Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[gillberry]

Having the mad idea of a caravan I did not think off the rest of the process - so convince me i have done the right thing?
1- buy the caravan on the spur of the moment
2 - find out you need all new seating & carpets
3 - the car will need a tow bar fitted got one on the spare car
4 - the car being a automatic the club has no history of one towing
5 - get a oil coller fitted just in case
6 - car goes to garage this morning to get it fitted and guess what a one day job will now take ages as the gear box does not have the pipe fittings so will have to be drilled out and made to fit
7 - WHAT NEXT?
so tell me it will all be worth it in the end

[Rick]

just think of the end result, a great vintage setup!!!

not quite the same, but close:



Seen at Weston Park

Rick
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[Brian M]

Gillberry

Every bit of the aggravation getting your outfit on the road will be forgotten as soon as you:

1. See the smiles on the faces of other road users as you cruise past
2. Deal with the crowd of admirers who gather whenever you stop for petrol or a bite to eat
3. (best of all) Bring a campsite to a standstill as you pull in and fellow caravanners leave their £15000 modern vans to come over and admire your outfit



Classic caravanning with a classic car - you can't beat it!

[gillberry]

but you have a Volvo & we have a little Humber - dont think i will risk towing with my 1965 viva Ha but simon is going to have a go with his rover SD1s

[Brian M]

Gilberry

Did a bit of surfing to find some figures.

Your Fawn weighs 559kg, your Sceptre 1097kg = caravan 51% of car weight.

My Safari weighs 820kg, my Volvo 1100kg = caravan 75% of car weight.

Your Sceptre has (I think) 91bhp, my Volvo has 98 bhp. So your car is not so little!

I can understand your apprehension if you haven't towed before, but I am sure your Sceptre will have no trouble pulling your Fawn. Have a few practice drives around some roads you know well to get the feel of how the car handles with the caravan on the back. Remember the extra length when going round corners and roundabouts. Go to an empty car park and practice reversing where you have plenty of space, it seems a bit tricky at first but you will soon get used to it and will then value the Auto in your car.

I'll bet that before long you will be enjoying the whole process and planning longer and longer journeys.

[kaybee]

Hi Gilberry, I'd be wary of drilling into the trans for cooler takeoff lines. It may be that the front pump in your trans is smaller than one which has a factory cooler setup, because the cooler circuit is metered from the pump into the lines and then drains into the oil pan,so you would expect the front pump to have a higher output to cover the pressure loss in this type of system. If the factory considered a cooler un-neccesary in your car, then perhaps you should just have the trans serviced, and if it is in good condition, leave it as is and monitor the oil condition after you have towed with it a few times. Unless you plan on doing a lot of hard miles, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not too sure about the actual drilling of holes in the case, the trans really should be dismantled to do something like that. If you get any drilling residue drawn into the trans, you will have no end of trouble with sticking valves and/or governor.The filter is just a gauze strainer, so you can't expect too much from it. These trans are fairly robust and were used over here on a wide variety of larger cars with pretty fair results, so I can't see why it shouldn't work out well for you, regards, Col.

[gillberry]

Thanks for all the replies my other half posted and did not say that the firm fitting the oil cooler are an auto box specialist and are taking the box off to do the drilling . As far as the towing goes , will she actually have a go with the caravan on the back (car and van are hers) or will it all be down to me . The oil cooler is being fitted as more of a precaution than anything as everyone we have spoke to in the humber club knows of manaual sceptres used for towing but no autos .

[Uncle Joe]

I've just been checking my info on the BW35 box. So I'm going to upset you all now! If the gearbox specialist says I'm wrong, tell them to post on this site....I'll enjoy that!

1: It was only the early boxes that didnt have provision for an oil cooler.
These were problematic, and the later ones were upgraded.

2: Australian BW35's were always the upgraded boxes. Did the factory have a suspicion that the boxes were weak?

3: If you get it upgraded, go for the Rover version. It will last longer!

Finally, Brian M. Is your Amazon an auto?

UJ

[Brian M]

UJ

No it's four speed manual with overdrive.

[Uncle Joe]

Brian,

I was beginning to get worried about your choice of Amazon there for a moment!

UJ

[Rick]

gillberry, you convinced that you're doing the right thing then??

Rick
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[gillberry]

Her indoors who bought the caravan is convinced but you know how fickle women can be , me i'm happy and i think she is

[Uncle Joe]

Rick, if you were in the same position, what would you do? I know what I would!

UJ

[gillberry]

well tell me what you would do??

he moans about me but i got home from work today to find that the two rover SD1s in the front garden are now three and no room for my humber its not fair HA in the garage in the back garden one humber pushed up the drive (to scrap) and my humber still in the garage having the gear box NOW being re built as thing did not go as planned

from her indoors

[Rick]

Howdy 'her indoors'

you should speak to my er indoors too, you'd both probably have a lot of common 'discussion points' !!

Rick
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