Dicky’s Disastrous Debris - fleet update 20/11/24

[Asimo]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

AR were really branching out, almost pitting Lockheed against Girling, I guess for cost. Repair seal kits used to be abundant

This was a real nuisance, with their incompatible fluids.

This Riley 1.5 for example: Girling master cylinder for brakes (red fluid), Lockheed clutch cylinder (yellow fluid). Expensive failure resulted if the wrong fluid was used - all of the seals would swell up and leak.

[Matty]

2 hours ago, Asimo said:

This was a real nuisance, with their incompatible fluids.

This Riley 1.5 for example: Girling master cylinder for brakes (red fluid), Lockheed clutch cylinder (yellow fluid). Expensive failure resulted if the wrong fluid was used - all of the seals would swell up and leak.

And we wonder why it all went wrong....

[artdjones]

On 19/11/2022 at 12:43, Joey spud said:

Yes I can mostly relate to that view too. 

There's a lot of weak (I'm being polite) content washing around the place nowadays.Having a 20,000+ post count doesn't necessarily mean your content or viewpoint is thererfore better than that from a new guy who posts infrequently (quality not quantity anyone?).

The front page used to be rammed with projects and progress reports.

The effort you put into chasing down long obsolete parts for this old Austin is impressive.So too are all the images you take time to post up not forgetting your knowledgeable write ups too.

I feel there is just a tiny dark corner of Autoshite left now for the lovers of genuine old tat.

Then again I may be totally wrong and i haven't been hanging around wearing my rose tinted specs in vain hoping the place would return to better times after all.

I still like the forum, but do we need page after page of nonce modifications? Especially if you get jumped on when you mention stuff that a lot of nonces have actually used. 

[SiC]

20 minutes ago, artdjones said:

I still like the forum

That's a nearly 2yr old post now. Times change.

Right now I personally think the forum has plenty of interesting content - albeit intertwined with some that I find less so but that's easy enough to skip past. Plenty of new members coming in too and things are fresh.

[SiC]

I find it quite interesting yay this princess was 27yrs old when this forum was created in its current incarnation in 2005. In 2024, a 27yr old car is something like the original Laguna. They're still around and available to buy cheaply (like this princess would have been) but getting very rare. The Laguna still feels modern but that's more that I'm just getting older and remember them vividly when growing up (my parents & grandparents had one from new too), while the Princess wasn't really on my radar until I was a lot older and I don't remember them when I was younger.

[artdjones]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

I find it quite interesting yay this princess was 27yrs old when this forum was created in its current incarnation in 2005. In 2024, a 27yr old car is something like the original Laguna. They're still around and available to buy cheaply (like this princess would have been) but getting very rare. The Laguna still feels modern but that's more that I'm just getting older and remember them vividly when growing up (my parents & grandparents had one from new too), while the Princess wasn't really on my radar until I was a lot older and I don't remember them when I was younger.

The kind of driver who likes a wedge would probably also like a Mk1 Laguna. I know I do.

 

[Angrydicky]

7 minutes ago, artdjones said:

The kind of driver who likes a wedge would probably also like a Mk1 Laguna. I know I do.

 

Funny you say that!

Had this lovely example in the stable recently. Admittedly it’s a facelift so not the original Laguna, but still a Mk1. Really nice cars!

[artdjones]

1 minute ago, Angrydicky said:

Funny you say that!

Had this lovely example in the stable recently. Admittedly it’s a facelift so not the original Laguna, but still a Mk1. Really nice cars!

They are both very restful to drive.

[wuvvum]

I still have an occasional pang of regret about not nabbing the V6 manual one that RobT once owned.

[2flags]

I just wanted to say well done on the Hampshire. I love the fact it is now back on the road. Have you done any more to it? Love the Princess. I remember these when they were new. Such a smooth ride and so much room. And yes, they should have had a hatch from new. 

[artdjones]

The wedge should have had self levelling rear suspension. No-one was that worried about it being a saloon in the mid 70s. The Ford and GM competitors didn't get a hatch until 1982.

[grogee]

5 hours ago, artdjones said:

I still like the forum, but do we need page after page of nonce modifications? Especially if you get jumped on when you mention stuff that a lot of nonces have actually used. 

@Joey spudIt's all relative I suppose. 

The best page on Faceplace or InstaChat doesn't get close to the worst page on AS. 

This is my social media, like everything you home in on the subjects you like. I love seeing someone fix an old Triumph with some baking soda and a knitting needle. 

Honestly though I share my own mechanicing of newer (but cheap/end of life) stuff in the hope it'll help someone else in the future (especially my mistakes). 

I like to think the definition of 'shite' is a moveable feast. A Mk5 Astra has lots of equipment and safety stuff but can still be bought (and fixed) cheaply. 

Yes it's not a Vauxhall Viva but the only ones left are either fully restored or terminally rusty. 

[Angrydicky]

Quick update for those who may be interested:

I’ve taken the Princess off the road to overhaul both master cylinders and calipers. Plus sort out the head gasket. I’ve stripped down the brakes on it, I’ve splashed out on a full set of stainless pistons, repair kits and new bleed nipples from Bigg Red, the thick end of £150 worth! Hope the car proves to be reliable after this! The master cylinder was actually leaking, just caught it in time before it breached the nose seal and ended up in the servo.

Clutch master wasn’t leaking, surprisingly, but was full of black gunge and when stripped the sprint fell apart. Both are away being stainless sleeved.

I picked up the roffle win Honda PC50 from Reb while I was on holiday in Scotland, brought it back home in the 1950s Eccles caravan.

I sort of fiddled around with it and tried to get it running, but the carb was full of corrosion and it didn’t have any compression (turned out to be a stuck valve/bent pushrod).

A good friend of mine and a proper bike licker expressed an interest in it as he used to have one in the 80s and regretted selling it. So I sold it to him and he’s already made a good start restoring it to original condition. All the shitty silver paint has gone and although he’s on a tight budget (he’s painting it with rattle cans etc) it’s looking good.

It’s actually a very original bike and has all the correct bits on it (apart from the aftermarket brake light switch and associated bodged wiring) which went straight in the bin. The frame isn’t rotten (which considering it sat outside for a long time is a bit of a miracle). 
 

Having got the bike bug I decided I wanted another. But something slow, British and porridgey. I also didn’t want to spend very much. 
I was looking at postwar Autocycles with the Villiers 98cc engine. Another friend of mine down in Essex just so happened to have one he wanted to sell. As well as cars he was big into bikes but unfortunately as a result of a stroke he’s no longer able to balance on a bike, so he’s sold off all the decent bikes and just has a few projects left.

I had seen this Autocycle but dismissed buying it ages ago as I wanted a complete and original one, but after getting outbid on what I thought would be a cheap basket case on eBay I asked my mate for some more pictures.

I had a day off work Monday so hot footed it down to Essex in my trusty Rover 600 to go and view/buy it.

Fortunately, it was mates rates again so I didn’t pay much for it! He said the front brake shoes were missing and he’d struggled to find some. However, as I examined the bits in his dining room I quickly found there were quite a lot of other bits missing. Since getting it home I’ve found more missing parts and some incorrect ones. There’s also not much in the way of nuts and bolts to fix things to the frame. He bought it from an auction in Rayleigh about eight years ago along with a Francis-Barnett. The frame had been sandblasted and left in primer by a previous restorer. Mark has painted all the bits and had the chrome replated.

Good news is that most of the hard to find bits are there and I’ve already located/purchased most of the missing bits on eBay. Bad news is no paperwork, and no idea what the registration was, but there is a good visible frame number so hopefully registering it won’t be too much of a chore through the owners club.

The engine turns over and looks pretty decent from what I can see but unfortunately the plug thread in the cylinder head is stripped so I’ll have to find someone to helicoil that.

This is what it should look like. It’s about a 1953 model with the Villiers 2F 98cc engine.

[Angrydicky]

Last year I bought a little A30 from one of my new Lincolnshire neighbours. It belonged to his late father who owned a bit of land and outbuildings filled with clutter. He never threw anything away. He had no real interest in the A30 (he took it in lieu of payment for a job circa 1981) but kept it anyway. I had a right old fight with the dvla to get the original number plate back as he’d never bothered updating the logbook. But fortunately the original buff logbook came with the car. It’s been a local car from new and although the bodywork is quite fillery it drives surprisingly well. I’ve rebuilt all the brakes and fitted new tyres, and given it a jolly good service but haven’t had to do a lot more.

His dad also owned three old tractors. All had been sitting outside for decades.

There was a Ferguson (with front loader) an International B414 and a Nuffield 460. All early 60s. 
He asked if I’d be interested in one. Long story short I have bought the Nuffield and hopefully it’ll be delivered this side of Christmas. It’s only 3 miles away but the tyres are absolutely lethal and it’s not even road registered. It also weighs 2.6t so dragging it back with the Freeloader is out of the question. The seller is supposed to be organising delivery with his nephew who has an HGV and low loader but there’s no great hurry.

All I know history wise is his dad owned it around 40-50 years, the head gasket failed at some point and it was left in a hedge for the last 30 odd years hence the ‘patina’. The current owner dragged it out and fixed the engine with a head skim, new valves, gasket and so on and it starts on the button now and runs really well (the main reason I went for this one).

It’s fairly rough but seems sound in the bits that actually matter. I’m looking for some headlights, ploughing light, BMC diesel badge and radiator grill if anyone has any bits.

It had a couple of old tax discs on the side from 1966 and 1972, showing the original registration of 996 FFU, but obviously no longer on the system and no paperwork. However, I went to the Lincoln archives and although the info was sparse, it did give me the supplying dealer (Lyon’s of Gainsborough) who only got taken over earlier this year. I rang the new company and as luck would have it, got through to an old timer who had worked for Lyon’s since 1974 and actually remembered the farmer who bought it new in 1963! He’s long gone now and I think had probably already sold it by the early 70s. The 1972 tax disc was issued north of Scunthorpe so presumably that was a different owner. The farmer who bought it new was a chap called Alan Riggott who owned a small farm in Bishop Norton which is just between Gainsborough and Market Rasen. Then at some point it came down to Frithville near Boston where it is now.

Anyway, as luck would have it the original Lyon’s sales records have survived and they recorded every serial number on the tractor, as well as the complete spec and all the optional extras, even the details of the tractor that was traded in for it! I’m hoping the dvla will accept that as evidence. I’ve hand painted some old number plates I had kicking about. I think I’m going to take the light and reflector off that rear number plate as they’ll do for the Hudson.

 

[tooSavvy]

Excellent detective work.... hope you're fixed up with the plate 👍

🚙💨

[Angrydicky]

I’ve taken my Austin A70 Hampshire down to both of the Austin Counties Car Club’s rallies this year. Both long distance. The national rally in the summer at Exbury near Beaulieu and the autumn rally at Tenterden in Kent. Only 400 and 360 miles respectively. No real problems on either, the only casualty being the rearmost exhaust mounting which failed again while I was in Kent (I had welded it up before) but my mate in Kent had a few mountings in a box so we managed to fix it quite easily. I love driving this car.

It was spotted by an artist who loved the patina and homed in on it, I bought the painting from him when he’d finished (would have been rude not to really). Also I got to drive the other Hampshire there, JDT 328 which belongs to my mate Graham. It was similar but highlighted just how noisy mine is as it doesn’t have any sound deadening under the original threadbare carpets.

 

[Angrydicky]

Nothing really to report with the Mayflower, I’ve just been trundling around in it when the weather has been nice. I did adjust the points gap on it and it’s running much better now. It had partially closed up.

Took this picture of it outside the fantastic art deco showroom of Crawfords Agricultural Engineers at Frithville.

In other news, I have sold a car. My Austin Somerset, which I had owned for 11 years, has gone. I made a half arsed effort at selling it by taking it to stickney with a for sale sign in the window. It’s gone to a 20 year old girl as her first classic car, assisted by her dad who is really enthusiastic about it and is into classic lorries so he definitely knows one end of a whitworth spanner from another.

It’s gone to a fantastic home and I was really impressed with how well she drove it on the test drive, she’d never driven a column change before but I showed her where the gears were and she picked it up straightaway. Much quicker than I did when I first started driving column changes, although it’s second nature now of course.

[Matty]

47 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

Quick update for those who may be interested

Always. Keep it coming 👍

[Angrydicky]

4 minutes ago, Matty said:

Always. Keep it coming 👍

I’ve got loads more but I’m just flipping lazy when it comes to typing up reports! I have to be in the right frame of mind to do it. I also don’t like working on cars much in winter, hence the New Hudson as I can put a small bike in my office with the heater on and tinker away with it in the warm.

Also I’m sick to death of welding cars, I’ve done a load of welding recently on my dads Minor Traveller and Hillman Minx (and both cars need more) at least motorbikes don’t (usually) need welding.

[Matty]

19 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I’ve got loads more but I’m just flipping lazy when it comes to typing up reports! I have to be in the right frame of mind to do it. I also don’t like working on cars much in winter, hence the New Hudson as I can put a small bike in my office with the heater on and tinker away with it in the warm.

Also I’m sick to death of welding cars, I’ve done a load of welding recently on my dads Minor Traveller and Hillman Minx (and both cars need more) at least motorbikes don’t (usually) need welding.

I haven't done a hands tap in ages. I've fucked a second gearbox so I'm having some time off. Never mind, that's what winters for 😆

[captain_70s]

Blimey. End of an era with the Somerset!