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Mr Pastry

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    2003

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Everything posted by Mr Pastry

  1. Mr Pastry

    Stodge

    Mr Pastry replied to vulgalour's topic in AutoShite

    Yes that's a fair point, but they were very much "family cars" and not really designed with performance and handling in mind.
  2. Mr Pastry

    Stodge

    Mr Pastry replied to vulgalour's topic in AutoShite

    I think the 100E was spoilt by budget constraints, or just penny-pinching. The overall design was quite competent and sensible, and it needed a better engine although the side valve wasn't actually so bad. What really spoilt it was the 3 speed gearbox which was a carry-over from the upright models. It would have been a lot nicer to drive, and more flexible and economical with a 4 speed - interestingly if you look at the gearbox mountings there was provision for this in the design. For those not familiar with 3 speed boxes, the missing gear is third, and with a small engine second has to be quite low, so there is a huge gap between second and top. "Foreign" manufacturers had their stodge too - Renault Fregate, a sort of French Standard Vanguard: Simca Vedette with side valve Ford V8 (as opposed to the Aronde which was quite decent): German Ford Taunus and Opels were all superbly dull until the 1960s.
  3. Mr Pastry

    Stodge

    Mr Pastry replied to vulgalour's topic in AutoShite

    The Wyvern was also technically interesting. Monocoque construction, so fairly lightweight, an unusual torsion bar independent front suspension, and an over-square engine, so it was quite advanced for its time, although hampered by a 3 speed gearbox. And rust problems. Also available in 6 cylinder Velox flavour. I'd be interested to drive one as quite a lot of thought must have gone into the design. Maybe not as stogy as it looks.
  4. Mr Pastry
    FWIW you could bypass most of that panel, as surely you will only be charging from 240v.
  5. Mr Pastry
    You are dealing with mains voltages and very old equipment. This is dangerous if you don't really know what you are doing. It's not worth the risk, and it isn't safe for anyone to talk you through it, especially without seeing a complete circuit diagram for the charger. I'm not even sure the switch is wired correctly, if it's what I think it is. The link between the bottom two terminals is questionable - but guesswork isn't good enough here. Get a competent electrician to look at it.
  6. Mr Pastry
    Simca 1501?
  7. Mr Pastry
    Renault 6, offside rear door.
  8. Mr Pastry
    No. They had problems with the bottom end on the early 3 main bearing 1800 engine. 5 bearings plus a belt-and- braces oil cooler was the solution, so ever afterwards the B had to have an oil cooler, because sportscar. Better off without one for road use so that the oil gets up to its proper working temperature. Tbf oils have improved since the 1960s. As you say thousands of Marinas, 1800s and Sherpas worked absolutely fine with no oil cooler.
  9. Mr Pastry
    How many do you need? I have a few here going spare, happy to put them in the post.
  10. Mr Pastry
    Deffo not a Minor.
  11. Mr Pastry
    I think it's an A40 Somerset.
  12. Mr Pastry
    Yes. Lots of FWD Renaults have/had 4x4 options which we generally didn't get in the UK. There are a few Kangoo 4x4s around.
  13. Mr Pastry
    IIRC, 3 wheelers were not allowed at the London Motor Show, so this was Reliant's way of getting a Bond Bug in there.
  14. Mr Pastry
    Fiat 1800/2100 series?
  15. Mr Pastry
    I remember looking at it purely out of interest to see if it could be converted. It looked a lot of work as it just wasn't designed that way. The Crayford conversion in your link looks very thorough - I wonder if they made any money out of it, although you could say that about a lot of their projects.
  16. Mr Pastry
    Austin A55 Cambridge.
  17. Mr Pastry
    I think that is correct, and there never was a factory RHD 914. I had a long-term customer with one so I know my way around them, but I found it absolutely dismal - It looked exotic and interesting, but it was awkward to work on, not very well built, excessively large and heavy for a 2 seater (and very wide, which wasn't ideal with LHD). Not really that nice to drive - it felt and sounded like a souped-up Beetle, which would actually be more fun and more practical, and I speak as an ex Beetle owner. Really nothing to get excited about.
  18. Mr Pastry
    It looks like a vacuum connection, which I would guess is for a sensor on the original ignition system. Blank it off if not required for the 123.
  19. Mr Pastry
    GT6 with wishbone and Rotoflex at top, swing axle with rigid driveshaft below. Both use the transverse spring.
  20. Mr Pastry
    That is not a swing axle.
  21. Mr Pastry
    Also check with a live feed from the battery to each of the rear light connections in turn, and check which wire actually connects to which filament as some may be transposed - it sounds as though the flasher unit is trying to flash the stop/tail bulb. If all connections at the rear are correct, and things still aren't right, then you will have to trace the cables back to the dashboard area which doesn't look great in your picture - but someone has made it work in the past so it's probably good enough in principle. Lack of fuse box I wouldn't be too concerned about, as it wasn't too clever anyway, and plenty of small cars of the period had no fuses at all.
  22. Mr Pastry
    Taking 1bhp as 750 watts, 0.75 bhp =525 watts. 36v x 20amps = 720 watts so about 70 % efficient, yes possibly. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Not sure exactly how it is controlled, but presumably batteries are connected in series for starting at full power. If connected in parallel, the motor would see 18 volts and would need 40 amps to produce 720 watts. It wouldn't normally be in parallel when full power is required, but maybe the oversized cable is to cover this situation.
  23. Mr Pastry
    Are the wires original? If so, you would expect the connectors to be larger to suit them, so probably not. It would be worth working out how much current it has to handle if you are thinking of replacing it all with 6mm. How powerful is the motor- is there a rating plate on the motor or controller?
  24. Mr Pastry
    Usual BMC gearbox with no synchro on first. Not really a problem, unless it has been abused.
  25. Mr Pastry
    Interesting. Second photo shows a Thames 307E van which makes it 1961 at the earliest.
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