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37th time lucky: 2023 in review


barrett

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Superb.

I think I need to use your man in Worthing for the 11.  Better join the queue by the sounds of it....

I reckon I've got driveshaft issues too.  Just hope I don't complete fuck it up by driving it down there.

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Picked up the latest addition to my fleet today. Frankly, compared to the Palladium, it's boring, common and much too new. It's got four seats, full weather equipment and TWO camshafts... whatever will they think of next? It's a three owner from new car, so easily the 'newest' I've owned. And it's got fancy (original) leather 'n wood inside, so it's a bit too posh for me, really. These things will never catch on.

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Done about 300 miles in the Riley in six days, which I'm sure is more than its done in the last 12 months (well definitely, the previous owner died last September). It's quite good, just a nice unmessed with old thing that pootles along at a steady 45-50mph in comfort and civility. These really were an absolute revelation when they were launched, it basically does what most mid-20s two-litre cars did but on 1100cc and with lovely light controls, a virtually foolproof gearbox and really great styling. I've done a couple of commutes in it and it's amazing how rarely you feel like you're holding people up in a car from 1929.

Took it 'on location' for a photo shoot today, this silly snap shows a little of how nice the interior is

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Have you made any videos Scott? I find most of your cars utterly fascinating but so far detached from my own motoring experience that I can scarcely imagine driving such a thing, and would struggle to have any relevant comments etc. 

 

Mind this week I've had numerous people at work who are clearly in the same position when I rock up in a 26 year old 205 and a basket of eggs.

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That is a lovely Riley Mr B, many moons ago in 1961 my first job was at the local garage and I very often serviced a similar car to this, ,a Kestrel model. About 2 years later a mate of mine bought the very same car that I had been servicing! We had loads of fun in that car,they were daily drivers then, OJ 1010 was the reg if I remember correctly.

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Thought I'd take the 404 hone tonight for a final blast before it goes up for sale tomorrow. First the speedo stopped working (130km/h obviously a bit too much for it) and then it lost all its electricity so its now abandoned outside my local sainsburys waiting for somebody to come and help me jump start it. Ungrateful bastard. Almost as if it doesn't want to be sold, but in fact it's had the opposite effect and I really don't want to keep the fucker anymore. #oldcarsffs

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Yep, it's still got pushrod-operated valves but the cams are mounted very high so the pushrods are unusually short. Supposedly it gives most of the advantages of overhead cams (ie, higher safe engine revolutions) but without the complexity. It works really well and the basic engine architecture lasted for decades. There was a six cylinder version in the early 1930s and I believe a development of that lasted all the way until the Nuffield takeover. They sound great and perform really well - for example, the engine in the Palladium is really a late Edwardian design - single cam, side valves, very understressed and slow revving with lots of torque - and despite the Palladium having an extra 400cc and weighing virtually nothing, the Riley is not only quite a bit quicker but has a much more even power delivery throughout the rev range and is much more tractable, despite having less torque and pulling around significantly more weight. It's on par with most 1100cc engines from two decades later, really. Impressive bit of kit, and you can see why they sold so well.

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Do you know what the compression ratio is like on the Riley engine?  I've only had one OHV pre-war car - the Vauxhall 10 - and that squandered most of the advantages of an OHV head (at least in terms of performance) by running a hopelessly low compression ratio.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Remember this heap?

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Well, it's been about a year since Grey Haggie first arrived on the scene, and tonight I actually drove it on the road for the first time! It's had the new exhaust that came with it fitted, a new starter motor, new plugs and leads and a carb clean, which for anyone else is 'basic servicing' but for me apparently is 'long term project' territory. 

It goes pretty well for a car that's not been moved for 20-odd years and the engine makes a nice enough noise. The overdrive works, but one of the brakes was slightly on fire after my one-mile run tonight and the throttle is a bit sticky. So, brakes, a few electric bits, oil and filter change and then I might even tax and insure the bugger and drive round in it for a bit! Oh, it could do with new tyres, too. Anyone know what size it would have had originally? 

Judging by progress so far it'll be flippin' 2024 by the time that's all done, so don't hold your breath

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I'm hoping it'll be a civilised cruiser capable of bombing up and down the motorway for 20 miles without causing it too much stress. I've never had a car with electrically-operated overdrive before so looking forward to scrabbling for 22mpg or whatever with that engaged. I seem to remember Pog (RIP) saying he never managed more than 14mpg from his automatic version, which is a bit frightening

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On 7/11/2019 at 10:45 PM, barrett said:

Thought I'd take the 404 hone tonight for a final blast before it goes up for sale tomorrow. First the speedo stopped working (130km/h obviously a bit too much for it) and then it lost all its electricity so its now abandoned outside my local sainsburys waiting for somebody to come and help me jump start it. Ungrateful bastard. Almost as if it doesn't want to be sold, but in fact it's had the opposite effect and I really don't want to keep the fucker anymore. #oldcarsffs

@Frogchod 

Voila

DS pheh :)

I'd be tempted but couldn't till at least end of October :(

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  • 5 weeks later...

The Xantia went to the great scrapyard in the sky yesterday. It developed a weird hot running issue which culminated in it boiling up on the M27 and frying the engine - all the water had gone somewhere it shouldn't have (in the cylinders judging by the sound it was making when I was trying to turn it over) and due to the thousands of other issues it had, scrap was really the only choice. This is the third Xantia I have killed. £110 though and I had the battery and hubcaps off it.

I had been rather recklessly driving it with the temp issues as I really wanted to tick over 10k before it died, but in the end I only managed nine and a half. Not bad going since March 11th and if my shit maths are anything to go by, a total running cost excluding fuel of 32p per mile, so I can't grumble.

This does leave me modern car-less and I really need a cheap smoker for the sort of mileage I do. The R16 is my current daily but it's gonna suffer on 300+ miles a week and I don't want to wreck it. If anyone knows of something suitable let me know - budget is about £400 for the right car. Needs to be a decent mile-muncher, turbo diesel, good stereo, preferably a 406 or Xantia, maybe a Saab or... dunno, whatever. Halp! 

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