I thought about what I mentioned in the last post and decided that I would indeed cut down on the number of relays I had installed, first confirming with those knowledgeable that LEDs use very little current.

I nearly ditched the indicator relay as well, but as I have in stock an original set of amber-glassed, round winkers with good chrome bezels and functioning bulbs, why bother fixing a non-existent problem.

It was very satisfying to remove a whole mess of now redundant wiring and have a few relays for spares. There was good news on the water pump controller unit - it turned out that a faulty regulator was the problem. It may well have been my wiring it up incorrectly. The whole affair is plug'n'play apart from one wire that should go to the cooling fan relay. Unfortunately, the instructions telling me to connect it to the relay didn't help. Which bit of the relay; 30, 85. 86, 87, maybe 87a? Naturally, I got it wrong.

Bare wires going into old-style screw connectors on the back of the Bakelite switches looked untidy and not particularly secure. I invested in some crimps and a special pair of pliers which made the job a lot more businesslike and secure. The larger crimps can accommodate three separate wires if needed, and there are some stations which have at least two. I'm much happier with their integrity now.

I've still to add a couple of services, one such being the wheel speed sensor for the steering fandango. It doesn't have to be looking at a wheel; I shall use the prop shaft. Interestingly, it's not required that the sensor looks at one particular point on the shaft, it can be all the bits whirling round on the universal joint; the computer works out the count by itself.

The assembly of a feed bin interrupted progress on the Special. I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you haven't an air riveter, and you do this sort of work only occasionally, get one! It makes jobs like this the work of a moment - even if the instructions are in every language but English.

The 1913 Buick 25 has arrived for the fitting of the Dynastart...

... which is a modern reproduction and replacement item for the Bosch unit that I understand is found on earlier VWs and the like. The technology is ancient - The Great Collector's 1914 Humber has one fitted as standard.

My problem has been trying to find information on the rpm of the engine and what the Dynastart can safely run up to. The consensus is that these engines sit at around 12 - 1400rpm in normal cruise. The flywheel is 17" in diameter, so I'm reckoning with a 6" pulley on the Dynastart, giving me a roughly 3:1 ratio that will see the dynamo side operating at around 4000rpm, 1000rpm below my guessed at safe max. I'll have to get confirmation on those rpm's before I do anything drastic. I'm hoping to run a toothed cam belt around the flywheel which I imagine might be less susceptible to tracking than a 'V' or multi-V belt.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mr Laken has been filling in the spoke holes of the Honda motorcycle hub which is now the conduit between the SU and the supercharger.

It's looking like he may beat me to the start-up.