HMC 12/4 under the floorboards

[N Dentressangle]

Just now, Matty said:

I still have bad thoughts about building a quick one (standard looking) but it's one out one in here 😭

Would be a fine use for a rotten MGB 🤔

[Matty]

2 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

Would be a fine use for a rotten MGB 🤔

That's my thoughts. Twin SU B and od box. Uprated suspension but standard ride height. Wider steels and hub caps. 

I'll not lie I'm pretty turned on right now 😂

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, Matty said:

That's my thoughts. Twin SU B and od box. Uprated suspension but standard ride height. Wider steels and hub caps. 

I'll not lie I'm pretty turned on right now 😂

Can you also fit the front discs from the MG too? I sure I've read that somewhere. Or it could be the smaller cars, Midget on to A35, something like that. Plenty of room for a brake servo in that engine bay too. 

[Matty]

58 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Can you also fit the front discs from the MG too? I sure I've read that somewhere. Or it could be the smaller cars, Midget on to A35, something like that. Plenty of room for a brake servo in that engine bay too. 

I've midget hubs and lower arms on my A40 farina. Straight bolt on then you can have discs up front. I've never gone for a remote servo kit as I quite like the standard set up but servo kits are freely available for surprisingly cheap. 

I'd imagine the same being true for the bigger Farina. Our resident expert @morrisoxide will probably know.

[yes oui si]

4 hours ago, Matty said:

I still have bad thoughts about building a quick one (standard looking) but it's one out one in here 😭

Maserati running gear is already in the vicinity... 

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, yes oui si said:

Maserati running gear is already in the vicinity... 

My God I can only imagine the remedial engineering work needed to make an A60 cope with a maser v8 🤣

[yes oui si]

1 hour ago, Matty said:

My God I can only imagine the remedial engineering work needed to make an A60 cope with a maser v8 🤣

Handling and stopping weren't in the brief. Client only asked for 'quick'. 

[Matty]

2 minutes ago, yes oui si said:

Handling and stopping weren't in the brief. Client only asked for 'quick'. 

The ideal car for the autobahn

[wuvvum]

36 minutes ago, Matty said:

The ideal car for the autobahn

Until you need to brake from 155 to 60 when some dawdling giffer in a Polo pulls out to overtake a truck.

[Matty]

5 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Until you need to brake from 155 to 60 when some dawdling giffer in a Polo pulls out to overtake a truck.

I have much the same problem now. I just live on my nerves

[lesapandre]

Taken from the 'old adverts' thread. Written just for you.

[HMC]

ThIngs to send shivers down your spine #231

Dash display “TRANSMISSION FAILURE GO TO WORKSHOP” 💩💩💩💩

I did a ctrl alt delete (for me that meant shut down, restart) and all has been fine since. Little electrical gremlin / sense of humour from the display or an imploding transmission? ill let you know.

[morrisoxide]

On 23/03/2025 at 17:14, Matty said:

I've midget hubs and lower arms on my A40 farina. Straight bolt on then you can have discs up front. I've never gone for a remote servo kit as I quite like the standard set up but servo kits are freely available for surprisingly cheap. 

I'd imagine the same being true for the bigger Farina. Our resident expert @morrisoxide will probably know.

Don't think anything is a bolt on swap for the bigger Farinas. @seth has done it with MGB disks but you have to muck about with the  kingpins iirc. I have a few bits that I want to try but never had the bottle.

Edit Link to Seth's conversion over on the blue forum.

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/36042/1970-morris-oxford-more-door?page=4

[Matty]

8 minutes ago, morrisoxide said:

Don't think anything is a bolt on swap for the bigger Farinas. @seth has done it with MGB disks but you have to muck about with the  kingpins iirc. I have a few bits that I want to try but never had the bottle.

Edit Link to Seth's conversion over on the blue forum.

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/36042/1970-morris-oxford-more-door?page=4

Jesus. That's all a bit involved right enough. Probably better to just buy one that someone's already built 😄

[HMC]

Took the QP to university today. No messages on the display and gearbox behaving normally no slip, selecting normally etc. Maybe it was the now 19 year old italian electrics having a moment? 

Anyway, Reading online in various places and using logic there seems to be a few thoughts about ways to  to try and reduce clutch wear. Where possible ive been experimenting.

Drive it in manual mode and sport mode (Faster changes, potentially fewer gears shifted as you can anticipate upcoming gradients and changes in road speed and imo more fun )

Avoid reverse (most slippage of all gears particularly uphill )select neutral when not moving.  

Avoid lingering about in gear with the engine under 1500 revs. When pulling away do so decisively to minimise the time spent when the clutch not fully engaged. This rather than trickling along with the engine at  or  just above idle and the clutch slipping. Not that hard to avoid as you can sense when the ECU is adding slip.

In stop start conditions it just meant paying close attention to the flow of the traffic.

Anyway, its got me here and hopefully back too!

[MAF260]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Took the QP to university today. No messages on the display and gearbox behaving normally no slip, selecting normally etc. Maybe it was the now 19 year old italian electrics having a moment? 

Anyway, Reading online in various places and using logic there seems to be a few thoughts about ways to  to try and reduce clutch wear. Where possible ive been experimenting.

Drive it in manual mode and sport mode (Faster changes, potentially fewer gears shifted as you can anticipate upcoming gradients and changes in road speed and imo more fun )

Avoid reverse (most slippage of all gears particularly uphill )select neutral when not moving.  

Avoid lingering about in gear with the engine under 1500 revs. When pulling away do so decisively to minimise the time spent when the clutch not fully engaged. This rather than trickling along with the engine at  or  just above idle and the clutch slipping. Not that hard to avoid as you can sense when the ECU is adding slip.

In stop start conditions it just meant paying close attention to the flow of the traffic.

Anyway, its got me here and hopefully back too!

You'll find everything Maserati you need to know and more here https://www.sportsmaserati.com/index.php. Decent bunch of enthusiasts who are very helpful and responsive. You're pretty much guaranteed somebody there will have experienced whatever oddities you may encounter and know what to do about it.

If you need any parts in the future (if you keep it long enough!) I have some useful sources.

[HMC]

Well i made i back. QP behaving normally, and with a mix of stop start, cruising and the occasional (ahem) bit of through the gears acceleration, it was a good shakedown and all was fine. 

Although this earlier “duoselect” model is less liked/ panned than the conventional auto, I love the silly spec. Dry sump, manual transaxle. All of which were progressively changed to make a more rounded package for the luxury saloon motorist. But at the time of development and launch ferrari were the parent company and i guess they were paying the bills and approving of the exotic technical details.

Apparently Harry Metcalf talked to Ferrari CEO luca de Montezemolo (spelling?) at launch and he was insistent italian politicians had an exotic italian saloon to be transported in rather than the BMW/ Mercs they were using at that point.

[RoadworkUK]

That car has a similar effect on me now to that of Debbie Gibson when I was 9.

My passenger was finally able to snap the QP that I regularly encounter on the A12 on my commute. Turns out it lives in the next village over. I swooned when I first saw it and am still fully tumescent.

 

[HMC]

1 minute ago, RoadworkUK said:

My passenger was finally able to snap the QP that I regularly encounter on the A12 on my commute. Turns out it lives in the next village over. I swooned when I first saw it and am still fully tumescent.

 

I approve of the “uk” sticker. It gets used.

[RoadworkUK]

8 minutes ago, HMC said:

I approve of the “uk” sticker. It gets used.

Since I was quite a lot younger, my idea of sophisticated living has been a country house with a long, gravel drive and a Maserati Quattroporte, bought new, driven in all weathers and for all distances, that would be passed down through the generations like a cherished heirloom. I'd love to imagine the above being that car.  

[HMC]

The maserati keeps behaving itself. Phew. The a60 has always had clutch judder picking up in first. May have a look underneath at the weekend to see if theres a loose mount or something. 

Apart from that its definitely benefitted from being used regularly once id replaced the ancient tyres. Could be my imagination but it starts, runs and drives more crisply.

The other day id missjudged a meeting time and in a shock when referring to a BMC farina I can only use the term “hustled”  to describe when i was chucking it into corners; and hanging onto the (generous) wheel. Given their rep for miserable handing i was pleasantly suprised how well behaved/ fun it was.

clipped but still gothic fins on a60s

Smells like the 60s? wasnt there so a best guess. Leather, pvc and oil.

 

 

[wuvvum]

Do they have a rep for miserable handling?  Everyone I know who's owned one has said the handling is surprisingly decent, at least on the later cars with the wider track.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Do they have a rep for miserable handling?  Everyone I know who's owned one has said the handling is surprisingly decent, at least on the later cars with the wider track.

I suspect there was a lot of variation between cars back in the day. A lot of them would have been running round on knackered shocks, saggy springs or bald tyres, or any combination of the above which would have had a detrimental effect. But a well looked after one would feel like a totally different car. Probably goes for any car really when MOT standards were so much lower back then but my experience of Farinas was always quite positive. 

[Matty]

4 hours ago, HMC said:

The maserati keeps behaving itself. Phew. The a60 has always had clutch judder picking up in first. May have a look underneath at the weekend to see if theres a loose mount or something. 

Apart from that its definitely benefitted from being used regularly once id replaced the ancient tyres. Could be my imagination but it starts, runs and drives more crisply.

The other day id missjudged a meeting time and in a shock when referring to a BMC farina I can only use the term “hustled”  to describe when i was chucking it into corners; and hanging onto the (generous) wheel. Given their rep for miserable handing i was pleasantly suprised how well behaved/ fun it was.

clipped but still gothic fins on a60s

Smells like the 60s? wasnt there so a best guess. Leather, pvc and oil.

 

 

Wish I didn't like shit cars. I know I should save up and have a good BGT or quick Mini or something. Then every time I see something like this I think phwoar 😁

[Asimo]

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Do they have a rep for miserable handling?  Everyone I know who's owned one has said the handling is surprisingly decent, at least on the later cars with the wider track.

The two I had were old and baggy and on crossply remoulds. Their grip on the road was feeble as a result, but I did enjoy "throwing them around" Lots of fun but at a very low speed. 

[HMC]

2 weeks to go untill we go to france in the austin 12/4. Taking it up to exmoor for the VSCC trial was a pretty good shakedown (in all senses!) and the 12/4 did good. As the (only?) book on the subject agrees….

But occasionally the starter misbehaved, and theres been a noticable coolant leak. Herbert Austin would not approve.

To investigate the former, i had a look….

The terminal to the starter was bent and partly pressing onto the body of the starter, and the terminal was a bit corroded.  I took it to bits, cleaned and straightened the (brass?) connector and made sure it wasnt touching on the body of it. (photo after)

Interesting the handbrake is very strong,

presumably because the linkage is as simple as can be. It looks like theres a weep from the drain tap. 

Meanwhile the water leak is from a seal where the shaft goes in the drive the water pump. Apparently TADDS to a degree even when new. Ive decided to ive with the slight weep for now.

Road test showed the starter cranks better and reliably. Ive got a handle too (but need to practice) plus french gravity, and children to push if necessary 😂

I decided to go and extend the test route to a local wine merchants to celebrate.

 

 

 

[wuvvum]

You could always remove the water pump, as recommended by Sergeant R H Wright on page 232.

[Zelandeth]

That drain tap isn't open is it?  Based on the arrangement of the handle on any at least vaguely recent ones is in line with the direction of flow - so pointing towards the outlet would be open, at 90 degrees closed.

On something this age though all bets are off!

[HMC]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

That drain tap isn't open is it?  Based on the arrangement of the handle on any at least vaguely recent ones is in line with the direction of flow - so pointing towards the outlet would be open, at 90 degrees closed.

On something this age though all bets are off!

I”ll give it a test and see 

[HMC]

6 hours ago, wuvvum said:

You could always remove the water pump, as recommended by Sergeant R H Wright on page 232.

Might do that. Thermosyphon FTW. Ive already deleted the vacuum wiper after breaking it, for a purely manual one; so it follows the simplification route.