Weird Car’s weird cars! ‘VDP IMPROVEMENTS'

[MiniMinorMk3]

These people have a lot of old stuff. The site is a bit clunky but you should be ablle to find the Lucas number on the lamp lenses to help with a search.

Auto Electrical Components Classic Parts (cecbrighton.co.uk)

[Weird Car]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, I’m chasing some leads as we speak

[Weird Car]

Just found some pictures from last Sunday at the meet posted on the Facebook group Manhood classics

 

one of both sides, they even managed to capture me getting ready to leave looking about 5 foot tall behind the wheel lol 

 

on another note I thought I’d take Audrey back from the garage so A I could still use her and B the garage wouldn’t get annoyed at me for leaving her in the way whilst I tracked down the parts, speaking of, here’s what I was sent from my bro who put a post on the owners page on Facebook yesterday, the indicator stalk looks okay

but the bulb holders look a little off

here’s whats left of the original fronts for “reference” but I can’t find a parts number to verify,  I’ll probably end up buying them anyway as they’re so cheap and seeing what the garage can do in regards to fitting them 

I still wanted to be able to use her in the mean time so here’s my temporary solution lol

it’s visible from about 3 car lengths away which is fine as it’s pretty much always gridlocked in Chichester anyway.

speaking of using her, made a quick tip run today as I’m preparing to move back to Portsmouth next month,

pretty sizeable boot to be honest, I kept thinking of that thing Jay Leno says, “I actually rent the trunk out to a family of 3 as a studio apartment” 😂

 

also here’s those number plate pics you wanted @LightBulbFun no makers name that I could see but they did say “white Bronze”

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

46 minutes ago, Weird Car said:

Just found some pictures from last Sunday at the meet posted on the Facebook group Manhood classics

 

one of both sides, they even managed to capture me getting ready to leave looking about 5 foot tall behind the wheel lol 

 

on another note I thought I’d take Audrey back from the garage so A I could still use her and B the garage wouldn’t get annoyed at me for leaving her in the way whilst I tracked down the parts, speaking of, here’s what I was sent from my bro who put a post on the owners page on Facebook yesterday, the indicator stalk looks okay

but the bulb holders look a little off

here’s whats left of the original fronts for “reference” but I can’t find a parts number to verify,  I’ll probably end up buying them anyway as they’re so cheap and seeing what the garage can do in regards to fitting them 

I still wanted to be able to use her in the mean time so here’s my temporary solution lol

it’s visible from about 3 car lengths away which is fine as it’s pretty much always gridlocked in Chichester anyway.

speaking of using her, made a quick tip run today as I’m preparing to move back to Portsmouth next month,

pretty sizeable boot to be honest, I kept thinking of that thing Jay Leno says, “I actually rent the trunk out to a family of 3 as a studio apartment” 😂

 

also here’s those number plate pics you wanted @LightBulbFun no makers name that I could see but they did say “white Bronze”

 

 

very cool! White bronze is the company who made those number plates, highly likely they are original to the car  

I highly recommend checking out this link, to a couple posts where I did a bit of digging into the White Bronze Ltd company and all that stuff  https://autoshite.com/topic/29443-zels-motoring-adventuresrenault-rover-vw-ac-model-70-a-sinclair-c5-1907-rover-damper-replacement/page/159/?tab=comments#comment-2765752

 

the digits themselves look to be Bluemels Pyramoid types (or clones/licensed copies of)

 

 

the hand signals sign is amusing  but sadly i imagine very necessary these days, given going by the discussion in the grumpy thread on speed awareness corses,  how many people dont even know what the basic speed limits are

I imagine even fewer people know/would recognise hand signals! (even tho its very much still a part of the theory section of the driving test)

I mean I was going to say I am not sure I would personally be driving in todays traffic without functioning indicators but its not like anyone pays attention to those either when they do work LOL

 

but on that note given that you seem to be pressing Audrey into use right away after a very long time laid up, how are her brakes/brake-lines and fuel lines? just thinking stuff like the brakes/brake lines and fuel lines, are obviously pretty safety critical but also are some of the first things to deteriorate  when a car is stood up for a long time, so I would be inclined to give everything a thorough going over with a critical eye  

 

[Weird Car]

6 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

White bronze is the company who made those number plates, highly likely they are original to the car

Nice one, I just thought they were the name of the colour of the letters lol

6 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

but on that note given that you seem to be pressing Audrey into use right away after a very long time laid up, how are her brakes/brake-lines and fuel lines? just thinking stuff like the brakes/brake lines and fuel lines, are obviously pretty safety critical but also are some of the first things to deteriorate  when a car is stood up for a long time, so I would be inclined to give everything a thorough going over with a critical eye  

She had all new brakes, brake cylinders, flexi lines and fuel lines before I got her thankfully 

[Mr Pastry]

I think you'll find you need single contact bulb holders for the indicators - double contact are for stop/tail.

[Weird Car]

Just now, Mr Pastry said:

I think you'll find you need single contact bulb holders for the indicators - double contact are for stop/tail.

Thankyou 

[dozeydustman]

On 15/07/2023 at 20:37, Crackers said:

I really hope I see this floating around the area at some point, it's gorgeous. If you see a skinny goon in a Saab waving and tooting at you, you'll know I've spotted you 😅

Likewise if you see a fat bloke in a Saab estate waving like a wally it’ll be me!

[Weird Car]

Only dropped the Austin back off at the garage yesterday evening and she’s done already, had a text from the guys 20 minutes ago saying they stayed late to get her done, so I stuck some shoes on and ran to pick her up, she’s now back on my driveway! 
Brill now just waiting for the logbook to arrive and she’ll be ready for daily use. 
out of curiosity how long does a v5 take to arrive after doing a v62? the previous owner said he sent one off and he’ll do the keeper change as soon as he receives it.

[vulgalour]

Up to 8 weeks for the V5, sometimes as little as three days.  It's the DVLA so they have a unique approach to the laws of time and space rather like the Unseen Library.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Weird Car said:

Only dropped the Austin back off at the garage yesterday evening and she’s done already, had a text from the guys 20 minutes ago saying they stayed late to get her done, so I stuck some shoes on and ran to pick her up, she’s now back on my driveway! 
Brill now just waiting for the logbook to arrive and she’ll be ready for daily use. 
out of curiosity how long does a v5 take to arrive after doing a v62? the previous owner said he sent one off and he’ll do the keeper change as soon as he receives it.

you need one of these signs now

 

1 minute ago, vulgalour said:

Up to 8 weeks for the V5, sometimes as little as three days.  It's the DVLA so they have a unique approach to the laws of time and space rather like the Unseen Library.

longest I had was a good I think 9 weeks? shortest is 9 days LOL 

generally it will always be a few weeks since unless a special case, they will always send the previous keeper a notification and give the previous registered keeper a fixed amount of time to speak up incase they have any objections etc

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Weird Car said:

Only dropped the Austin back off at the garage yesterday evening and she’s done already, had a text from the guys 20 minutes ago saying they stayed late to get her done

I bet it was because they enjoyed and had fun working on it. Especially if it was a garage that usually worked on moderns. 

[chaseracer]

On 13/07/2023 at 12:21, barrett said:

High-class 'Shiting here. Appreciate the brevity, great unexpected outcome. Car choice 9/10 (only because it's a big-boot). Dibs please!

This needs an 'oily rag' feature in a certain 'specialist publication'!

[Weird Car]

Just a small update today.

I had planned to go to the FOTU in my dads Corsa B but after I woke up late I wouldn’t of had enough time to drive to Portsmouth to pick it up so I decided I’d brave taking Audrey, I made it from Chichester to Waterlooville before she had other ideas, she was backfiring and spluttering like crazy whenever I added more than about half throttle, so I turned around

after I got home I let her sit for a few hours and noticed the rubber hose that goes from the air box to the rocker cover had failed pretty badly

 

even though I knew it wasn’t my issue I replaced it and decided to take her for a run to Tesco, 

 

I’ve just gotten back from taking her on the shop run and all was fine for about 30 minutes and then back to acting all silly, my first instinct was the condenser but removing the impossible to access distributor cap showed me that the condenser looked brand new.

I’m guessing it could possibly be the points gap? I’m going to have a go at adjusting them when I’ve got the energy to lay over the engine to do it. 

I’ve been feeling a bit down this week so sorry about the rubbish update just bare with me hopefully I’ll be back in the swing of things when I start my new job next month and I’ll be in a better place mentally. 

*edit sorry I didn’t mean for that last paragraph to sound so whiny 

[BeEP]

If the condenser looks brand new it's even more likely to be the culprit!  It would still be my first suspiscion, followed by the coil.  Although checking/adjusting the points gap is a good idea either way.

[Weird Car]

9 minutes ago, BeEP said:

If the condenser looks brand new it's even more likely to be the culprit!  It would still be my first suspiscion, followed by the coil.  Although checking/adjusting the points gap is a good idea either way.

Thanks, both the coil and condenser look to have been replaced recently, I’ll swap them out for process of elimination though

[Sham]

Modern old style parts are utterly shocking quality.

Very likely the reason, and it's well worth hunting down some new old stock if possible.

[somewhatfoolish]

15 minutes ago, Weird Car said:

Thanks, both the coil and condenser look to have been replaced recently, I’ll swap them out for process of elimination though

Distributor Doctor seem the only vendor of condensers reliable enough apart from NOS stuff from the 90s or earlier, everything else has junk status.

[Weird Car]

1 minute ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Distributor Doctor seem the only vendor of condensers reliable enough apart from NOE stuff from the 90s or earlier, everything else has junk status.

Thanks for the tip

[ETCHY]

On 7/21/2023 at 4:05 PM, Weird Car said:

Just found some pictures from last Sunday at the meet posted on the Facebook group Manhood classics

 

one of both sides, they even managed to capture me getting ready to leave looking about 5 foot tall behind the wheel lol 

 

on another note I thought I’d take Audrey back from the garage so A I could still use her and B the garage wouldn’t get annoyed at me for leaving her in the way whilst I tracked down the parts, speaking of, here’s what I was sent from my bro who put a post on the owners page on Facebook yesterday, the indicator stalk looks okay

but the bulb holders look a little off

here’s whats left of the original fronts for “reference” but I can’t find a parts number to verify,  I’ll probably end up buying them anyway as they’re so cheap and seeing what the garage can do in regards to fitting them 

I still wanted to be able to use her in the mean time so here’s my temporary solution lol

it’s visible from about 3 car lengths away which is fine as it’s pretty much always gridlocked in Chichester anyway.

speaking of using her, made a quick tip run today as I’m preparing to move back to Portsmouth next month,

pretty sizeable boot to be honest, I kept thinking of that thing Jay Leno says, “I actually rent the trunk out to a family of 3 as a studio apartment” 😂

 

also here’s those number plate pics you wanted @LightBulbFun no makers name that I could see but they did say “white Bronze”

 

 

That no indicators sign really had me laughing, I love the little Beano type arms - quality.

Old Number plates & their cool designs are really starting to interest me. I blame LBF for this ! 

Cool motor that old Austin,  quite bizarre how overlooked they seem to be.

[High Jetter]

Sorry you didn't make it today, hope you find the issue swiftly.

[vulgalour]

What you're describing is exactly how a brand new condenser failed on the Princess.  Managed to limp it to the multistorey car park and by the time we'd done the shopping stuff it was back to being fine and then gradually got worse and worse on the drive home.  Fitted Accuspark electronic ignition (about thirty quid, even a numpty like me can do it) and I've never had a problem since.  If you could still reliably get decent old ignition components I wouldn't have done the upgrade but you really can't any more, it's an absolute shitshow.

[SiC]

Only condenser worth considering:

https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/condenser-lead-25d-high-quality-gsc111hq.html

It's made by distributor doctor and available elsewhere too. 

[SiC]

Note how the capacitance changes when pulling the lead on the cheap one. 

 

[Matty]

30 minutes ago, SiC said:

Only condenser worth considering:

https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/condenser-lead-25d-high-quality-gsc111hq.html

It's made by distributor doctor and available elsewhere too. 

 

And whilst your not wrong Si my dd condensor started playing me up after (and that may be a fair lifespan) about 2000 mile. I fitted another dd item and alls golden again. Another in the glove box just in case. Helps I can buy dd ignition parts through the club cheap as chips. 

I have spent a lot of money with Martin though going through my ignition system and can warrant he is a top lad, mega helpful and his products are top notch.

Edit

On review makes no sense. My point was, as good as Martins stuff is, everything can fail, even when relatively new. On balance, I'd still sooner run points and condensor ignition knowing I've got  the small amount of tools and parts needed to fix the rare occurance of a roadside breakdown there and then. Other opinions are available. I know that @bigstraight6for example wouldnt be without his electronic ignition. Personal choice really (when i get badly burnt ill join him 😁)

[MiniMinorMk3]

The indicators on the Cambridge are Lucas L551.

A possible match for the base is from the Lucas L539

Lucas L539 Type Lamp Single Contact Base Only (holden.co.uk)

[SiC]

11 hours ago, Matty said:

My point was, as good as Martins stuff is, everything can fail, even when relatively new.

Oh yeah 100%. 

Even a Honda and Toyota can breakdown. But as my local garage says, they "see all cars but see a lot less of them".

Same with these DD condensers. Like anything in this world they can fail but they're far less likely than the other common ones about. 

11 hours ago, Matty said:

Other opinions are available

My personal favourite is to ditch the lot and go 123 ignition. But that's not cheap by any stretch. No need to worry about breakdowns from ignition then. 😉

But if still are worried then keep the original dizzy in the boot with a decent points + condenser setup. Easily swapped at the roadside. 

[purplebargeken]

Holy fuck. Weird slurping noises of much approval made at my immediate location.

[purplebargeken]

Coil and/or condenser for sure. Had a 1300FWD that fid exactly that. Quick question, is there a nice new fuel filter fitted? If not... please fit one.

[High Jetter]

I've uneartherd the A55 parts catalogue from the stash now. It's in a bit of a sorry state, with pages stuck together, but am sure I can separate them. Feel free to give me a shout if any numbers etc might be helpful. The cover is the only page that is ripped, I think.