Who is going to buy this???

[Stalwart]

Ferrets are a piece of cake to work on compared to a Saracen. They are also MUCH more reliable and easier to get parts for. For the longest time, you couldn't hardly give a Saracen away, they had a MUCH deserved bad reputation. There is a whole new generation of MV'ers that will have to learn for themselves that Saracens and Humber Pigs aren't nice vehicles to own and maintain. They might look cool but . . .

 

[L1A1]

They all use Lucas Electics.....
Matt

 

[Stalwart]

They all use Lucas Electics.....
Matt

Lucas went really downhill when the went to integrated circuits and boxes containing multiple components. The joke was: "Drill a hole in it to let the smoke out." Any Lucas in the Ferret and Saracen are of a more reliable individual components: cap, rotor, condenser, coil and dual points (individually timed, NOT like those of American dual point designs). Pretty reliable really, but setting the points on the Saracen B80 must be done with a 45 degree special fixture. Each point set takes alternating turn breaking and making contact to charge the coil and fire the plugs. You can have 1/2 of the engine be perfectly timed and the other half, WAY OFF! I had one guy tell me he was going to "set them by ear", I could only laugh. You DO NOT set the dwell!

Some guy was charging $35.00 a set for points (2 sets needed) here in the US ten years back. I had a friend in the UK get me 50 sets for a much more reasonable $7.50 each plus shipping. I'll never run out . . .

 

[Gunner0311]

L1a1

My L1A1 Rifle could probably penetrate that thin armour using AP rounds....

It does look cool though, as it has that engine compartment "tough truck' appeal

 

[datadawg]

Pretty reliable really, but setting the points on the Saracen B80 must be done with a 45 degree special fixture. Each point set takes alternating turn breaking and making contact to charge the coil and fire the plugs. You can have 1/2 of the engine be perfectly timed and the other half, WAY OFF! I had one guy tell me he was going to "set them by ear", I could only laugh. You DO NOT set the dwell!

Some guy was charging $35.00 a set for points (2 sets needed) here in the US ten years back. I had a friend in the UK get me 50 sets for a much more reasonable $7.50 each plus shipping. I'll never run out . . .

Seeing as you have a Stalwart with the B81 Rolls Royce, it may be different, but I wound up buying an electronic ignition module for my Saracen's B80 engine. Based on some posts on the hmvf forum, this was highly recommended, though fairly pricey. The module is made by Jolley Engineering in UK. http://www.classicheads.com/

 

[Stalwart]

I'm familiar with the UK made electronic replacements and have heard nothing but good things about them.