Nick Jones Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 10 minutes ago, mpbarrett said: My Herald has become a platform for me to develop different electronics projects, one of my hobbies. Making reliable electronics that work in a car environment is actually quite difficult. BTW no one would ever want to to buy it, not that I plan to sell it, with all the undocumented bits of electronics on it! Car electronics…..! Your car and it’s developments need it’s own thread….. Hell, your wiper system needs its own thread! Undocumented is fine……. Until it stops working 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 1 hour ago, mpbarrett said: it uses a modified TR6 switch body that I have added a wafer switch to the back and has 5 positions, off, 30 sec interrupt, 10 sec interrupt, slow speed, fast speed. It also has a micro switch on it to switch on the washer pump when the knob is pressed. It uses a Arduino Nano, some relays, and a GT6 wiper motor. Seems to work well but the Arduino sometimes crashes, they seem susceptible to power line noise. BTW you cant use the Arduino Nano and the boot loader and the watchdog timer due to a bug in the bootloader code. Its one of the winter projects to rebuild it and rewrite the software and remove the bootloader and program it directly. When I built it, and looked at the original Lucas circuits, I wondered why they shorted the motor. If you dont, the motor free wheels and doesnt park the wipers in the correct place, by shorting the motor it stops almost immediately My Herald has become a platform for me to develop different electronics projects, one of my hobbies. Making reliable electronics that work in a car environment is actually quite difficult. BTW no one would ever want to to buy it, not that I plan to sell it, with all the undocumented bits of electronics on it! mike Not quite the same as Mike's hi-tec solution, but the intermittent wiper kit that Maplin does (or did..) works very well and is easy to build, fit and use. Now that Maplin are online only and biased towards gaming kit I'm not sure if it is still available, but it could be worth a look if you can find one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 5 hours ago, Nick Jones said: Your car and it’s developments need it’s own thread….. Hell, your wiper system needs its own thread! Not just me then !!!! 5 hours ago, mpbarrett said: with all the undocumented bits of electronics on it! The difference beteen a mechanical engineer and software engineer he says, reaching for the paper bag and taking deep breaths. 3 hours ago, sparky_spit said: Not quite the same as Mike's hi-tec solution, but the intermittent wiper kit that Maplin does (or did..) works very well and is easy to build, fit and use. Now that Maplin are online only and biased towards gaming kit I'm not sure if it is still available, but it could be worth a look if you can find one. Thanks guys. Between those and Roger's switch mod you have given me some good suggestions for upgrading the (barely) single speed wipers on the Spitfire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 3 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said: upgrading the (barely) single speed wipers on the Spitfire. Just an observation…. In 2008 I put considerable effort into getting the Vitesse wipers working decently. They were “utterly shite”. I renewed the wheel boxes, swapped the motor for the later, round two-speed one, spent far too long praying about with switches and wiring. I renewed the wiper arms and got some expensive Trico blades. The result of all this were wipers that were improved to the heady heights of “a bit shite”. The arms and blades were probably the biggest winner because the water did actually get wiped off the screen over most of the blade length for most of the arc. The rest…. The wipers weren’t constantly flogging on the seal any longer and normal speed was quicker and more consistent than before. I have two speeds too, but I almost never use fast….. I would like intermittent function though, and/or a column switch for single sweep. Edit: I’ve spent a couple of hours this afternoon fettling the Sootmonster wipers. The drivers side no longer clears by the a-pillar as the arm wasn’t maintaining spring pressure. It wasn’t obvious why. I ended up taking it all apart. Like most things on this car it’s fairly simple and nicely made. It’s getting worn. I suppose that’s inevitable. Those wipers have done quite a few sweeps…. I’ve dismantled, cleaned, greased and reassembled. At this point I realised the position of the whole assembly can be adjusted to change the angle of the spindles relative to the screen. And a small tweak makes all the difference….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 One word - well one word and a letter. Rain X. Sorted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 41 minutes ago, JohnD said: One word - well one word and a letter. Rain X. Yeah... that's the punch line really..... in spite of all the effort on the Vitesses wipers in 2008 - as RBRR prep...... I still applied Rain X - and we were very glad of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 15 hours ago, Nick Jones said: Yeah... that's the punch line really..... in spite of all the effort on the Vitesses wipers in 2008 - as RBRR prep...... I still applied Rain X - and we were very glad of it! Never used the stuff before but sounds like it's worth a try regardless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Never without it, and applied for a wet race! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 4 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said: Never used the stuff before but sounds like it's worth a try regardless Originally intended for helmet visors I understand..... however, works on whole windscreens and provided you are going fast enough the water just rolls off. If you do use wipers then after a while the coating gets damaged and smeary and you either have to re-apply or clean off thoroughly with solvent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrookster Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 6 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said: Never used the stuff before but sounds like it's worth a try regardless And here I thought you lived in Glasgow, Scotland?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 29 minutes ago, thebrookster said: And here I thought you lived in Glasgow, Scotland?? Just had to drive with my head out the window.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 1 hour ago, Escadrille Ecosse said: Just had to drive with my head out the window.... A very wet head presumably Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 36 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: A very wet head presumably No, because I did find Rain X worked very well on that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbarrett Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 On 9/16/2022 at 5:44 PM, Nick Jones said: Just an observation…. In 2008 I put considerable effort into getting the Vitesse wipers working decently. They were “utterly shite”. I renewed the wheel boxes, swapped the motor for the later, round two-speed one, spent far too long praying about with switches and wiring. I renewed the wiper arms and got some expensive Trico blades. The result of all this were wipers that were improved to the heady heights of “a bit shite”. The arms and blades were probably the biggest winner because the water did actually get wiped off the screen over most of the blade length for most of the arc. The rest…. The wipers weren’t constantly flogging on the seal any longer and normal speed was quicker and more consistent than before. I have two speeds too, but I almost never use fast….. /..... The Herald screen is very curved at the edge of the screen so its critical to get blades and arms with the right amount of spring force otherwise half the screen is not touched. finding decent wiper arms and blades does seem to be difficult. I finally got a decent arm and blades but cant remember where I brought them from! mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 On 9/18/2022 at 8:16 AM, mpbarrett said: finding decent wiper arms and blades does seem to be difficult. I finally got a decent arm and blades but cant remember where I brought them from! Amen! I ended up getting a pair on ebay which said they were suitable for an unfeasibly large range of cars, including E-type Jag. They've got much better curve and spring pressure but the central pivot bit is ever so slightly offset, so don't work as a pair because there's an unwiped gap in the middle of the screen. However i've put one on the driver's side and left passenger side with the crap one. Comparison below: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 That’s the one. Trico IIRC. The blades last ages. Still using the ones fitted in 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt64fun Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Pete I bought nice delicate pair of 11" blades from JSF Car Parts at Beaulieu about ten years ago. They are marked as Rainbow, made in England. I had 10" Tricos previously, but they were a tad too short. Some of the modern offerings are much to clunky and don't fit the screen as you say. Don't know if JSF are still trading, but for anyone searching for something age appropriate their original address was:- 18 Crackle Hill Westwoodside Doncaster DN9 2RF 01427 753024 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 5 hours ago, Gt64fun said: Pete I bought nice delicate pair of 11" blades from JSF Car Parts at Beaulieu about ten years ago. They are marked as Rainbow, made in England. I had 10" Tricos previously, but they were a tad too short. Some of the modern offerings are much to clunky and don't fit the screen as you say. Don't know if JSF are still trading, but for anyone searching for something age appropriate their original address was:- 18 Crackle Hill Westwoodside Doncaster DN9 2RF 01427 753024 Good intel, I didn't think to look who made mine but will check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 The trusty Spitfire has racked up a few hundred miles over the last month, including a very wet drive back from the lake district 2 weeks ago. The following weekend me and daughter headed for a wedding in Somerset, and she discovered the passenger-side carpet was soaking wet under the seat. So yesterday I finally got an afternoon in the garage to remove seats and carpet to dry out properly. Previous owner had put some carpet underlay beneath the driver's side seat, and that had got damp and stuck to the floor pan. Scraped the remnants off and will wire brush and coat everything with Hydrate 80 for the time being. Currently looks pretty grim! (Pic from before scraping bits of underlay off) I also played around with the brown Spit6, but failed to take photos. It will run but not for long, and cuts out randomly. Changed all the HT ignition stuff which made no difference, so am going to try swapping fuel pump next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbarrett Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Not my car but our campervan, 2011 Boxer based van conversion. It has had air bags supports on the rear suspension, these really help with the handling and ride. When I got the van I noticed the top fixing boles had been fitted so they touched and damaged the rubber cones. I turned them round but they had damaged the rubber. Finally, one has started to leak so needed to replace it.. Everything on the Van is bigger and heavier than working on my car. Had to buy a new 3 Ton rated jack as all of mine are limited to 2 Ton. Was tempted by a Halfords offer, 2 axle stands and a 3 Ton jack but when I checked the axle stands were limited to 1.5 Ton. Ok if you can make sure the load on the jacks is even, but if not you have the risk of overloading the stand... Not good. Anyway, its meant to be a simple 30 min job to change the bags, it took over 3 hours everything was very tight and rusty.. had to take the U clamps off the axle to get the units out. Only done one side. the other side is soaking in Plusgas ready for next week! rubber bag goes between the axle and the bump stop. My biggest breaker bar to undo stuff! In the garage being pulled apart to change the rubber bag. All changed and holding air so all good. mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Welcome to the world of light commercials…. Good job. Good luck for round two. Plus Gas is good stuff…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Not quite this week, but MGF hubs, rotoflex uprights, brake drums all painted up - all nice colours for the M.O.T. man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Also some cage work - slicing, bending, tack-welding the existing front cage to a good shape. A fair bit more to do, but is looking quite homely now ... if you excuse the lack of paint at the moment ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Once the front cage is the right shape, a roll cage company can use it as a template to make from new tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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