Scumdog Has A Question!

[YellowRose]

"Hi Ray, Could you post these pics on Squarebirds please? And post the questions: What is that 'extra' thing that is piggy-backed onto the CVR and what would happen if it was removed? (My original CVR did not have it)
I fitted this one to my '66 ( a bear of a job!) and the gauges worked but I think they were reading a tad low -plus I could see the oil gauge needle constantly move left and right a little at a steady speed with a cold engine. I would appreciate it it greatly if once again you could post on my behalf! Regards,
Tom."

Here are the two pix Tom sent me.

[simplyconnected]

That is a choke, windings of wire to act as an inductor. Since your original CVR was made with contacts that rapidly opened and closed, Ford included a choke to tame down the current.

Solid state CVRs don't have contacts. Whether you remove or leave the choke makes no difference because a solid state CVR delivers constant voltage. - Dave

[Cwcb08]

I think you told me if also helped cut down radio static as well Dave?

[simplyconnected]

Yes, Cody. Whenever there are points quickly opening and closing, that radiates a signal that the antenna picks up and amplifies it over your speakers. CVRs cycle the same way but at a slower rate.

An inductor opposes a change in current. A capacitor opposes a change in voltage. They both smooth out spikes but in different ways. - Dave

[scumdog]

I wonder if it will last any longer than my original one...???

[YellowRose]

Scumdog Has Another Question!

Tom sent me this email and is looking for some of these for his '66.

"Hi Ray, Again I need your help!
The tail-light surround is lacking a few of these screws. (I blame Yellowbird as he was there when I lost them!)
They go through the black area of the anodised tail-light surround.

Anyway I ordered a bunch of likely bolts & screws from a supplier thinking these ones would be amongst them - but none of them match these screws and I could not see any that matched them when ordering the screws.

So, could you please post this pic with a request to Squarebird members for advice on what the description of them is and who/where supplies them. Again thanks for your assistance.
Tom."

Tom, look down in the For Sale / Parts Wanted Forum. One of our guys is parting out 2 Flairbirds as I recall. You should be able to contact him and see if he can extract those screws from his parts cars....

Here is a pic of that screw.

[YellowRose]

Scumdog Has A Question

Tom, I called Clint but caught him out. I left him a message to call me, and told him what I was calling about. How many of those screws do you need?

[scumdog]

Tom, I called Clint but caught him out. I left him a message to call me, and told him what I was calling about. How many of those screws do you need?

I only need half a dozen ( from memory!) Ray, thanks for your efforts.

[OUR5T8BIRD]

I only need half a dozen ( from memory!) Ray, thanks for your efforts.

There is a total of 16 of these screws on the rear tail light blacked out aluminum trim surround .

[YellowRose]

Scumdog Has A Question!

Tom, in view of what Martin said, please get me a complete count on the exact number you need so I can update Clint. Thanks!

[YellowRose]

Scumdog Has A Question!

Here is what Tom had to say!

"Hi Ray, As per your post on Squarebirds I counted the number of screws I need. I do need six, they are the black ones as per my earlier photo. This picture shows the location of one of the missing screws. All the others shines chromed(?) screws are in place. Again accept my appreciation of your efforts! Regards,
Tom."

Here is the pic that he sent.

[OUR5T8BIRD]

Tom, in view of what Martin said, please get me a complete count on the exact number you need so I can update Clint. Thanks!

I have these screws if Clint can't provide them . Note, some of these have a slightly larger head than others, mostly on the outer lens surrounds .

[scumdog]

"Hi Ray, Could you post these pics on Squarebirds please? And post the questions: What is that 'extra' thing that is piggy-backed onto the CVR and what would happen if it was removed? (My original CVR did not have it)
I fitted this one to my '66 ( a bear of a job!) and the gauges worked but I think they were reading a tad low -plus I could see the oil gauge needle constantly move left and right a little at a steady speed with a cold engine. I would appreciate it it greatly if once again you could post on my behalf! Regards,
Tom."

Here are the two pix Tom sent me.

An update to the CVR saga - I used that CVR and it worked for a short while them died.
So I adopted a Simplyconnected mentality and decided to diagnose the problem this evening after work.

It turned out the little tab that earths/grounds the wire running into the CVR was not doing its job.
Two minutes with a soldering iron to ensure a good contact had the CVR going like a champ with the test bulb! (I left the test light hooked up and it was still blinking merrily away twenty minutes later when I checked it.

The factory was relying on one of the tabs holding the case to the body of the CVR to make contact with the little tab, it can be seen in the top one of the two pictures at the start of the thread on the far away left side of the case.

So if you have a repro CVR that fails check that contact.

[simplyconnected]

An update to the CVR saga - I used that CVR and it worked for a short while them died.
So I adopted a Simplyconnected mentality and decided to diagnose the problem this evening after work...

Tom has had real problems with his '66, going through failed CVRs. A 'simplyconnected mentality' would be to find and correct the root cause. I sold him a solid state unit after his mechanical CVR failed. He said, it ran just fine for a while but once he started his 390, the solid state CVR failed as well, so I sent him two more solid state units with instructions to split the load; put one CVR on two gauges and the other on the last gauge to isolate a possible gauge or sending unit problem. Both solid state CVRs are identical inside and either should easily run all his gauges.

I suggested that he make sure his instrument panel is properly grounded, even if he must run an extra ground wire to the battery, but I heard nothing more about that.

Electrical noise comes from the coil (that is connected to the key switch via the headlight switch). A loose or intermittent dash ground or arcing plug/receptacle would send spikes that could damage any CVR that isn't properly grounded.

It's a wonderful thing to connect that little CVR's ground strap to make the mechanical unit work but solid state CVRs don't have that tab. Tom has two new solid state units that output steady six volts regardless of charging voltage or temperature. They are far superior to any mechanical CVR because they don't pulse. If his instrument panel and electrical system still has issues, Tom won't be done yet.

Use the multi-meter I sent you some time ago, Tom. Run the engine and check input voltage to the CVR. Let's hear what you find. - Dave

[scumdog]

I forgot to add in the excitement of discovering the reason the CVR that I checked my instrument panel was grounded last night, It definitely was so I can cross that one off.
I also checked and it appears the lead to the CVR is getting 12V from the battery when the key is turned on.
And my coil recieves 12volts direct from the battery via a relay that is activated by the original factory resistor wire that used to go to the coil.
That resistor wire is still powered through the ignition switch so I doubt I am getting any 'spike" from the coil that is affecting my CVR.

I cannot speak for the solid state CVR but the old school mechanical one conked out simply due to a physical issue - the faulty ground.


Now to figure out my aerial lead challenge - I did the factory recommended 'piece of string' trick only the fatter new lead won't pull through the factory plastic 'loop' that holds wires in place up behind the dash on the passengers side - right where it really tricky to access!!!