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eBay tat volume 3.


Ross_K

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1 hour ago, grogee said:

That's what I thought. Yet this is a 1.3L with digital dash. Which would be unremarkable except I'm struggling to work out how it was integrated onto a 1.3 A-series, if the only factory options were 1.6 or 2.0. The underbonnet shot doesn't seem to show any fudged wiring (admittedly hard to tell among the BL Spaghetti).

Is it a Bitsa car? Bitsa this, bitsa that?

Either way it's BIN at £750, a steal* for 80s digital CoMpUtErIzEd space age.

Not obvious from the eBay pics whether it's got the talking module, which sits to the left of the instruments - I thought digital = talking, but maybe not in this case.

Curiouser and curiouser.

s-l1600 (5).jpg

If I recall, and I did have an early MG, there is metal to be some sort of metal "box" which gathered the information from the sensors. This was in the engine bay. My old Hanyes manual is in the  attic so I cannot confirm.

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3 hours ago, grogee said:

That's what I thought. Yet this is a 1.3L with digital dash. Which would be unremarkable except I'm struggling to work out how it was integrated onto a 1.3 A-series, if the only factory options were 1.6 or 2.0. The underbonnet shot doesn't seem to show any fudged wiring (admittedly hard to tell among the BL Spaghetti).

Is it a Bitsa car? Bitsa this, bitsa that?

Either way it's BIN at £750, a steal* for 80s digital CoMpUtErIzEd space age.

Not obvious from the eBay pics whether it's got the talking module, which sits to the left of the instruments - I thought digital = talking, but maybe not in this case.

Curiouser and curiouser.

s-l1600 (5).jpg

A-Plus, well done!!! What was the difference between the original A Series and the newer A+ Series? Does A+ make it some kind of lean-burn unit like some later CVH's were?

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5 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Picture 1 of 4

motorcycles scooters | eBay

'never race..not done 1 lap'

Given that the front brake line seems to be some garden hose held on with a cable tie, it's probs just as well, M8.

Picture 3 of 4

More to the point, what was the point of installing the digital dash, then sticking a bloody great brake fluid reservoir right in front of it?

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37 minutes ago, egg said:

I was looking at that for ages the other day, I really like it. Looks amazing on the white steels, just needs the eyelids binning and I'd be very happy to drive around in that. Bet that 1500 + overdrive is pretty useful. Too rich for me, luckily.

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1 hour ago, Garythesnail said:

That is stangely alluring...... only 80k miles too.

A lot of these had the rear propshaft removed due to the viscous coupling in the rear differential seizing up and causing issues, as far as I’m aware you can’t get replacement viscous couplings anymore 

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6 hours ago, grogee said:

That's what I thought. Yet this is a 1.3L with digital dash. Which would be unremarkable except I'm struggling to work out how it was integrated onto a 1.3 A-series, if the only factory options were 1.6 or 2.0. The underbonnet shot doesn't seem to show any fudged wiring (admittedly hard to tell among the BL Spaghetti).

Is it a Bitsa car? Bitsa this, bitsa that?

Either way it's BIN at £750, a steal* for 80s digital CoMpUtErIzEd space age.

Not obvious from the eBay pics whether it's got the talking module, which sits to the left of the instruments - I thought digital = talking, but maybe not in this case.

Curiouser and curiouser.

 

It's dead easy to fit a digidash to other models. For the most part it's plug-and-play. As long as you've got the speed transducer for the gearbox, you're good to go. The instrument cluster works independently of the rest, so if you're happy to have a 'mute' Maestro you can still have the digital speedo, fuel, temp and tachometer. The one in the eBay ad is missing the fuel flow unit from the bulkhead by the coil, which means even if it had the 'computery' part, it would be unable to supply the random numbers that were supposedly your statistics on fuel used, instantaneous consumption and MPG. 

As mentioned already it was standard fit to the Vanden Plas and MG, and optional equipment on the HLS in the original launch line up. Although you'd have never ever received your HLS with digidash as Smiths Instruments struggled to fulfill the requirements for working systems for the models that should have had it, let alone the optional ones. Thankfully the HLS came with its own unique instrument pack - very stylish it was too. 

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11 hours ago, MantaGTE85 said:

A-Plus, well done!!! What was the difference between the original A Series and the newer A+ Series? Does A+ make it some kind of lean-burn unit like some later CVH's were?

Funnily enough I was reading up on this last night.

The answer is: not much in hardware terms, but £30m development spend for ARG:

A-Plus versions[edit]

British Leyland was keen to update the old A-series design in the 1970s. However, attempts at replacement, including an aborted early-70s British Leyland 'K engine' (unrelated to the later Rover K series) and an OHC version of the A series, ended in failure. During the development of what was to become the Austin Metro, engineers tested the A series against its more modern rivals and found that it still offered competitive (or even class-leading) fuel economy and torque for its size. While in the 1970s the A series had begun to seem dated against a new generation of high-revving overhead cam engines, by the end of the decade a new emphasis on good economy and high torque outputs at low speeds meant that the A series's inherent design was still well up to market demands.

Given this, and the lack of funds to develop an all-new power unit, it was decided to upgrade the A-series unit at a cost of £30 million. The result was the 'A-Plus' Series of engines. Available in 998 and 1,275 cc (60.9 and 77.8 cu in), the A-Plus had stronger engine blocks and cranks, lighter pistons and improved piston rings, Spring loaded tensioner units for the timing chain and other detail changes to increase the service interval of the engine (from 6,000 to 12,000 miles (9,700 to 19,300 km)). More modern SU Carburettors and revised manifold designs allowed for small improvements in power without any decrease in torque or fuel economy. Many of the improvements learnt from the Cooper-tuned units were also incorporated, with A-Plus engines having a generally higher standard of metallurgy on all units, where previously only the highest-tuned engines were upgraded in this way. This made the A-Plus engines generally longer-lived than the standard A series, which had a life between major rebuilds of around 80,000 to 100,000 miles (130,000 to 160,000 km) in normal service. Studies were made into upgrading the engine to use five main crankshaft bearings but the standard three-bearing crank had proven reliable even in high states of tune and at high engine speeds, so it was not deemed worth the extra funding.

The new engines received distinctive 'A+' branding on their rocker covers and the blocks and heads were colour-coded for the different capacities: yellow for 998 cc (60.9 cu in) and red for 1,275 cc (77.8 cu in) engines.

 

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On 1/29/2023 at 5:32 PM, camryv6 said:

I have never understood the fascination with these, i drove one about 25 years ago and i can still remember  the driving experience as if it was yesterday, and not in a good way !

Me either, although I did a back to back comparison with an Polski FIAT / FSO 125p device & that fucker was even worse. 

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