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Alternator

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  This is a work in progress but as the blog is being written at the same time as I am working (for a change), I thought I might as well publish it to make it a live update of sorts. So do pop back in the future to see when I finally give up and set the lot on fire. I can see this one growing some legs so I am separating it from the wiring thread to give it space of its own. My alternator had 3 main issues, It didn't appear to be pumping out any power, the wiring looked a bit crispy, as did the rear case of the alternator itself. What is it After a bit of looking about, it appears to be a Lucas 18ACR which was factory fit with the Xflow motors.  Copies of these can be picked up for £53 so no great expense there and well worth just replacing on speck. I also bought a euro plug for reasons that would be clear later. I also bought a new engine earth strap (you can just make it out in the background of fig1.1. It was a bit frayed and looked like a weak point. fig1.1 Crispiness The...
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Interior trim V1.1.1

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  This is a work in progress but as the blog is being written at the same time as I am working (for a change), I thought I might as well publish it to make it a live update of sorts. So do pop back in the future to see when I finally give up and set the lot on fire. What it arrived with fig1.1 The interior trim was the most openly not finished part of the car.  It is a little unclear if this was ever finished. I have the impression that it was at least functional originally then a redesign and update was carried out by a previous owner but they lost momentum along the way. New switches and the partially flocked dash were mentioned by the previous owner as was the carpet which was placed but not finished in order to at least get out and drive the car.  The dahs pod looked like a new addition and fairly tidy if awaiting finishing. fig1.2 Fibreglass bucket seats were a necessity for the rather tall previous owner and something I planned to replace before I even bought the ca...
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Engine work V1.1.0

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This is a work in progress but as the blog is being written at the same time as I am working (for a change), I thought I might as well publish it to make it a live update of sorts. So do pop back in the future to see when I finally give up and set the lot on fire. I was surprised, on taking the car out for the first time, the engine, clutch and gearbox were all surprisingly nice.   The engine makes a huge racket with pops and bangs on the over-run then gurgles back to life as the throttle pedal is mashed. Great fun! That does not mean there were no improvements to be made and here is where I plan to capture the chronology of it all. Any big tasks will get shown off on their own posts of course so you don't have to dig through all of my droning on. What the RW Karma GT Arrived With fig1.1 The engine installed in my car was a Ford four crossflow. A hugely popular kit car motor in the 80's and early 90's. Feeding that is a pair of twin Dellortos and a custom stainless exhaust ...
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RW Karma - What I know about the kit V0.1.2

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 This post is design to share the facts of what MY kit is made up of. This thing is over 30 years old, based on a 50 year old chassis and made by various dudes in sheds so no two are going to be the same. I hope you find this somewhat helpful at least. The base kit I won't copy and paste Wikipedia as that won't help you here. My kit is a later one, still based on the post 72 Super Beetle chassis but with a Ford four crossflow engine mated to the the VW gearbox and rear driveshaft.  Noticeable modifications to the chassis include: Cut outs for the bigger engine Cut bout for access to the starter motor Cut out to make the Froot pointless. Chassis From what I can make out, my car is a 1973 Super Beetle with some added angle iron and box section to add the supports needed to hold the fibreglass body kit in place. Electrics There is a base loom which conforms to a post '72 Beetle harness but all the colours are wrong. If I end up identifying this I will be sure to share it on he...
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Wires V1.1.0 *Work in progress*

  This is a work in progress but as the blog is being written at the same time as I am working (for a change), I thought I might as well publish it to make it a live update of sorts. So do pop back in the future to see when I finally give up and set the lot on fire. Intro This is the start of a long tail that will be added to for as long as I own the car no doubt. Before I even bought the car I knew there was wiring to sort out. The seller told me: Recently only one headlamp worked The instrument gauging was in full disco mode There were a load of new and old switches which needed swapping out  Tidying required general sense of unease. The seller was fairly convinced that most of this would be a bad earth as everything had worked before and with my previous experience with the Spitfire I was inclined to believe this. Only one way to find out! The Bad Earth This one took me all of 15 minutes to find.  A glance under the dash looked pretty horrifying, much, much more on tha...
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Let there be light

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  Facebook Ads shouldn't have so much bum on show Story This story starts like so many others; with avoiding doing the jobs I should be doing and finding myself on Facebook marketplace.  A neat looking little kit car, that has a passing resemblance to a Ferrari Dino, popped up and just kept reappearing (nice work Marketplace algorithm!). A recent Haggarty YouTube video on the Dino did little to help and nor did showing it to a mate, who rather than doing the right thing and dissuading me from a daft purchases, instead asked when I wanted dropping off to collect it. Chatting to the seller told me the car was usable but unfinished, it was a fair few jobs to rectify and bring the car to some kind of finished state which seemed reasonable at its listed price. His reticence for me to drive it the 150 miles home should have raised eyebrows but nothing was striking me as dodgy so monies were swapped, a delivery truck booked and I had just bought someone's half-finished project site u...
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