Electric Badge photo tour (the Whatsapp edition)

 

It is a time of travel restrictions and social distancing, so most events are cancelled or postponed and the cars remain in the garage. Unless of course we think of another way to organise an event. 

This is what we did: the entrants of this run subscribed to a Whatsapp group and they all receive a set of route instructions and are asked to make short video and photo reports and answer a few questions.  The instructions tell the entrants to find a landmark, like a building or landcape feature and stop there to answer the questions or take photos or videos. In whatsapp the results are shared to the group, so the group members know what the other entrants are doing and where. 

It is not as good as actually meeting, but still it is good fun and the videoclips, stories and photos can be combined in a report or a Youtube video clip. 

We took Ziggy the blue Pickup. It seemed he enjoyed the run as much as we did, but nearly home he decided he had enough and the starter motor was jammed and couldn't be rocked free. Our last stop coincided with our shed where the Wolseley lives, so Ziggy got a push inside and we finished the last leg of our journey by Wolseley, so we had a bonus-run.  For some reason the next day Ziggy's starter was free and he was ready to go. For now we'll keep an eye on this glitch and if it occurs more often a more elaborate fix might be required.

Overal this event can be considered a success and everybody seemed to have a good day out. 

This is the link to the resulting video, made by combining the clips sent in by whatsapp: https://youtu.be/ir5mGBsjIaI

Below some of the photo's sent by whatsapp:

Driving videos: Austin Half ton and Wolseley 18/85s

 

Catch a ride in our Austin pickup

Hop in the back seat of the Wolseley 18/85s

MGB new starter motor: does size matter?

 

The starter on the MGB GT was not always working. I had cleaned up the contacts in the solenoid a few years ago, but the starter was still somewhat suspect, so I had planned to get a rebuilt or new starter anyway.  

This is a fairly cheap replacement. I could buy this without returning my old one as a core. I' m not yet convinced about the quality, but as I didn't have a proper Lucas spare I decided I could fit this and have the old one rebuilt by a local specialist. 

The new starter is also much smaller. Could this little thing rate the same  torque as the old one? I wondered maybe they didn't manufacture the starter to the original design, but used a modern generic motor and designed a front end and pinion gear to fit the old car. That could work very well.  

On the lower lug I found an obstruction. Although the bolt did fit the hole, I couldn't fit a spanner on the head as there was a ridge near the hole. 

I took a file and flattened the ridge. Now I could refit the starter. The starter seems to work fine, so maybe it's a good replacement. Meanwhile the old one will be refurbished as a spare. 

Now, let' s see if all the problems have gone or if there are more issues in the starting circuit. 

Jeep CJ 5 Ford Pinto engine timing belt change

The Ford Pinto engine is a very strong and reliable machine. It is a more modern engine than the original Jeep engine. When we bought the CJ there was already a Pinto engine in the car. When that engine needed replacement I considered fitting an original Jeep engine, but  found it was much easier and cheaper to find another Ford engine and fit that. This engine has a bit less torque than the Jeep four cylinder, but slightly more power and it is much lighter than the six. Also, by now this engine could be called a classic in it's own right.  One of the very few drawbacks could be that it has a rubber timing belt in stead of the chain in the older Jeep engine. This means it is important to check and change the timing belt once in a while even though  the annual mileage is extremely low.  

In the previous engine we experienced a broken timing belt. As I could not replace the belt by the roadside at that time, I decided to see if the procedure could be simplified. This time I decided to leave the radiator and hoses in place, but I found I will always need some kind of puller to remove the crankshaft pulley.  

I turned the engine until the pointer in the camshaft wheel was lining up with the notch (I used a mirror for that), the crankshaft was at the TDC pointer and the distributor pointed at number one cylinder. Then I removed the cover and I marked the positions with white marker on all sprockets. Then I removed the crankshaft pulley with a puller and released the tensioner.  

Now it was easy to remove the belt and replace it. The camshaft and crankshaft sprockets didn't move at all, but it was possible to move the auxiliary sprocket a bit to slide the belt on. I had expected some adjustment to the distributor timing, but all marks aligned perfectly, so in theory the engine should start without trouble. 

Indeed the engine started at the first try and ran as before. Could I replace the timing belt by the roadside? I would think so, but I'm not sure I'll always carry a suitable puller and white marker paint. After-all I suppose there must be a limit to the amount of stuff I carry in my toolbox.

 

Wolseley 1500 mk1 brochure 1957

Wolseley 1500 was produced from april 1957 to 1965. It utilised the Morris Minor floorpan, suspension and steering but was fitted with the larger 1,489 cc  B-Series engine and MG Magnette gearbox. The car was almost identical to the Riley One Point five, though the Riley was equiped with twin SU carburettors giving it a little more power at 68 hp. 

The Postwar range of Austin Cars. Eight, Ten, Twelve and Sixteen Brochure

 

This is the brochure of the entire post war Austin passenger car range. See if you can spot the differences. They look very similar, but different in size. Who said modern cars look alike? 

Austin Sixteen BS1 Brochure

 

 You can call the Austin 16 BN1 the first post war Austin.  Manufactured from 1945 to 1946, it was basically the body of the Austin Twelve with the new 4-cylinder 2199 cc, overhead-valve engine fitted. This made the 16 BS1 the first Austin saloon car with an overhead valve engine.  This was quite a strong engine, giving a healthy turn of speed compared to the rather staid prewar Austin saloon cars. Reading this brochure really makes you want to go out and find one of these machines. 

Shadows in the snow (photography)