Exciting day - rebuild of 78 coupe

[johng]

Another big day in my car's restoration, I picked it up from having the gearbox rebuilt this afternoon. The reverse clutch plates were worn out.
No more big jobs planned yet (but there's plenty of scope for some engine mods at some point), but I still have a few minor things to keep me busy.
Discovered last week that whilst my headlight circuit breaker can handle dip beam, after a few minutes of main beam it cuts out. That's quite exciting coming home down a pitch black country lane! I've already got a relay and some cable so that's high on the priority list.
Also need to have a better go at my suspension geometry. I did it roughly before re-fitting the body, but I've definitely got too much camber at the rear and everything needs checking.
My timing is currently set as stock, so I'm planning to have a go at improving that and maybe give the carb an overhaul during the winter.
Always plenty to do with a 40+ year old car.

 

[Chuffer]

Exciting times indeed and more exciting times to come methinks . What carb are you running with ? Good luck with the rest of the jobs , especially the oh so common self cancelling head lights . I know the feeling of driving along an unlit A road after dark and suddenly going blind ! Scary .

 

[johng]

Carb is the original Quadrajet.

 

[Oneball]

Does it drive better now?

 

[johng]

It drives better backwards! Can't notice any difference going forwards

 

[Roscobbc]

Another big day in my car's restoration, I picked it up from having the gearbox rebuilt this afternoon. The reverse clutch plates were worn out.
No more big jobs planned yet (but there's plenty of scope for some engine mods at some point), but I still have a few minor things to keep me busy.
Discovered last week that whilst my headlight circuit breaker can handle dip beam, after a few minutes of main beam it cuts out. That's quite exciting coming home down a pitch black country lane! I've already got a relay and some cable so that's high on the priority list.
Also need to have a better go at my suspension geometry. I did it roughly before re-fitting the body, but I've definitely got too much camber at the rear and everything needs checking.
My timing is currently set as stock, so I'm planning to have a go at improving that and maybe give the carb an overhaul during the winter.
Always plenty to do with a 40+ year old car.

John - have you checked the wattage of the headlight bulbs fitted? - the main/dip dual filament bulb (I should say sealed beam) will most likely have been changed for a left hand dipping pair. Its quite likely that the main beam only inner pair still have the American units still in place - generally quite a low power, unless of course someone has swapped them out for something a little more powerful..........in the day it was non unusual in the 'States for aircraft landing light bulbs to be used - if high power the possible cause of your problem (too much loading)?

 

[Mad4slalom]

Exciting times indeed and more exciting times to come methinks . What carb are you running with ? Good luck with the rest of the jobs , especially the oh so common self cancelling head lights . I know the feeling of driving along an unlit A road after dark and suddenly going blind ! Scary .

Me too

 

[Chuffer]

Me too

Have you had any success researching upgrades for your lights ?

 

[TimP]

Another big day in my car's restoration, I picked it up from having the gearbox rebuilt this afternoon. The reverse clutch plates were worn out.
No more big jobs planned yet (but there's plenty of scope for some engine mods at some point), but I still have a few minor things to keep me busy.
Discovered last week that whilst my headlight circuit breaker can handle dip beam, after a few minutes of main beam it cuts out. That's quite exciting coming home down a pitch black country lane! I've already got a relay and some cable so that's high on the priority list.
Also need to have a better go at my suspension geometry. I did it roughly before re-fitting the body, but I've definitely got too much camber at the rear and everything needs checking.
My timing is currently set as stock, so I'm planning to have a go at improving that and maybe give the carb an overhaul during the winter.
Always plenty to do with a 40+ year old car.

Always something to do! Bet it feels really good to get your car back home again. I'll be interested to see how you set up suspension geometry - will you be doing this yourself?

 

[Mad4slalom]

Have you had any success researching upgrades for your lights ?

No chuffs , I have not had any more info on led h4’s other than some say the light beams are all over the place. . Have all the new switches in case it is that . But been busy bringing front of shed down to door hieght. Had a clearout ready to pull old shed down. Sold buggy and bike goes tuesday as the shed needs doors and floors which wont be cheap. The price of timber made my eyes water this week . All be worth it in the end tho

 

[johng]

John - have you checked the wattage of the headlight bulbs fitted? - the main/dip dual filament bulb (I should say sealed beam) will most likely have been changed for a left hand dipping pair. Its quite likely that the main beam only inner pair still have the American units still in place - generally quite a low power, unless of course someone has swapped them out for something a little more powerful..........in the day it was non unusual in the 'States for aircraft landing light bulbs to be used - if high power the possible cause of your problem (too much loading)?

Ross, all my headlights have been changed - by me! I've got H4 halogens in the dip beams and H1 halogens in the main beams. My main beams add up to 220w compared to my dip beams of 100w, so no great surprise it trips the circuit breaker, although I had tried it out several times and it worked. It seems that it only trips after being on for a few minutes. I've had a look at LEDs but it appears they are not strictly legal and actually putting a relay in looks to be simple to do and very cheap. so that's my plan.

 

[johng]

Always something to do! Bet it feels really good to get your car back home again. I'll be interested to see how you set up suspension geometry - will you be doing this yourself?

Yes Tim, I like to do everything myself that I can. I chickened out with the gearbox because I wasn't confident I could get it out from under the car without injuring or killing myself. I don't suppose that I will be able to get the geometry anything like as good as someone with a professional laser setup, but then I don't think I need to. I'm not planning to race my car like Oneball, or even take it on a track day (my son has a car that we both do that with).

 

[Chuffer]

No chuffs , I have not had any more info on led h4’s other than some say the light beams are all over the place. . Have all the new switches in case it is that . But been busy bringing front of shed down to door hieght. Had a clearout ready to pull old shed down. Sold buggy and bike goes tuesday as the shed needs doors and floors which wont be cheap. The price of timber made my eyes water this week . All be worth it in the end tho

I bet it was a wrench to see the buggy go as you live in perfect buggy country , not to mention the bike going soon too . The shed is looking good though but dread to think how much all that timber is costing ! Anyone would think it didn`t grow on trees .

 

[Roscobbc]

Ross, all my headlights have been changed - by me! I've got H4 halogens in the dip beams and H1 halogens in the main beams. My main beams add up to 220w compared to my dip beams of 100w, so no great surprise it trips the circuit breaker, although I had tried it out several times and it worked. It seems that it only trips after being on for a few minutes. I've had a look at LEDs but it appears they are not strictly legal and actually putting a relay in looks to be simple to do and very cheap. so that's my plan.

 

[Roscobbc]

Used the (supposedly) 50% brighter (over halogens) Xenon bulbs in mine. Same wattage (so they say) as halogen. Certainly on a par with 'modern' lighting except perhaps on dip where the 'cut-off' on the remaining pair is a bit extreme for comfortable driving on poorly lit urban roads.....never had an issue with relay/cut-out tripping though.

 

[Mad4slalom]

I bet it was a wrench to see the buggy go as you live in perfect buggy country , not to mention the bike going soon too . The shed is looking good though but dread to think how much all that timber is costing ! Anyone would think it didn`t grow on trees .

The fun was the journey building the buggy really. It had no weather gear just flyscreens so only a fair weather fun thing. Had it 4 years since build so it was time for a change. As for the bike, again very little use and traffic manic in cwll this year , also several biker deaths locally in the last few weeks, so decided I want to be around to enjoy the vette and complete the new shed project, can feel a shiny new two post lift coming on as long as the timber bill doesnt bankrupt me

 

[Chuffer]

The fun was the journey building the buggy really. It had no weather gear just flyscreens so only a fair weather fun thing. Had it 4 years since build so it was time for a change. As for the bike, again very little use and traffic manic in cwll this year , also several biker deaths locally in the last few weeks, so decided I want to be around to enjoy the vette and complete the new shed project, can feel a shiny new two post lift coming on as long as the timber bill doesnt bankrupt me

Ooh ! A post lift , now you`re talkin ! As for the biker deaths , I bet that is more down to how they are ridden than the errors of other road users ! Why do so many bikers think they are Agostini with less than half the brains and even less talent ???

 

[johng]

Used the (supposedly) 50% brighter (over halogens) Xenon bulbs in mine. Same wattage (so they say) as halogen. Certainly on a par with 'modern' lighting except perhaps on dip where the 'cut-off' on the remaining pair is a bit extreme for comfortable driving on poorly lit urban roads.....never had an issue with relay/cut-out tripping though.

My main beam seemed very bright to me (until it went totally dark that is ). Mind you could have just been in comparison with my dip beam. I still haven't quite got the headlamps adjusted correctly, dip beam was still too low. I've adjusted it up a bit more and hopefully will be able to try it out on Weds evening.

 

[johng]

Fitted a relay into my main beam circuit today. A 30amp fused relay from Halfords did the job for £6, plus a few crimp connectors and bits of cable I had lying around (the power cable from the alternator is somewhat larger than necessary, but it was available). Even managed to get enough slack on the light green headlight wire to fit it into the relay without having to extend it, so nice easy job.

 

[Mad4slalom]

Fitted a relay into my main beam circuit today. A 30amp fused relay from Halfords did the job for £6, plus a few crimp connectors and bits of cable I had lying around (the power cable from the alternator is somewhat larger than necessary, but it was available). Even managed to get enough slack on the light green headlight wire to fit it into the relay without having to extend it, so nice easy job.

View attachment 13173

Good job, did you have the flickering and cutting out lights on main beam? How did you find out what went where ?