(Glass?) Nail File For Points?

[Ducked]

Points look quite blackened, with the “classic” pit and pip metal transfer damage, and not much metal left.

They are very unlikely to be available in Taiwan. I might be able to order in from abroad IF I knew what other cars used the same set. Daihatsu Charade might be worth a punt.

Meanwhile I need to squeeze a little more life out of this set. Options would include

Fine wet-and-dry paper

Actual points file or an electricians “contact burnishing file” . These will be hard/impossible to find locally but could perhaps be onlined.

Nail file . Taiwan isn’t big on car maintenance but there are of course more high-maintenance girls than you can…er…shake a stick at, with consequently a bewildering variety of nail gear.

I spent a while going through them with a hand-lens (The files, not the girls. I AM the WEIRD FOREIGNER but not that weird, or that lucky) and selected a couple that looked relatively fine, but there were some things that I didn’t understand.

Subsequent online research shows these to be Glass Nail Files. Havn’t so far found a description of how they work, but I assume they have an abrasive embedded in a glass support matrix.

Wait—Should I Be Using a Glass Nail File?

Seems like that might be gentler on the old metal. Would it be worth bringing this rubbing edge technology to the aid of the ancient auto?

Might be a World First, (and last) which would be nice

[rooftopclown]

@Ducked

Would it be worth bringing this rubbing edge technology to the aid of the ancient auto?

Definitely.

@Ducked

I assume they have an abrasive embedded in a glass support matrix.

Personally, I like to have my beer embedded in a glass support. Prevents it from being spread all over the table and floor.

[chilifries]

600 wet and dry folded over the edge of a payment card (flat and stiff). Sand both sides to keep the faces parallel.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

What exactly is the OP trying to do? Fix a cracked windshield?

If you just want to sand a groove either a sandpaper or needle file will do.

[Ducked]

@Taiwan_Luthiers

What exactly is the OP trying to do? Fix a cracked windshield?

If you just want to sand a groove either a sandpaper or needle file will do.

Er…no. Where did you get that idea?

Wasn’t the lack of any mention of cracks or windscreens an indication that cracked windscreens might not be involved?

“Points” is automotive shorthand for circuit breaker contacts. They open and close to break and make an ignition circuit. The change in electric field is transformed into high voltage which generates sparks at the spark plugs.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

I had no idea what a point was… I just thought he wanted nail file to maybe fix dents on his car or something.

[Ducked]

@Taiwan_Luthiers

I had no idea what a point was… I just thought he wanted nail file to maybe fix dents on his car or something.

Weel, ye ken noo.

Sorry,

He kens noo.

I can do third person too, though it seems a bit weird.

.

[Ducked]

These

The contacts are blackened and show metal transfer.(like metal arc welding) between them.

This one has a pit

and this one has a pip.

. This might imply the capacitor is bad.

Searching for “Daihatsu Skywing Contact Breaker Set” or “Daihatsu Charade Contact Breaker Set” produces a lot of irrelevent rubbish from Ebay, but by chance I noticed that the Intermotor 22261, sold as a Bedford Rascal part, looks the same, though the “compatability tool” explicitly says it doesn’t fit the Skywing or any Charade.

A few seIlers of these, some very cheap, so I think its worth a punt. They generally won’t ship to Taiwan but I can get it forwarded from a UK address.

The picture could be generic, but this site says its an actual image and it looks the same.

https://preview.tinyurl.com/KMS-actual-image

Also found a Bosch in Latvia, which also says it doesn’t fit the Skywing but sort of says it fits any Charade (“rough guide” only, whatever that’s supposed to mean).

Poorer picture but it looks the same
.
https://preview.tinyurl.com/Bosch-in-Latvia

I’ll maybe get both.

[chilifries]

There are lots of Diahatsu Charade/Zebra points etc available here in Indonesia. PM me if I can help you out.

Platina OEM Daihatsu Mobil Kijang 3K 4K 5K 7K Carry &amp Zebra 1.0 CC via @bukalapak https://www.bukalapak.com/p/mobil-part-dan-aksesoris/eksterior-mobil/hid-bohlam/vvji4c-jual-platina-oem-daihatsu-mobil-kijang-3k-4k-5k-7k-carry-amp-zebra-1-0-cc?utm_source=apps

[Ducked]

Thanks.

Can’t be sure from that pic, but I THINK the baseplate might be different.

If the Ebay stuff doesn’t work out (It SAYS it won’t, after all) I’ll likely take you up on your offer.

[urodacus]

A diamond file for sharpening knives would work as well.

those Indonesian points look the ticket, too.

[Ducked]

Havn’t seen those here.

These are pretty nifty and suprisingly cheap, but the shipping adds quite a lot.

Diamond Coated Strip Files - Thin Precision Abrasive Files

[Ducked]

Meanwhile, I attacked it with the cheapo nail file I bought earlier in the week. More like a metal emery board rather then the trad metal nail file I used many years ago when I last did this, and a bit coarse.

Didn’'t attempt to “flat” it, since that’d lose a lot of metal.

Then I used aluminium foil (my favoured metal cleaner) on it, I assume aluminium is OK since its conductive.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

You need to visit a real hardware store. Not B&Q but a real hardware store. There are several on Taiyuan road near Civic Blvd. near the Taipei main station.

They have all kinds of files in all sizes, and they also have those flat, triangular stones and stuff for precision grinding. A nail file isn’t designed to remove metal, and often won’t remove metal. Tell them what you are trying to do and they will have the tool for the job.

[Ducked]

Could be, and thanks for the info. Next time I’m in Taipei I’ll try and check it out.

I’m afraid, though, that in general I’m pessimistic about sourcing anything in Taiwan. The contact breaker set is a case in…er…point. I asked several mechanics, including some related to Taiwanese friends, and got to hear"Meio, too old!" endlessly repeated. Again.

Its often easier to improvise something than source it here.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

Parts and tools to fabricate parts are available, however mechanics are not interested in filing or machining stuff for things to fit. Their job is to assemble/disassemble cars and replace bad parts. If the part is no longer made (often the case for old cars) you would have to either make your own or fix the broken stuff. This is where TIG welding comes in handy.

Newer cars with computers and stuff is a nightmare to fix… if something fried there is nothing you can do but replace it, and if the part is no longer made…

[Ducked]

Well, this particular part is cheap, so there’s no incentive tor a mechanic, and not much incentive for a parts store, (which I’ve also tried, though its the only one I know) to supply it.

It does look like I might be able to source it in the UK, though, where this car has never been sold.
This MIGHT have been possible here via the Internyet if I had the Chinese, but I doubt it

Part of the “too old” thing is the cult.ural need for shinyness, rather than any practical reasons. This isn’t really a “repair” so much as a “maintenance” task, routine on last-century cars.

I’d guess most UK general mechanics will still know how to do it, because there are still a few old cars around, but there are very few here.

Taiwanese in general dont do maintenance, as illustrated by the huge piles of lightly rusted bicycles regularly collected 'for scrapping off the campus here.

[Ducked]

I finished off with contact cleaner, set the points gap, static and dynamic timing, and took it for a run.

Drivable (which it wasn’t before), but more vibration and hesitation than normal.

Dunno if the points cleanup was partly inneffective, I got the gap/timing wrong, its The Return of The Vacuum Leak, something else, or all of the above.

Some circumstantial evidence that a vacuum leak may be part of the problem:-

The last (much worse but give this one time) rough running episode got better after I painted the intake manifold and carburettor with multiple coats of sunflower oil, suggesting it had sealed an undetected leak. Sunflower oil polymerises oxidatively to form a plastic-like coating.

A few years ago I did a wee experiment looking at thermal degradation of sunflower oil with simple chromatography, and put the leftover oil (which had been heated in an aluminium custard pie dish) in a cupboard, where it set almost hard.

However, after a long time (maybe a year or so) it re-liquified, and later still, re-solidified.

The chemistry involved is probably rather complex, but, whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to happen where the sunflower oil is used as a binder for aluminium abraded in situ, as on my brake drums, where the coating seems stable. I assume the metal (iron and/or aluminium) somehow stabilises the oil.

Coke Can for Brake Drums

I noted an oil stain under the car but couldn’t see a leak. I assumed it was from another vehicle, but perhaps the vrgetable oil had re-liquified and run off the intake manifold, re exposing a vacuum leak.

If this is true, I should re-treat it, (perhaps mixing in some aluminium) or use another sealant, such as varnish, laquer, or PVA.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

What about heat resistant engine paint?

[Ducked]

@Taiwan_Luthiers

What about heat resistant engine paint?

Dunno, never used it, or know where I’d get some here. The advantage of veg oil is tha its quite thin initially and takes a while to set; giving it time to penetrate