Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[MrWolf]

That was like my great uncle Sam used to say, you could always tell how good a shunter was by how many fingers he had left. 

Sometimes people get a promotion, often to a shiny ar*e job to stop them doing any more damage.

[MrWolf]

8 hours ago, Nick C said:

Either of these any use to you Mr W?

 

They've been kicking around in the spares box for years, no idea if they work (well, one certainly doesn't, as it's got no brushes...)

 

Those might just be the solution, I'll drop you a PM later, thanks very much.

[MrWolf]

An update on the hideous Pacer. As I tend to be supportive of the underdog, I have been and bought two brand new M2209 motors for it.

Let's just hope that it decides to behave.

[Barclay]

They were quite rubbish but when they were due to be withdrawn I became nostalgic about them, especially since I happened on them in both Devon and Lancashire in the last couple of years. I think it's because there's not much left now from my trainspotting days in the early 80's. But then I quite like Austin Maestros too...

[MrWolf]

I have to confess to having nostalgic feelings about the F registered Maestro van I once had. 

It really earned its keep, even though the door handles kept snapping off, indicator stalks broke, gearbox mounts failed so all the weight was on the linkage and you could only get 2nd and 4th, both of the seat backs snapped off and once I got stopped by the police:

"You've no headlight"

"Ah, I will get a bulb in it when I get home"

"No, come and look, you've NO headlight "

The plastic mounting had snapped and the entire headlight assembly was probably pancaked somewhere on the A49.

 

It was quick and would carry some serious weight

But

You see why I prefer Bedford vans.

[Graham T]

I've successfully managed to block all traumatic memories of once owning a Maestro estate...

 

[longchap]

40 minutes ago, Graham T said:

I've successfully managed to block all traumatic memories of once owning a Maestro estate...

 

Until reading the above, I'd completely forgotten that I once bought an MG Maestro. It was £50 and in fairness, I only got it as I needed a temporary home for a private appropriate reg number for a classic under restoration. The transferred number never physically made it onto the Maestro and I let someone use it until the month's MOT ran out, after which, it was collected by the scrappy. There was nothing remotely pleasant about it and I can't remember if I ever drove it.

Edited November 1, 2022 by longchap

[Graham T]

Sorry if I awakened some unpleasant memories!

 

[longchap]

I don't know what was worse Graham, it being an MG or a Maestro!

 

Fortunately, I never actually used it, so not a problem and the TR got a great reg number.

Edited November 1, 2022 by longchap

[lmsforever]

I once had a Morris Marina to drive until my actual company car was ready ,boy was I glad when I returned it head office .Every time I used the brakes it dived forward and downwards ,it rolled badly and the gears well you had to double clutch to make sure they went in. I was very glad when I received my Cortina estate.

[MrWolf]

That sounds like a bit of British Leyland quality control or belligerent sabotage. There were apparently cases of the torsion bar mounts not being set on the correct spline so that the bars were not under full tension. The remote gear linkage was pretty sloppy though, again indifferent assembly and cheapening up of materials. It was basically the same setup as Triumph had been using since 1959 and that worked even when absolutely worn out.

 

I had the chance to drive the Marina's predecessor on Saturday, in the shape of a 1963 Morris Minor, I haven't driven one since 1999, but I hadn't forgotten where the switches and reverse gear are. I genuinely enjoyed my fifteen minutes trundling about.

All those old cars from the fifties and sixties smell the same, it's just about the finest smell in the world.

[Barclay]

6 hours ago, MrWolf said:

it's just about the finest smell in the world.

You're starting to sound like Roland D. Lebay from Stephen King's 'Christine' !

[MrWolf]

Twas indeed, subconsciously so it seems. I thought it sounded familiar when I typed it.

 

And we're not allowed to repeat Mr LeBay's afterthought on here, even though it can't be denied. 😇

 

I think that a '58 Fury would be on the lottery win car list, modern bling is too Nouveau riche and you might get mistaken for some tedious celebrity.

 

Besides, you can't drive over the sh**ters that done you wrong in a gold foil wrapped Ferrari... 

[MrWolf]

Well I suppose that during the hiatus in Tri-ang fixing, I'm waiting for motors and a bigger rock to arrive... I really ought to get on with the blooming blümen.

 

I mentioned on Little Muddle that I need to construct an old style wooden rose arch if I'm taking Llandrinio Road as inspiration and have been attempting something using tiny bits of stick.

It was only when @The White Rabbit suggested that I built a jig that I realised I could make up a wire maquette that would not only act as a building jig but also give a bit of strength to the model.

 

More of that later, for now I had better go and do some work.

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Twas indeed, subconsciously so it seems. I thought it sounded familiar when I typed it.

 

And we're not allowed to repeat Mr LeBay's afterthought on here, even though it can't be denied. 😇

 

I think that a '58 Fury would be on the lottery win car list, modern bling is too Nouveau riche and you might get mistaken for some tedious celebrity.

 

Besides, you can't drive over the sh**ters that done you wrong in a gold foil wrapped Ferrari... 

 

Well I'm going to get one of those dumpsters as the number of people I'd like to drive over is in double figures. Perhaps something with a fork lift at the front so all you have to do is spear them and then lift them up and into the crusher. That why I'll be able to fit them all in without having to go and empty the thing.

[MrWolf]

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has some peculiar thoughts.

[The Stationmaster]

On 01/11/2022 at 17:23, MrWolf said:

I have to confess to having nostalgic feelings about the F registered Maestro van I once had. 

It really earned its keep, even though the door handles kept snapping off, indicator stalks broke, gearbox mounts failed so all the weight was on the linkage and you could only get 2nd and 4th, both of the seat backs snapped off and once I got stopped by the police:

"You've no headlight"

"Ah, I will get a bulb in it when I get home"

"No, come and look, you've NO headlight "

The plastic mounting had snapped and the entire headlight assembly was probably pancaked somewhere on the A49.

 

It was quick and would carry some serious weight

But

You see why I prefer Bedford vans.

HA van - very nice and I took my BR Driving Test in one.  CF workabus - absolutely atrocious, by far the worst vehicle in the little fleet of such things I had the entertainment to have as part of my management responsibilities in a job back in the 1980s, the Transit chassis vehicles were incomparably better.

[MrWolf]

I quite liked HA vans, I've rescued a couple. I prefer the earlier one with the Viva HB engine, very little trouble and easy to work on. Those with the Opel Kadett/ Vauxhall Chevette "biscuit tin" engine, not so much, no rocker shaft, pressed tin rockers on studs, never stayed set and if you got a misfire it was usually a sign that a pushrod had jumped out. The Stromberg diaphragm carb that replaced the Zenith was a hateful blocked toilet of a carburettor and a sure sign that car design was going to hell in a handcart was the fact that in order to remove the starter motor you had to remove one engine mount and the exhaust header pipe, which was no longer attached by two or three big brass nuts, but six inaccessible rusty 8mm bolts that threatened to either snap off in the manifold or strip the thread in the casting.

Add to that the 70s and 80s gearbox not having a drain plug, all part of the sealed for life fantasy, you begin to see why I hate modern cars.

 

Of the bigger vans, I'll agree that the CF has some major faults and although faster, roomier and more comfortable, I'll stick with the 1952-69 CA, which most people call the Dormobile, although most of them weren't.

 

The CF, 1969-86, should have been a better van and if they had taken a closer look at its American cousins from GMC (Everyone knows the A Team van!) It would have been as big a game changer as it's predecessor and blown the competition into the weeds like Bedford did in the 50s.

 

It was a couple of inches too narrow between the rear arches, so it was tricky to stack 8x4 boards.

The engine access was terrible, no removable side or front panel initially and the sloper engine made things even worse.

Another terrible carburettor and points that were underneath the bobweights.

Stupid long ignition key that snapped off with annoying regularity.

Rear door latches that didn't.

 

Upside, it did have the full independent front suspension from the Cresta and you could do a clutch change in just over an hour. They would always start in the morning, even if you had to take a blowtorch to the rear door handle to get in as everything else had half an inch of ice sealing it shut and although period typically slow, the Opel Blitz diesel would pull up trees, or a York engined Transit that wouldn't start at anything below 10c.

 

I liked some things about Transits, such as engine accessibility, the little extra room and creature comforts, but:

There was that awful prewar beam front axle and the feeble steering box that would tear out of the chassis.

The axle was always coming loose on the leaf springs until it snapped off the location pegs.

Five million bolts to get the clutch housing off. FWD Transits have a gearbox made from chocolate pennies.

Fuse box and earthing woes.

 

And worst of all, more rust than Brighton pier.

They were great, provided that you didn't have to work on them and that goes for the CF too.

[longchap]

So apart from that . . . nah, best not to!

 

I'll stick with my '76 Citroen HY van.

[MrWolf]

I hope that doesn't need welding! 

At least you can drag the engine and box straight out of the front end like you could with a Bedford CA.

 

 

[longchap]

It's covered in cobwebs at the moment, but is rust free and drives sweetly. The walk through functionality is very practical.

 

[MrWolf]

Very nice, I love all that corrugated panelling, even though it's a PITA when dealing with dents or tinworm.

[lmsforever]

I had the misfortune to drive a viva van ,rattly ,cold,noisy and had the worst seats I ever sat on it put my back out and I still suffer today!

[figworthy]

13 minutes ago, lmsforever said:

I had the misfortune to drive a viva van ,rattly ,cold,noisy and had the worst seats I ever sat on it put my back out and I still suffer today!

 

Was that a Vauxhall feature I wonder.  I had a Shovette Chevette as a hire car once, and after an hour I'd concluded that the seats were sourced from a torture chamber.

 

We had a couple of CF minibuses when I was a student, and as memory serves (40 years on), they weren't bad to drive, and could be nippy (as one Porchse owner found out at two successive sets of traffic lights).

 

And now back to our normal programme.

 

Adrian

[longchap]

35 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Very nice, I love all that corrugated panelling, even though it's a PITA when dealing with dents or tinworm.

 

It was, as the bodywork had dozens of localised rust in many places which, due to the corrugations, took an age to restore and there were a few trim and mechanical parts to source, but it drove well enough on the 5 hour trip home.

 

Oh and we restored the seats, so it's really comfortable, which is just as well, as it is not a fast machine, but the driving experience is a jolly one 🙂

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by longchap