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Many cars had 4 speed and overdrive on third and top gears, Jaguars, Humbers even the Sceptre. Aston Martin ect ect. Can't remember but it might have been the Jaguar 2+2 E type or an Aston Martin DB 5 with a five speed box.

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2 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

 

Austin A40 Somerset

image.png.cfefac74a54adc1c774d715924a86301.png

 

 

Austin A40 Devon

image.png.f65196733b9d6d3e89112c35f052ee48.png

 

Sorry, no. The wrong way round.

15 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Then we have the A90, but that's another tale of woe.

And the A90 Atlantic, rather drop heda and streamlined compared with the chunky A90 saloon

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24 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

As we are already so far off topic,

 

The early A40s Devon, Somerset and Cambridge were B series engines but the Farina A40 ( first hatchback car in Britain?  ) was an A series engine.

BMC were already dumbing down even then.

 

I don't think that is totally correct either. The Devons and Somersets had a similar to B series engine but there were differences, I think it had a longer stroke  going by the depth of the engine.

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8 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Well at least this proves you play the game and dont google :D Twas in fact the Austin maxi.

Cant play any longer its barby time

 

Ah yeah, the Maxi!

 

How things have changed. That was the car with fold-down back seats into a 'bed', for the kids to sleep in during the late night trips home from visiting relatives. BLMC raised a few laughs with their advertising campaign slogan suggesting the bed made the car "Ideal for the young man about to start a family" :D

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Sorry, no. The wrong way round.

And the A90 Atlantic, rather drop heda and streamlined compared with the chunky A90 saloon

The A90 Atlantic was quite a flop. Don't think they sold very many.  There was also the Austin Metropolitan B series engine made mainly for the Australian market.

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Just now, bizzard said:

The A90 Atlantic was quite a flop. Don't think they sold very many.  There was also the Austin Metropolitan B series engine made mainly for the Australian market.

 

i think that one carried the A40 monica as well. An even worse column mounted gear change than the ones on the Somerset and I think Devons. I always thought of them as a car for bimbos.

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Just checked it was the Aston Martin DB5 and the DB6 that had a 5 speed ZF gearbox, sometime before the Maxi. I remember renewing the clutch on a DB5, all the front seats out and whatnot to get the box out from inside.

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9 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Ah yeah, the Maxi!

 

How things have changed. That was the car with fold-down back seats into a 'bed', for the kids to sleep in during the late night trips home from visiting relatives. BLMC raised a few laughs with their advertising campaign slogan suggesting the bed made the car "Ideal for the young man about to start a family" :D

 

 

Bloomin good car in concept.  The execution was crap.  I had two,  a 1500 first then a  1750.  First one  was interesting to steer with 10 cwt of bagged cement  in the back.  Second one cracked the sump when I drove onto the Torpoint ferry at lowish tide a bit too enthusiastically.  Some P38 fixed the leak and the gearbox was no worse than usual so it went on being driven.  A clutch change took about 45 minutes IIRC.

 

N

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14 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I don't think that is totally correct either. The Devons and Somersets had a similar to B series engine but there were differences, I think it had a longer stroke  going by the depth of the engine.

Right on, the Riley and Wolsey 1.5 were the same engine, a sort of primitive B series. Not a motor I had much to do with.

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4 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Just checked it was the Aston Martin DB5 and the DB6 that had a 5 speed ZF gearbox, sometime before the Maxi. I remember renewing the clutch on a DB5, all the front seats out and whatnot to get the box out from inside.

 

Just the same on the Riley RMA, except that the floor had to come out as well. But if that was bad, changing the rings was a nightmare, the pistons would not clear the crankshaft, and the big ends would not pass up through the bore.

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18 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I don't think that is totally correct either. The Devons and Somersets had a similar to B series engine but there were differences, I think it had a longer stroke  going by the depth of the engine.

And less engine capacity, around 1200cc

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1 minute ago, BEngo said:

Bloomin good car in concept.  The execution was crap.  I had two,  a 1500 first then a  1750.  First one  was interesting to steer with 10 cwt of bagged cement  in the back.  Second one cracked the sump when I drove onto the Torpoint ferry at lowish tide a bit too enthusiastically.  Some P38 fixed the leak and the gearbox was no worse than usual so it went on being driven.  A clutch change took about 45 minutes IIRC.

 

N

Oh I remember that low gearbox!   I went out to a guy who had hit a raised manhole in a 1750 Maxi. He couldn't understand why it wouldn't restart.

I lifted the bonnet and found that the power unit was almost upside down having rotated around the drive shafts when the sump hit the cast iron manhole.

Wrote the car off. Had ripped just about everything under the bonnet to shreds.

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2 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

 

Just the same on the Riley RMA, except that the floor had to come out as well. But if that was bad, changing the rings was a nightmare, the pistons would not clear the crankshaft, and the big ends would not pass up through the bore.

Many old cars the gearboxes had to come out from the inside because of the chassis frame arrangement, including Triumph Heralds and Spitfires.

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2 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Right on, the Riley and Wolsey 1.5 were the same engine, a sort of primitive B series. Not a motor I had much to do with.

 

Nor me.  The last real Riley was built in 1955. From then on, they were just Nuffield clones with very little character.

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On 06/05/2022 at 11:55, roland elsdon said:

I paid £5 for a ford Anglia estate in 1980. It had 3 days mot and tax, I used it to go and collect my stage 2 rebuilt spitfire engine, from somewhere in west London.

I then parked in the University car park at Brunel shaking with fear about its condition. Within 2 weeks it had been picked down to a shell.

 

 

Wow, I can't imagine how you got a 600kg engine into the back of an Anglia estate and drove it from London to Bristol... 😉

 

http://www.aviation-history.com/engines/merlin.htm

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2 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Many old cars the gearboxes had to come out from the inside because of the chassis frame arrangement, including Triumph Heralds and Spitfires.

Standard 8 and 10 too If my mind is still working.

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17 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

 

Nor me.  The last real Riley was built in 1955. From then on, they were just Nuffield clones with very little character.

The 1960's Riley and Wolseley 1.5's used the standard BMC B series 1489cc engines.  Riley twin SU carbs, Wolseley single Su.

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1 minute ago, bizzard said:

The 1960's Riley and Wolseley 1.5's used the standard BMC B series 1489cc engines.  Riley twin SU carbs, Wolseley single Su.

I thought that they were B series but there was something different about then compared to the other later  B series but I can'r remember what.

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2 hours ago, Chagall said:

Okay, now this has turned into great old car pictures, Ill add one of mine. 

 

My Father built this 'Fairthorpe' and using a Triumph Herald engine.  The black and white image shows it in build and I remember 'helping' and the smell of glass fibre and glue takes me right back!  The rather tatty picture shows the completed car, dated sometime in 1962. 

 

IMG_5929.JPG.a048df5844e25ee3eefd17d295668785.JPG

 

IMG_5930.JPG.67c7d7339db4684d762a2948d2fe06ae.JPG

 

 

Sold as the Electron or Electron Minor, from memory.

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My wife had the A40 farina. Austin missed a great opportunity by not making it a hatchback. Best Austin I ever had was an ex police Westminster in 1966 which had a modified gearbox with a 4 speed floor change instead of a column. All the local villains knew it and nobody ever tried to race me from traffic lights.

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7 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

My wife had the A40 farina. Austin missed a great opportunity by not making it a hatchback. Best Austin I ever had was an ex police Westminster in 1966 which had a modified gearbox with a 4 speed floor change instead of a column. All the local villains knew it and nobody ever tried to race me from traffic lights.

 

There was a sort of hatchback A40 Farina, probably only the mk2 though. The back panel and window was split in half with the window & surround swinging up and the bottom panel swinging down.

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

There was a sort of hatchback A40 Farina, probably only the mk2 though. The back panel and window was split in half with the window & surround swinging up and the bottom panel swinging down.

A40 Countryman, father had one, paint held the rust together, in the shape of front wings.

 

Bod

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