John:
This thread (and your posts in particular) have
been most entertaining!
I especially liked the one about "putting the steering
wheel on the wrong side" making it unsafe to "overtake" .
I've found that as long as you're driving on the right (meanings
both intended) side of the road, overtaking with the wheel on
the left is no problem! ;-)
Anglia? That's no Ford! That's just what ol' Henry pawned
off on you guys. Kept the good stuff over here. Real Fords
are big and have V-8's! You know: Mustangs, Thunderbirds,
Fairlanes, etc. Most of the Anglia's I've seen over here now have
Chevy 350's in 'em! Ain't no substitute for cube's! ;-)
Actually, just kidding! (I'm such an Anglophile that I used to
have a bumpersticker that read "Paul Revere was a Snitch!")
Compared to American electrical systems (which in the given
period tended to be over-engineered and pretty forgiving), Lucas
does present a bit more of a challenge. But not nearly the challenge
of other major electrical systems. For example, Bosch stuff
tends to be much more mysterious than any Lucas system
I've torn into! Forget about anything from Italy!
While I'll stop short of saying I'm a Lucas fan, I have found that
the systems are fairly simple and straightforward, with parts
availability being the big problem. (We used to say that the US
Navy should give our Trident subs a Lucas part number....
that would make SURE they're never found!) Where Ford and
GM used the same basic switches from their economy cars
to their luxury cars and even trucks (of course, it seems they
tended to also use the same engines, gearboxes, and suspensions
as well!), Lucas seems to have supplied electricals specific to the
given car... and the day of the week!
Most of my electrical issues with LBC's have been: (1) Rust,
(2) DPO's, (3) Rust, and (4) internal contact failures. My only complaints
are the questionable design of the switchgear contacts and the
fact that some of the systems appear to be over-rated
for their application. (More likely the fault of beancounters and
marketers at Corporate vice the engineers at Lucas.)
Currently on my TR6, only the 4-way flashers tend to be "iffy".
Everything else pretty much works as designed. Still
rather baffled...
On my American stuff, everything that doesn't work... I know
_why_ it doesn't work and simply haven't gotten around to it.
However, my Audi and SAAB both have several things that
don't work and simply the troubleshooting requires massive
disassembly! Then you find EVERYTHING's a OEM part,
available only from the sadistic dealer. Bosch switchgear
appears to have the same "contact" problems Lucas does,
just at a much dearer price.
Gimme Lucas any day!
Bill Elliott
Lake Mills, WI
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