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Mar 28, 2018 11:33 am
Mar 28, 2018 11:33 am
Subject: Re: V12 timing gears
Hi Charles,
I'll re-send that and my latest email, member list shows "A" intead of "a"; could explain non-arrival.
Ha ha. Lagonda produce a revised handbook?! Whilst there appear to be two bindings, an earlier type in book format, and the later type similar, but with a fold down flap, the page content never altered. Indeed, one photo at least, is actually of an LG45.
I was lucky enough to buy a handbook for a late model V12, and I can tell you that Lagonda dealt with updates by simply sticking in "errata slips" in red ink. The first of these refers to alterations to be made on no less than seven pages. Unbelievable, for a car costing the price of three quite decent houses, at that time. The later handbook at least, is actually of loose-leaf format, so presumably there was intention to print fresh/replacement pages. Doubtless the war put paid to any hope of that.
One of the most important amendments was to the firing order. When my fibre gear failed, I checked the camshaft positions before stripping further. On reassembly, I set it up with the Sanction 2 (3 or 4 if you believe those existed!) timing. This evidenced that the timing on one cam had been around 180 degrees out! The engine started immediately; previously, after pressing the button for around a minute, you might have got a few pops and bangs. I'd only driven the car 100 miles, so the gear failure was disastrous...but getting the timing right as a consequence was amajor silver lining.
I'm pretty certain all V12s and LG6s had the all-electric gauges; these are 6 volt and there is a 6 volt "potential divider" behind the dash...be careful not to omit that if rewiring. It sounds like you have a handbook; you should have a wiring diagram included at the back of that (also a page describing the SU Thermostatic Carburetter), and that does show the instruments and potential divider.
If you don't have it, I can strongly recommend the Club's publication "Revised Handbook Lagonda V12", which includes the wiring diagram. Bear in mind however that this diagram is April 1938, so does not include, for example, the green warning light and wiring run necesitated from the tank sender, as fitted to later cars and indeed included in the errata details.
Another publication worth buying is the "Trader Service Data No. 73" issued with the "Motor Trader" magazine dated September 13 1939. The Club sells copies of this, but my opinion is that the photos are so much clearer (and usefully, different to those in the handbook) in an original, that it is worth paying a little more for one. A dealer is (and has been for many years!) advertising one for £18, however they do come up occasionally on ebay, selling for much less than that. If you have one of these and the factory handbook, you are pretty close to having most of the information you would expect from a pukka workshop manual.
Let me know if you receive my emails; re-sending next!
Laurence
Hi Charles,
I'll re-send that and my latest email, member list shows "A" intead of "a"; could explain non-arrival.
Ha ha. Lagonda produce a revised handbook?! Whilst there appear to be two bindings, an earlier type in book format, and the later type similar, but with a fold down flap, the page content never altered. Indeed, one photo at least, is actually of an LG45.
I was lucky enough to buy a handbook for a late model V12, and I can tell you that Lagonda dealt with updates by simply sticking in "errata slips" in red ink. The first of these refers to alterations to be made on no less than seven pages. Unbelievable, for a car costing the price of three quite decent houses, at that time. The later handbook at least, is actually of loose-leaf format, so presumably there was intention to print fresh/replacement pages. Doubtless the war put paid to any hope of that.
One of the most important amendments was to the firing order. When my fibre gear failed, I checked the camshaft positions before stripping further. On reassembly, I set it up with the Sanction 2 (3 or 4 if you believe those existed!) timing. This evidenced that the timing on one cam had been around 180 degrees out! The engine started immediately; previously, after pressing the button for around a minute, you might have got a few pops and bangs. I'd only driven the car 100 miles, so the gear failure was disastrous...but getting the timing right as a consequence was amajor silver lining.
I'm pretty certain all V12s and LG6s had the all-electric gauges; these are 6 volt and there is a 6 volt "potential divider" behind the dash...be careful not to omit that if rewiring. It sounds like you have a handbook; you should have a wiring diagram included at the back of that (also a page describing the SU Thermostatic Carburetter), and that does show the instruments and potential divider.
If you don't have it, I can strongly recommend the Club's publication "Revised Handbook Lagonda V12", which includes the wiring diagram. Bear in mind however that this diagram is April 1938, so does not include, for example, the green warning light and wiring run necesitated from the tank sender, as fitted to later cars and indeed included in the errata details.
Another publication worth buying is the "Trader Service Data No. 73" issued with the "Motor Trader" magazine dated September 13 1939. The Club sells copies of this, but my opinion is that the photos are so much clearer (and usefully, different to those in the handbook) in an original, that it is worth paying a little more for one. A dealer is (and has been for many years!) advertising one for £18, however they do come up occasionally on ebay, selling for much less than that. If you have one of these and the factory handbook, you are pretty close to having most of the information you would expect from a pukka workshop manual.
Let me know if you receive my emails; re-sending next!
Laurence