Yes John they surely did, the US stayed with 6 vdc and higher current in a
given circuit long after the UK went 12 volt. My 1932 D Type MG was 12 volt.
(Wish I still had it!)
UK Vehicle manufacturers however sometimes used positive ground (earth) for,
as I recall, no better reason than to reverse the electron flow in spark
(sparking) plugs since the outer ring has more "meat" available to be eroded
than the center electrode.
Robin Berens. Former US National Parts Manager, the (now defunct) Rover
Motor Co. of North America. where we certainly had electrical problems,
Former Western Regional Service Manager Kaiser Jeep Corp.(also defunct, Jeep
being part of Daimler Chrysler) where we also certainly had electrical
problems, NOT Lucas!
An anecdote. At Jeep San Francisco Region I once had a call from a Jeep
owner who was in Death Valley in the heat of the summer, with a Jeep
Wagoneer which had a Prestolite coaxial starter which tended to seize in hot
conditions, it had!
I told him he needed to cool it down. No Water! great heat!, It told him to
pee on it, not easy, but easier for us than for the fairer sex. He did! It
worked!
----- Original Message -----
From: "John T. Blair" <jblair@exis.net>
To: <british-cars@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: Lucas and "the reputation"
> At 05:43 PM 7/1/03 -0700, Peter van der Linden wrote:
> >I am writing a story for my local car club magazine, and I would really
> >like to get some feedback/ideas on my topic from fellow sufferers. The
> >subject of the article is "Lucas Electrics".
>
>
> FWIW my 1st car was a 67 Spit - bought new in 67. The only problem I had
> with it was the inertial starter would get dirty, and the bendix would not
> slide out and engage. An anoyance but not a real problem.
>
> I bought my Morgan in 69 and never had a problem with the electics on it.
> Altough like others have said Lucas seemed to try and pull too much
through
> their switches. But then again many of the American car have the same
> problem. AMC and others have a tendency to burn up heater control
switches
> for the same reasons - too much current.
>
> Our 48 TR 1800 hasn't had any problems.
>
> As to the generators, most were undersized for the loads. That's why
people
> had so much problems with them. But I can't say as I've ever really had
> any problems with them.
>
> I do think that the British cars could have benifitted from the use of
more
> fuses and relays.
>
> One thing I haven't seen mentioned - didn't the Brits/Lucas convert to
12Vs
> long before the US did?
>
> John
>
> John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
> Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
>
> 48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
> 75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887) 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
> 65 Rambler Classic
>
> Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
> Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
>
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