Ask a Shiter

[Richard]

.

[The Moog]

These are quite rare because they were a bit of an oddity, when the Mk1 facelift came along in 73 the 1600 Kent engine was replaced by the Pinto. Naturally the 1600GT got a twin choke and a few extra horses.

The logical thing to do with the V4 would obviously to bin it and drop the 2.0 Pinto into the 2000GT- Ford didn't , fuck knows why. .

Got the reg.

 

It is. 2.0 pinto in it

 

[Matt]

As long as the wiring isn't directly exposed to the elements I'd suggest by far the easiest is to use a screw block connector, aka 'cheese block', aka 'chocolate block' (..as they used to be made in brown Bakelite), aka 'terminal block' or 'terminal strip' - see < here >.  They come in different sizes, and are dirt cheap.  I often use them on my bikes (within the electrical box, so out of the weather).  They are handy if for example wires may sometime need to be feed through a grommet, when the connectors are physically too big.   

 

I prefer to pre-solder (tin) the wire ends, as this gives the screws something solid to clamp onto, and I then usually fill the screw block connector with Vaseline (I have a syringe full of the stuff specifically for the purpose) ..to keep moisture out.   In my experience - they are very reliable connections..

 

no soldering iron ? ..then try < this >.

 

 

Wire gauge might be reliably assessed by the fuse rating on your vehicle and seeing what size wires go to that fuse.

 

As a guide though :

  9/0.30 = 0.65mm²,   5.75A - cable OD 2.3mm:  Side/tail lamps, indicators etc.

 

14/0.30 = 1.0mm²,   8.75A. cable OD 2.6mm: Side/tail lamps, indicators, fog lamps, general wiring.

 

28/0.30 = 2.0mm²,  17.5A - cable OD 3.3mm: Head lamps, wipers, screen heaters, petrol pumps, etc.

 

44/0.30 = 3.0mm²,  27.5A - cable OD 3.7mm: Charging circuits, main feeds.

 

65/0.30 = 4.5mm²,   35A - cable OD 5.0mm: Heavy duty charge circuits, alternator feeds.

 

Cable descriptions are known by the number / size of cable strands, and/or the cross-sectional area of the wire conductor (all the strands together).  For example 14 / 0.30 refers to 14 strands of 0.30mm diameter cable giving a total cable conductor area of 1.0mm².   Cable OD (outside diameter) is of course an approximation ..depending on how thick the plastic insulator is from any supplier.   Fuse rating is for continuous (as most auto fuses are rated), where their surge loading (for short periods of time) will be more. 

 

Hope that's helpful

Bfg  

 

 

If you use a chocy block then make sure it's supported. The weight of it swinging around on the wires will snap them after a while. My average when wiring stereos like that was 18months before problems.

 

 

If you use a chocolate block make sure that the rope you use to hang yourself out of shame is strong enough !

 

 

If you must use chocolate block connectors it's best to use bootlace ferrules on the wires, in fact you should really use bootlace ferrules with any screw connector.

 

I won't be using choc blocks. I don't think it's the done thing really and the connection is going to be in the engine compartment anyway. Not keen on scotch blocks either. What I really need is one of these but the only place I can get them is in the USA with minimum order of £15 plus shipping.

 

 

(No, not three eyelets and a bolt!)

[Guest Hooli]

Just go up a size. If you need red crimps, get a blue & two wires fit in. Fold the third in half for the other end to make it thicker.

[Timewaster]

Scotchlocks are the work of Satan and the pikies connector of choice.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Got the reg.

It is. 2.0 pinto in it

Ah yes , for some reason I assumed Mk1 Facelift on 74.

Danthecapriman is the man for Capri2 values , he'll hope it's worth more than he's spending on his!

[JeeExEll]

I won't be using choc blocks. I don't think it's the done thing really and the connection is going to be in the engine compartment anyway. Not keen on scotch blocks either. What I really need is one of these but the only place I can get them is in the USA with minimum order of £15 plus shipping.

 

 

(No, not three eyelets and a bolt!)

Red crimps are designed for 1.5mm2 stranded

Blue crimps are for 2.5mm2

Yellow crimps are for 6.0mm2.

 

The oil industry use these. To be used with a proper sprung ratchet- crimper (maybe about £15 from Draper, NOT a bootlace crimper or a combined stripper basic Halfords jobbie). Crimps available in all sorts of terminations (rings various sizes, straight-through insulated, pins suitable for screwed terminal blocks, male and female spades, piggyback-spades, forks, etc), good enough for oil rigs anyway. Check out the range available, I have a large biscuit tin full of the feckers all mixed, you don't need a star-type one in your pic. When you crimp push the cable insulation right into the plastic body of the crimp. Crimp once over the metal joint in the crimp, then I crimp once again back a bit over the plastic body and the cable insulation.

 

Some heatshrink is good too, depending on location of the joint. Use the Missus' hairdrier.

Pic of crimper type to follow.

 

Edit - the ratchet crimper you need is Draper 35574, around £22 inc vat from Amazon but local hardware stores might have them for less. Quick spray of wd40 now and again and it'll last forever.

[Guest Hooli]

Oh yes heatshrink. that makes it look right posh & is great for keeping moisture out.

 

I have a feeling soldering is banned on military stuff & it's all crimped.

[DodgeRover]

Toolstation did those crimpers for a bit less

[JeeExEll]

Oh yes heatshrink. that makes it look right posh & is great for keeping moisture out.

 

I have a feeling soldering is banned on military stuff & it's all crimped.

Soldering also fine if done properly and heatshrunk. Personal preference is for crimps but each to their own. Some oil industry connections use similar type of crimps but without the coloured plastic collar, you crimp the cable then solder it too, then heatshrink it. A bit overkill on car wiring but just saying . . .

 

Invest in a ratchet crimper! Kwallity!!:-

[cobblers]

All this talk that soldering is bad and crimps are better is a load of tosh when you're using chinese Red/Blue/Yellow insulated crimps and a £20 tool. They're crap. I still use them because they're convenient, but they are absolute crap when compared to any kind of professionally used terminal.

It's impossible to get a reliable crimp because there's so many variables. The plastic coating means the tool has basically fuck all chance of properly crimping the metal round the wire so even with the best will in the world, you'll have a fairly high resistance joint.

 

Yes they can work and last for years, etc, but mostly they are shit and there's a good chance the wire will fall out, or get hot, melt then fall out, or get wet, get hot, melt then fall out.

 

When people say "The military won't allow soldering" its because the military use proper crimps, where the crimp tool itself costs a few grand and has to be calibrated.

For our purposes with the tools we have it's absolutely best to just solder the bastard and then cover it in adhesive lined heatshrink which will act as a strain relief to stop the wire snapping, and also keep out any moisture.

 

I have a ratchet crimper and an assortment cheapo terminals and I do use them fairly often, but they are quite convenient and work OK in certain situations.

[JeeExEll]

All this talk that soldering is bad and crimps are better is a load of tosh when you're using chinese Red/Blue/Yellow insulated crimps and a £20 tool. They're crap. I still use them because they're convenient, but they are absolute crap when compared to any kind of professionally used terminal.

It's impossible to get a reliable crimp because there's so many variables. The plastic coating means the tool has basically fuck all chance of properly crimping the metal round the wire so even with the best will in the world, you'll have a fairly high resistance joint.

 

Yes they can work and last for years, etc, but mostly they are shit and there's a good chance the wire will fall out, or get hot, melt then fall out, or get wet, get hot, melt then fall out.

 

When people say "The military won't allow soldering" its because the military use proper crimps, where the crimp tool itself costs a few grand and has to be calibrated.

For our purposes with the tools we have it's absolutely best to just solder the bastard and then cover it in adhesive lined heatshrink which will act as a strain relief to stop the wire snapping, and also keep out any moisture.

 

I have a ratchet crimper and an assortment cheapo terminals and I do use them fairly often, but they are quite convenient and work OK in certain situations.

So well-made-off sprung-ratchet crimp connections are fine then. Who said anything about using cheapo Chinese crimps? Use proper crimps, a bit more expensive at first buying by the 100 if you only need 6 immediately but your wires won't fall out.

[Matt]

piggyback-spades

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Hadn't come across those before, looks like exactly what I need.

[JeeExEll]

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Hadn't come across those before, looks like exactly what I need.

Cool. They are useful. Some uninsulated metal there there so be careful.

[Matt]

Cool. They are useful. Some uninsulated metal there there so be careful.

 

It'll likely find it'self inside some plastic conduit so shouldn't be an issue. Thanks!

[Guest Hooli]

I'd forgot about them.

[Bucketeer]

Why do buses vibrate so harshly at idle?

 

I don't have a definitive answer for this (if pushed I would mumble summat about resonant frequencies, large shaky windows and body panels, etc) but it did dredge up a memory from about 25 years ago of reading a newspaper problem page. Probably Dear Diedre or similar. The problemee was suffering random unpredictable erections whilst riding buses and this was diagnosed as Diesel Penis, apparently a medically recognised malady caused by the particular vibrations of bus engines. HTH.

[tinribs]

I always end up with a bleeding arsehole when I ride a bus. No idea why. So I asked Viz readers for advice on this problem.

Apparently I am Terry Fuckwitt and it's actually the bus that rides me.

I'm as thick as pigshit, me!

[andy18s]

I don't have a definitive answer for this (if pushed I would mumble summat about resonant frequencies, large shaky windows and body panels, etc) but it did dredge up a memory from about 25 years ago of reading a newspaper problem page. Probably Dear Diedre or similar. The problemee was suffering random unpredictable erections whilst riding buses and this was diagnosed as Diesel Penis, apparently a medically recognised malady caused by the particular vibrations of bus engines. HTH.

fecking lol at that!

[Paul Dupart]

Why, on some engine cooling fans, are the fan blades not all spaced apart equally?  Noticeable in danthecaprimans current thread pictures with the engine out.  Wouldn't this cause balance problems?  Ta..

[cobblers]

It's to make them quieter.

In free air you'd be fine with equally spaced blades, but a car engine bay has all kinds of things in the way causing disturbances.

Let's say for example that there's a coolant hose that runs close to the fan. When each blade passes this, you'll get a "chop" noise. 

If all the blades are equally spaced, at a certain RPM you'll set up a resonance and it'll sound really loud and awful.

Unequal spacing of the blades prevents this. They'll still balance up either through smart placement of the blades or just some of them being heavier/lighter to compensate.

[Bfg]

.

I'm intrigued by the voiced objections and prejudice against screw-block connectors..

 

My father was an electronics / communications technician for 25 years in the RAF., and it was he who first introduced me to chocolate-block screw connectors.  It struck me that almost all their equipment had a screw block for wires coming into the piece of kit, and then other blocks were screwed to the equipment's chassis for common feeds and earths. 

 

I see it as no coincidence that most household and commercial electrical sockets worldwide use screw block connectors in the buildings fittings, within the appliance or equipment, and again on the end of the appliances' lead.

 

Personally unless factory fitted (when the connection is made before the insulator is fitted over it) I cannot abide crimped connections.  The 'point pinching' of loose wire strands is never as good as the folded crimping of a machine.  In my professional experience (in both classic car and motorcycles restoration) - home-crimped are responsible for more loose and fraying, corrosion &/or oil-grime compromised connections - than all other types added together.  Even when physically secure - the conductivity of electricity through most hand-crimped wire-strand joints is questionable, and thereafter open to atmospheric moisture issues for the long term.  Even those which at first appear to be physically secure are so often and easily loosened ..simply by twisting the connection..

 

Hand crimped connectors, are useful as a temporary fix (crimping pliers and a few connectors in a touring tool kit are handy enough)  but imo unless replaced / done properly ..they are just a nuisance problem for a dark, cold wet n' windy night, when I'm in a hurry to get somewhere nice ..waiting to happen.  

 

But then we all have 'an opinion' don't we ! ?

[Pillock]

What was the last car officially sold in the UK which did not have any onboard computer/ECU?

Define computer.

 

Yeah, everything now has something that could be used to land a Lunar Rover controlling the hazard lights... And back in the 50s you'd have no computers.

 

Or would you?

 

A computer just takes two or more inputs and "computes" an output. A relay is a very basic computer, as it's doing the same job as a transistor bit mechanically. And then you start with clever relays like VAG intermittent wipers, that was used all the way back to the early 80s. Or the timer for a heated rear screen, even older.

[cort16]

I think choc blocks are fine when they're screwed to something and can't move. If you've got them free float (like I totally don;t have in the coil wire of my cortina*) there's a chance the wire will fatigue.

[Guest Hooli]

I think choc blocks are fine when they're screwed to something and can't move. If you've got them free float (like I totally don;t have in the coil wire of my cortina*) there's a chance the wire with fatigue.

 

That's my thinking too.

[Richard]

.

[Mally]

And dry.

 

Or full of vaseline.

[gm]

is a knackered domestic hot water cylinder worth anything or should I just take it to the top ? it appears to be made of copper under the insulation

[jonathan_dyane]

Copper is always worth weighing in

[Guest Hooli]

yes weigh copper in, it's worth it's weight in well copper!