For those interested in old cars.

[figworthy]

23 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Both liked smashing up water pumps and neither heater really worked. Though quite what the definition of "working heater" was in an old Land Rover divides opinion.

 

Heater ?  Oh, that black thing just in front of the gear levers.  Had a fan attached to it that made lots of noise, but not much else (and the valve _was_ open).

 

Ahead of its time in many ways,.  Air con came as standard, you could see daylight between the doors and the windscreen, a howling gale blowing through there.  Thick glove on the right hand, thinner one on the left hand for winter motoring.  Oh happy days.

 

Adrian

[jcredfer]

My brother had a friend, who had a Dellow.  He came to stay for a week and as a 12 year old, got taken for a drive.  I had been driven for many miles in the saloon cars of the era, but the Dellow opened up a vastly different world. It was an amazing experience.  I was particularly impressed with the ability to raise the front wheels at around 60 MPH, due to the front mudguards.  The full frontal revelation of a machine's connection with environment was one of those life changing times.   It wasn't just information, it came with that physical experience and was the beginning of a lifetime of appreciation of the variety of performance of vehicles intended for a wide range of tasks.

 

What a wonderful awakening to have experienced, from the Dellow.

 

Julian

 

 

 

[alastairq]

18 hours ago, MrWolf said:

IIRC the chassis tubes were from a rocket propelled mine clearance device called a Bangalore torpedo.

Actually, from UP-3 and RP-3 rocket bodies.  Chrome Moly steel [virtually unobtainable if not exporting, late 1940's/early 1950's...due to Govt rationing of raw materials.]

https://www.dellowregister.co.uk/dellow-myths

[alastairq]

18 hours ago, MrWolf said:

never knew that a supercharger was offered for the Dellow. Was it one of the Shorrocks types as fitted to Triumph Heralds? 

 Dellow were agents for Wade-Ventnor superchargers, so naturally offered them as optional extras.  Not quite the same as a Shorrocks blower ...The Shorrocks [as was sold by Allard, amongst others] is a vane-type supercharger. The Wade-ventnor blowers were, I think, roots-type.   [But I may be mistaken there?]  The vane-type blower build air pressure within the supercharger casing...A roots-type builds the pressure within the  outlet manifold [which leads to the engine]...Vane-type blowers need a source of lube oil under pressure [usually from the engine itself] so tends to be a smokey old job at times. A roots blower [nowadays] has a sealed lubrication system, so is much more user-friendly.  However, the vane-type blower starts making its required pressure right from tickover.....but the design has limitations in that once revs reach a certain [high] level, it becomes less efficient as a blower. The roots type needs to be spun up to higher speeds before pressure builds.  Thus, the vane type blower is idea for slow revving engines, and is very effective on a [Ford] sidevalve engine...really increasing the torque figures at low revs. The roots type may lose out in that department, only really boosting torque further up the rev range. For trials, torque at low engine revs is ideal.  Super bhp figures are less important.

In practical terms, a blower on a sidevalve Ford does wonders at revs just above tickover....but in BHP terms, is only about equal to a reasonable twin-SU carb setup.

Of course, boosting the pressure leads to issues with heat and detonation....So for road use a twin carb setup is preferred, IMHO....For climbing the side of a house non stop, a blower is better.....on a Ford sidevalve engine, of course.  

The Ford sidevalve benefits so much from blowing as it has a restricted intake passage/port system.....Going too high on compression ratio makes breathing too difficult, due to the restriction imposed on the transfer passage[from valve to piston] , so  forcing a charge into the cylinder is very beneficial.

For an OHV engine, the benefits of supercharging are less noticeable...given that the valve/combustion chamber arrangement is [supposed to be?] more efficient?

Shorrock made blower kits to suit a variety of proprietary engine makes.....their most common one seemed to be the kit supplied for BMC A-series engines. They also had kits ofthe Ford 105E and 1200cc OHV engines, and the 1500ccKent non-crossflow[cortina] engine...so beloved of Ford Anglia fanatics....the Carlos Fandangos of this world?

 

Price-wise, a blower kit compares roughly to the amount one needed to spend on conventional tuning....

I have, in my downstairs loo.....a Shorrock blower [from, as it happens, a Ford sidevalve 10hp engine]...[that's RAC HP. not bhp!].....and a couple of Aisin blowers....a 300 & a 500...The 300 is for small engines , really sub one-lighter.....I had though of working one up to fit a FIAT 126 Bis?   The 500 is aimed at the Dellow engine...but I have a choice. The Dellow engine still has it's toothed bottom pulley from when it was blown by an owner in the 1980's....So the fitting of a toothed pulley to my  Shorrocks isn't too far adrift from my capabilities. A few years ago I found a company that sold toothed pulleys of infinite sizes and shaft shapes....and tooth forms as well....they showed how to work out what one had got already.....but they wanted 50 pensionquids for the size of pulley I wanted...

 

 

[alastairq]

https://www.dellowregister.co.uk/dellow-myths

This link also has history information about my car as well.....it being one of the 4 cars sold to Fords engineering in Bedford...[they were all KTM registrations. Mine is KTM 372...]  All 4 cars still exist, and once I had got mine back from the USA...all are now in this country.

As an aside, my car,  although perhaps more pricey than a Morris Minor, wasn't so far adrift, even with the shipping costs.

I took a chance, but it was a calculated risk, as I knew the Ford running gear side of things very well....and had/have loads of spares.

It is generally conceded within the Register that I managed to snag a bargin!  Cars sold more recently have been for more than double what I paid, I hasten to add.....But, I'm keeping mine.......and hope to do so for as long as I'm bendy enough to climb into it.

Getting out is another matter, and involves a serious loss of dignity for a couple of minutes afterwards.....but I have found, driving it has a beneficial effect on my lower back pain.

But, given a warm pullover, and a pair of plimmies, I would drive it anywhere, any time.....even if the back axle sounds a bit noisy [it shouldn't, it's fairly new components. But subject to my workmanship, which says it all.]

[Rugd1022]

From a local facebook nostalgia group, Dunchurch near Rugby in the '50s....

 

 

[steve1]

Morris Oxford MO with unusual rear wheel spats is my guess.

 

steve

[MrWolf]

Morris Six model MS c1951, big brother to the MO. Spats are most likely aftermarket, a set with a similar cutout was available for pre 1955 Vauxhalls. 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by MrWolf
Picture no attach!

[petethemole]

Sorry, it is an Oxford.  The front wheel cut-out is immediately in front of the door, whereas the Six has it further forward due to the longer wheelbase and front body.

[MrWolf]

Yep, you're both right! Those spats make it look like a much bigger vehicle.

I need to get a screen bigger than a phone.....

[petethemole]

The Six was only longer, the cabin and rear body were the same as the MO, and also the Wolseley Sixes, beloved of police forces of that era.  My attempts to learn to drive were in an '52 MO, which I shunted at low speed into a P4 Rover of similar vintage (with central headlight).  It was like a collision between two tanks, virtually no damage apart from slightly bent bumpers.

 

 

[MrWolf]

I think that everyone did it back then, a longer front end on the same cabin to create the luxury models. Off the top of my head I can only think of Vauxhall and Rover using the same front end for both fours and sixes back in 1951/52. The '48-'52 L series Vauxhalls were quite odd (owned a Wyvern once) They used the 4 light body tub of the prewar Ten and postwar Twelve with a new front and rear end grafted on that owed a lot style wise to the 1941 Cadillac. It was an economic way to create a modern "integrated look" car using what they already had to keep up with cars like the Austin Devon, whilst they got on with the entirely new E series to compete with Ford's medium saloon range, both of which were based on American cars from 1949.

[johnlambert]

On 08/12/2020 at 17:59, MrWolf said:

 

a magnificent Allard saloon which apparently had a Cadillac engine.

 

Quite possibly, Allard fitted a variety of engines.  Generally cars for the UK had Ford V8 sidevalves, sometimes with OHV conversion but Cadillac and sometimes Chrysler Hemi power were available.

 

 

2 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I think that everyone did it back then, a longer front end on the same cabin to create the luxury models. 

Yes, even Mercedes-Benz did it with the "Ponton" series.  The 180/190 four-cylinders were shorter than the six-cylinder 220.  It was, if you like, a two-way stretch; with a longer nose to make room for two more cylinders and a longer passenger compartment.  You could also get a 219, with the longer nose and straight six but the shorter cabin of the 180/190; these were once quite sought after for historic rallying I recall.

[Jol Wilkinson]

5 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

From a local facebook nostalgia group, Dunchurch near Rugby in the '50s....

 

 

Dunchurch, where I spent the first ten year of my life.

 

The building on the left is the original school house, which was the headmasters residence when I were a lad. I don't know if that was his car, the only one I particularly remember was an Armstrong Siddley Sapphire owned by George Nutt, the general store/grocer owner.

 

The view in the photo is very little changed, except you would be lucky to find a parking space nowadays.

 

While living there my father had a Ford 100E van, supplied by the local Ford Dealer, Rugby Autocar. It was supplied in pale blue undercoat (?) and then painted in the "corporate" green of my Uncles contracting company, for whom he worked. Prior to that he has a pre-war Wolseley saloon, but I don't know which model. My Uncle always had Rovers, the first I recall having the central light in the grill. He later had the first Rover 2000 (or so I was told) sold by Sam Robbins Ltd from their showroom on Bilton Road (now KwikFit).

[Rugd1022]

2 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Dunchurch, where I spent the first ten year of my life.

 

The building on the left is the original school house, which was the headmasters residence when I were a lad. I don't know if that was his car, the only one I particularly remember was an Armstrong Siddley Sapphire owned by George Nutt, the general store/grocer owner.

 

The view in the photo is very little changed, except you would be lucky to find a parking space nowadays.

 

While living there my father had a Ford 100E van, supplied by the local Ford Dealer, Rugby Autocar. It was supplied in pale blue undercoat (?) and then painted in the "corporate" green of my Uncles contracting company, for whom he worked. Prior to that he has a pre-war Wolseley saloon, but I don't know which model. My Uncle always had Rovers, the first I recall having the central light in the grill. He later had the first Rover 2000 (or so I was told) sold by Sam Robbins Ltd from their showroom on Bilton Road (now KwikFit).

 

You're right, aside from the number of cars parked there now, it hasn't really changed at all.

 

Sam Robins - in the '60s and '70s we lived in St.Annes Road in Rugby and our neighbour Christine Tomes was the receptionist there. Earlier this year classic car dealer Percival Motors down in Kent had a Rover P5B Coupe for sale which was sold new from Sam Robins in 1970, the car's history file included the original sales invoice from there.

[peanuts]

someone's raided the Ford parts bin for z bitza special 1970s gwynedd rally 

[russ p]

22 minutes ago, peanuts said:

someone's raided the Ford parts bin for z bitza special 1970s gwynedd rally 

 

 

That actually looks pretty good 

[MrWolf]

I rather like that! Even though we spent a good bit of our teens out-dragging "civilian" Capris and XR3i's 

[Richard E]

19 hours ago, peanuts said:

someone's raided the Ford parts bin for z bitza special 1970s gwynedd rally 

 

Story behind it is that it was built from a burnt out 3 litre Capri GXL only a couple of months after the car was introduced. Body panels, grilles and lights weren't available so the nose of an Escort was grafted on instead. The photos are taken on the Great Orme on the 1975 Gwynedd Stages.

 

[peanuts]

dont know if this should go in here the driving standards or the bridge bash thread but this is crying out for a caption competition 

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 minutes ago, peanuts said:

dont know if this should go in here the driving standards or the bridge bash thread but this is crying out for a caption competition 

 

That's at Sheepbridge under the Chesterfield to Sheffield Midland main line.

It was on it's way to Gordon Lamb's showroom, but the driver took the most direct route. It was on display in the dealership for a while after as it was still driveable, and was used to show the strength of Saab cars.

 

Mike.

[steve1]

Thought it was a Saab. Having owned several I can concur they are tough.

 

So much so that my very first 900S on a G plate is still on the DVLA after I reluctantly got rid of it 16 years ago.

 

steve

Edited December 13, 2020 by steve1
Additional info

[PhilJ W]

52 minutes ago, peanuts said:

dont know if this should go in here the driving standards or the bridge bash thread but this is crying out for a caption competition 

That has appeared already on the bridge bashing thread

[Rugd1022]

A while ago I posted some petrol station shots from the Sainsburys archive covering the '70s and '80s, the entire collection is here and is well worth a look....

 

https://sainsburyarchive.org.uk/catalogue/search/search/with_image:on--awao-everywhere:car-park?date_from=1901&date_to=2013&page=3

[russ p]

2 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

A while ago I posted some petrol station shots from the Sainsburys archive covering the '70s and '80s, the entire collection is here and is well worth a look....

 

https://sainsburyarchive.org.uk/catalogue/search/search/with_image:on--awao-everywhere:car-park?date_from=1901&date_to=2013&page=3

 

Thats excellent nidge. The amount of cars with bodywork repairs in primer . Today most of the public won't wash a cars bodywork let alone repair it.

I'm always washing cars and watch quite a lot of YouTube detailing videos I'm sure most people in my road think I'm Polish!