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Eric,
Accu Spark replied saying "the coil is to be used in conjunction
with the existing ballast resistor." All good I thought.

However, upon fitting, no start. I bypassed the resistor and it started.
I checked the resistance between the terminals [the primary winding] of the new
coil and it read 2.8ohms. I am uncertain whether the absence of the resistor could
damage any other part of the ignition system.
I'd have thought that a coil advertised as a 1.5ohm coil should produce a similar reading?

I'm sending it back.

Refitted the old one and all's back running.
This conundrum will wait until my return from France. She's running well enough for that.

Hi Modano,

First, spray some silicon lube on the cable outer right by the firewall.
That will help with moving it through the rubber grommet.

The oil level gauge bellows protrude below the bottom of the panel, so
during extraction, the panel needs to be rotated down [from the top] and lifted
slightly. It is sometimes a fiddly process, but there's nothing except dash surround
to get in the way.

Hope this helps. Nigel.

The instrument panel in Jono's car was made by Jaeger. Indeed unfortunate that Peter's
unit wouldn't fit! After thinking about it for a while, and knowing that temps and fan are all
correct, and that a hand-held temp gauge had already confirmed this, and that we knew
that the existing gauge worked, adjusting the needle was deemed the sensible approach.

Jono, your car sounds and performs very well. The rolling road money was very well spent.
..and during the drive, I sat on the correct side!

Cheers, N.

Good morning.
Disconnect the battery negative. Adjust steering column fully down.
After removing the 4 screws, release the speedo cable from the gearbox and lay it flat across the engine or battery.

Push the speedo cable a little, then pull the dash. Repeat if necessary. Use the long dash screws to wiggle it out.

Behind the dash,remove the small pipe from the oil dipstick. Slide the speedo cable locking ring off.
Then remove, by pushing the tabs, the 3 electric connectors.

Edit: When refitting, lube the speedo cable outer with silicon so it slides through the firewall grommet easily.

That's all.
Hope this helps.

Hi,
I don't want to damage anything: I unscrewed the speedo cable. It lays flat. I don't seem to be able to "push" it, but I could manage pulling the dashboard a little bit.

Now to go further, do you think it would be better to (while still trying to "push" the speedo)
- Try to pull it from "above" as there is some clearance now (I can put my fingers in)
- Pull it from the side left,right,left,right ?
- Try to pull from "below" ?
- Use a tool (flat screwdriver) on one of the edges ?

What would be the best, safest option to pull the dashboard, and then access the cables/speedo casing ?

Hi Chris

I have to sort of disagree on the fools errand, you now know for sure the state of your car, good and bad bits. What looks good from a buyers point of view can often be mediocre when you finally dig into it unless there is documented recent work etc. The cost side of it can however be less attractive of course!

Peter

Hat eaten! Have to confess that when I first saw your car on here I was 90% that it would end up in the scrap yard once you found all the rust, even perhaps that the lower A pillars would be beyond economic repair....

Well done you and hope it does make it to the 50th.

Well, let's be honest, at the time I bought it, I'd been looking for a coupe for about 2 years and the choice was between this and some utter basket cases. Since then some lovely examples have come up for sale that make this project look like a fools errand, but that's spilt milk, under the bridge!

Hi Chris

Possible but nasty compared to doing them before fitting the engine. The GC manual tells you how if you are unsure and they are common to multiple TC blocks. The cheap plastic S2FL heater tap is the top candidate for leaking after installation. I remember thinking I had been stung by a wasp from the hot water on my foot! 

Back in the day I de-scaled the heater matrix core with Kettle de-scaler

Eric

Hi Chris, the Haynes manual does cover adjustment, but there is also a diagram and instructions within this page
http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2185.0

Hi Neil,
Not sure if you have found somewhere suitable for refurbing your calipers yet but I just got a quote for refurbishment of 2 x Beta Spyder calipers from "Brake Caliper Solutions" in their standard paint finish (silver, black, gold) for £129+VAT.  I believe they also upgrade to a higher quality finish for £169 + VAT.
Their blurb states: 
"All stripped down & blasted back to bare cast, finished to which finish you require, then new pistons and seals. Bleed nipples are used."

Not sure whether "Bleed nipples are used" means that they reuse your old ones, or just that they actually fit bleed nipples?

https://www.brakecalipersolutions.co.uk/

Thanks for this. I'm currently waiting to see if the calipers need a full refurb or not, but will bear this firm in mind if they do.

Having a lift will make the job a lot easier as only the links to the gear box are accessible from above. If you have a look at either Haynes or a parts book it is all fairly easily explained as to how it comes apart/ goes together. With the car on a lift you will have much easier access to the parts in the center section, including the cross link.

The cross link on my 1300 was bent as well as worn, as the material used is almost half as thick as on the part sold by Mark, so definitely worth changing.