Thanks David, I really should have got used to it by now. However I use simple failures like this as lightning rods, constant success would be an indicator of not having enough to be thinking about.
M

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I thought I’d mastered the picture but; obviously not. Try again. 

I thought I’d mastered the picture but; obviously not. Try again.

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I included this especially for you Cobber. It just shows how much of a modern man I am, it will also bolster your opinion of my character as a firm member of modernity
Of course my up-to-date outlook helps me as I navigate life in Britain 🇬🇧
As I draw inspiration from the heady days of the last century.
The days when you could buy Whitworth, UNF & metric to use on the same vehicle. When a Bicycle thread request wasn’t met with a blank look & all the thimbles on a new lathe would be imperial, you would expect halfcrowns & florins in your change from a ten bob note after buying a packet of Gold Leaf.
M

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I have one of those also. You can still buy cylinders for both two & four minute players.
Sadly the stylus on my Gem has broken & I’m having to rebuild it, as modern (Berliner) gramophone records have their grooves “side to side” a cylinder player is up & down; hill & dale. Get the profile wrong & you will cut your own track in the wax.
M

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45ep? Do we remember those, oh yes. Crumbs I still play 78’s on my wonderful horn gram.
Kathleen Ferrier with Bruno Walter recorded & played acoustically, nothing like it.
We digress.
It’s not long since we had a session on Rover V8’s & derivatives, that was a good few posts. I must look back on that, anyone remember about when that was?
M

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We’ll done & do remember that from your wife’s point of view, a visit to the hit salon is, in her mind, a legitimate MG expenditure.
Just be thankful that we’re at the back end & the roof won’t be down all that much until spring.
Start saving for that eventually.
Make sure the roof doesn’t leek, she will also view a wet dress as an excuse for a shopping trip to Lancaster & on your card.
Good stuff.
M

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For me the most hallucinogenic V engine ever made was / is the BRM 1.5 litre V16 engine of the mid ‘50’s. It was designed just after the war & it would rev up to 12,000 rpm & make 600bhp.
The change in formula to 2.5ltr (?) brought its development to a holt.
A firm in Lincolnshire will build you a new one it you can rustle up the money.
The sound they make is sublime, again YouTube will help you appreciate what these V16 powered cars would do.
M

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It’s interesting to note how many active members are working through health problems.
My car it the recipient of many of my mad ideas & Cobb’s said when talking about his V8 obsession, thinking & doing simply sheds years of your mental age.
Until you do something that your ancient body doesn’t approve of & you say “Golly that hurt”.
M

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I think there are two patterns of switch, early & late (nowt like stating the obvious) & I don’t think you can graft one onto the other. Electrically they are identical, if buying a used part do make sure it’s off the same family group.
An early f & a 500 won’t mix.
Again this post starts with “I think” & so someone might like to verify, I have a switch in store which I think is a Mk2 / tf, I can’t check against a Mk1 as my car starts electronically & the key just enables the electronics, the rest of it fell in bits, hence the electronics.
M

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Allen Millyard is your man for a job like this. He is mainly a motorcycle man, taking a fairly standard bike & hacking two engines up to make one big one. He has videos on YouTube & every one is a joy especially if you like cup cakes whilst you work. Highly recommend.
Thought two:
your boot space has just been sacrificed & with it an amount of structural rigidity, a prerequisite for a small car with a big engine.
Even with a narrow angled V engine the boot has to go, the V6 experiment ran much too hot, an 8 wouldn’t keep its head gasket for long without fresh air around it. The front radiator wouldn’t keep much cool, so rear mounted radiators with fans running constantly to shift the heat. Swap the original radiator for an oil cooler. A bag of sand under the front plus aero to keep the front down. I’m assuming that if some mad hat has a go, their going to make its capacity grand enough to make the sphincter squeak when you set off; let’s make it big enough for the sphincter to be completely undecided whether to snap tight shut or to dilate.
When one considers that there are two front subframes under the car & both were for front wheel drive, why not stuff a second engine under the bonnet.
There you go 50/50 weight distribution, mind you you won’t be able to see over the bonnet.
M

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There are one or two useful illustrations of the switch floating about on the internet. These are of value when sorting problems like this.
I’m going from memory here, which is rarely a good thing with me but search out Dieter’s web site. He has an early diagram of an f, this doesn’t look much like it’s successors but the basic key switch wiring is the same throughout the cars.
If I recall correctly, it had a block diagram of what connects to what as the key is turned; later diagrams omit this, again if the memory serves.
To others reading this, it is worth looking up Dieter’s site, some of it is inspired.
M

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Could I recommend you wait until our friend has finished his car, it will be an absolute dolly.
The last car Len finished was a red f & I was sorely tempted, had I realised that my last Land Rover would be rehoused by my lad, Len’s red f would be in the now vacated space.
Good things come to those who wait.
M

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The digression through Land Rover lore happens from time to time when Cobber & I find ourselves, once more, on common ground.
It’s my fault.
M

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