BMC/BMH/BL Readers wives #End of year round up#

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Same year as mine. Mine is a bit* more rusty though. Expect around 8 to 10 MPG.

Any pictures? This is the thread for those kind of perverts after all 😄

[Remspoor]

9 minutes ago, Matty said:

Any pictures? This is the thread for those kind of perverts after all 😄

Just searched, I must have added images before, but no deal. Still  I have here is a bit about the fuel tank renovation.  Maybe I post something later when I can get to the storage disk with my images.

 

[Matty]

1 minute ago, Remspoor said:

Just searched, I must have added images before, but no deal. Still  I have here is a bit about the fuel tank renovation.  Maybe I post something later when I can get to the storage disk with my images.

 

Please do when you can 👍

[Austin-Rover]

The family Allegro was born 50 years ago today! 

 

[Remspoor]

17 hours ago, Matty said:

Any pictures? This is the thread for those kind of perverts after all 😄

I have searched and searched this forum. I cannot find a video I added of me starting the car after a long time standing. Maybe they were removed in the changes to which files can be added to posts.

Here are some images. I lost a number when I had a PC crash on me. A low quality image of when I purchased the car when I lived in the Netherlands.

The Austin, my friend's Chevrolet. Not my Escort. The Chevy was driven from The Netherlands to me in Spain, on to Portugal and return back to The Netherlands.

Fire Engine and Austin. The engine was still in service at the time.

Austin and SEAT

The car has been off the road since around the mid 2008. I did not have much time to get it back on the road then. I was working. NowI have stopped I either do not have the money, or the time. So work on it goes in fits and starts.  That means that parts deteriorate quicker than I  can repair them. I am loosing the will to carry on with it and yet I cannot bare to part with it.

[Matty]

Sorry to hear that @Remspoor. Best of luck with your efforts 

[Joey spud]

[Shite Ron]

We now have a fourth BL car on the fleet, my girlfriend decided she does not like the BMW or Rover 216 coupe and wanted an MGF, after reading various reports/ buyers guides she decided that 2000 was their best year. The fact it is an F not a TF pleased me as I like the styling of the F better and also the hydro gas suspension. I would have preferred an earlier model in red with red interior and Silver with black interior is definitely not the best colour combination. We bought this car because of it’s history and condition, it has done 38,000 miles from new with one lady owner. It has always been garaged and always her second car. It comes with original dealer plates and tax disc holder, the original sales receipt, loads of service receipts, including one for the upgraded head gasket. The previous owner and her husband are really nice people who clearly have looked after their cars very well. It was better than buying a new car in my opinion. For all the positives we can live with black interior I think. It also drives like a new car and is very nice to drive being mid engine rear wheel drive.  I know I should have done a collection thread but it was a long day Sunday driving down to near Bognor and back, we also did the same drive the Sunday before to look at it. 

[Matty]

I drove an F on hydrogas when I had my mk3 gti and could not get over how compliant it was on rough surfaces yet handled so well. Another good idea left to whither 

[Matty]

I'm missing a lot of my favourite threads that have gone a bit dormant. And I can't drive mine currently cos shit weather and lack of seats. 

So where are you all upto with your old Austin, Morris, BMC, BMH, BL, Austin Rover, Rover shite?

I'm here

[Austin-Rover]

It was a busy year for the Allegro, what with the Club holding a few 50th Anniversary events. There were over 80 examples at the national event in May. 

Also took the Allegro on Holiday in September and enjoyed a few days bombing about the Isle of Man. 

In other news, the Rover 820 I saved from Scrap at the end of 2022 belatedly returned to the road this month after some long delays sourcing parts and waiting for my garage to get round to working on it. It's in daily use now - so far so good - and is a comfortable and relaxing place to sit. 

 

 

[SiC]

So where are you all upto with your old Austin, Morris, BMC, BMH, BL, Austin Rover, Rover shite?

Right this second?

I'm sat watching my diesel heater to check the new exhaust pipe is working properly.
Yesterday I tidied this up ready to start work in the next few days. I have next week off and hope to dedicate a few days to getting more done on the regretful purchase.

[Matty]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

 

 

Right this second?

I'm sat watching my diesel heater to check the new exhaust pipe is working properly.
Yesterday I tidied this up ready to start work in the next few days. I have next week off and hope to dedicate a few days to getting more done on the regretful purchase.

 

Ah but when people say "I've built a car" when they mean put wheels and a body kit on it, you can allow yourself a wry roll of the eyes and a knowing snear 😄

[Mr Pastry]

Hopefully in the spirit of this thread.   How to put an overdrive gearbox in a 1500 Midget.  This of course is the Triumph engine but I think it could be applied to an A series, using a Marina bellhousing. 

The gearbox is from a late Spitfire, with the more compact J type overdrive.  The overdrive sits about where the original gearbox mounting is, so the crossmember has to be cut, but the bodyshell is vastly over-engineered and this causes no trouble.  The prop shaft can be re-used as there is very little difference in length.  A longer speedo cable is required - options from Marina/MGB with or without angle drive, and depending on speedo fitment. 

The new crossmembers are 50x50x3mm steel angle.  The long one is bolted through the chassis rails with M8 bolts, tubular spacers, and spreader plates above - then through the floor with large washers at its outer ends.   The short one just bolts through the floor, outboard of the tunnel sides, again with spreader washers.  The height of the gearbox at the rear is quite critical and the last photo shows the aluminium packing pieces  under the Spitfire gearbox mounting.   Exhaust pipe not fitted when photographed, but it just clears the end of the long crossmember.  The overdrive wiring just needs a fused supply from the ignition and a suitable switch.  That is pretty much all there is to it.

I no longer have the car but it worked very well, and in normal use could be left in overdrive most of the time.  Removing and refitting the engine was almost more trouble than doing the actual conversion.  

[grogee]

BL Day at Gaydon, featuring a badly-organised Maestro 40th Anniversary display. 

My Maestro was in the middle of fuel tank repairs so I had to cobble together a 5l plastic cannister to get to and from the show (luckily only about 10 miles away). 

If I'm being honest I found the show a bit boring and asked Mrs Grogee to rescue me because my car was blocked in by other Maestro nerds. 

[S2000]

Hoping to do some mild titillation next year in the form of painting the floor to match the exterior, new carpet and repair the rear door cards, also give the paint a good mop. It’s now all up and running but my mojo is low with it so I may move it on on the spring for something in the form of a GT6 or Trumpet Vitesse.

 

[Matty]

3 minutes ago, S2000 said:

Hoping to do some mild titillation next year in the form of painting the floor to match the exterior, new carpet and repair the rear door cards, also give the paint a good mop. It’s now all up and running but my mojo is low with it so I may move it on on the spring for something in the form of a GT6 or Trumpet Vitesse.

 

Tough call. Much as I adore a GT6, quick family cars are more my bag. And our first family car was a MK2 Vitesse.

[grogee]

54 minutes ago, S2000 said:

Hoping to do some mild titillation next year in the form of painting the floor to match the exterior, new carpet and repair the rear door cards, also give the paint a good mop. It’s now all up and running but my mojo is low with it so I may move it on on the spring for something in the form of a GT6 or Trumpet Vitesse.

 

I got told off at MoT time with mine for wheels sticking out past the arches... Are there arch covers still to go on? 

It looks sweet as a nut though, definitely would if it wasn't now a five figure car. GLWS

[S2000]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

I got told off at MoT time with mine for wheels sticking out past the arches... Are there arch covers still to go on? 

It looks sweet as a nut though, definitely would if it wasn't now a five figure car. GLWS

It’s running reverse rims which I’m not a big fan of, I also have a set of 4.5 inch minilites that need a refurb, I’m loathed to put arches on it as they are not period for that car and think they would spoil the looks. As you can see it is MOT exempt but it has been off the road for 80% of the time I’ve owned it and have not had the inclination to MOT it yet.