Allegro Club International

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

It has taken a bit of time but SWP 377V has finally passed her MoT. In the end an all purpose CV gaitor was used to get a good fit - it now clears the gearbox and satisfied the MoT!
We celebrated by filling up with petrol and giving the car a wash - ready for the road now!
cheers Joe

Andy Perman · Joined: 27 Sep 2011 Posts: 57 Location: Portsmouth

Well done on passing the MOT Joe !! Just in time to enjoy the good weather. Your problems with the CV gaitor reminded me of when I was restoring my VP last year and ran into the same problem. The gap between the auto-box & diff unit and the CV gaitor is tiny. What had happened to me was the gaitor fixing strap had fouled on the gearbox & caused the gaitor to twist off & dump grease all over the show Shocked

I did spend quite some time finding a strap slim enough to not foul the gearbox & secure the gaitor in place. Good work !! Andy.

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Hi Andy,
Interesting you had the same difficulty - certainly CV boots advertised to fit the 1500 don't seem to - at least for the Auto!
Anyhow we're going well now and I'm beginning to think about getting the water damaged interior sorted out. I'm also pondering the paintwork - over the whole car are little chips, rust spots and faded areas (at the top of the doors just under the window glass are small areas of white where the original spray paint didn't quite reach!). I don't think all this warrants a full respray but getting a match for Denim Blue Metallic + 35 years of fading might be a challenge!
I hope your VP is going well, cheers Joe

Andy Perman · Joined: 27 Sep 2011 Posts: 57 Location: Portsmouth

Thanks Joe. My VP is off the road with a dead starter (solenoid) and an expired MOT just now. I'm using this bank holiday weekend to fix the starter & some pre-MOT work ready for test next week. Nothing serious just some TLC.

Subject of paint - yes I pondered this one. I found and contacted an old paint specialist - Turners Trade Paints. They make the correct paint type for our cars - mine is cellulose based (they assured me) and were able to make it up in rattle cans for me. Re-the colour matching I posted my petrol flap to them & from this they got a dam good match to my 40 year old painwork & very pleased with the results. Keep us posted & enjoy the Queens highway Very Happy

Andy.

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Hi Andy,
Thanks for the contact for colour matched paint - we may well get there! In the meantime we have taken a bit of a step back. The heavy rain we have had recently put me in mind of testing the car's water tightness. I was about to start repairing the water damaged interior, but it would be throwing money away if we just allowed it to get wet again! So I parked her outside for 4 hours in the heavy rain - it seems the front windscreen was OK but the rear was leaking quite heavily in both corners. So its back to square one and Earnside Garage my local bodyshop have agreed to have another look.....there's always something, but I can't complain because she drives really well....cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Well, SWP 377V has undergone some water testing. A high pressure hose showed that water was not getting in through the rear windscreen, but through the vents in the rear pillars on both sides. The cure has been to fit a water proof screen inside the plastic vent, whilst still allowing for the outflow of air when doors are shut. It is curious how this affects some cars and not others. Anyhow, this progress should allow work to start on the interior fabric repairs.
The other issue I need to think about is a new exhaust. The old one is still holding up but I would like to be prepared for when it fails. I see Earlpart offer mild steel exhausts and I have been looking at stainless systems. Both routes look quite expensive! We'll see where we get!
Cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

The Vanden Plas has had a good summer and there have been a number of drives out in sunny dry weather. However, just recently some starting problems have come to light. First we had a charged battery but no power at the starter motor. I tracked this down to dirty connections at the solenoid, but then I found weaknesses with the battery. It will hold its charge for a few days but would only turn the engine rather half heartedly. So starting became something of a lottery and remembering the success I had replacing battery, starter motor and solenoid with the 1500 Special, RKB 143T, I have begun to think of doing the same for the Vanden Plas. I was fortunate it picking up a remanufactured starter motor on Ebay:

VP starter motor by josephlamont, on Flickr

This is one of the pre-engaged type with the Lucas number LRS311. The solenoid comes with it and it is quite a compact unit although heavy in weight!
The plan is to have the starter motor and a new 60Ah battery fitted next week. Fingers crossed, I hope this will give us reliable starting! Cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Isn't it remarkable that when you start out to resolve a problem others tumble out behind? I thought we were going to crack SWP 377V's starting problems with a remanufactured starter motor and a new battery. Well, she started promptly on the first turn and we went out for a run. However, after a few miles I noticed that the ignition light had not gone out! In fact I only noticed because we went through a dark bit of road, hedged about with trees - the VP's ignition light is not the brightest! So it was back for a voltage check, and predictably the alternator had given up. I had a spare alternator from a 1500 engine so that was fitted together with a new belt. That seems to have done the trick, and the ignition light now goes out as it should. I am still a bit uneasy though, because the voltage dial on the VP dash is reading about 12 volts, whereas previously it was 14-15 volts. The VP handbook says that the reading of 14-15 volts is to be expected......we will see how it goes! Let's hope the alternator is up to the job! Cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Well in the end I went for a new alternator to try to get to the bottom of the charging problem. Ha! - I got a new 50amp alternator and we fitted it today but it was not even as good as the old one we had just put on! We were lucky to get 8 volts when lights were on and at best it just reached 12 volts. The plan now is to swop the new 50amp alternator for a 75amp........we'll see! cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Events have shown that the replacement alternator was not up to the job! On Friday SWP 377V was due at Mackies in Glasgow for an oil change and check up on her gearbox. I had previously agreed to an 8.00am start at Mackies so that meant leaving Crieff before 7.00am. Of course it was dark, and as it happened it was sheeting with rain most of the way. SWP 377V started all right, but by the time lights and wipers were on, the voltage dial on the VP dash was barely reading 11 volts. Well, we set off and made it, although Mackies had to use a boost charge to start her up whilst in their workshop. All was well with the gearbox, and we set off from Glasgow at 1.00pm in bright sunshine. We made it back in good order, but despite no need for lights and wipers, the dial was still showing barely 11 volts. Later I tried to restart SWP 377V to no avail, so we have resorted to the trickle charger. On Monday she goes in for a new 80amp alternator to be fitted, so lets hope that does what's needed! One positive outcome from this episode was that the rain soaked drive to Glasgow tested SWP 377V's water tightness. As far as I could see there was no water ingress front or rear - lets hope it stays that way! Cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

The plot thickens.......today SWP 377V had the new, more powerful, alternator fitted but this saw no improvement - just 11 or 12 volts to the battery. Another curious aspect of this problem is that the ignition light does not come on when the key is turned before starting the engine. When the starter motor runs the ignition light goes on and once the engine fires the light goes out - as it should, except that here there is little or no charging going on. I am a bit stuck now - I will need to think about who to approach on this one! Cheers Joe

Paul-V · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:09 pm Post subject:

An interesting problem you have there, Joe.

The alternator is 'excited' by voltage present in the ignition warning lamp circuit, so if there is a fault in that circuit while the engine is running, the alternator will not send an output to the battery.

Try investigating the connections on the starter motor relay: there is a small clue there from how the warning lamp has been behaving.

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Hi Paul,
Thanks for the tip about the starter motor relay. I took the relay off its mount on the inner wing and cleaned up the connections. So far it has not given a result but it has set me thinking about the ignition circuit as a whole. It is almost as if the relay has got itself out of sequence - such that it is switched to break the circuit when it should be switched to make the circuit. Is there a manual switch to the relay? - I noticed a screw that seemed to give access to the relay but there was no indication of the switch position.
Again many thanks, cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

In a short spell of good weather today SWP 377V made the trip to Stirling to Morrison's garage where the charging problems will be professionally investigated. Whilst there the brakes will get a check over as well - I can't help thinking that the automatic puts more wear on braking than a manual car. Anyhow here's hoping for a good outcome! cheers Joe

josephlamont · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 206 Location: Crieff, Scotland

Well, today SWP 377V returned from Morrison's garage in Stirling with the charging problem resolved - it appears the starter motor was incorrectly wired up! Hum. They also identified a bodge of some long standing in the form of a wire from the gear selector to the starter motor which meant that the car could be started in any gear. I never tried this (either purposefully or by accident) and suffice to say that option no longer exists!
The biggest job was an overhaul of the brakes and now we have new shoes and pads and the front calipers were stripped down and fitted with new pistons and seals. The braking has much more feel to it and it is nice to have the handbrake working on just one or two clicks! So everything was sorted in the end, and to celebrate, I washed the car and took her for more petrol:

VP at garage 001 by josephlamont, on Flickr