Swirl Arm low cost repair!

[bic1]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and some this will help some of you! I have had the dreaded Swirl arm problem and many attempts at a repair left the parts so loose the the assembly only lasted a few miles before coming apart. I noticed the initial problem (broken link) was caused by the stepper motor being "overdriven" in order to calibrate the mechanism about every fifth time the engine was stopped. This is quite a common technique (I am an electronic engineer) for this type of arrangement. Anyway, the torque of the motor (when being overdriven) is sufficient to cause the linkage to break in time.
Once I understood this, I came up with the following solution, which has been rock solid for 6 months/10,000 miles.
(I hope the photo has uploaded OK)
Basically, I went to B+Q and got some right/angled aluminium extrusion and a rubber "foot" as a buffer. I cut a short length and drilled a hole in it so that the part could be fitted using one of the motor fixing points. I filed the hole so that it was a slot so that the position could be adjusted.
Next, I fitted the rubber foot as a buffer.
Finally, I fitted the part and adjusted it's position so that, when the calibration (overdrive) of the mechanism occurred, it used my part as a "bump-stop", instead of straining/breaking the mechanism. It is important the position is adjusted so that correct calibration is achieved, i.e. it stops the mechanism when fully extended, but JUST before it strains the arm.
No more trouble, simple to fit and costs only a couple of pounds.