security

[terrano bob]

remember when you used to remove the rotor arm to stop your car from being nicked

[ballo1000]

I never had to worry about that, my mini would have broken down before they reached the end of the street. I could still probably change a condensor in the dark with my eyes closed.

[Paff]

Originally Posted by ballo1000

...I could still probably change a condensor in the dark with my eyes closed.

Oh that lovely tiny flat blade machine screw

[kitchenman]

My ex wife figured that out and bought her own rotor arm, so I just removed the carbon brush, she got her own back by running the battery flat trying to start it

[AlexD333]

Originally Posted by kitchenman

My ex wife figured that out and bought her own rotor arm, so I just removed the carbon brush, she got her own back by running the battery flat trying to start it

That taught you

And a burnt out starter

[Paff]

My first vehicle was in the 70s was an Anglia van, with a bigger engine. I fitted an ignition cut out switch under the dash. The times I'd jump in and try and start it and wonder what the F'k was wrong

[rustic]

Originally Posted by ballo1000

I never had to worry about that, my mini would have broken down before they reached the end of the street. I could still probably change a condensor in the dark with my eyes closed.

On my mini, you had to regularly fiddle with the points almost monthly, so I bought a second hand distributor, new cap, new leads, new points, new condenser, etc set it up, and scribed a line on it so that when the car broke down, I just undid the pinch bolt, and removed the old, refitted the new, lined up the scribe marks, and within 2 minutes we were on the road again.

I also had a spare carburettor too, but never got around to setting that up...
I also got "changing the bypass hose" down to a five minute job too.
My boot was full of spares and tools, no room for anything else.
Also had spare petrol, as the fuel gauge had broken too...

[elty001]

Originally Posted by Paff

My first vehicle was in the 70s was an Anglia van, with a bigger engine. I fitted an ignition cut out switch under the dash. The times I'd jump in and try and start it and wonder what the F'k was wrong

Did the same on my mini.

[Mobieus_uk]

I've sofar had 2 car stolen and recoverded, trust me its a real pain in the arse when you get your car back and your lumbered with the repair bills and the real killer is that even though the insurance did not have to pay out they still treat it as a claim

[ballo1000]

The wife has just said she used to live in Clifton in Nottingham and used to leave the keys in her Fiat Panda 4x4 praying that obd morning it would be gone. It seems even the local car thieves weren't interested in it.

[terrano bob]

Originally Posted by ballo1000

The wife has just said she used to live in Clifton in Nottingham and used to leave the keys in her Fiat Panda 4x4 praying that obd morning it would be gone. It seems even the local car thieves weren't interested in it.

[AlexD333]

Originally Posted by Mobieus_uk

I've sofar had 2 car stolen and recoverded, trust me its a real pain in the arse when you get your car back and your lumbered with the repair bills and the real killer is that even though the insurance did not have to pay out they still treat it as a claim

I guess if you find it, just torch it

[elty001]

Originally Posted by rustic

On my mini, you had to regularly fiddle with the points almost monthly, so I bought a second hand distributor, new cap, new leads, new points, new condenser, etc set it up, and scribed a line on it so that when the car broke down, I just undid the pinch bolt, and removed the old, refitted the new, lined up the scribe marks, and within 2 minutes we were on the road again.

I also had a spare carburettor too, but never got around to setting that up...
I also got "changing the bypass hose" down to a five minute job too.
My boot was full of spares and tools, no room for anything else.
Also had spare petrol, as the fuel gauge had broken too...

Funny you mentioning the points on a mini as that is how I came to own one.
It was my sister in laws car and it had been sat for a couple of weeks while she was on holiday.
She got back off her hols and it wouldn't start. My brother had a look and couldn't sus out what the problem was so they decided to scrap it and buy a car on finance.
He rang me and asked if I would tow it to the scrapyard for him as it was dead.
He basically said do what you want with it we just need it gone.
Decided to Have a tinker and the points had seized up.
Took them off, cleaned them,put them back on and bingo it lived.still had tax and test on it so I used it for over a year with no problems.
Finally swapped it for a grown up car when the Mrs got pregnant and struggled to get in and out near the end of the pregnancy.

[terrano bob]

Originally Posted by elty001

Funny you mentioning the points on a mini as that is how I came to own one.
It was my sister in laws car and it had been sat for a couple of weeks while she was on holiday.
She got back off her hols and it wouldn't start. My brother had a look and couldn't sus out what the problem was so they decided to scrap it and buy a car on finance.
He rang me and asked if I would tow it to the scrapyard for him as it was dead.
He basically said do what you want with it we just need it gone.
Decided to Have a tinker and the points had seized up.
Took them off, cleaned them,put them back on and bingo it lived.still had tax and test on it so I used it for over a year with no problems.
Finally swapped it for a grown up car when the Mrs got pregnant and struggled to get in and out near the end of the pregnancy.

good old days can't do that anymore

[solarman216]

well the distributor was right behind the front grill, so go, everything on the road thrown at it, simple plastic bag over it helped a lot, in those days I had a Sunbeam Talbot 2ltr long stroke engine, stuck a twin choke Weber on it went really well, memories, Rick