Perkins 4108 faulty Lucas alternator fix

The Perkins 4108 46hp diesel is a super four cylinder marine motor,it was made for marine use,not cobbled from another makers truck and dubbed marine but it still has parts on it that are just the same as the general auto makers use.

The Perkins 4108 must have been issued with a generator,then later installed with a Lucas alternator,I say this as when I got the engine it had a secondary wire loom and a mount plate that was suitable for the older generator,those wires I eventually removed when I rewired the engine to switch panel.

I ran the engine on saturday,all was well excepting the alternator was not charging,I took out a spare Bosch unit,same size and around 35amps,not a huge output but reliable,the plan was to take the Lucas one off and do a change over.
                                         
Thinking this over that evening I though to first check the panel warning light,which on an alternator is also an exciter lamp,without which the alternator will not work.It was my lucky day as thats all it was,with a new one installed,yes I have spares on board,the main engine was soon recharging the boats batteries.

Clearly blown as the dark glass indicates.

So save your self a stack of work,get spare bulbs and when and if the alternator stops charging,check the bulb first.

Roy

Winning at the Killarney Race Track

The chequered flag fell for me in my 998cc Hillman Imp race car as I passed the finish line on lap twelve,so why did I get the cup for second?

The silver cup on the left is dated 18/03/1972 its inscribed for second place but in fact I won the race,so what happened?

The race was titled an Allcomers Race,meaning it was open to any class of car with four wheels I assume,I was in the Argus Saloon Championship class F car,which was a Hillman Imp with a 998cc Rootes Compettions equiped engine that I had built myself on a Mk1 block from imported parts.

The car would do around 1 minute 47 seconds to complete one lap,the faster cars were a good 20 seconds faster? that was the theory anyway.We had to post a practice time with no Sand Bagging as if we went faster by more than 5% in the actual race we would be placed further back in the final positions.

This was my own cars engine,all parts were imported from the UK and the Rootes Competition Dept,Des O Dell was the manager then? based on a std Mk 1 block,fitted with 998cc steel liners and pistons,the Mk 1 Imp head was developed to take a set of very large valves from a Mini Cooper S,the car was tested on a rolling road just once,it gave an impressive 86hp at the wheels,so a lot of power from a 1 liter engine unit.

The Hillman Imp 998cc based on the early so called curly motor,named such due to the shape of the top edge of the cylinder block.

I did my usual times and started in the first group to be waved off,as the 1000cc class was the smaller class on the day.The race was posted as a 12 lap race and as no one had passed me after 12 laps the guy with the chequered flag jumped up and waved it for me,I can see him now standing on the left of the track from me and the car.

The organisers had other ideas,it seems they got their calculations wrong and waved us all on for another lap,it made little difference as I was still only passed by one car.At the after race party at the WPMC I was called up to recieve my cup,it was for second place only,was I robbed,I believe so,I still got that chequered flag though!

Roy,

(working with Hillman Imps for 47 years now)

The Diesel Ducks like acorns grow

When we offer a kit its not unusual to find the boat outgrows its size before we even start,thats why our extended range can make so much sense,the Dixi Dinghy can easiliy grow to the Argi 15 dinghy and so on.

When an enquiry to the Diesel Duck 38 came in a similar thing happened.

Harry and Vickies Diesel Duck 48 keel,all pictures are from the designers web site,many thanks for their use.

Note the steel beam platforn Harry is working on,having built a similar but smaller boat myself, off a dirt floor,I can assure you Harry has thought this out really well. As moving his boat later with rollers or wheels on the corners of the platform, makes life a lot more simple when moving time arrives.

Recently we were asked to quote on a George Buhler designed Diesel Duck 38 kit set,we built one complete boat about ten years back,so still have all the patterns to the frames.We later found out that the prospective owner has a much larger boat and wishes to down size with the idea of an ocean crossing and possibly doing the Mediterainian Sea then Europes canals?

Our interest is in supply of the basic materials and to make the boats frames,keel,stem and rudder,which are really the heart of this design.

There will be 19 such frames I think, if the scale is similar to the Diesel Duck 38

So our customers Diesel  Duck started to grow on paper,the basic plan was good but to install all the life style gear such as water maker,washing machine,generators and so on just needed more space,we then moved up to the Diesel Duck 44 but have now stopped (i think) at the Diesel Duck 48.

I have been there and done that,this is a boat as a boat should be,we could provide kits to countries who need a fishing boat fleet,places with labour,often very skilled but lacking the materials or methods to build with.

Wow! what an event,all it takes is your desire and the rest just happens.

We can load the parts in a container and ship world wide,George has plans based on the same idea and growing per foot length,so he can suit just about everybodys needs.

Roy

Cape Town
South Africa

 021 790-3859 phone and fax line.

Fitting Hillman Imp supply pipes.

Thats brakes and clutch,plus petrol and also the throttle cable.

In all my years working on Imps I can not remember seeing pictures of what fits where?

Henry is growing fast

He got Henry to land on some kitchen scales nine days back,just 300 grams was his weight,today he landed on the same scales and tipped it at 400 grams,thats a third more body weight in just nine days!

Henry is now a part of the family,he will copy our movements exactly,such as I was busy doing a tally on some timber sizes on a calculater,as soon as I left the key board alone Henry started pecking the same keys,this is one clever bird.