A40 - Scottish Road trip. Utter hero of a car

[High Jetter]

Rectangular rev light more of an aftermarket fit IIRC, Wipac.

[Matty]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Rectangular rev light more of an aftermarket fit IIRC, Wipac.

Defo. No reversing lamp as standard. No switch on gearbox as standard as far as I know. New lamp is wipac too

[Angrydicky]

Here we go. Here’s all the Southend dealers from 1960. I have included the key which shows the kind of dealer they were and which franchises they had. A mark in the first column means they had an Austin cars franchise.

Theres some in Rayleigh and Rochford I’ve included who probably would have registered their cars at Southend council.

 

[Angrydicky]

Dealers highlighted in red were apparently “BMC service sign holders”.

[Matty]

Massive thanks for doing that pal. Very much appreciated

[Matty]

Just noticed as well that what would have been our local dealer is on the photos. Ben Barnes of Rawtenstall. Big hauliers as the main business from horse and cart right up until they shut about ten years back

[tooSavvy]

Rev Light, you say....

Scrappy mongreling, BITD, I got a 90° Speedo drive adapter (from an 1100, mebbys) and scored a 'two pole' friction operated reversing switch.... cable turns backwards [reversing] and closes contacts = light on.

Neat 😎

[Mr Pastry]

@MattyYou may or may not know that there is a proper BMC reverse light switch for the A series gearbox as they were fitted to some Sprites and Midgets.  It replaces one of the plunger things at the base of the gear lever, goes straight on.   Not sure if they are still available, but I may have one if it is any use to you.

[Matty]

16 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

@MattyYou may or may not know that there is a proper BMC reverse light switch for the A series gearbox as they were fitted to some Sprites and Midgets.  It replaces one of the plunger things at the base of the gear lever, goes straight on.   Not sure if they are still available, but I may have one if it is any use to you.

 As it goes I've already got a reverse switch in situ as the previous owner had one fitted when the box was rebuilt, so the rev light does actually work. Obviously that must be why you can retro fit them. Thanks for that 👍

[Matty]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:54 PM, worldofceri said:

This car has the most effective reversing lamp of any vehicle I’ve ever attempted to reverse in the pitch dark. BAR NONE.

No bud. Now it has

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Matty said:

No bud. Now it has

you should fit with a cheap HID head lamp bulb for giggles

and have it on some sort of control stalk you can operate from the cabin so you can use it to deter people tailgating  and/or who have the high-beams on behind you  

(so a bit like one of those spot lights you see on US police cars but rear facing LOL)

[Matty]

Bought the wheels I wanted (no pics now as it'd spoil the big y'know "reveal"). Trial fitted them before getting tyres and all 4 studs on one of the midget hubs on the front axle are bent. AARRRGGHHH. This little bugger is determined to fight. No matter, I'll win in the end. Hub off and new studs ordered.

Also, the Lucas Square 8 spots off the front have gone as well. I'm aiming for clean and uncluttered and also the concept of driving lamps that you have to pull over and take the covers off when you want to use them seems a bit silly.

[Scrubworks]

On 3/31/2022 at 8:54 PM, Matty said:

Stop doing that. It's going to make me want to fit one to my Minor.

[Asimo]

On 31/03/2022 at 20:54, Matty said:

No bud. Now it has

Lamp looks vulnerable down there.  Monte Carlo rally position?

The club-rally chaps in the ‘70s preffered the bumperless look so the reversing lamp went on the bootlid.

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

Lamp looks vulnerable down there.  Monte Carlo rally position?

The club-rally chaps in the ‘70s preffered the bumperless look so the reversing lamp went on the bootlid.

Now you tell me 🤣

Definatly XOE778 position. Annoyed I dint think of that now. I just hung it where I took the old one from

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 03/04/2022 at 18:42, Matty said:

Also, the Lucas Square 8 spots off the front have gone as well. I'm aiming for clean and uncluttered and also the concept of driving lamps that you have to pull over and take the covers off when you want to use them seems a bit silly.

err don't fit the covers then? 🤔

[Matty]

8 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

err don't fit the covers then? 🤔

They've gone as I don't like them and won't use them.

[tooSavvy]

As a pimply yoof I got roped into an 'exciting evening of (assisting) at a marshals post'... on a car club night rally.

FFINN ACE 👌

*Mini had a spot, mid boot... and I asked why, cos not seen the like 🤔

⏱️

[junkyarddog]

10 hours ago, Asimo said:

 

Oh MY!!

That looks fantastic!

[Matty]

1 hour ago, junkyarddog said:

Oh MY!!

That looks fantastic!

Doesn't it. The one above for me though

[Scrubworks]

On 4/3/2022 at 6:42 PM, Matty said:

Also, the Lucas Square 8 spots off the front have gone as well. I'm aiming for clean and uncluttered and also the concept of driving lamps that you have to pull over and take the covers off when you want to use them seems a bit silly.

I bought a brand new pair of Wipac base-mounted driving lamps from ESM Minor Spares, and I'm going to bolt them directly to my front bumper valance. They'll be wired into the high-beam circuit, so I could conceivably cover them during the day and uncover them at night, but I don't think I'll bother.

[Matty]

38 minutes ago, Scrubworks said:

I bought a brand new pair of Wipac base-mounted driving lamps from ESM Minor Spares, and I'm going to bolt them directly to my front bumper valance. They'll be wired into the high-beam circuit, so I could conceivably cover them during the day and uncover them at night, but I don't think I'll bother.

The covers, certainly on the lucas spots, look quite smart but like you said, what's the point of covering them to take then off again. Minors look well with 2 round driving lamps, I just felt with mine that with the car being quite narrow, extra hardware hung off the front end made it look cluttered.

[Scrubworks]

That's fair enough. I suppose it depends on what look you're going for. If you want a clean 60s tuner look, then yeah, you want to be very judicious with your placement of extra lights. Or, if you want the works rally look, just turn the front of your car into a stadium lighting rig, like 99% of mk2 Escort owners do 😋.

[tooSavvy]

^ ^ ^ ...... Having caught a few Utoob 'rallye fayles' vids, of late.....

LED light bars (*too small to notice when off) are awesome in the dark.

*Yes..... Mexico with 'bin lids' is a period look 👌

[Matty]

2 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

LED light bars (*too small to notice when off) are awesome in the dark

Won't get driven in the dark. I'm either asleep or pissed depending on what day of the week 😄

[Scrubworks]

Just remembered I had these on my computer. Absolutely immaculate example that I saw at Bicester Heritage a few years ago with some really cool driving lights. The picture of the engine I find useful as a painting guide .

[Matty]

There you go @Asimo. It was bugging me after you showed me that photo!

[Asimo]

Liking the engine hoist.  Workshop envy!

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, Asimo said:

Liking the engine hoist.  Workshop envy!

That took me a minute. I'll not lie 😆

[barrett]

That looks much better! Are you planning to sort out the 'budget blue' paint at some point?