project 1951 Lanchester LD10 - Brake Switch & Mouse

[PhilA]

Doesn't old paint shine up nicely with ease? I guess it's softer than new paint.

 

What is the mascot supposed to be? It looks like a cross between a dartboard dart and a paint scraper.

[lesapandre]

The paint on the 40's-early 50's cars does come up beautifully - I had a '54 Austin A30 in black. Some final finish with wax should bring up a super finish.

With the original wiring I expect the india-rubber insulation broke up and had to be replaced - it just breaks up and turns to powder - quite common.

Though the car actually has fuses!

There is an original Daimler & Lanchester Lucas Equipment & Spare Parts List 1956 currently on Ebay for £10 which might be useful when sourcing replacement bits. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123766279594

[Mr Laurence]

That has come up beautifully! I love all the little details on this car; that bonnet release is a work of art

[vulgalour]

The old paint is a joy to work with, it's only hard work where there's been extra paint applied.  No idea what the mascot is supposed to be, it makes the bonnet really fiddly to open.  When I've got the whole thing T-cut to the same standard, some wax is going on to keep it good.  Probably have to get a coloured wax to avoid having that white powdery look  on the textured areas.

[egg]

Was is 6 or 12 volt in the end?

[vulgalour]

12 volt, positive earth.  Made getting a battery really easy.

[Christine]

Blimey  you can still get positive earth batteries ? ?

 

[Christine]

Has he got a round heater ?

[vulgalour]

There is indeed a little round heater under the dash.  No idea if it works yet, probably does, everything else seems to.

[Christine]

This was out of our Triumph Renown 

Note the entry and return are threaded , rather than  hose clip .and its thick copper , so i doubt they fail often but its spare if you need it .  

 

[vulgalour]

That's exactly the sort of thing that you put on your head and pretend it's a hat/halo when you're on your own and think nobody is looking.  If it's looking for a home, I shall provide it with one.  And maybe wear it as a hat when nobody is looking.

[LightBulbFun]

3 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

That's exactly the sort of thing that you put on your head and pretend it's a hat/halo when you're on your own and think nobody is looking.  If it's looking for a home, I shall provide it with one.  And maybe wear it as a hat when nobody is looking.

Circline fluorescent tubes are great for doing that (especially if you can make them light up while doing so)  

[beko1987]

9 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Circline fluorescent tubes are great for doing that (especially if you can make them light up while doing so)  

Could wire that up behind the heater coil, make the casing see through and make it a feature! 

[SiC]

Back in 1912 the Lanchester Thirty-Eight was a very happy vehicle. So happy it also looks shocked. 

Been lost in a Wikipedia trail after learning about the Lanchester brand. Before you posting about this car on the forum, I never even had heard of them. 

[Christine]

Uneducated  youngsters of today ....

[Christine]

Only thing I've got is Players ciggy cards .. A Streamlined 10 ! 

Found a Lanchester hot rod build on Retro rides ....

 

 

[alf892]

I wouldn't stress too much about unleaded. I've run my p2 rover on unleaded for 19 years now on unleaded without any bother. Relatively slow revving with a nice long stroke so will run any thing.

in any event it is the same job if you do it after as before

[cort1977]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

That's exactly the sort of thing that you put on your head and pretend it's a hat/halo when you're on your own and think nobody is looking.  If it's looking for a home, I shall provide it with one.  And maybe wear it as a hat when nobody is looking.

Billy Connolly famously said "Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on."

Looks great Vulg, I'd never heard of Lanchester either but it's great learning about them.

[lesapandre]

7 minutes ago, alf892 said:

I wouldn't stress too much about unleaded. I've run my p2 rover on unleaded for 19 years now on unleaded without any bother. Relatively slow revving with a nice long stroke so will run any thing.

in any event it is the same job if you do it after as before

These were also designed to use low octane 'Pool Petrol' used after WWII. Was not great stuff. 

Interesting funny exchanges in Parliament on this:

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1950/nov/13/pool-petrol-standard

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1946/nov/21/pool-petrol

[Amishtat]

I've never found a more satisfying job than polishing up an old black car.. Mind you, I am a bit odd.  And I never got as far as doing all of it.. 

[Christine]

My dad was a  walking encyclopedia on transport and cars ..and we only had old chod until the 70s when he got a company car ..When i was about 10 someone down our lane got a Lanchester, but it was just an old car to me , I didn't know what it was.... Obviously i went home "Dad  ,dad , theres a really old car down the lane ! Come and look "   And we walk down the road .,...he sees it ..."You've got me out to see that ?  Its an old Lanchester , I don't want to see that they re terrible things "  And he turned round and walked home ..leaving me disappointed.. Were they that bad ? 

[vulgalour]

Let's hope so!

[vulgalour]

Just remembered to do a light show.  My camera isn't great in low light (it's not great in good light, tbh).  First up, sidelights and semaphores.

*ahem* sidelights, plural.  That's those fixed until the next tiny difference in their surroundings.

Other semaphore and headlights, if you please.

I don't know what's going on with the lens flare, there's loads of it!  Headlights look far less bright in person, so don't be fooled by their impression of small suns here.

How legible are the instruments one wonders?

Hmmm...  It did improve slightly after a little while, either because I'd become accustomed to them, or because the oil and ign lights went out of their own accord because I turned the oil and ign lights off to see if the lights worked with the ignition off, they do.  The numbers seemed to have a bit of a glow, not much, it could have been a trick of the light.  Either way, instrument illumination is dreadful and I can't find any of the controls in the dark, it's quite hilarious.  In person, this does look brighter, though not by much.  I can't imagine driving at night is going to be much fun.

[PhilA]

I think some of your glow worms have burned out.

[vulgalour]

It's the rationing, you see.  American glow worms are much healthier than British ones from this era.

[PhilA]

4 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

It's the rationing, you see.  American glow worms are much healthier than British ones from this era.

They also installed more. Mine has a exorbitantly overpowering 30 Watts of dash illumination.

In the UK you'd have wardens hollering at you to put out that light and such.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Probably blackened and dead old lamps...I'd expect that panel to actually be reasonably well lit, it *looks* as though they've put a decent amount of thought into that side of things.

[vulgalour]

More things to address.  We're going to be replacing all of the wiring, the original wiring is definitely showing its age in a bad way in a few places.  Autosparks do an off-the-shelf loom for the whole car, and we can spec it with some extras.  It's not cheap, but on balance it's probably the sensible option since we'll have a nice blank slate to work with.

[PhilA]

While it won't add to the resale price, it will add considerably to reliability and peace of mind, so if nothing else it may help to think of it as that.

I just went tot up the tools, wire and everything else I used to rewire mine and it is upward of $230, and I still need to finish off the big run to the back of the car for the battery which is going to be upwards of $100 so meh. Horses for courses.

[PhilA]

1 hour ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

If you ever do present it for a MOT for whatever reason, please do find the most modern shiny, spotlessly clean high tech place you can possibly find.  And film their reaction as you rattle up with this. 

With a passenger dressed up in a forties mechanic attire, with a name badge O.B.D., carrying a small toolbox.