Wolseley
1936 New Fourteen
- Wolseley
The New Fourteen is fine. It has been to three shows in 1997 and won an award in a concours event.
Picture of Wolseley CUV456 (26K)
Picture of CUV456 in the driveway (133K)
Picture of CUV456 with trophy (36K)
The latest news (May 2000) of the New Fourteen is that it failed to get its MOT at the first attempt. It was failed on a leaking front shock absorber, nonworking brake lamps and a low efficiency from the offside rear brakes.
The Shock absorber has been leaking for years and this year I was too lazy to wipe it clean before the test. The brake lamps work fine and I can only assume the tester did not press the pedal hard enough, not being used to the older car which relies on hydraulic pressure to operate the brake lamp switch. The rear brake was a bit oily and I have given it a thorough clean but not replaced the lining so I am crossing my fingers for the retest.- The New Fourteen won the "Best in Class" award at the 2005 Wolseley Register annual rally.
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The Gamage
- Gamage
- The Gamage was been provisionally dated as 1904. Final dating is
dependant upon the outcome of the restoration. The restoration is
proceeded exceedingly slowly for the first few years. It was only a part time
activity and took last place in a long line of other activities, like working
for a living. The whole chassis was stripped down to every last wood screw and rebuilt.
The engine, gearbox, back axle, suspension, wheels, and brakes were all
stripped and reassembled. The back axle needed quite extensive repair
with the replacement of bearings and the remake of some of the differential
gears. The engine was in excellent condition but was missing a contact
trembler assembly. It was not initially fitted with a De Dion ignition but
with a proprietery make, probably EIS. This I replaced with a contact breaker
more in the style of the early De Dion unit. I have remade all the engine controls
which were missing, as was the steering box.
The carburetor is of JAP manufacture and was in a very fragile state and needed much careful attention with a zinc based solder to recover it.This is a picture of the Gamage as it was acquired with the bits balanced in place to look like a car.
The Gamage as it was when recovered (27K)
There follows a series of pictures relating to the repair of the wheels. One of the wheels needed the wooden rim piece replaced and two of them had to have new rims fitted. This was all carried out in the backyard smithy.
Wheel with new wood in place (12K)
Quenching the rim (10K)
Two seconds later (9K)The next two pictures come from the repair of the back axle differential.
The differential pinions in place (7K)
Milling the one of the pinions (10K)Every thing gets done in my own garage and so it is a slow but very enjoyable process. This year (1997) progress has been to set up a foundry and cast some of the brass control leavers and brackets. Here are some further pictures.
Foundry work in the garage (59K)
The cast quadrant piece when fully fettled (56K)
The Gamage chassis now has its top coat paint and a set of tyres fitted.
The latest state of restoration of the chassis (68K)Having missed the 1996 and the 2000 targets for completion of the restoration I was determined to achieve the 2004 Brighton run as this would be the cars 100th anniversary. I now had more time available and on Jan 1st 2004 the Gamage was moved to number one priority. Long hours over the next six months achieved the target with completion of the body and all ancillary fittings, such as water, fuel, and oil tanks and all the plumbing and linkages. It had to be essentially complete in July to go through the bureaucracy of re-registering a car and getting licensed and finally dated before the closing date for Brighton entries. This we achieved and and we arrived in Hyde Park on the November morning with less than a mile of total running. On one of the short trips out the gearbox selector had broken and had to be replaced and so it was with some trepidation that we set off for Brighton along with some 400 others that Sunday morning. But apart from a near continuous boiling whenever we got held in traffic or came to a slight incline we made Brighton without hitch by about 3.30pm. It had another succesful run, if wet, in 2005, with only a slight delay due to carburetor corrosion and a a totally succesful run in the sunshine in 2006.
The Gamage at Westminster Bridge on the 2004 London to Brighton Run.
Mr. Gamage and the Houses of Parliament (68K)
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The 1932 Wolseley Hornet
- Wolseley Hornet Special
- The Wolseley Hornet is a 1932 sanction 51 chassis which was first registered in New Zealand. It was restored and rebodied in New Zealand in the fifties before being returned to the UK in the eighties.
This is a picture of the Hornet as it first arrived.
The Hornet (88K)When acquired the Hornet had a rear hub slightly loose on the half shaft spline. This has been fixed for the time being by resoldering the hub to the spline. This is not the original manufacturing technique but it is one that had been used before on what I suspect to be replacement half shafts which have the splines slightly undersize on diameter. A proper repair will await the Autumn. I have also skimmed the two nearside brake drums as these were badly worn and causing much squealing. The fuel tank has been repaired as it had a small seep around one of the mounting brackets. It is now fully roadworthy with MOT.
The windscreen wiper failed when Ann and I took it to the annual rally of the Wolseley Hornet Special Club. This proved to be a fairly minor item to repair by making a new collet to clamp to the motor spindle.
On return from Normandy the radiator leak had worsened. This was from a point near the top where the calorimeter enters, so it had not been causing serious water loss but it was spreading hot anti-freeze water on the paintwork. I have now resoldered it and it seems OK.The rear hub came loose on the half shaft again. As expected the soldering was only a temporary cure. So this necessitated procuring a new hub and half shaft and replacing both.
This year (2000) the MOT man commented that the offside rear brake was low on performance although he did not fail it. As I am due to take the car to the 50th celebration Annual general meeting next weekend, a round trip of about 200 miles, I pulled the drum off and had a look. There was more oil than there should have been so I explored a bit deeper and pulled the hub and halfshaft out. To my horror the wheel bearing was immersed in what looked like metal-flake paint, only the flakes were steel. Deeper still I pulled the bearing carrier to find what looked like broken circlips behind the bearing. The unit had been modified to take a modern oil seal and because this increased the width of the bearing carrier I can only surmise that someone had bodged the assembly by spacing the bearing out with a couple of circlips. These had subsequently broken up and done a lot of damage. With everything now apart and no time to get replacements before next weekend I cleaned everything up and to my surprise the bearing felt fine. I turned up a mild steel spacer to replace the circlips and loctited it in position and reassembled the whole unit. It feels fine and does not make any audible noise when running so I am hoping for the best and off to the rally at the weekend.
I wonder if I ought to look at the other side!!The rear hubs and half shafts have now been replaced by ones which require a substantial force for assembly and this seems to have cured the movement problem. for the beginning of 2005 the brakes have been relined and all brake seals replaced. I have also replaced the king pins and two of the steering ball joints and rebushed the steering box with an eccentric bush to take out the play. it passed its MOT without problem.
After a bit of enthusiastic driving on the way to Wiscombe, trying to keep pace with another '32 Hornet, there was an alarming knocking sound as we came off the motorway. Sounding much like a big end it was silent under gentle driving conditions and so a more cautious return to base was accomplished. The knocking disappeared on the removal of plug lead number one. So off came the sump, drop the rod and piston and inspect the big end. It looked in good condition but there was sign of some of the bearing shells having settled more firmly in the rod an cap and hence loosenning the bearing slightly. So reset all this and reassembled and run the engine and all sounded fine. However on a longer run when the oil had warmed up the knocking returned. This was only a couple of days before the planned trip to the AGM . Drop the sump again, inspect the big end and it looked fine. But the white metallic bits in the sump must be coming from somewhere. Mysterious. Must be the front main. So pull the front off the engine and the source of the white sludge is immediately apparent. Re-metal and replace the front main, which can be done with the engine left in place, despite much conflicting advice from members, reassemble and all is now well. The round trip of 300 miles to the AGM was started gently as I was running in the new bearing but all went well. A little less enthusiasm is needed on the next trip to Wiscombe.
- For other pictures of the Hornet see the WHSC page
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The 1934 Wolseley Hornet
- Wolseley Hornet Special
- This Wolseley Hornet is a 1934 Eustace Watkins Daytona style built by Hattersly of Ormskirk.
This is a picture of the Hornet as it first arrived.
The Hornet (88K)The '34 Hornet is a joy to drive. Much more stable than the '32 and it keeps going where pointed even on rough roads. It has no more performance than the '32, because the body is heavier, but the higher overall gearing makes cruising more comfortable.
It has now been on several long trips to France. In 2003 we took it on the boat to Bilbao and came back though France to spend a week with others from the Hornet club touring in Normandy. This was the very hot summer and the car performed faultlessly despite temperatures over 40 in the shade. In 2004 we visited the Classic Le Mans, again joined the club in Normandy, and then spent a week sampling the delights of the middle Loire region. On this trip we did over 3000 miles and did have a problem with tyres. I was down to my last inner tube before we reached Cherbourg for the boat home. Also we returned with a dripping radiator which has now been re-cored. This year (2006) we went down the the Rallye de Charente and Circuit des Remparts at Agouleme. A number of Hornets went via Newhaven, but we traveled Plymouth to Roscoff and made our own way down to join the others at Angouleme. Apart from a dripping water pump all the way we had no troubles and it was a very enjoyable trip, if a little damp at times. The water pump leak was caused by a poorly fitted seal being dislodged when I greased the pump before the trip. Ann and I are now very used to thanking people for letting us know that our car is leaking water!! Usually not a problem but a bit embarrassing when it has been standing next to others on an overnight ferry and they all have to walk through a puddle to get to their cars.
For other pictures of the Hornet see the WHSC page -
Rover 216
- Rover 216
- Ann's Rover 216 still gives excellent service taking her to and from work and having the Honda engine it can be really fun to drive when given the chance. It's a bit short of headroom though!
Ann and the Rover 216 (42K)The Rover unfortunately was shortened at both ends recently when Ann just managed to stop on a very slippery lane where diesel oil had been spilt, but the person behind didn't, thus shunting her into the car inconveniently parked in the hedge in front. Its currently in the repairers being "reshaped".
Its now been repaired and looks better than new.
It let Ann down the other night (March 1999). It just stopped and showed no sign of life at all. This was the first time it had ever given any trouble in over seven years. It was not far from home so I went out and towed it home and poked around under the bonnet. I could find no trace of a spark so I suspected the Engine control unit. A day later I was able to take the morning off so I decided to have a better look at it before I called in some help. Armed with no more than an AVO meter and a Haynes manual I measured all I could around the ignition circuit and the engine control unit. I could find nothing wrong with the engine control unit, I even opened it up to look inside and see if anything was burnt but it looked and smelled fine. So I had a better look inside the distributor and came across a thing called the igniter unit which is "conveniently" omitted from the Haynes circuit diagram! This is the power output semiconductor device which drives the coil. The coil seemed OK but the igniter had a lower resistance to the chassis than I would have suspected. So off to the Rover dealer and bought another. It was £98, ouch!!! When I got the new one home it did not measure as much better than the old one as I would have expected but I fitted it anyway and to my great relief the engine then burst into life at the first touch of the starter. Its surprising that it should have worked fine for eight years and then fail, but that's life. I may take it in to work an cut it open and find out why it failed, but that's for the future.
I did open up the electronics and it was a faulty brazed joint mounting the power output silicon chip. It is surprising that it had lasted so long.
The car has recently (May 2000) been losing some of its power and I suspect that something else may have gone wrong with the engine management system. The car is getting to the age where the various engine sensors may be aging and giving false information to the ECU. Maybe I will submit it to a dealer to have a look at this time!
It turned out not to be the Engine management system but the catalytic converter. The performance was quite dramatically fading away to the point where it would not even rev. to the red line in a low gear and it was sounding very harsh with the throttle open in a high gear. So I gave up and put it in to a dealer who identified that the engine was failing to exhaust properly and they found that the catalytic converter was almost completely blocked. With this replaced it now goes as well as ever.
The Rover had done over 212,000 miles (Jan 2006) when it broke a drive shaft. I thought at first that this might have been to excessive use as a tow vehicle. It performed very well in this role but with either the Gamage or the digger on a trailer being well over the ton (not to mention the mill and the lathe) it must have put addition al strain on the transmission. In fact it turned out to be rust damage where the corrosion had necked the drive shaft under the vibration damper to less than half its original diameter. The driveshaft was easily replaced but as it was getting elderly and had done excellent service it was decide that it was time for a change. It has now been replaced by a Honda CRV. Again the lovely free revving Honda engine but this time in a heavier vehicle more suited for its frequent use as a tow vehicle. It's not as economical though.
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Fiesta
- Ford Fiesta
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The Fiesta is (no longer - Dec 2002) going fine and here is a picture. It is currently being used by Liz who has now learnt to drive and by any other visiting offspring.
Fiesta (86K)Earlier in the year (2000) I noticed that the roof and the bonnet of the Fiesta were stained slightly yellow and it would not wash off. At first I thought it might be a deposit from leaving it in the station carpark but on closer inspection I could see lots of tiny rust spots. It turned out that the white paint had become porous and although nowhere near worn through the car was rusting through the paint. Hence a weekend was spent painting the roof and another one painting the bonnet. The roof was a bit tricky standing on a chair and spraying downwards and it ended up with a slightly dusty finish which had to be polished off. I took the bonnet off to paint it and so no problems there.
The Fiesta also failed its MOT this year (May 2000) because of rusty brake disc and worn tie bar bushes. I did not think that the discs were all that bad but they were certainly not perfect. Removing them was quite a battle. One needs a larger hub puller than I have to pull them off in place and I chose to remove them complete with hubs and press them off the hubs in the hydraulic press. This should work fine and did for one side but on the other side the front wheel bearing stuck on to the hub and damaged the seal as the hub was withdrawn from the strut. Neither front bearing was in perfect condition, having a rusty colour to the grease presumably after water had got in around the seals. So I replaced all the bearings and seals. This entails taking the whole strut off the car and pressing the old bearings out and the new ones in. It all went back together again fine just like the Haynes manual said (for a change) and passed the MOT.
The Fiesta had two failures in close succession last autumn. First the starter motor failed due to small plastic spring which tensions the brushes failing. And then it threw the bob weights in the distributor. Both were fixed by trips to the breakers. But as it was seemingly becoming unreliable it has now been replaced by a Citroen Saxo..
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Autobyk
- The Excelsior Autobyk
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My father was clearing out his greenhouse and has passed on to me my Grandfathers Autocycle. It is the bike that I learnt to ride and pass the test on many years ago. It was in a working state when put away and it will need only cosmetic attention and a few new rubber parts to bring it back into service.
It is an Excelsior Autobyk with a 98cc Villiers twostroke engine.
The Autobyk (55K)
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The Yanmar digger and Deesign dumper
- Yanmar Digger
- The digger is a Yanmar Bo8 mini digger named Scoopy. As a grey import it has all it warning signs in Japanese which has caused some interest in getting them translated. the Japanese it seems are even more safety conscious than the Brits.
Picture of Scoopy digging treestumps..
Scoopy (88K)Picture of Deesign Muck-Truck (the manufacturers title).
Dumper at work (88K -
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