motoring in the old days

[piersdad]

Today your first car is full of modern contraptions and when you open the bonnet you just pray to the wizard of oz  that nothing ever goes wrong.

1955  It was a different story     my first car was so simple that even now I can remember every single component.
Because I had to fix every single piece bit by bit as it wore out
It was a 1924 Morris Cowley  2 seater with  a boot  that opened up to form a dickey seat for two. It was already 14 years older than me at 17 yrs old
So even then it was considered an old bomb, and it blew up very regularly.
I purchased it for 10 pounds(about 2 weeks wages then) and with no license and having never driven a car  ever before  I just took off and by 2 hundred yards had mastered the crash gear box and the oil fed clutch
20 miles later it broke down. It was raining and 5 pm
No spark so I looked in the boot for anything of value and found an ignition coil and screw driver there left by the previous owner plus a pocket knife..
Well I used the screwdriver and a stone as a hammer to remove the magneto and with a heap of ingenuity managed to wire up the coil from the side light wires  so that it used the magneto to distribute the spark to the plugs the hardest part was to drill a hole in the magneto centre to get the high tension wire to the distributor part.
  Finally I got the stubborn motor to go again at 5 am and arrived at work  just in time to start at 8 am.
A few weeks later the engine started to rattle like a Christmas party in full swing  and yes the crankshaft bearings were shot.
So 4 bolts holding the motor and out it came and an hour or so had the crank shaft and some sad looking big ends on the garage floor.
The crank shaft had worn oval and needed a professional grind.
  As I had no more money I just borrowed a micrometer and proceeded to carefully file the shaft round  so that the micrometer showed it to be perfectly round.
Next the bearing shells were re-metaled with a large soldering iron and some white metal used for similar bearings.
I then used the works largest lathe to individually turn each big end to fit the shaft.
Well it worked and I never had any more trouble from that part of the motor for at least 5 years
Over the 13 years I had this car it regularly blew pistons and or dropped valves or lost wheels.
40 mph was its top cruising speed so a wheel running past you on a steep hill was just another incident.
One day as I was taking my future wife out in Auckland there was tremendous noise from the motor and yes it was terminal, kaput.!!
Off we went in a taxi to a friends place and eventually located sufficient parts to re build the motor so with unbalanced con rods(2 alloy 2 steel) and 15 hours later I got it going again and at 2 am drove girlfriend home. The motor vibrated a lot and soon the mudguard fell off and as it fell it went under the front wheel and bounced up into the trolley wires in Remuera road a high class suburb. So mud guard in the boot and off we went.
At 2.30 am I then proceeded back home 180 miles away.(yes girl friend was that far away)
Dog tired and cruising at  30 mph  the time was running out as work was 8 30 am.
All went reasonably well till the last few miles and the bonnet flew off  and smashed the front window due to the massive vibrations of the motor  so into the boot went the bonnet and most of the windows brass frame.
A wee while later one of the tires developed a slow leak  so a quick pump up with the tire pump and I was off again determined not to be late for work.
Then the radiator developed a leak and I had to stop again briefly to top up.
5 miles from home the chain that drives the dynamo starter motor broke and with a mighty crunch I found out that the clutch was jammed in and there was no starter motor or generator.
Whew how to get going with out a clutch?  Aha a couple of cow poos (fresh ones) smeared on the grass and with the motor cranked into life and a rear wheel  sitting on the cow poos I was able to crash the first gear in and do a small wheelie and I was away again.
Made it 8 30 on the dot for work.
Just a bit weary .
The next day I surveyed the wreck and 2 flat tires a pint of petrol left in the tank, no starter no clutch no generator the oil had all leaked out of a hole where the chain had exited, no water no bonnet 1 mudguard off and the radiator just sitting there held on by a leaky hose.
Well I did get to work on time.

Forward 10 years and wife and son were visiting some 100 miles away and a plaintive call that the 1950 ford consul car of ours had blown a piston.
So with tool box in hand I hitchhiked the distance to the nearest city on the way and brought 4 new pistons and rings (I knew the size from the last  decoke) and again hitchhiked the last 10 miles to where she was at friends place.
2.30 pm and on the side of the road I started and by 5.30 pm, and to the amazement of her host, we had the car  with a new set of pistons and waved good by and set off home.

[piersdad]

One day i was cruising along and had just passed a line of marchers and i realized i had a flat rear  tire .
well i did not carry a jack as i found that two bricks placed under the axle and placed so that they were just higher than the axle was all i needed to be able to grab the rear wheel and lift the rear end of the car onto the bricks.

well about 100 meters ahead of the marchers i stopped and pulled over.
out came the two bricks
up lifted the rear wheel
off came the 3 nuts
on went the spare wheel,
and a quick push of the car and the two bricks and wheel returned to the boot

by this time the marchers had just passed me and i again had to pass them.

about 2  or 3 minutes to change the wheel.

[piersdad]

guess this is the best place to put this

Many people have'savant' ability and mine is recognizing the sound of the older motors.
With many here their ability is to recognize different models of cars etc from almost obscure design features.

My own recent surprise was to hear a motor car racing past and thought I should know it.
The car appeared to be vintage sports in the 1934 era.  It was 6 cylinders and going fast.
It was a week later I realized I had only heard the motor some 55 years ago at a vintage rally and it was a sunbeam motor but this time beautifully restored and new and going fast.
A search of here showed I had seen a 1931 sunbeam speed 20 car

So here is a humorous tale from way back

This gent was telling every one that he could identify every car from the sound of its motor.
So his friends sat him down in a chair and blind folded him so he could not see any of the cars going past on the road.
All went well as he correctly identified a buick and its year a Hudson and it year and so on.
The party was amazed at his ability tell
every car correctly till some one went to the toilet near by and flushed it.

Ahha he said a model T ford 1914

[Paul Jaray]

 

[Otto Puzzell]

Now a Front Page Feature

http://www.autopuzzles.com

[piersdad]

thanks i am honoured
btw the first of my production neev vans will be 30 years old on 19th jan this year  so will be visiting it in the musem that day.
heck i have built a vintage vehicle