July - Tucson British Car Register

THE TUCSON BRITISH CAR
REGISTER
July 2015
Articles, opinions and
suggestions printed in
the Register are those of
the author(s) and do not
reflect the official policy
of TBCR or its officers or
members unless duly
noted.
Technical tips are for
informational purposes
only.
In this issue:
The President Squeeks
Drive Time
Full Chat
Phantom Car Show
Events Calendar
On the Road
Bonnet and Boot
Photo credits:
page 7 – Pete and Steve
page 8 – Jeff
all others - staff
Volume 21, Number 7
The President Squeeks
“Odd instances of strange coincidence are really not all that odd
perhaps”
(Queen Caroline’s advocate, speaking in the House of Lords)
The strangest thing happened to me. I was stuck in a traffic jam
and a car show broke out!
Thus the Phantom Car Show was
invented. And quite a show it was.
Someone said that we had over 30 cars
appear. As if by magic. Actually it was
as if by Ben Cohen. Ben is the
mover/shaker of tours in TBCR and he
deserves a well-earned thank you for
the work he does. If history serves me,
that’s how the club started out. We had
one major tour and a pot luck dinner per month. That lasted about
two years when it was decided we didn’t need to actually drive
someplace and see something interesting, just driving to the pot luck
sufficed. Attendance fell off, then others began joining (not just Ttypes but all MGs, then all English Cars) and here we are, back
driving someplace to see something (or eat or drink or just goof
off). All thanks to our Tour Master, Ben.
And now my mind has gone blank. So until next month,
The Prez Has Squeeked.
Jim
The Register
Page 2 of 10
Drive Time
OK…it’s hot, but not as hot, as it’s going to get. You have only 2 months to prepare for our ultimate summer event:
Mad Dogs and Englishmen – “100 miles at over 100 degrees! It doesn’t get much better than this one…
It’s been 6 or 7 times that TBCR has run this event. For all the new members let’s tell the truth. We have “never”
lost a single car and no one broke down during the driving portion of this event. Each year 18 – 27 cars have left the
starting point, drove about 110 miles and all returned to joyous accolades from fellow TBCR members, who decided
to join in the fun but not…drive. However, there are “just rewards” and in this case it will be 2 scoops of FROST
Gelato for all TBCR members who decide to show up on Sunday, August 23. Watch for details and be read to drive
this one!
For those of you who have “flown” to cooler climes for the summer, and there are many, we miss you dearly but
still keep the faith by driving our cars as much as we can. Our first summer BLAT (1st Wednesday of the month) was
quite a success with 21 people cheerfully meeting for that 5:30 AM departure and 90 min drive. We’ll be doing it
again in July with an east side/Vail drive and breakfast at Millie’s Pancake Haus on Tanque Verde. However, the pièce
de résistance comes on August 5th with our BLAT ending with a 7:00 AM breakfast at the Hacienda del Sol Guest
Ranch. This was well attended last year and I hope that we get even more RSVPs this summer. Watch for details and
information for that RSVP.
By the time you read this we will have had our first summer Cruise & Schmooze – one of our few ‘non-driving’
events. June was organized with the help of Greg Welch and featured a wine tasting at Catavinos with snacks
provided by TBCR. What will be doing in July on the 4th weekend of the month? Well, if you have a suggestion for an
event, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. We can meet for lunch, dinner or even a “happy hour” at some local pub.
What do you want?
Thanks for participating and before you know it, it’ll be cool fall weather!!!
Ben
The Register
Page 3 of 10
PRESIDENT Jim Abbott
jim@scigraphics.net
VICE PRESIDENT Kevin McCue
kevin@themccuesonline.net
SECRETARY Sandy O’Harra
asemo0@comcast.net
TREASURER Brenda Johnson
redsportscars@earthlink.net
NEWSLETTER John Mead
tucsonbritish@gmail.com
DRIVING EVENTS Ben Cohen
RCT2BNC@aol.com
REGALIA Len & Nancy Wheeler
lenscats@comcast.net
WEB SITE Harold Beekhuizen
harold_beekhuizen@msn.com
TBCR Mailing Address
Including Orders for
Regalia
Tucson British Car Registry
P.O. Box 35748
Tucson, AZ 85740
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
http://www.tucsonbritish.com
Full Chat
Cutaway drawings and meticulously built cutaway and transparent
scale models have been used by generations of industrial and
architectural engineers. With the advent of computer aided design the
ultra-detailed and expensive models of factories and power plants
seem to have been relegated to museums or the back of classrooms.
However the exotic cutaways have found new life in the hands of
marketing departments, as this Range Rover attests. I spotted this
beauty in the commercial row at Laguna Seca last summer.
John
The Register
Page 4 of 10
The Phantom Car Show
Pictures from the Phantom Car Show,
Saturday June 6. Participants enjoyed a
relaxing Saturday strategically located in a
shady spot near Park Place Mall. As Jim
mentioned, there were 30 cars and plenty of
food and coffee. Don’t miss the pictures on
the next page: that’s the Prez recreating a
moment in motorcycle history on his Royal
Enfield.
The Register
Page 5 of 10
Events Calendar
Phantom Car Show cont.
Wednesday July 1
BLAT
Eastside/Vail
Breakfast at Millie’s Pancake
On Tanque Verde Rd
Departure TBA
Saturday July 11
2nd Saturday Breakfast Run
TBA
Wednesday, Aug 5
BLAT
To Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch
For breakfast
Departure TBA
Saturday, Aug 8
2nd Saturday Breakfast Run
TBA
Sunday Aug 23
Mad Dogs & Englishmen Run
1:30pm Start: FROST Gelato on
Tanque Verde Rd
Finish: return to FROST
Saturday Aug 29
5th Saturday Bonus Breakfast Run
TBA
Every Tuesday
BritCar Café
7:30 – 9:30a
NE corner of Grant & Swan
The Register
On the Road
June 13 saw a TBCR Saturday breakfast run on the
Northwest side, staring at Campbell and River,
getting breakfast at Rigo’s on Oracle and an
optional stop at Cars & Coffee at La Encantada.
Page 6 of 10
Page 7 of 10
The Register
On the Road cont.
Show
Top/middle: More scenes from the June
Saturday Breakfast run / Cars & Coffee.
Bottom row: Lower left is Barney, who stopped
by the British Car Café in April. He was spotted
in Michigan this month by Pete Williams. Barney
and his MGA have been travelling since 2014.
Lower right is Steve Struck, a winter Tucsonan
who was featured in last month’s Register.
That’s Steve and a friend moving Steve’s GT to
new garage space in Michigan.
The Register
Page 8 of 10
Between the Bonnet and the Boot
LUCAS DISTRIBUTOR VACUUM CONTROL By Jeff Simpson
Why do we need a vacuum control on the distributor anyway? They don't even use one on racing
engines so it can't be very important. Based on the number of variations and part numbers, it seems that
even the manufactures where not quite sure what they were trying to accomplish with the vacuum
control. But they actually do have a purpose.
While the mechanical advance adjusts the spark advance based on engine speed, the job of the vacuum
control is to adjust for engine load. It should provide better gas mileage and better drivability. When you
are cruising along at part throttle, the air/fuel charge into the cylinders tends to be leaner. A lean mixture
burns slower and therefore requires a little extra advance in order to get the most power from the least
fuel. Back to getting the maximum push on the piston at just the right instant. Not an issue with race
engines which are operating at full throttle most of the time and don't care much about fuel mileage.
While most Lucas vacuum units are made to advance the timing, there are also those that retard the
timing and some that do both. Check the direction the vacuum will pull the movable base plate relative to
the direction of distributor rotation. Vacuum pull opposite to distributor rotation is advance and visaversa. Almost every Lucas unit is stamped with a series of three numbers, like 5-12-7. This means that the
control
starts to pull at 5 inches of mercury, is full in at 12, and gives a maximum of 7 degrees of advance. If it is
followed by an “R”, it will retard instead of advance. Older units often have a threaded fitting for a copper
vacuum tube, latter ones have a push on fitting for a rubber vacuum tube.
Page 9 of 10
The Register
It is also important to consider where the vacuum control tube is connected. There are two primary
locations, with very different characteristics. One is an intake manifold connection. This provides the
highest vacuum when the throttle plates are closed, such as at idle, and the lowest at full throttle, such as
accelerating. The second location is off a carburetor venturi. This location provides just the opposite
effect, low or none at idle and maximum at full throttle. The amount of vacuum and transition curve varies
from zero to maximum based the location of the connection port and carb/manifold details.
It's easy to test the vacuum unit, no need to remove. Just remove the cap from the distributor, remove
the vacuum line and attach a hand vacuum pump in its place. Work the pump and watch the movable plate
move. It should move and stay until you release the vacuum. If it moves but immediately falls off, a
vacuum leak is indicated. If it doesn't move, (you probably have a D25-x type distributor) detach the
spring connector from its pin on the movable plate. Test again, if the spring doesn't move, the vacuum unit
is bad, if it does move, the movable base plate is stuck. In which case you need to remove the two little
Philip mounting screws, lift out the base plate assembly and see what's stuck.
The movable plate is supposed to slide easily on two little nylon buttons, held by a spring blade
countered by capped pin in a slot. You may find the problem is nothing more than hardened grease and
dirt. You may also find a broken spring, in which case you should get a new plate assembly. More than
likely you will find that the cap of the pin has a notch worn into it by the side of the slot. This allows the
movable plate to tip and wobble, causing jerky movement and uneven wear of the points against the
cam. If so, grip the cap of the pin with vice-grips and gently turn it about a quarter turn, thus putting a new
unworn surface against the slot. This will reduce the tilt and improve the movement of the vacuum control.
Lucas completely redesigned this whole assembly on the next generation of distributors, the D45-x type,
and it is very unlikely you will have a problem with one of these.
If you get your vacuum control working correctly, you might be surprised at the improved gas mileage
and drivability.
This is the fourth in Jeff’s series on Lucas distributors.
Thanks Jeff for these outstanding articles!
-Editor
TBCR members may have a
complimentary business
card ad on this page
For info contact the editor:
tucsonbritish@Gmail.com