Simca 1000 UPDATE ......... NOW FOR SALE

[Electric Leyland]

Glad everyone's enjoying the photos and thanks for all the comments. So much to tell about the car, dunno where to start. Well to answer a few questions first.....

 

 

Yes only 16,352 miles, it's got to be genuine because if it weren't then the car simply wouldn't exist, it would have rotted to death in the early 1980s. Inside's really clean for its age too and plenty of original docs came with it.

 

 

To drive, she feels/sounds surprisingly sporty having the 1.3 engine in the back. Handles very well. Brakes well, but the 3 pedals are offset slightly to the left and are very close together. Having size 13 feet does not help, in fact to brake I have to put my foot down sideways between the outer pedals, and definitely not down flat! That's an art, and so are the gears, they work well but finding first is proving tricky sometimes, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Everything else works including the MW/LW radio and mega-loud horn-honk. Hey ladies look it's a SIMCA!

 

 

Fosse Road / Narborough Road, correct! An upcoming Autoshite pageant with your Ami 6 is a dead cert Mr. Capsuleboy. Excellent suggestion. Let's have some photos up.

 

 

Road legal with a new MOT and LOADS of welding done, plus a new fuel tank fitted (engine and gearbox out job), all arranged by the seller who did me a deal on the whole thing, himself a great fan of this site (although doesn't own a computer, just from word of mouth!). It took a couple of weeks in total and massively over-ran on time, but was set to a fixed budget so I didn't mind waiting. In total I've probably paid a lot more than what it's worth if I sold it now, but these things just never some up for sale so I just had to do it.

 

 

And now for the bad news. She cuts out all the time. Some sort of fuel supply issue going on that needs rectifying. The seller went into great detail about this right fro the start, before I even considered bidding on it in the first place, saying it's always done it. This is why he fitted the new fuel tank, putting it down to a load of gunk in the old one. But on Friday and Saturday she drove fine for the first 45 mins or so, but then you'll be cruising along and it just dies. So you pull over, turn the engine off, turn it on again, and away you go. For a few hundred meters. Then this repeats and gets worse til you have to do this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was on the Friday, the maiden voyage. This has actually happened to me on the maiden voyage of all 3 cars I own! So it's a well trodden path and I didn't lose heart or enthusiasm, plus has Mr H Sceptre in the pace car for company. The next day on the Saturday, where most of the above photos were taken, she was fine again right from the start. The countryside shots at the start were from where she decided to break down first. Eventually limped to a pub where we were meeting Mr H Sceptre in the Maxi. After a pint, she cut out twice before even leaving the pub car park. I then decided to try the choke out on the way home. This improved the situation immensely, and she only cut out once a couple of miles later. I then learned a trick where, if she started to cut out, a few high revs would sort the problem out and she would carry on ok. After another mile or two of that she performed perfectly all he rest of the way back into town.

 

 

Another long friendly chat with the seller that evening and he admitted that he's not only changed the fuel tank in recent times, but also the fuel filter, all the fuel pipes, and cleaned out the fuel pump. He was genuinely gutted that the problem was still there, but I explained it hadn't really spoiled the enjoyment too much, and in fact we looked forward to getting to the bottom of it and adding to our admittedly poor knowledge of car maintenance. By process of elimination, and from talking with some lads to work more knowledgeable than I about car mechanics, it could be the carburettor that's at fault. When I first arrived at the garage I think they were trying to clean it out in fact.

 

 

She wouldnt start at all on Sunday, but it was late and very cold so I gave up. Looking forward to spending a whole day soon trying to sort this little minor issue out, then she'll be running like a dream once more.

[trigger]

Sounds just like my BMW did when i first bought it, That will be shit in the carb, You'll need to strip it down give it a good clean and then fit an inline fuel filter on the petrol line, Just just the crap from the tank working it's way up from not being used for a long while.

 

The Simca does look quite at home on the back of the recovery truck though!

[Electric Leyland]

Haha yes, a familair Autoshite car pose.

 

How easy is the stripping a carb down and cleaning it Trig, i.e. approx timescale and any specific materials/tools required? Doesn't sound hard.

[dollywobbler]

Worth getting in touch with the Simca Talbot Club. They're a great bunch of folks. http://www.simcatalbotclub.org/ukclub.htm

[trigger]

I have to be honest my tamed mechanic used to do it for me, He would only charge £20 for stripping the carb down, cleaning it, putting it together again and getting the 1602 to run again so it wasn't worth me pissing about with it, I know you have to be careful with the float and needle or something as it can bugger the fueling up.

 

Someone like Albert Ross will confirm this, I doubt a local grease monkey would charge much though?.

[Angrydicky]

That is......FANTASTIC Hats off to you sir!

[Mr Lobster]

You have just achieved hero status. That is a superb vehicle.

 

[babydriver]

I don't know if it will help but did Chrysler/Simca be part of the roots group? Hillman etc, only my Minx used to cut out all the time and it turned out to be the diaphram in the carb, it was only a pin prick (ooh er missus) in the diaphram but it caused so much frustration. Just a stab in the dark but it may help.

[chaseracer]

/\/\ http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/

 

That Mille is full of WIN

 

Does the history give anything on the supplying dealer? I will chuckle wryly if it's Red Garages, Argyll Street, Llandudno (wild stab, based solely on the North Wales/Anglesey plates) cos my Gran's house was just round the corner, and in '73 my seven-year-old nose would have been pressed against the showroom window admiring such marvels as the Chrysler 180, Simca 1501 and the 'new 1600' Avenger...

[Guest]

Glad its now on the road - hope to see it in the metal.

[trigger]

Would this Simca be a "Change for the better"?

 

 

[pogweasel]

FUCK A DUCK.

 

That is a genuinely awesome piece of obselete machinery.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

That's splendid, hope the fuelling issue is just crud in the carb' - sounds like it might be.

I went looking on youtube and found

baffling French "comedy" song. Can anyone translate?

 

Did any other makers sell front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD cars concurrently?

[seth]

How easy is the stripping a carb down and cleaning it Trig, i.e. approx timescale and any specific materials/tools required? Doesn't sound hard.

 

What sort of carb is it? If you can get a gasket kit its usually not too difficult to do. Can just be fiddly and you need to be careful in case there's sprung loaded balls or something hiding inside. Best to get a diagram (and understand it) before you start too.

[Vin]

Did any other makers sell front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD cars concurrently?

 

How about

 

- Fiat 124, 125 & 131

- Fiat 128, 127

- Fiat 850, 126

 

I might be wrong though.......

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

I forgot all about Fiat.

[chaseracer]

Did any other makers sell front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD cars concurrently?

 

How about

 

- Fiat 124, 125 & 131

- Fiat 128, 127

- Fiat 850, 126

 

I might be wrong though.......

Yep. For about 12 years, between the 128 coming in and the Argenta going out, the three platforms were concurrent. When was the 126 phased out?

[Guest]

Did any other makers sell front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD cars concurrently?

Toyota, throughout all the time they did the MR2.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

I did have mid-engined sports cars at the back of my mind (there was also MG Rover with its FWD range, mid-engined RWD MG TF and front-engined RWD Rover 75/MG ZT V8), but I meant old fashioned rear-engined non-sports cars

Sorry for the thread derailment.

[chaseracer]

Chrysler UK.

 

In 1976 - for one wonderful shite-filled year - the Imp, the Avenger, the Hunter and the Alpine were available together

[pompei]

Wow! That Simca has left me all goosebumpy - what a FAB motor

[Split_Pin]

That is a truly lovely little car. Thats going to get a lot of friendly attention from everybody!

 

Its encouraging to see that the fuel issue hasnt dampened your spirits.

 

Brings back memories of my elderley neighbours equally ancient friend who used to drive from the top of our street where she lived, to my neighbours house at the bottom, in her little navy-blue square-headlight model, all the way in first gear This was in about 1983 and was the only occasion that I ever saw a 1000!

[M'coli]

Did any other makers sell front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD cars concurrently?

Toyota, throughout all the time they did the MR2.

Technically mid-engined as the engine and box are ahead of the rear axle line. Fiat sold the X1/9 in this format, so had front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD, and mid-engined RWD on the go at one time. The mind boggles.

 

Edit: not to be outdone, Simca collaborated on the Matra Bagheera and so also had the front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD, and mid-engined RWD line up. The mind is truly boggling.

 

I do like this Simca though, it looks lovely.

[eddyramrod]

Simca 1000 and Austin Maxi, that has to be some kind of Autoshite dream-garage! My mate had a 1978 Simca 1000 in about 1982; it was written off on an autobahn. I remember the seats were much comfier than I expected (which has always been my experience with old Frog motors).

[garethj]

Stripping a carb is usually easy, as Seth says make sure there's nothing spring loaded in there. You'll find out just before you say "fuck, that almost had my eye out"

 

ebay.fr for a carb rebuild kit, or even a replacement carb?

[Alexg]

WOW - 100% top marks for obtaining that quality Autoshite spec win-mobile

[Negative Creep]

Did any other makers sell front-engined RWD, front-engined FWD, rear-engined RWD cars concurrently?

 

How about

 

- Fiat 124, 125 & 131

- Fiat 128, 127

- Fiat 850, 126

 

I might be wrong though.......

Yep. For about 12 years, between the 128 coming in and the Argenta going out, the three platforms were concurrent. When was the 126 phased out?

 

 

 

Vauxhall did have the VX220, Omega or Monaro and then the rest of the range

[Mr H Sceptre]

I had a go at starting the Simca (EL has left it in Leicester) last night. The problem still persists. When she 1st fired up it appeared she was going to be ok, so I revved her a bit, selected first gear & started to proceed. Stall!. After that, she would fire up and stall within a few seconds, regardless of how much throttle/choke I gave her.

 

Still, nice to sit in her for a bit though.

[Electric Leyland]

^^ ta for the advice, I'll have a look and see if it is.

 

Now a bit more on the car.

 

In the early days of Autoshite, waaaay before there was ever an eBay tat thread, I used to amuse myself by posting up onto the original site the best Autoshite-spec cars I considered to be the best bargains, making little lists of them each month. Well only a week ago I was looking through them, for the first time in literally years and lo and behold look what was at the foot of this page,

 

http://www.autoshite.com/third-id-223-second230-1-p-230-p2-395.htm

 

An almost identical car! A fair bit tattier, and with different number plates. Well I never!

 

 

 

Anyway, on the day of collection I was pawing through the documentation that came with the car. The first owner on the logbook was a lady from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire who had it from new until 2006. Indeed the centre console has an ancient tax disc holder displaying the name/number of an old garage in Leicester. According to my seller the next owner sold the original number plates as they were worth something. I thought nothing more of it until later that evening when I thought hang on, I'll just check the plates on that one from 2006 against the original docs for the car.

 

The same!

[trigger]

Wow!, Scarey stuff!, That must be fate that you end up buying it a few years later!