Phil writes:
>You guys are just determined to make me put the ammeter back in the Europa
>aren't you? Damn. It offends my sense of simplicity to run a husky wire
>from the voltage regulator, around the engine compartment, through the
>firewall, along the side of the tunnel, behind the dash to the ammeter, back
>down the tunnel, through the firewall, around the engine compartment to the
>battery which is less than two feet from the voltage regulator. I figured I
>could skip out on it by just tapping the voltmeter lead off the power line as
>it arrived at the dash, and skip out on the return line.
I've never bought a car with a voltmeter in it, but if I ever do, that
will be one of the first things to go. (When I buy a car with idiot
lights, the first thing I do is install at least an oil pressure gauge
and an ammeter.)
I've been an ammeter believer since my first experience with P.O.S. on
my '69 Datsun pickup: If it hadn't had a stock ammeter, I probably
never would have figured out that the hot lead on the electric choke was
grounding out to the air cleaner cover, and that that's why it was
cutting out randomly and completely. (Once I noticed that everytime it
quit running, the ammeter pegged on "D" I knew for sure it was an
electrical problem -- I suspect a voltmeter would've happily showed ~12 V... .)
>The ammeter in the Lotus is the only mismatched gauge. It is a Stewart-Warner.
>The rest are Smiths. They are the kind that has the needle pivot on the top,
>so the conventional S-W really looks different.
I think I've mentioned the following before, but I need to provide *some* LBC
content! `^)
The ammeter in my Europa is the mismatched gauge also, but it's a
Lucas, while the others are Smith's. (It's only mismatched in terms of
manufacturer's name though -- the needle and faceplate look just like
the rest of the gauges.)
Which reminds me: Does anyone have advice on how to "zero out" a Lucas
inductive ammeter? Mine reads a slight discharge when everything's
turned off, and even when the battery's disconnected.
Oh yes, one more thing: Yesterday evening, for the second time in about
three months I've had a random stranger veritibly screech to a halt in
front of my garage and open a conversation with "Hey! A Europa! I used to
have a 19xx S2, and I wish I'd never sold it... ." (This was pretty
surprising, since in both cases I was working on the Plymouth in front of
the garage, and had the bonnets of both cars up -- takes sharp eyes even
to *see* the Lotus behind the Plymouth, let alone tell what it is with
the engine cover open!)
As it turns out, this particular guy is looking for a JPS Europa, and it
sounds like he'd go anywhere on the West coast (of the U.S.) to find one.
(He may be a little low on what he expects to pay though: He though $12K
was too high for one he looked at recently.) So, if anyone has a lead for
him, I'll attempt to pass it along.
-coryc
| >> Disclaimer: I speak for Sequent only in our hardware manuals <<
||| | "I went to college, took
|short-story|
| Cory R. Carpenter, Senior Tech Writer | writing, creative writing, English
||| Sequent Computer Systems, Incorporated | literature, all the things that
| |
| coryc@sequent.com | prepared me for life during the
||| | renaissance." --Jim Croce
| |
|