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Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Brian-H
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by Brian-H »

Being intrigued by this topic, I did some brief online research, starting with wikipedia. Some may say that wikipedia isn't the best place to get information, but it's usually a good place to start.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanchester_Ten#LD10
"The Lanchester Ten, also known as the LD10, produced after the Second World War was presented as a compact companion model to the Daimler range, being "craftsman built" and among the smallest ever volume-produced cars from the firm. It was initially produced with a steel six-light body by Briggs Motor Bodies of Dagenham though this body suffered from erratic deliveries by Briggs and rust problems due to the grade of steel allocated by the government for their manufacture. From September 1949 the same chassis was instead fitted with coachbuilt Barker aluminium alloy sports saloon bodywork."

On that basis, I can't see why there would be any correlation between the body supplier, and the recommended plug gap. Furthermore it's possible that different spark plug covers have ended up, over the decades, on different cars - and the same may apply to owner's handbook i.e. there certainly does seem to be two different spark plug covers with different gaps thereon, but the date of change in gap written on the cover may not coincide with the date of change in body supplier.

What's more likely is that it's a change irrespective of body supplier - relating to a change of either the static timing, the breaker setting, the condenser, the coil, the leads, the spark plugs - or any combination thereof. You'd have to find different owner's handbooks and, where there's a change in plug gap in the handbook you'd have to see if there are any other corresponding differences relating to the HT setup (although you're unlikely to find enough detail about the leads and the coil ). Once armed with that information, if there are other corresponding differences, you could hazard a guess as to why.

The other place I looked is here http://ld10.awardspace.co.uk/index_6.htm
Barker handbook on the left, Briggs handbook on the right. Problem is that the Barker handbook comes up with an error, and if you download the supposed Briggs handbook, it has 30 thou.

Finally this link from the same website http://ld10.awardspace.co.uk/bay/sparks.htm
Two interesting extracts from there ....

[Lodge CB14 with right-angled caps. 14mm thread, 3/4" reach, 0.030" gap.]

[The official (1972) Autolite cross-reference lists the AG5 as being equivalent to the Champion N8 and Lodge CLN-H, but the AG4 as equivalent to the NGK BP6E and Lodge CLN-P. The same source also lists the gap setting as 0.025". The AG5 has previously been tried and is not recommended due to early failures - this source may not be entirely reliable therefore.]

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watkindj
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by watkindj »

mikemillen wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:18 pm
I'm interested in what spark plug gap setting is embossed on the cover for the Barker cars.
My cover (Briggs) stipulates 30 thou... I'm interested to know what it says on a Barker-bodied cover.
Does it match the Barker manual at 20 thou?
yes it does
IMG_0001.JPG
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watkindj
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by watkindj »

Brian-H wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:04 am

The other place I looked is here http://ld10.awardspace.co.uk/index_6.htm
Barker handbook on the left, Briggs handbook on the right. Problem is that the Barker handbook comes up with an error, and if you download the supposed Briggs handbook, it has 30 thou.

apologies i will look into that and correct
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by mikemillen »

That picture is very interesting... if you zoom in, you can clearly see where the original raised ".030" has been ground off and ".020" engraved in its place.

That would also explain why the picture of the cover from India had the .020 highlighted in white... something had filled in the engraved lettering.

So Lanchester felt the change was important enough to modify each cover.

The burning question is... does it mean we should be using 20 thou on ALL LD10s, or is there another change to the later cars that we are unaware of?

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watkindj
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by watkindj »

now corre :D cted
Darren
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Brian-H
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by Brian-H »

watkindj wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 8:16 pm
Brian-H wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:04 am
The other place I looked is here http://ld10.awardspace.co.uk/index_6.htm
Barker handbook on the left, Briggs handbook on the right. Problem is that the Barker handbook comes up with an error, and if you download the supposed Briggs handbook, it has 30 thou.
apologies i will look into that and correct
Yep both are now available, but the mystery deepens - other than the front covers being different, both handbooks are otherwise identical i.e. both handbooks have 20 thou. Details are .....
Ignition Type -- Lucas 12 volt.
Coil Type -- L.0. Model B.12
Distributor Type -- B.S. 49, Model D.V.X. 4A. with automatic advance
Contact Breaker Setting -- .012 in. (with points fully open).
Spark Plug Type -- C.B. 14 Lodge 14 mfm. thread.3 point.
Gap Setting -- .020 in.
[note that the Consort handbook is identical, apart from 30 thou gap setting]

I could have sworn that the Briggs (one on the right) had 30 thou, but now it has 20 thou - I did bookmark the Briggs handbook, and the URL has not changed - so I may have misread or typed 30 thou by mistake.

If they're both 20 thou in the handbooks then it's possible that some covers had 30 thou on them, possibly the OEM supplier made a mistake, possibly an aftermarket supplier made a mistake, and in whatever way (officially or unofficially) the mistakes on the covers have been modified.

mikemillen wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:44 pm The manual for my 2nd series Briggs car says 30 thou and so does the bakelite cover, so I'm fairly confident that it's correct.
Out of interest, can you take a photo of each ?

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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by mikemillen »

watkindj wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:23 pm now corre :D cted
There's still something wrong with those manuals... on page 3 of both, they state that the manual applies to serial numbers 62,800 to 63,799.

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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by mikemillen »

Brian-H wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:04 am
mikemillen wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:44 pm The manual for my 2nd series Briggs car says 30 thou and so does the bakelite cover, so I'm fairly confident that it's correct.
Out of interest, can you take a photo of each ?
I don't have my paper manual to hand, but here's the cover and pages 3 and 21 from my pdf copy:
cover.jpg
p3.PNG
p21.PNG

Brian-H
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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by Brian-H »

mikemillen wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:35 am
watkindj wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:23 pm now corre :D cted
There's still something wrong with those manuals... on page 3 of both, they state that the manual applies to serial numbers 62,800 to 63,799.
Yep, other than the front covers being different, both handbooks on the website are otherwise identical. Maybe I didn't misread, or type 30 thou by mistake. I should have taken a screenshot of what I saw :?

But the coil type, distributor type, CB setting, and spark plug type are the same as yours Mike - and also same on the Consort (which is 30 thou). Bizarre.

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Re: Spark plug cover - Barker LD10

Post by mikemillen »

Brian-H wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:31 am But the coil type, distributor type, CB setting, and spark plug type are the same as yours Mike - and also same on the Consort (which is 30 thou). Bizarre.
Curiouser and curiouser...

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