Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

47 sent me these photos the other day, and a bit of info on a project he has on the back burner...

RJ

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"Here are a couple of shots of my 1938 Buick. These are part of a fleet of 1937 & 38 Buicks that the Belfast funeral director John Wilton owned in the 60's. They had I believe about 20 including some 1939 models. In the picture shown there are 4 cars that they converted to hearses. (2 at the right & 2 at the far left) My car is the 3rd one from the right as it was in all it's glory. You can also see one has Marschal headlamps fitted."



"This is the same car after it had been set on fire by vandals in the early 80's when I got it. Note the size against a standard garage."


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[peter scott]

Art, Nobody could ever accuse you of shying away from challenging projects.
You must post some pics of your Jag when it first arrived on your doorstep too.

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[47Jag]

Peter,

Get the Kleenex out 'cos this is bound to bring a tear to your eyes.

This is a shot of the block once the head came off. The head had cracked and had been brazed!! That didn't last long and the fissure caused this burn in the block.



These are of the left side of the body.

Once the rear wing was off.


[IMG]http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo179/47jag/LSRearbodymount.jpg[/IMG


On the way home with Nellie.



Just over an hour later we thought we were about to die. The trailer was rented and just south of Crawford on the A74 it started a BIG sway. Of course the only way out of a sway is to accelerate but there I am in 4th gear, 1500 rpm, no torque heading across the median (luckily no guardrails). Anyone who knows this road in the 80s will know it was a bit of a racetrack. I'm fully expecting someone coming the other way at close to warp speed. Luck was with us. We didn't cross the median and no one was coming the other way or even behind us. I pulled the car to the left hand verge and suveyed the damage. The forged towbar was bent about 6 inches from centre, the rear wing was stuffed into the wheel and they chain around the front axle to the trailer had burst. I put the cause down to going too fast even tho' I was doing less than 40. The wing was jacked out, a bolt rejoined the chain and off we went. I was about 4 miles from home when I noticed in the L/S door mirror that the front L/S front tandem wheel was wobbling. I pulled over and there was the reason for the previous excitement. The wheelnuts had loosened and 2 nuts were missing. The stud holes were about an inch diameter. Mystery solved. I robbed a nut from each of the other wheels and carried on home. The trailer renter couldn't have cared less.

Art

[peter scott]

I suspect the engine was the least of your problems but how did you solve the burn-through?

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[47p2]

Art, contrary to popular belief the correct step to take if a trailer starts snaking is to slow down. Increasing the speed will make the snaking much worse, so much so that it can turn the trailer over which will in turn cause damage to the towing vehicle.

The reason the trailer started to snake in the first place was nothing to do with you travelling at 40mph, more so to do with the fact that the nose weight at the towbar was too heavy.
This is caused by a few factors and the most probable being that the car was too large for the trailer. I don't mean too heavy, but because of the physical size of the car taking all the trailer space, it could not be moved back to achieve the correct nose weight. You could have tried reversing the car onto the trailer which could possibly have helped as the weight of the engine would then be further back. It really is a trial and error thing and until you try it you wont know what way to load the trailer for the best.

A tip for anyone hiring a trailer, get one as large as you can, most trailers will carry a capacity of 2 or 3 tonnes which is more than ample for the majority of cars but the length is the more important factor as it allows you to position the load and make it safe.

Too far forward and the trailer will snake, too far back and you will see saw along the road as the trailer lifts the rear of the towing vehicle up.

If you are unsure about the nose weight ask the hire company what it should be and use a set of bathroom scales to check. The average is around 80lbs
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[47Jag]

John,

I have had a fair bit of trailing experience with caravans and when we set off I knew that the nose weight was going to be a problem. This is one of the reasons that I never checked the trailer at the time of the accident. In all my caravanning I had never experienced a sway because I always made sure the nose weight was correct. The caravanning magazines always gave the advice to accelerate out of a sway. I realise you have a bit more experience with artics but then you had the advantage of applying the trailer brakes independently. I haven't trailed anything since. I still get a sphincter pucker when I think how lucky we were that day.

Art

[Keith D]

47p2, I've gotta cross swords with you on loading a trailer. Don't ever reverse a car onto the trailer. The front of the vehicle is far heavier than the rear and you will end up with a negative weight on the tow bar. This will guarantee serious sway when backing off on the throttle, with potentially horrendous consequences. Like having the entire car, trailer and towing vehicle unside down on the wrong side of the road. Have a positive weight on the towbar, but as you said, not excessive.

We tend to do a lot of long distances towing in Oz and consequently have very strict safety rules on towing. A rear wheel drive car (or 4 wheel drive vehicle) is allowed to pull 1.5 times it's own weight. A front wheel drive car only equal to it's own weight. Bear in mind this is towed vehicle plus trailer weight. Try pulling a solid vintage car on a heavy tandam trailer behind something the size of a Ford Focus and you are asking for serious trouble.

Regards - Keith D

[Penman]

Hi
I wiould back up 47p2s advice about not accelerating, it will be like a whiplash as it swings back to the otherside.
Equally don't brake suddenly because that can also cause a jacknife.
But if you just back off the gas or, if going downhill, very very gently apply the slightest touch of brake then the trailer will catch up with you and apply it's own overrun brakes.
Of course that assumes that the overrun brakes are adjusted correctly and work properly.


Never assume because it makes an ASS out of U and ME

[47p2]

I had similar problems which Art suffered when my P2 arrived at Tilbury docks and I had to tow it back to Glasgow. With many years driving artics the journey itself wasn't a problem, and as long as I sat at 49mph I was fine, however if I went over 49mph the trailer started to snake, ease off to 49mph or below and everything was fine. When I stopped at Charnock services I reversed the car onto the trailer which allowed for a little more movement back and forward to experiment with the weight distribution. It did help slightly as I could now travel at 55mph without any problems but no faster.

This year as some of you will remember I trailered my P2 up to Frasreburgh to attend the Champion of Champions event. This is the first time since towing it from Tilbury that it has been on a trailer and I wasn't looking forward to the drive. However I made sure the trailer had a minimun 17' bed and I positioned the car by setting the nose weight on the drawbar. I left home at 11.00 on the Saturday night and stopped for a snooze 2 miles outside Fraserburgh at 3.00am. I never felt the car once and had a great ride both up and down again......Big trailer is the answer...

Reversing the car onto the trailer will not work for all vehicle/trailer combo's, hence the reason I said it was a trial and error thing.

Getting ready to set off (note how far back the car is sitting on the trailer)


Rear view mirror


Rear view mirror with brakes on

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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars