Insurance Renewal
The following was recently received from the owner of TA3061:
Just renewed my insurance through Hagerty – excellent service – excellent quote- £112.10 against Footman James at £203.80 – many thanks for the advice.
Ed’s note: We have arranged a discount for our UK readers with Hagerty Insurance. To qualify for this offer, please call Hagerty on 0844 8241130 and quote the promotional code CCTTT.
New stub axles for TC
These are available from Tim Patchett (T-racer) at £630.00 per pair. Please contact Tim for full details: happypeople222(at)gmail.com {please substitute @ for (at)}.
Leather seat restoration
I have recently had the bench seat and the two cushions in my PB restored by the Leather Revival Centre in Gloucester. I’m ashamed to say that I have not taken sufficient care of my seats over the years and the leather had become dry and cracked. When I collected my seats from the Centre recently I could not believe the transformation – they were like new!
Owner (Greg) is very enthusiastic about classic and vintage cars and much of his work is on Jaguars. His premises are situated right opposite the Royal Gloucestershire Hospital in the centre of Gloucester. He sent me the following details of his services:
***** LEATHER REVIVAL CENTRE*****
All kinds of leather restoration, repairs – re-trimming, colour dyeing, colour changes. Splits/ cracking/ hard leather/ burns/ holes. All makes and models. Tel: 07977- 995207 e-mail kingdomjag(at)yahoo.com {please substitute @ for (at).
TA/TB/TC Alternator
I have received the following from Chris Parkhurst:
“Please find attached pics of the Alternator; just to recap……. UK made, 1 year guarantee, 50amps, rev counter drive on rear, simple connections on cut out box, must be negative earth (easy to change) half the weight of the dynamo. Looking for 6 to 10 buyers, cost £395 + £15 p&p or collect from Aylesbury. Dealer price is about £480 +VAT. E-mail me or call 01296 423366.
TD & TF rear springs
I have been too slow on this project to “catch a cold” but I now have an original example of each and hope to make some progress by the next issue.
Heat shields for the TF
I have three (3) of these in stock for the TF. These are supplied to me by Barrie Jones, Technical Specialist for the T Register of the MGCC, The cost is £15 plus postage. Any small profit (if there is one as I can’t find the invoice at present!) goes into the TTT 2 and ttypes.org website fund.
Oil drip trays
Brian Purves has taken over the distribution of the XPAG oil drip trays following David Pelham’s passing. Bryan can be contacted at http://www.bryanpurves.co.uk Telephone number is: +44 (0)1342 315009.
Brass core plugs
Following some concern expressed about the possible effect of different expansion rates when using brass core plugs in a cast iron block, Eric Worpe has come up with the following research:
“Cast iron expands at the rate of 12 ppm per inch per deg.C; Brass expands at the rate of 20 ppm per inch per deg.C. [ppm = parts per million.]
The difference between cast iron and brass is
20 — 12 = 8 ppm/inch/deg C.
If we now assume a 2 inch dia. core plug and a 100 deg.C temp change the expansion difference is :-
8 ppm X 2 inches X 100deg.C = 1,600ppm = 1.6 thou.
So for a worst case situation the difference in expansion is 1.6 thou.
For typical conditions say T amb. = 10 deg.C and T max. = 80 deg.C and a core plug dia. = 1.75 inches the expansion difference is only approx. 1 thou.
Whether 1 thousandth of an inch expansion of the large core plug relative to the cast iron block is significant is unknown to me.“
Ed’s note: We need to also take into account that the core plug is (or rather should be) splayed-out correctly into the block’s counter-bored housing.
With respect to the alternator I think there should be a health warning!! Please make sure that the grade of your wiring is relevant to the amount of amps it is carrying to avoid any possibility of the wiring heating from increased load and possible destruction. I don’t know the possible insurance implications in the event of an electrical fire after fitting an updated charging device and increasing electrical load eg brighter headlamp bulbs.
I also saved over £80 by swapping my insurance to Hagerty.
Regarding the alternator, I have just had my charging system on my TB converted to fully electronic by Dynamo and Regulator Conversions after burning out the armature. No cut-out or resistances, no more over charging or under charging, bright lights!
Regarding the comments on the alternator producing 50amps this is of course only applies if you enough electrical stuff to require it! In any case you just need a 50amp wire from the alternator direct to battery if you have such equipment. The standard Lucas dynamo on a TC produces about 13amps and is likely to ‘smell’and become very hot if you drive with headlamps and wipers on for some time, also a professional rebuild of a dynamo, windings, fields coils etc will set you back about the same as my alternator which is simply fit and forget. Its also half the weight of the dynamo and you still have your old dynamo when you come to sell!
Chris