Vauxhall FE as a daily driver
Discussion
dpp said:
The lights should be okay as the main beams pull 4.5A each so with sidelights, rear lights and main beam the total load was under 12A, I will check this when I get a wiring diagram but the wires are plenty big enough.
The wires might be big enough, however a lot of older cars tended not to use relays, so the various dashboard mounted switches passed the full current.You may well find that in the longer term, your headlamp and dip switch may burn out, due to the additional power draw of the halogen lamps.
nta16 raises a very valid point about poor quality electrical components on the market today. I had endless problems with the Healey and a mystery intermittent misfire that would appear at random points throughout the rev range. It turned out to be a combination of dodgy points, rotor arm and dizzy cap. All brand new and all turned out to be Chinese knock off s
t, despite being sold as either UK made or Lucas. The rotor arms with the prominent rivet are the ones to avoid. Apparently the rivet is slightly longer than the original. This combined with too higher carbon content in the plastic provides an intermittent path to earth, hence the random misfire. Likewise the contacts on certain points are prone to burn out rapidly under hard use due to poor quality materials. I even had a brand new condenser fail with less than 100 miles on it. Sadly the genuine components are getting harder and harder to find, which simply widens the market for knock off crap.
t, despite being sold as either UK made or Lucas. The rotor arms with the prominent rivet are the ones to avoid. Apparently the rivet is slightly longer than the original. This combined with too higher carbon content in the plastic provides an intermittent path to earth, hence the random misfire. Likewise the contacts on certain points are prone to burn out rapidly under hard use due to poor quality materials. I even had a brand new condenser fail with less than 100 miles on it. Sadly the genuine components are getting harder and harder to find, which simply widens the market for knock off crap.Russwhitehouse said:
nta16 raises a very valid point about poor quality electrical components on the market today. I had endless problems with the Healey and a mystery intermittent misfire that would appear at random points throughout the rev range. It turned out to be a combination of dodgy points, rotor arm and dizzy cap. All brand new and all turned out to be Chinese knock off st, despite being sold as either UK made or Lucas. The rotor arms with the prominent rivet are the ones to avoid. Apparently the rivet is slightly longer than the original. This combined with too higher carbon content in the plastic provides an intermittent path to earth, hence the random misfire. Likewise the contacts on certain points are prone to burn out rapidly under hard use due to poor quality materials. I even had a brand new condenser fail with less than 100 miles on it. Sadly the genuine components are getting harder and harder to find, which simply widens the market for knock off crap.
I'm all for originality, but electronic ignition is a must for me, provided you can fit it within the stock dizzy so it looks the samet, despite being sold as either UK made or Lucas. The rotor arms with the prominent rivet are the ones to avoid. Apparently the rivet is slightly longer than the original. This combined with too higher carbon content in the plastic provides an intermittent path to earth, hence the random misfire. Likewise the contacts on certain points are prone to burn out rapidly under hard use due to poor quality materials. I even had a brand new condenser fail with less than 100 miles on it. Sadly the genuine components are getting harder and harder to find, which simply widens the market for knock off crap.
I like to keep my cars fairly original so will take my chances on standard wiring rather than fitting additional relays.
The comments about new electrical components are very true and especially in my experience with Lucas items in nice shiny boxes.
I have suffered from an ignition switch and indicator relay problem with new components this year in my Jensen along with other switches not working from new
and having to be taken apart and copper strips bent to make them work.
I have sourced NOS service items for the Vauxhall which will be fitted over xmas with new cambelt and flexi brake hoses which will be fitted as a preventative measure. I had
intended to keep the car for just a year but cant bear to be parted from it yet so it will get another years use from me.
If I had plenty of storage space and money I would never sell this car but keep it forever, I do have a very strange impulse to run a Princess as a daily though.
The comments about new electrical components are very true and especially in my experience with Lucas items in nice shiny boxes.
I have suffered from an ignition switch and indicator relay problem with new components this year in my Jensen along with other switches not working from new
and having to be taken apart and copper strips bent to make them work.
I have sourced NOS service items for the Vauxhall which will be fitted over xmas with new cambelt and flexi brake hoses which will be fitted as a preventative measure. I had
intended to keep the car for just a year but cant bear to be parted from it yet so it will get another years use from me.
If I had plenty of storage space and money I would never sell this car but keep it forever, I do have a very strange impulse to run a Princess as a daily though.
you don't need relays after fitting H4 headlights unless your wiring or switches are in poor condition - I fitted H4 headlights on my daily drive Midget nearly 5 years ago and no problems despite having a wobbly stalk switch all this time and many saying relays are needed
recent Lucas stock seems OK now but I've found stuff from around 5-10+ years ago is generally rubbish so if the NOS is from this period then it'll be generally rubbish too
recent Lucas stock seems OK now but I've found stuff from around 5-10+ years ago is generally rubbish so if the NOS is from this period then it'll be generally rubbish too
Regarding relays - it's not only the additional load on the switch contacts, but the voltage drop introduced by the additional wire length.
You will probably find that you are losing around 1 volt which can reduce halogen brightness.
Using relays with shorter cable runs direct from battery to relay, and relay to lights results in much less voltage drop and brighter lights.
It is for this reason that halogen spotlight kits you could buy in the 80's were usually supplied with a relay (and you didn't just tap them into the existing high beam feed directly).
I would have thought that preserving rare switchgear in older cars (by not passing too much current through them) would have been a priority as I guess they are not 'off the shelf' items?
You will probably find that you are losing around 1 volt which can reduce halogen brightness.
Using relays with shorter cable runs direct from battery to relay, and relay to lights results in much less voltage drop and brighter lights.
It is for this reason that halogen spotlight kits you could buy in the 80's were usually supplied with a relay (and you didn't just tap them into the existing high beam feed directly).
I would have thought that preserving rare switchgear in older cars (by not passing too much current through them) would have been a priority as I guess they are not 'off the shelf' items?
The FE headlamp switch is a pretty heavy-duty affair with quite a big contact area, it's the same as the one in my car. I have no relays in the car, but then I did replace the loom as part of the rebuild so I'm not running 40-odd year old wire. I think if I was using it regularly I'd probably add relays but I'd want to be able to site them somewhere out of view, though, so it looked as original as possible.
TonyRPH said:
I would have thought that preserving rare switchgear in older cars (by not passing too much current through them) would have been a priority as I guess they are not 'off the shelf' items?
depends on make and model, many of the MGB, Spridget and various other BL cars' switch gear are off the shelf, reasonably priced and recently made ones now seem to work OKas I put if your wiring and switches are not of poor quality then you don't need relays for the H4 headlights but if you prefer to have the relays that's fine and keeping the additional wiring as short as possible sounds a good idea
as my Midget is a 'daily use' I do use my H4 headlights and they are fine and bright without relays (on a wobbly dip stalk switch)
Edited by nta16 on Saturday 20th December 07:40
The thing with all classic cars is they are flawed in many areas and can be modified and updated to a better and more reliable spec. But I like to drive a classic as it was and will put up with points ignition, volt drop at lights poor MPG and everything else. This car has a useless ratio 4 speed gearbox for daily driving but I have no intention of changing it as that is part of the original design.
Each to there own but for me to start making everything better than when it left the factory is sacrilege unless it was a design problem that made it dangerous or totally unreliable otherwise I may as well sell it and buy another new car.
Each to there own but for me to start making everything better than when it left the factory is sacrilege unless it was a design problem that made it dangerous or totally unreliable otherwise I may as well sell it and buy another new car.
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