1967 Simca 1301 - Garlicky Goodness!

[garycox]

No idea why it happened, I'll ask when I pick it up whether it was anything obvious that caused it...

 

Barrett - yep the cafe thing sounds good (Here if any other Southern Shiters wanna come...)

 

I'm sure it was the 2nd Sunday of the month (so 10th of Feb) but I've no idea where I read that now and there seems to be very little on the internet.

 

Still, that's weeks away so I expect the car will have broken again by then anyway. It's not even back on the road yet!

[garycox]

Hey, remember this?!

 

No? Me neither, but towards the end of last year I suddenly remembered I still had most of a Simca 1301. It's quite depressing seeing these old photos as it looks awful now.

 

I thought I'd updated this more recently than January 2013 but clearly not.

 

After the engine was repaired, it lasted maybe a week or so. Then, driving along the A27 the exact same thing happened as before. Ruined shells, damaged crankshaft and some other damage. It'd cost quite a bit to repair, and we weren't even sure whether it could be repaired as the damage to the crankshaft was quite bad.

 

 

So then it just sat. I was so pissed off with it, and had spent about the car's value again on it in a few months after buying it, and I didn't have the money or will to carry on with it.

 

That was it for a year or so. I'd occasionally have a browse on leboncoin for an engine but nothing ever came up and I never had the money anyway.

 

 

At the end of last year I'd managed to save a bit of money so started to look a bit more seriously. An engine had been advertised near Caen, complete and healthy, for about €450. We agreed on €400 and I (well, Mr_B kindly helped with the translations) arranged to collect it at the end of February.
 

[garycox]

This was his house:

 

Hooray! oh... looks a bit grim. New distributor cap and plug leads though, that's a good sign right?

 

Got it back to England (The 405 was great on this trip), took it to my mechanic friend and got him to take a look...

 

The carb's scrap, oh, and the engine's seized.

 

FFS!!!

 

Also as it's a later engine there are virtually no interchangeable parts.

 

SIGH. So, it was unseized using diesel and time, installed in the car and made to run with a Weber carb from a Sierra or something (with auto choke!). Some new tyres were fitted and then it was about ready for an MOT fail!

 

Probably ought to wash some of the green off it first though. So I did. It's gone very pink. And a bit rusty.

 

 

 

[garycox]

So, it was driven to Worthing for the MOT, which it failed. On one brake doing nothing, wiper blades and a bulb. That was sorted and it drove back with an MOT!

 

 

I collected it and the next day was last Sunday, I wanted to take it for a 30min drive to test it out etc. Then somebody spilled diesel along the A27 so that was closed. This resulted in me sitting in traffic for 4hrs trying to get out of Brighton.

 

This was horrible. I was sitting in this shitty looking car, it was smoking from the oil breather and overheating, cut out a few times and was generally awful. I hated it.

 

It made it there though, and was running better after the carb was adjusted. The fan wan't working properly and there's no way I could get any parts to fix it at short notice so it was just bodged to run with the engine. Works OK like that though. The heavy breathing will be harder to sort but I'll just keep an eye on it for now.

 

I attempted to clean it up a bit and cut the paint back a bit by hand before polishing it etc. It looks miles better but hasn't really lasted. I'll have to do it properly soon.

 

 

I'm quite enjoying this being back on the road (although I'm a bit worried it'll get damaged/stolen)

[320touring]

That is flippin brilliant!

 

Top work:)

[hairnet]

luvleh ting

 

make it shiny (plz)

[coalnotdole]

Brilliant to hear its on the road after so long, I couldn't make it to the pub last week as I was working, Did I miss seeing it there?

[Angrydicky]

Disconnect the battery when you park it up (or get one of those battery isolator things). And a visible steering wheel lock, a cheap stoplock will do the job. It's not really desirable enough to attract anyone other than opportunist twats, so these simple measures should be enough to see them off.

[garycox]

Brilliant to hear its on the road after so long, I couldn't make it to the pub last week as I was working, Did I miss seeing it there?

 

You did! Hopefully it'll stay working long enough for next month's (why did I say that?)

[coalnotdole]

Look forward to seeing it next time then! Its obviously running pretty well if it can cope with 4 hours of Brighton traffic.... At peak times I actually think I'd rather drive in London than Brighton!

[nigel bickle]

Well done Gary, and Phil

 

Hope the heavy breathing settles down, as the rings free up. The alternative isn't worth thinking about!

[seth]

I know that micrometers are the correct tool for measuring such things but the calipers graphically show up the crank issue on the old engine.

 

These are two measurements 90 deg apart on one big end.

 

 

[MarvinsMom]

nice to see that you have persivered with this cos it is a really good looking motor.

 

i hope that the replacement engine will give you many years good service (which means i have gone and jinxed it now....)

[barefoot]

'When I was back there in seminary school...'

There was this girl with lovely tits and her dad, Ron used to own a brown 1501 which he later traded for a Datsun 160SSS with the dogleg box...

[barrett]

It looks miles better after the polish. If you're worried about it being left on the street it can come and live here if you'd like? As long as I can have occasional use of it when I'm feeling masochistic (worst gearchange EVER)

[M'coli]

I know that micrometers are the correct tool for measuring such things but the calipers graphically show up the crank issue on the old engine.

 

These are two measurements 90 deg apart on one big end.

 

 

That's about 20 thou' - impressive ovalisation in a supposedly rebuilt bottom end. Are there no more sizes of undersize shells?

[Junkman]

That crankshaft is borked no matter how you look at it.

[nigel bickle]

Yup

 

Let's hope the ' new' one is better..

[RoadworkUK]

It Is Arisen! Fabulous looking machine. Back pats sent through the ether.

[catsinthewelder]

Great news,  I'm so glad you've got it sorted out.

[purplebargeken]

Simcas are for utter winnahs! I would sell my soul for a powder blue 1000. Oh yes I would.