For those interested in old cars.

[APOLLO]

Just now, alastairq said:

I'm interested to know how well they last? Or how good they are at giving a good earth? I have two...I'm a tad suspicious of the gold plated monkey metal they seem to be made of?   

 

I don't know really - mine looks well made and had no trouble starting the car after fitting.

 

Brit15

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

 

I don't know really - mine looks well made and had no trouble starting the car after fitting.

 

Brit15

 

Funnily enough, I had one on one of my P6's, purchased from a pukka car spares shop back in the day when China wasn't the centre of the world, it lasted one (Sheffield) winter before becoming a verdigris blob.

 

Mike.

[MrWolf]

I removed a similar device from a Bedford CA Dormobile about 20 years ago. It had gone furry and the clamp snapped. I know it's old fashioned, but covering the terminals with vaseline and simply unbolting the earth when out of use for long periods isn't that much effort.

I have always found that the more joints in the battery feed cable, the more potential for poor electrical contact. Even modern cars with quick release terminals (Eg Renault) are a P.I.T.A. Just my $0.02

[Rugd1022]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

It's a far cry from the oft heard wisdom of of "You need to buy a silver one, it's neutral, they keep their resale value best..."

Boring B*******s...

Bring back Vauxhall Crestas in Lime yellow, Ford Zephyrs in coral pink, or Triumph Heralds in alpine lilac.

On no account should they have a grey fabric / plastic interior either.

 

Despite wanting something Italian and exotic as my next classic buy, if I could find a nice solid early XJ6 (or the equivalent Daimler Sovereign) in Lilac or Coral Pink I'd be onto it like a shot....

 

 

 

 

I'm also partial to the early Turquoise and Willow Green shades on XJs....

 

 

 

Incidentally the first appearance of an XJ6 in a British film was the Turquoise one that was driven by Joss Ackland in 'Villian' in 1970....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Rugd1022

[APOLLO]

Jag and Rover P5 !! Both superb cars. The white P5 coupe really looks classy (mines a blue saloon)

 

As to the battery connector, it's in the boot, away from the weather. Not a disaster at six quid if it doesn't last. Time will tell.

 

Brit15

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

More golden oldies.... these are all from a facebook group which doesn't give any details about the original photographers, some of the locations may be familiar, some not....

 

 

 

The location has been identified as London Road South, Lowestoft near Mill Road.

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, Moxy said:

 

I don't recognise it either, but the BJ registration is Ipswich, so perhaps it's one of their garages around that area?

London Road South, Lowestoft.

[MrWolf]

I do like the look of the early XJ6, especially the coupe. I rapidly lose interest when you start to add impact absorbing bumpers, more gadgets, plastic, more plastic square (WTF?) headlamps etc etc. But I'm not biased, that goes for ALL cars..

As for the P5, I have completely rebuilt a six and a V8. I shall refrain from commenting about my opinion of Rovers in general because I don't want to offend the #### out of people who obviously love them.

[PatB]

10 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

Very 1970s.

And, by contrast, the pastels and two tones are fairly typical of the first half of the 1960s.

 

The shiny, D plate 105E Anglia would put the picture itself as 1966 onwards. Given the weather looks quite nice, presumably the earliest likely date is some time in the summer of 1966.

[BernardTPM]

Yes, that's right. There's only one older car (an A40/A50 Cambridge) in plain black, still a very common colour in the early 1950s, a couple of late '50s Rootes. Nothing exotic or foreign here, just a typical selection that you rarely see reflected in model form.

[Rugd1022]

14 hours ago, APOLLO said:

Jag and Rover P5 !! Both superb cars. The white P5 coupe really looks classy (mines a blue saloon)

 

As to the battery connector, it's in the boot, away from the weather. Not a disaster at six quid if it doesn't last. Time will tell.

 

Brit15

 

The P5B in 'Villain' looks white but is actually 'Silver Birch', a very pale shade of grey (and nothing like the silver birch used on the Bond Aston DB5!), the roof colour is called 'Burnt Grey' but has a hint of dark brown in it....

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a slightly less villainous use of a P5B Saloon....

 

 

And a P5 3-litre Saloon....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Rugd1022

[APOLLO]

Nice P5 photos - Not really a villains car though (unless Maggie was sat in the back !!!!!).

 

I like this one. Wonder what the story was - Bonnet up, caravan, picnic on the verge, not exactly a picnic location. (6 cyl car also). Like the silver tea set !!

 

 

Brit15

[boxbrownie]

16 hours ago, alastairq said:

I'm interested to know how well they last? Or how good they are at giving a good earth? I have two...I'm a tad suspicious of the gold plated monkey metal they seem to be made of?   

Aside from that I always worried what they are rated at.......great idea but some must be made to a price.

 

How does this one feel overall in quality?

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I removed a similar device from a Bedford CA Dormobile about 20 years ago. It had gone furry and the clamp snapped. I know it's old fashioned, but covering the terminals with vaseline and simply unbolting the earth when out of use for long periods isn't that much effort.

I have always found that the more joints in the battery feed cable, the more potential for poor electrical contact. Even modern cars with quick release terminals (Eg Renault) are a P.I.T.A. Just my $0.02

Probably better to use a “competition” type battery cut off switch close to the battery itself, at least they are proper switches.

[russ p]

20 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

 Thanks Bernard - my initial guess was somewhere in my native Warwickshire due to the half timbered buildings, but of course they're not restricted this county.

 

Another batch....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent pictures,, every picture has some BL product in one form or another in it

Please tell me that bloke isn't lifting the engine out of the 1100 with step ladders!!

[russ p]

17 hours ago, APOLLO said:

Got one of these off ebay for under six quid post free. Arrived today, fitted it to my old Rover in less than a minute. Just turn the knob to isolate / connect. The battery is in the boot, and I always disconnected the earth when garaging her. This little gizmo is a boon.

 

Brit15

 

I have these on a couple of mine. Really  useful 

[boxbrownie]

6 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Excellent pictures,, every picture has some BL product in one form or another in it

Please tell me that bloke isn't lifting the engine out of the 1100 with step ladders!!

Nah, probably just........oh no......yes he is......

[alastairq]

Step ladders in those days were quite stout affairs, unlike today's B&Q efforts?

I've used very tall trestles in the past, linked by a scavenged RSJ with a loop in the middle, to take a snaffled CEGB chain hoist...Worked a treat, regardless of engine [didn't try lifting any Gardner motors though...which I presume is what a BMC 1100 actually had under its bonnet?]...

Folk rig chain hoists off roof joists which will be just as fragile.

In those days one did what one could, with what one had.

Nowadays we have got so up ourselves with 'proper tools', H&S, etc, we forget that the use of ''ingenuity'' was once the prime stock-in-trade for a home mechanic on low incomes?

How many on here still mend their old cars on grass, or mud, or even, out in the street? A pavement edge was useful for squeezing oneself underneath to a drain plug.

I think top gear used to refer to such ingenuity as 'bush mechanics?'

[RANGERS]

On 27/01/2021 at 17:28, MrWolf said:

I would think that you are quite right in that presumption. I have seen Bedford VAL twin steer coach chassis used ( fitted with a TK / KM cab ) as low loading beer barrel transporters, one of which survived into the early 90s fitted with an extra long recovery body. I believe that Marsden used coach chassis for their furniture vans and built a low loading platform behind the rear axle.

If the Bedfords you’re thinking of were the type in this photo, they were specialist versions of the TK, not VALs.

https://public.fotki.com/Scottishtruckphotos/scottish-trucks/edinburgh__the_loth/general_haulage/scottishnewcastlebr/osg-936m-scania-gsg.html
 

The principle was the same as the VAL though, reduce the size of the wheels to allow a lower platform, add a third axle to maintain the payload weight and mount it at the front to increase the front axle loads and mitigate the engine weight being on the front, steering axle.

 

As well as S&N Breweries, Bass, Courage, Watney Mann, Whitbread, and probably others used them to some degree.

 

As for car transporters on coach chassis, they were something of an innovation in the 1960s before the increase in artic weights made that a more attractive option, but are largely forgotten now. The best known ones were probably the coach built ones for the F1 racing teams, a number of which survive.

[PhilJ W]

The only Bedford Vals to be fitted with a TK cab were some engineering prototypes.

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, alastairq said:

Step ladders in those days were quite stout affairs, unlike today's B&Q efforts?

I've used very tall trestles in the past, linked by a scavenged RSJ with a loop in the middle, to take a snaffled CEGB chain hoist...Worked a treat, regardless of engine [didn't try lifting any Gardner motors though...which I presume is what a BMC 1100 actually had under its bonnet?]...

Folk rig chain hoists off roof joists which will be just as fragile.

In those days one did what one could, with what one had.

Nowadays we have got so up ourselves with 'proper tools', H&S, etc, we forget that the use of ''ingenuity'' was once the prime stock-in-trade for a home mechanic on low incomes?

How many on here still mend their old cars on grass, or mud, or even, out in the street? A pavement edge was useful for squeezing oneself underneath to a drain plug.

I think top gear used to refer to such ingenuity as 'bush mechanics?'

Ah the old "Elf n Safety just gets in the way these days" excuse, except that how many people do you know who have old injuries from their misplaced "ingenuity"?  I've met dozens who thought they knew better (it's often said that the general public shouldn't be sold ladders, because of the proportion of people who get injured using them, incorrectly).  When they didn't have an accident, it's because they got away with it, not because they knew better.  Everyone's luck runs out in the end.

Actually people don't have accidents mending their cars these days, because they don't mend their own cars.  

[MrWolf]

Actually that's probably just as well, considering people like the young man who came into my friends shop yesterday, wanting a chain fitting to a mountain bike. He didn't know how many gears it had. Other than three cogs on the front "thingy". He thought that we would know, seeing as we fix bicycles, despite the fact that he hadn't brought the bicycle in question with him.

I am constantly amazed how so many people of my generation and younger manage to get out of bed in the morning without killing themselves.

[PatB]

I have a (modern, aluminium) stepladder that's officially rated at 120kg SWL. I'd be perfectly happy lifting an A-Series, and attached gearbox with a pair of them if I had no suitable alternative. TBH the bits in the photo that worry me more are the sag in the crossbeam and the fact the offside ladder is vulnerable to traffic. 

[alastairq]

4 hours ago, Northmoor said:

When they didn't have an accident, it's because they got away with it, not because they knew better. 

 Sound awfully like a description of driver safety ...

[alastairq]

2 hours ago, PatB said:

and the fact the offside ladder is vulnerable to traffic. 

 

Not so bad traffic-wise on a quiet residential street...which really were quiet back in those days.

Also, likely drivers actually looked where they were going back than as well?

 

There are plenty of instances where folk have been hurt, despite following all the H&S rules, etc..in the past...it's how the no-win-no-fee legal industry got going.

 

But, when needs must and the economical devil rides...one did the job with what one had. Sure there were risks, but these were taken into account when balancing the alternative factors...like, not having a car available to go to work in? Or not being able to give the family a holiday this year because of the cost of towing the car to a 'garage' and paying someone to do the job?

Different world back then....and I for one was no worse for it.