<VV> Electrical Reliability Question

[Jeffrey B. Aronson]

I'm half-British, an ardent Anglophile and the owner of 9 different 
British cars since 1966. I still have three of them.  I'm not an 
objective commentator here.

Like any British car enthusiast I've read the "smoke" theory of 
electricity many times. Indeed, I once had an engine fire in my current 
Triumph TR-7 when a dead short in the rebuilt alternator send starting 
current through the wiring harness and melted it. The smoke exiting the 
hood was impressive as it overwhelmed the rain from a torrential 
downpour that day.

My experience with the Lucas components, from ignition parts to charging 
system parts, has been positive, but there's no question that Rootes, 
BMC, British Leyland and BL all pushed suppliers to lower costs of 
components. Whether it was the poor quality steel of BL models or the 
plastic pieces on Lucas electronics, the components were simply not as 
well made as their  predecessors.

Today the issue for British car fans is the low quality of replacement 
parts sold by manufacturers, like Land Rover, Jaguar and the British 
Heritage Motoring Trust. Regardless of where they are manufactured - and 
few come out of the UK - they are lower quality for cost reasons. I 
replaced a water pump in my '66 Land Rover. The original part looked 
like it had been machined by an artist. The replacement one looked like 
the tin can devices the characters in "Twister" threw into the tornado.

Look at the attached photo. The pump on the left is the original - the 
one on the right is the replacement. And the car does not produce heat 
at its usual low idle speed of 400 rpm. It needs to rise to nearly 800 
rpm to move warm water through the heater core - a disadvantage for off 
roading.

So it's not a Lucas issue alone. My local mechanic is not pleased with 
the flaps parts he receives either. Routinely, alternators, starters, 
water pumps and other electronic components for modern cars come up 
short, too.

Jeff Aronson
Vinalhaven, ME 04863

'66 Corvair Monza Coupe 110 4-speed
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'80 Triumph TR-7 Spider