Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Vincent forum 1950 Black Shadow: Total Rebuild

Hey MM...that's an MG TF, not a TC.

Lovely car, and the clue to it's being a late model with the larger, 1500cc engine, is the little placard on the bonnet (hood), just behind the headlamp cowl, showing TF-1500.

I had a 53 TD. In my defense, I have none. I was young and foolish.

Thanks for pointing out the typo, which I've corrected.

You now have a BSA of similar vintage. As your fellow Dubliner said, "With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone."

FYI, having nothing to do with this Vincent thread (other than the second footnote, which means this post has everything to do with every thread), I got an email from Photobucket saying I've been inactive there for quite some time, which is true, and that if I want to keep my images I need to verify that fact. However, following the links in the email resulted in a 'something went wrong' error message before I reached the verification stage. Anyway, what this may mean is all the images in my magneto restoration thread, and many in my Spitfire and other threads I started prior to mid-2017, may not be around much longer.[*] Such is the transitory nature of information on the web.[**]

[*]I have the full text and images of these threads on my computer, but it would require considerable time to re-upload them.

[**] Quoting from a 2017 article in the New York Times, "As digital culture becomes more tied to the success of the platforms where it flourishes, there is always a risk of it disappearing forever."

Looks like you have the best-sealed spray booth within 100 miles, and I can't think what else could improve it, except perhaps for a small moat which might be useful for keeping spiders and snakes at bay.

All this talk of spiders and snakes reminds me of an old 70's song by Jim Stafford, "I don't like spiders and snakes....." which somehow seemed appropriate to the situation.

The great thing about MMan's threads is that he hijacks them himself all the time, so it's fair game to post whatever comes to mind.

Re snakes, myself and my 15yo daughter love them, and have been nurturing a family of garter snakes in the Catskills for several years. We like to think that the Mamma knows us, but I would doubt that's the case. What is certain is that she is less prone to run way when we stop by for a visit (we know where she lives)

I have been encouraging MMan to do the same to the various families (dynasties) of Western Diamondback Rattlers (Crotalus atrox) that live on his property.

Shirley, that can't be true...

There are supposed to be five species of rattlesnakes in this part of the Sonoran Desert, but I'm sure more than that are in 'Rattlesnake Canyon' where the paint booth sits. But, no matter how many species there are behind the garage, all seem to be thriving without any help from us.

Moats in the desert don't have the same longevity as they do in England.

The "guides" on the jungle boat ride at Disneyland used to (and maybe still do?) end the ride by saying something like "now the most dangerous part of the journey begins; the drive home on California freeways." With the shed fully sealed, the most dangerous part of the journey will be the ~20-ft. walk through rattlesnake country between the gate in the snake-proof fence and the door of the shed.

While on the subject of moats and snake-proof fences, when we had the fence installed we were comforted to know it provided our yard with 100% security from rattlesnakes. That is, until someone who knows better pointed out that it isn't uncommon for hawks to lose their grasp on snakes they are carrying home to the nest, and drop them. So, while we may be safe from invasion by land and sea, we're completely vulnerable to rattlesnake attacks from the air.

I didn't realize that snakes were such an issue in your part of the US, but it seems like you are well protected, apart from aerial attacks, which I guess you cant do much about.

I'm looking forward to seeing the paint booth project come into commissioning and use, which can't be far away and will surely lead to some great results.

Something to consider is that the Wayback Machine - THE internet archive - has archived the first page of your magneto missive, inc pics.
If it was encouraged to do the rest, it would be archived for all time.*

https://web.archive.org/web/2021012...33/restoring-a-rotating-armature-magneto

*Assuming the Wayback Machine never goes belly-up.
I'm not sure where this is located, or how financially or bomb proof it is ...
As an archive of EVERYTHING ever published on the web, this is a massive undertaking.
As you discover if you ever have reason to trawl its extent...

A good thought, but the graphics in the archive are still referenced by link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210126151111im_/https://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o626/ClassicVehicleElectrics/30PointsPlate.jpg
A block at Photobucket will have the same effect on the archive as the Britbike rendition.

Interesting.

There are articles archived there that are (long) gone off the web, and long gone from the photo suppliers,
but the pics are still intact. So there must be more to it ?

Some embedded graphic or audio materials are database stored as BLOBS (Binary Large Objects).
Storage space requirements for BLOBS limits their use.
Most images on the web are linked.

there is a googolplex ( server Hotel ) ( Data Center )
about 20 miles down the road from my summer digs .

It's chock-a-block full of racks and racks of servers , storing data , useful and otherwise .
It sucks up and uses all of the electricity that used to
Run a hydroelectric aluminum smelting plant , that at its peek employed 500 people .
The aluminum smelter was a pretty big polluter of air and water .
But made a lot of beer cans . I suppose all development comes at a cost .

the no long new data center is said to employ about 150 people .
It's hard to get an exact number on anything Google ,
they give out data on others , but not themselves ,
it's estimated the electric bill is 13 million dollars a year .

People often wonder about the smoke that often emanates from these buildings .
Without a shred of proof , it is said to be from people deleting e-mails .

No one is more anxious than me. I lost a week due to our recent trip to New York, but now I'm getting very close (although, I might have said that before...).

You'll need to use your imagination when looking at the next photograph, because I'll have to make clamps that operate on the tops and bottoms of the doors, from outside and inside, to hold them against the gasket materials.



Also, the photograph is deceptively bright since it was an exposure of nearly 5 seconds. When I hold the doors shut by hand, the only light that comes in, comes from the gap between the two doors. I have the weather stripping for that but ran out of energy to attach it today.

Once I have the doors clamped tight I can deal with any tiny light leaks I might have missed. As I wrote earlier, I won't be satisfied until the shed is pitch black in the bright desert sun. If the desert sun can't get in, the desert dust certainly won't be able to.

The last two items that I think I'll need for the air flow system are due on Wednesday, but I'll have to run an experiment to see if they are able to diffuse the flow in the way I want.

At least the Gold Star will get out of its own way and it probably leaks less oil!

Makes BSA ownership look intelligent especially since you never have to hammer on your fuel pump with a handy nearby rock.

Ah, I can hear it still... the tick tick tick of the MG fuel pump.

I cut a hockey stick down to suitable length then wrapped a ball of electrical tape around the end to create the perfect fuel pump cudgel.
Used it while in motion a couple times. As soon as that first stutter.

BMC got one step ahead of people like you, by mounting the pump at the back bumper, on 1960s cars.

I well remember my early days of Brit car ownership, when the SU pump in the trunk of my old Wolseley indoctrinated me on its care and feeding. I worked around the problem by looping some wire around the pump, to hold a loose ring of sockets against it's solenoid. I brought the other end of the wire inside the car and yanked it vigorously when I heard the pump falter ... the vibration of the sockets against the pump would shock the pump into starting again.
Repairing the pump properly was a whole other "character-building" story...

.. Gregg

For similar reasons, memories of British car ownership are like memories of food poisoning -- the experiences were so memorable that I can recall every detail of the half-dozen times I've had it in my lifetime.

I too have memories of crawling under various British cars and bashing the fuel pump to un-stick it.

Those were the days..... Not.

John

I understand that it is called----character!

I remember that too, particularly on a Wolsey Six land crab, which had a wonderful straight-six engine and luxurious interior but suffered from tin worm and other woes.

The Lucas fuel pump was located somewhere near the rear bumper and would often get stuck, needing a good bash to get started again. Eventually, the exhaust blew and the cost of a new exhaust was more than the car was worth, so that ended the relationship.

Harking back to the K17 toolbox cloth, I mentioned this to a colleague who had previously had her own business importing Egyptian fabrics. I showed her the photo and her thoughts were that it was either some kind of Sisal cloth, Tweed cloth, or a combination of the two.

Sisal is used as a washcloth, so it seems a possibility, additionally, Sisal and Tweed are combined to make a hard-wearing fabric so maybe another possibility.

I will leave you to google these options and decide what's best, meanwhile keep up the good work on the spraybooth

had 1958 MGA in high school (paid $500) fuel pump was located under battery cover behind passenger seat many times had to go down road steering with left hand and beating pump with screwdriver handle held in right hand MGB i have had for 42 years had Lucas replaced with solid state pump no problems for many years..

Sticky starter motor that needed a tap with a soft mallet every so often.
And folks wonder why 'British' had a reputation ..




Aha. There is more to it.
You would seem to need to sign in to save pics as 'outlinks' or as a web archive ??
No idea whats involved in signing in.
Or when this change happened.

WayBack Machine >>"Sign in to use extra features: "Save outlinks", "Save screen shot" and "My web archive"."

Thanks very much for that information. In the meantime, the owner of that K17 has turned it over to a fabrics conservator at a neighboring academic institution, so soon we should have a definitive identification of the cloth.

While all of you have been busy fixing your fuel pumps, I've continued to make progress on the paint booth. I've now dealt with all the pinholes that are at least pinhole size, so today I applied the sticky high temperature aluminized (aluminiumized?) duct tape over the caulked seams between the corrugated sides.



If the caulk on the outside of those seams wouldn't have stopped all the dust and critters, the caulk on the inside would have, and now they will have to get through the duct tape as well. Adding the tape isn't just a matter of excess (belt, braces and duct tape..), it's that the tape will shield the caulk from UV, which I expect will help contribute to my hoped-for 10-year minimum lifetime of the sealing.

I still have to apply the tape to the seams on the roof, but I added fresh caulk in a few places today to fix a couple of pinholes, and I want to give it a day to set before washing the dust from the roof and applying the tape.

The ugly yellows stuff you see under the eaves isn't to seal against dust, which caulk already is taking care of. It's expanding foam that I used to fill all the nooks and crannies to keep pesky critters from building nests or hives.

I also need to add the vertical weatherstripping to the gap between the doors, which shouldn't take long. That, and adding a clamping mechanism to hold the doors against the weatherstripping, is all that remains to do before installing the filtered air system. However, the sea of yellow in the next photograph shows the neighborhood Palo Verde trees are in full bloom, and it's a breezy day today.



The result is a pollen level of 11 on the Richter scale, so I had to call it a day and come in for some Benadryl.

Returning to an earlier digression, I'll bet very few of you will be able to spot something amiss in the next photograph, which is OK.



However, most of you should be able to see the problem in the following enlargement of the center portion of the previous photograph, which is borderline not-OK.



The rest of you, who only see the problem in the next enlargement, are now on your way to the Emergency Room.