THINGS THAT WORK 2

[Iancider]

ELECTROLYTIC RUST REMOVAL,

This is a very useful technique and I found a good video link that describes the process well and talks through where it might go wrong.  This process will scale-up to plastic dustbin size and is so much easier and safer than wire-brushing.  The power source could be a conventional battery charger or a car battery - even a 6 volt charger will be fine.  I can take only a couple of hours to remove rust and flaking paint.  The video shows four electrodes but only one is needed.  Heed what is said and keep other metals out of the water.  Make sure you usee Washing Soda not Baking Soda - Sodium Carbonate - available in any supermarket - one tablespoon per gallon.  The waste is not poisonous and may be poured down a drain diluted but NEVER put Stainless steel in the tank because the Chromium compounds produced are highly toxic. The same goes for anything chrom plated.   This technique works for steel and cast iron.





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[YellaBelly]

Used the method myself many time (knew I'd find a use for that old mop bucket! )

If you use more electrodes it can help with the process, but as you say it's not necessary. Definitely easier than 'the tool' and a wire brush

Must admit though, mine is not quite as elegant as the one in the video

[Westiebusa]

That's neat, thanks for the post

[Iancider]

I thought this would be of interest.  Many of us will wish to change filament bulbs for LED's and will have problems.  I got one when changing BA9S instrument panel bulbs with 10mm domed LED's.  They emit in this case an excellent blue light but the beam angle was very narrow and forward.  My instruments are rim-lit and require radial light output like you would get with a normal filament bulb.

What I ended-up with was a very bright spot at the top of the instruments and an otherwise dark display.  So I set about modifying the lenses and it was both easy and successful.

First roughen the sides with coarse grit like 120 grade to make a frosted surface.  A belt or disk sander is better than hand sanding.

Next, flatten the dome lens.  Leave the surface rough - it works better than smooth.

The beam output is now flat and wide with about 10% forward light and 90% side light.  It worked!

[benchmark51]

Thats interesting, I had wondered about using them. I'll give it a go.
Have changed the rear lamps and flashers already. Got a new flasher
relay on order to slow the flash rate. Might use drl's as the sevens seem
to be invisible to the chelsea tractor brigade!

[Iancider]

Benchmark - I know what you mean about chelsea tractors and I am looking at wing markers for that very reason.  With Chelsea tractors the rule seems to be if they can't see you you aint there!  And if they do see you they are so fascinated they drive straight at you!

[Iancider]

HOOTERS

I wanted a good horn my Westie and air-horns are good but pretty cumbersome to fit.  Trying out horns in a shop is just a little antisocial so you end up buying by recommendation or taking a punt.  Well I took a punt and had a succcess so here is my recommendation - this one works well and it is very compact. 

It just proves that hooters don't have to be huge to be appreciated.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005IXDAOM/ref=cfb_at_prodpg

[Moleman]

I will have to see yours when you get it. I find revving my engine works better than my silly little horn. 

I must agree that I'm a keen observer of hooters & I do appreciate all sizes. 

[garry h]

So rude 

[Bulldog Bri]

I will have to see yours when you get it. I find revving my engine works better than my silly little horn. 

I must agree that I'm a keen observer of hooters & I do appreciate all sizes. 

As a professional letch (truck driver) I have to agree

[Dibbler]

I thought this would be of interest.  Many of us will wish to change filament bulbs for LED's and will have problems.  I got one when changing BA9S instrument panel bulbs with 10mm domed LED's.  They emit in this case an excellent blue light but the beam angle was very narrow and forward.  My instruments are rim-lit and require radial light output like you would get with a normal filament bulb.

What I ended-up with was a very bright spot at the top of the instruments and an otherwise dark display.  So I set about modifying the lenses and it was both easy and successful.

First roughen the sides with coarse grit like 120 grade to make a frosted surface.  A belt or disk sander is better than hand sanding.

Next, flatten the dome lens.  Leave the surface rough - it works better than smooth.

The beam output is now flat and wide with about 10% forward light and 90% side light.  It worked!

I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS, but...

I bought some led's for the clocks in my daily driver the other day, in the install instructions that came with them it talked about a blob of tipex on the end of the bulb if you get "bright spots" on the instruments.

[Dibbler]

ELECTROLYTIC RUST REMOVAL,

This is a very useful technique and I found a good video link that describes the process well and talks through where it might go wrong.  This process will scale-up to plastic dustbin size and is so much easier and safer than wire-brushing.  The power source could be a conventional battery charger or a car battery - even a 6 volt charger will be fine.  I can take only a couple of hours to remove rust and flaking paint.  The video shows four electrodes but only one is needed.  Heed what is said and keep other metals out of the water.  Make sure you usee Washing Soda not Baking Soda - Sodium Carbonate - available in any supermarket - one tablespoon per gallon.  The waste is not poisonous and may be poured down a drain diluted but NEVER put Stainless steel in the tank because the Chromium compounds produced are highly toxic. The same goes for anything chrom plated.   This technique works for steel and cast iron.





Edit. To embed YouTube videos to posts simply copy and paste the video URL. No need to use the insert hyperlink tags.

Do you get those funny ideas from time to time & everyone around you starts to look worried?

Well I figure if south glous don't want me to use my green wheely bin as a bin any more (without a new tax being paid), why not turn it into a semi mobile electrolytic rust removal tank. should be big enough to put several good sized parts in at once.

can anyone see a flaw in this plan?

[Bulldog Bri]

Well I figure if south glous don't want me to use my green wheely bin as a bin any more (without a new tax being paid), why not turn it into a semi mobile electrolytic rust removal tank. should be big enough to put several good sized parts in at once.

can anyone see a flaw in this plan?

No! you go ahead and let us know how it goes!. Lol. 

[Iancider]

Go for it.

I had a similar thought with my spare and now redundant dustbins and was considering turning them into individual meat pie moulds for Pete

[Dibbler]

Go for it.

I had a similar thought with my spare and now redundant dustbins and was considering turning them into individual meat pie moulds for Pete

I almost like that idea more    but the rust comes first, I will document it & post it, as soon as I get chance to play.

[Moleman]

Good luck with it. 

[Iancider]

What do you need to know about tyres and wheels - its all here!:

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

[Iancider]

WATERLESS COOLANT - this MIGHT Work!

I have had two mishaps with hoses blowing off since I built my car.  The car is a little under-cooled and wont do an hour or slow motion or traffic and will only do about 6 miles on the track before boiling.  A simple answer would be to just go for  bigger radiator/fan  and oil cooler but that will see off at least £350 for just a small correction.  But I have been enticed to look at waterless coolants.

Engines want to run at 86 degrees C ideally but that is very close to water's boiling at 100 degrees C.  While not ideal and with good oil the engine could run hotter at say 110 degrees C but can only do so by increassing the system pressure, to raise boiling point to over 100 degrees.  But there is the problem - the pressure.  I have twice blown-off a well secured silicone hose and given my passenger hot shower.  The theory says if I can take the boiling away then the pressure goes too.  The liquid I am proposing to use will boil only at 180 degrees.  On top of this it has better thermal transfer because in the cylinder head the water boils on the hot spots and the heat transfer of steam is just one sixth of the water's heat transfer - makingthe problem much worse as it commences.  Boiling after you stop is also an issue with water but waterless fluids wont boil when the flow stops.

The next benefit is taking the corrosion away.  We all want Ally radiators but mix those with Steel and Copper and they rot away quickly and then leak or burst somewhere inconvenient on a Sunday.  Anti-Freeze with inhibitors aids a little but is not perfect for preventing it.  No water = no corrosion at all.

An interesting fact.  1 Brake Horsepower = 740 Watts of heat energy.  A car on the track developing 200 BHP is belching out 270 Kilowatts of heat.  That is enough to heat 18 houses on the coldest winter day!  Most of this heat passes down the exhaust fortunately but the rest has to be cooled by airflow through the radiator(s)

The Catch?  Waterless coolant is very expensive and you have to use a purging solution to take the water out when it is a retrofit.  So I am going to try this out and will let you know if it is a worthwhile investment - to avoid boiling, corrosion and prove if it actually improves cooling.  I'll let you know in a few weeks.

[peterw]

Ian, I've looked at this in the past but the price put me off, the other advantages are non freezing (-40C)and less system pressure. Be interested in the results but I think I will try some water wetter first !!!

[Lucky Ed]

As I've found to my cost, silicone hoses will NOT stay on, even with double clips on, if the pipes are not sufficiently swaged 

[Iancider]

Just reporting back,

Waterless coolant does work.

I've done it now and invested the money.  I drained the water then purged it with hygroscopic dessicant fluid to get the last drips out and any sludge (and there was some already).  Drain all of that out and add the Evans waterless coolant.  It is expensive but it should be for life and the radiator wont rot from the inside and the waterpump wont corrode either.  The seals wont blow out because there is no pressure.

Why did I spend so much?  Well my car was under-cooled but only when sitting in traffic or hammering on the track.  What I learnt was that as water hits 100C under pressure it will not boil but in the cylinder-head next to the chambers it is boiling hard.  When it get to that point it is not really cooling anymore and a boil-over is just a minute away.  This Evans coolant wont boil until 180 degress C.  To prove the point, I disconnected the fan and drove it till it hit 125 degrees C and it did not boil.  I stopped re-connected the fan and watched it fall in a couple of minutes back to 85 degrees.

So that proves it is a better coolant than water.

AND here's the best bit - no pressure.  I took the cap of at 125 degrees - no pressure - no steam.  I don't recommend putting you finder in the coolant though!

Oh yes, it is in there for life, hoses don't perish inside and as anti-freeze it is good down to minus 40 deg C - Alaska on a bad day.

http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk/

['The Gaffer']

Thats very cool Ian... literally

[Camber Dave]

For serious motorsport I can see the obvious advantages.

In my experience most cooling problems start as a result of a water leak. I have topped up rads with water from cattle troughs, streams and drinks containers to get a leaky car home.  Water is normally available from garages and now shops and supermarkets.

What happens if you have to add water to the Evans stuff?

[benchmark51]

I agree, good old H2O has always worked well enough if all else is in order. It is cheap and available almost anywhere.

[Iancider]

Dave, It is good question but it is very unlikly to happen.

The major cause of water loss is boiling and it doesn't do that.  I will travel with a litre of top-up but that is it.  Hoses dont harden and perish either so the secondary cause is gone too.  It can be fluid for life because there is no corrosion, oxidation or decay.  If you drain it you can collect it and put it back.  Loads of classic cars are running on this now due to their elevated problems and it seems to work for them too.

[Iancider]

Here's and experiment that worked,

My exhaust was particulalry resonant and while on the motorway I found the drone intolerable.  It all seemed to be down to tailpipe resonance.  The sound is impressive enough without having to amplify it.  So I applied some thought to taking the "one note" resonance out. 

Any tube of constant diameter will resonate at a particular note like an organ-pipe.  The longer the tube and the wider, the deeper the note.  Straight-through exhausts are particulary good at amplifying those low notes.  The technique was simple.  On the underside of the tail pipe I drilled several holes where they could not be seen and where hot exhaust gas would not burn the body.  At about 25mm spacing I drilled holes of 6, 9, 11, 14 and then 8mm (from silencer to pipe exit - the last being about 25mm inboard).  The sizes are not critical but should be unequal and collectively they should equal the exit area of the exhaust tailpipe.  The tail pipe now has no resonance and produces an equal sound across the rev-range.  It is overall quieter too which fits with the theory and frankly I prefer the quality of sound now.  As it was stainless no post-protection was required but if it is is steel it will need to be sprayed with Ultra-high Temperature paint to prevent rusting.

For those with a marginal result on a trackday sound-check, this will probably trim 3dB or so off the total exhaust level (but wont touch induction noise of course)

[Lucky Ed]

Interesting stuff Ian, we'll have to have a chat, as I'm bang on the limit for Combe and it might save the expense of a new can

['The Gaffer']

Very clever that, I cant stand a droning exhaust either.

[Iancider]

Here's another good find,

Looking ahead to my winter jobs I am minded to change my nose grille.  The powder coating is already flaking and the steel expanded mesh is rusting well.   Then I found this company who actually make that lovely mesh grille for Jags and even though it is stainless it costs no more than plastic coated steel.  It is 316 grade and that means bright and shiny - what's not to like!

http://www.themeshcompany.com/products/Jaguar-Mesh---6.87mm-Aperture---1.6mm-Wire---SS316L-Grade---Diamond-Pattern---Stainless-Steel-Woven-Wire-Mesh-233.html#SID=29

[Moleman]

The first thing I did when I got mine over 3 years ago was to get mine powder coated & it still seems to be ok at the moment. I even got the Westfield name badge a different colour rather than have it all black.

[Iancider]

The first thing I did when I got mine over 3 years ago was to get mine powder coated & it still seems to be ok at the moment. I even got the Westfield name badge a different colour rather than have it all black.

It probabaly didn't help by trying to strain a Pheasant through it!

[Iancider]

Here is another Gem,

My tintop recently popped up the troublesome "MIL" engine fault light and stuck the engine at just 2000 rpm.  Apart from making it very hard to drive in Limp mode and getting home very slowly, I had time to contemplate just how expensive this might be.  Most garages want to charge £40 - 80 just to connect the diagnostics and then tend to tell you something far worse than it actually is.  So that wasn't for me and I bought this gem tester from LONELEC. http://www.lonelec.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6&products_id=8

It was a doddle to use and works with any car or system from 2004 AND I got change from £15! 

EVEN BETTER - it showed three faults but only one mattered - the fault reporting system was reporting that it was faulty ironically.  Hit RESET and it went away and stayed away.  It was just a glitch.  So there's a bargain on offer to you now or you can borrow mine!

[benchmark51]

Bummer, not going to work on my 2003 transit then.

[Iancider]

Dave, it might work on the transit.  The USA was ahead and the tester will work on all US vehicles from 98 and it is likely to work on earlier 2004 fords as a result.  the common standards did not enforce in europe until 2004 but quite a lot that had a US origin was compliant beforehand.

[benchmark51]

Might be worth a try then.

The bus runs a treat except when I switch over to lpg. Might run ok for a little while then stutters quite badly, may clear itself and run ok but may not and so I switch back to petrol and runs fine again. If it is really warmed up it can run faultlessly on lpg. Petrol injectors are turned off as lpg ones turn on, thats usually when the fault occurs. Switching back clears it straightaway. Just changed the lpg filter so I'll see if that improves it.

At the mo' I'm doing a brake reline/ fluid change/various other jobs for Mot.

[dikkie]

Another alternative is a bluetooth OBD scanner:

http://www.lightinthebox.com/elm327-obdii-v1-5-can-bus-bluetooth-diagnostic-interface-scanner_p1161475.html?currency=GBP&litb_from=paid_adwords_shopping&gclid=CjwKEAiA1-CjBRDOhIr_-vPDvQYSJAB48SmEqOu92FHpk4m58uDrQ2qmne8ardEf3UyUZijwg2VmLxoCzyzw_wcB

connect it to your phone, there's lots of apps out there but torque seems to be the favorite:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en_GB

You can read/reset the diagnostic codes but you can also turn your phone into a "digital dashboard" and show things like mpg when you're driving even when the car doesn't normally display it:

[benchmark51]

Ok Dikkie, that looks like fun and for the price of a pie and a pint.

Have downloaded the app and installed it, also got the adapter on it's way.
We shall see

[Iancider]

That sure topped my find Dikkie!

It is amazing what you do with a phone now except when you cant find it that is....  or is there an App for that? 

['Mendip Wurzel']

I also just purchased the OBD scanner..... Thanks

[dikkie]

Found another good app:

I was trying to set the tension on my cambelt, someone told me you can do it from the frequency of the belt, might be common knowledge to you guys but it was news to me! After some searching I discovered it's the more accurate way of doing it and it should be done with a sonic tension meter:

http://www.pfeiferindustries.com/installation/timing-belt-tensioning.html

So I found a guitar tuner app for my phone that does any frequency, searched for the correct frequency for my car (95 to 100 khz) and proceeded to "pluck" the cambelt with one finger. With the spanner on the tensioner in my other hand I could get a nice little tune out of it .

I could quite accurately adjust the tension, 1 khz at a time, I set it to 97khz, turned the engine over a few times and checked it again, still dead on 97khz . I did the usual twist check, all looks good!

Nice to take the guess work out of it all!