HMC WBOD news

[HMC]

6 minutes ago, anonymous user said:

It's a while since I've worked on one, but will confirm all mine had mechanical fuel pumps (with a little primer lever, handy when the car had stood for a while) I'm sure you could adjust the brakes with the wheels on, as long as the wheels had been put back so the holes lined up. Brake cylinders are very expensive. An easy upgrade was to swap the front back plates and drums for ones from an A40 Farina Mk2. You had the bonus of larger drums and cheaper wheel cylinders. Morris Minor backplates and drums are not a straight swap and require work to the back plate. Midget discs are fairly easy to fit, but the master cylinder needs slight modification and a remote fluid reservoir.

This one has an odd electric pump (looks like a universal one) and almost a numbered regulator in line. The power supply is good but the pump is now dead. I’m wondering if running it out of fuel earlier hastened it’s demise. I need to have a look for the presence of a blanking plate on the block-(  I’m hoping there’s one @lesapandre thinks a40 mkII 1098s had a mechanical pump so I’m hopeful)  and the mechanical pump is cheaper to buy as well.

[Marm Toastsmith]

I’d go back to standard, too. I’ve had more bother with aftermarket electric pumps which were supposed to be an upgrade...

[wuvvum]

I have to say my experience of those universal eBay pumps is that they don't like being run dry.

[SiC]

A guy at Moss told me that fuel pumps are the single type of product they have refund and replacement the most. 

[Angrydicky]

My work (Past Parts) has stainless resleeved cylinders on the shelf. I’m sure last time I checked there was a full car set there; master cylinder, front wheel cylinders and rear frame cylinder. 

Beware: there are some really crap repro wheel cylinders doing the rounds (we don’t stock them) buy original where possible.

The little A30 looks fabulous! I like how whoever upgraded the engine has retained the original gearbox and transmission tunnel. Often they fit the A35 tunnel and gearbox with remote change.

 

[Vantman]

These were bread and butter cars in my day,i owned 3 in total--2 x A30 and 1 x A35,just all round fun cars and spares were easy because we used to service a fleet of 20 A35 vans so good 'used' spares were plentiful. My claim to fame was driving home from the pub one night with 6 passengers which caused havoc with the A30s handling!

[lesapandre]

Some great nostalgia here. An A30 was my first car at 17 in 1976. I passed my driving test in it that year. Tough little things - I took it to the Lake District driving from London the following winter on a walking holiday - buzzing over an ice bound Honister Pass at 1160ft at night in that car. Buzzed along nicely at 50mph on the M6.

It was 23 years old by that time - it did seem even then very old fashioned. But time has been kind to the A30 - somehow seems more relevant now than it did then as a tiny city car.

I bought it in Clapham London for £75. London was good for really old cars then as less salt on the road meant better survival. And before parking restrictions London streets were littered with 'bangers'.

I replaced it with a 1964 Sunbeam Alpine - again £75 - that was a really nice car with overdrive.

[Richard_FM]

I remember someone posted on Flickr years ago that the part of London they lived in during the 1970s had a lot of 1950s cars because they could be bought cheaply & fixed up with a bit of effort.

He mentioned his Dad had a few including a Rover P4 & a series of Rootes cars that could be treated as disposable.

[lesapandre]

Yes in the late 70's old 'cooking' 50's cars were seen as pretty disposable - it was rust and engines reaching circa 100,000 miles which usually meant they were finished and uneconomic to bother with repair. A30's survive because of toughness, popularly and ease of fix with the A Series engine and economy. Cars like the Standard Vanguard, big Humbers etc have a much lower survival rate.

As a 17yo I could afford to run a 30 and thus keep it alive.

[anonymous user]

I'm old enough to remember the 1960s and 70s. One of my heros was a bloke who worked at a scrap yard and exclusively drove  end of life  big cars, he had his pick of anything that came in and would run things until they failed, or something else came in that he fancied. I remember a Bristol 400 and Studebaker in the 60s, by the 70s it was more Jags, big Vauxhalls. He did tend to buy a lot of oil off us  most things used to drive off in a cloud of blue smoke. Sometimes when he was really hard up my dad used to give him the secondhand oil from someone's oil change

Apologies for thread drift

[Richard_FM]

The big Vauxhalls seemed to not spend long on the roads, it’s often joked about how many were used in the Professionals & other 1970s police shows as cars that were likely to be written off in a chase.  

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

The little A30 looks fabulous! I like how whoever upgraded the engine has retained the original gearbox and transmission tunnel. Often they fit the A35 tunnel and gearbox with remote change.

Hopefully they've also retained the A30 rear axle so it'll do 0-60 in 10 seconds but the valves start bouncing at 63.

[HMC]

49 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Hopefully they've also retained the A30 rear axle so it'll do 0-60 in 10 seconds but the valves start bouncing at 63.

I think this as it takes off well but runs out of revs. Sprint spec maybe?

So my investigation of the block for an aperture for the mechanical pump.....

Not the best pic but there’s no cover plate where the hole for the fuel pump should be so I’ve ordered a reconditioned points type electric su pump. 
 

And here is the current fuel supply arrangement. What looks like garden hose (?) with a generic electric pump and a regulator valve, presumably to hold it back from overwhelming the carb.

[HMC]

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

You may need to call the RAC?

 

I love how the RAC man is bounding around the factory floor (CAB1 atlongbridge?) with a fag in his mouth. Such different times!

[ETCHY]

803cc to 1098cc, yep I bet it does shift a bit better !

Lovely little "peanut" I really like A30's/A35's, great little cars & very tough.

I remember reading the Haynes Superprofile book on one of those. If you can get a copy cheap it might be worth a look.

[Asimo]

My Minor had been upgraded to a 1098 engine - no other changes - and would rev to valve-bounce in top gear.

No first gear synchro and no real reason to use first gear either with all of that extra power. 5th and 6th gear would have been handy......

[HMC]

On 5/18/2020 at 10:34 AM, Six-cylinder said:

I had to back the timing off on ours. I marked the distributor and base place with Tipp-Ex and played and this is where I ended up.

That’s what I did- and although it’s not pinking now I may have a further tweak to get it at max advance.

In celebration I have bought a bottle of blue nun to enjoy after my drive on the moor. Possibly utilising a picnic table.

Im not usually a car name person but VEG springs to mind. They do say we need to up our daily intake of such things for our physical and mental wellbeing.

[SiC]

On 5/16/2020 at 6:31 PM, SiC said:

My father-in-law loves these and really wants one.

I've always thought they look a bit tragic. 

Top chodding! 

Sent my FiL a link to this thread. I said you don't tend to keep cars for a long time. He told me to let him know if you do come to sell it. 

Retirement present for himself apparently. Must be learning from me on how to make excuses to keep the better half happy.  ?

[N Dentressangle]

4 hours ago, HMC said:

That’s what I did- and although it’s not pinking now I may have a further tweak to get it at max advance.

In celebration I have bought a bottle of blue nun to enjoy after my drive on the moor. Possibly utilising a picnic table.

Im not usually a car name person but VEG springs to mind. They do say we need to up our daily intake of such things for our physical and mental wellbeing.

That is a truly hideous car. I thought they were pig ugly when I was a kid in the '70s, and I still do now.

Good work ?

[Mrs6C]

5 hours ago, HMC said:

blue nun

The Blue Nun sounds a suitable name for a blue Vanden Plas...

[Six-cylinder]

3 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

The Blue Nun sounds a suitable name for a blue Vanden Plas...

I suppose you want to call yours Burgundy!

[Mrs6C]

7 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

I suppose you want to call yours Burgundy!

Nope, mine's called Polly (chrome)!

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Nope, mine's called Polly (chrome)!

and the 6ft Fluorescent tube I have rigged up to light my desk is called Polylux

no seriously! 

(Polylux was Thorn, then GE's brand name for its Range of Triphosphor fluorescent tubes which had better colour rendering properties compared to regular Halophosphor tubes)

[HMC]

Need to tidy up the fleet a bit. Hence Mercedes 200E For sale.

1990 Mercedes 200E. A sort of browny grey with grey cloth. Mot December 2020

Its running, driving and used regularly. It’s a bit cosmetically challenged with surface rust to a wheel arch, and what I would describe as shallow dents made by a golf club on a couple of panels on one side and the sunroof. The paint on the rear 1/4s is flaking a bit. The central locking doesn’t work and the automatic choke doesn’t work too well, it always starts but it’s a bit lumpy of a cold start for the first minute, then it’s fine. The car drives well. Kicks down fine and brakes strong. I think there’s a piece of trim on the front bumper that rattles over a certain speed. One new tyre. Missing bonnet star and a discoloured headlamp. The interior is generally  tidy, no rips and an unworn drivers seat bolster. The odometer doesn’t work but the Speedo does.

Recent FTP was a fuel pump relay, now all sorted. 

Ad makes it sound not great but it’s a good runner looks probably better than I’ve described and probably the cheapest way into a road legal (and nicely driving) w124. 

Located tavistock and id like £375

[HMC]

Oh and as this is an advert for a w124 I have to say ITS HEWN FROM GRANITE

[bangernomics]

Anyone shitely this further north?

[bramz7]

God I'd love to scratch the W124 itch but this isn't a good time as I'm completely and utterly full and don't have the appetite or desire to sell anything. 

Can help with delivery (possibly) as I'm off to Leeds at some point to collect the Laguna. (But even then Tavistock is miles from me!)

[hairnet]

oh ffs

having been once - could go again - but train clusterfuck is stopping me

[chancer]

Aw ffs....been looking to get into a w201/w124 again soon....this is a bargain. Anyone fancy a shite bini for 375 quid so i can justify this? 

[stephen01]

2 hours ago, chancer said:

Aw ffs....been looking to get into a w201/w124 again soon....this is a bargain. Anyone fancy a shite bini for 375 quid so i can justify this? 

Ohh that mini sounds tempting