed the previous year to allow cars to carry more than two headlamps. Checking back, the London car had a vertical between the door glasses - was that a pillar or merely draft exclusion (like Sunbeam Talbots used to have between their glasshouse overlapping windows) ? Even looked to be the same paint colour originally! dh Edited July 23, 2018 by runs as required 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 1957 Buick Super hardtop (pillarless) sedan (saloon) - note the way the rear door line splits the angled panel between the side windows and rear screen vertically. This is a styling trick repeated on a good few modern saloons, albeit without the wrapround windscreen - I first noticed it on a Lancia Ypsilon, but some of the small Japanese hatchbacks have the same thing too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Jol Wilkinson Posted July 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 23, 2018 Ivan, a higher rate alternator won't overcome an inadequate/knackered battery, it'll just charge it up quicker. High output alternators are only needed when there is a high electrical load from car components. HRS, headlamps/sidelights,high power audio amplifiers, etc. Our MGB roadster (no HRS or audio amplifier) has battery indicator LEDs in the C-Tek charger connection socket and is back to green (from amber) in a few seconds of starting. That is with a 50 AH alternator. Jol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Ivan, a higher rate alternator won't overcome an inadequate/knackered battery, it'll just charge it up quicker. High output alternators are only needed when there is a high electrical load from car components. HRS, headlamps/sidelights,high power audio amplifiers, etc. Our MGB roadster (no HRS or audio amplifier) has battery indicator LEDs in the C-Tek charger connection socket and is back to green (from amber) in a few seconds of starting. That is with a 50 AH alternator. In that case, I'll put the money towards another battery. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Best of luck Ivan, you don't seem to be having much luck lately. I was watching an old BFI flic last night called 'The Pleasure Girls', shot in the dying weeks of 1964 and released in early '65 it stars a very young Ian McShane as a swinging London photographer tootling about town in a slightly modified 850cc Mk1 Morris Mini Minor, which I couldn't resist grabbing some hasty shots of... The interior has some unusual period touches including the heavy cloth seat covers with a checquered pattern (similar to the first 997 Cooper prototype of 1961), padded top and bottom dash rails (bare metal on base model 850s of the time), extra gauges and switches and the Webasto sunroof which would have been quite expensive back then... (Typical of such films, the villain of the piece, played by a sly and sinister Klaus Kinski in a velvet smoking jacket, drives around in a large American car which I haven't identified). 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted July 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Trailer for The Pleasure Girls here (scroll down a bit) - brief shot of car at 1m 02s https://kultguyskeep.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/the-pleasure-girls-1965-gerry-oharas-sexy-1960s-chelsea-set-drama-is-a-guilty-pleasure-indeed/ Edited July 23, 2018 by Metr0Land 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Best of luck Ivan, you don't seem to be having much luck lately. In essence, it's only two supposedly simple things that are going wrong. Just a process of elimination. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I like Ian McShane and i've been watching 'Lovejoy' lately with all those now old looking '80's & 90's cars I remember one of the first eps' when he go's to an auction in his Volvo estate and theres half a dozen series one landies parked around....Heaven! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I like Ian McShane and i've been watching 'Lovejoy' lately with all those now old looking '80's & 90's cars ..... Was it really that long ago? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted July 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 23, 2018 Was it really that long ago? First aired in Jan86 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090477/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Another shot from 'The Pleasure Girls', in Lexham Gardens, Kensington, it looks quite run down in the film but I dare say it's far more upmarket now... the 'Benelite' grille on the Mini with integral spotlamps would have coast about a weeks wages at the time... Shot on a low budget for the time it was pretty much all done on location in the Kensington area, with plenty of car related eye candy to peruse, it has the look and feel of early b&w episodes of 'The Saint'. I've got a few more London-centric BFI films on order! Edited July 23, 2018 by Rugd1022 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Another shot from 'The Pleasure Girls', in Lexham Gardens, Kensington, it looks quite run down in the film but I dare say it's far more upmarket now.... Just off the Cromwell Road - tourist hotel heaven: Very salubrious area nowadays 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (Typical of such films, the villain of the piece, played by a sly and sinister Klaus Kinski in a velvet smoking jacket, drives around in a large American car which I haven't identified). It's a 1960 Pontiac Catalina or Ventura Hardtop sedan, again pillarless like the Buick, the chrome surrounds retract with the windows. The distinctive raised, twinned rear lights on these can be seen in the trailer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Checking back, the London car had a vertical between the door glasses - was that a pillar or merely draft exclusion (like Sunbeam Talbots used to have between their glasshouse overlapping windows) ? I'm pretty sure that's what it is. There was a contemporary conventionally pillared Buick saloon model too, but it's rather rarer. Edited July 23, 2018 by BernardTPM 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Just off the Cromwell Road - tourist hotel heaven: Very salubrious area nowadays And not that far from where I lived from '83 to '85... I sometimes wish I'd stayed in the smoke and bought my own flat back then...! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 And not that far from where I lived from '83 to '85... I sometimes wish I'd stayed in the smoke and bought my own flat back then...! Prices only really started rising from the mid-1990s onward. Nowadays, of course, you'd be a millionaire in property terms. Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove used to be quite grotty until the 1980s gentrification. Now only celebs and oligarchs can afford to buy property there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now