Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

OuBallie

My third second hand car.
1000cc 1962 Ford Anglia
Hot blooded young male was I, so looking to 'improve' how the car looked of course.
Everything I read said it couldn't be done - red rag to a bull so I totally ignored all the advice, including that in CCC magazine.

First was to lower the car by 2", where ALL advise was maximum of 1.1/2", front coils reset and a 2" block at rear.
Bump stops of course didn't like that at all, so easy solution - just reduce their heights.
Now the car was looking good, but oh those skinny wheels/tyres! They just had to go!
5.1/5J maximum shouted all and sundry!
Sod that said I and fitted 6J with 165 Kelly tyres('are tough' said the advert)
Talk about being a close fit.
With car down, rolled back and forward to let it settle, on right hand down, the the off-side tyre rubbed against the front of the fender!
"Oh %*#^" said the fitter.
"Hmm" said I, took hold of said fender and heaved it clear.
Problem solved - brute force does have its effect on occasion.
At the the rear there was a finger gap between sidewalls and fender flanges.
Now the car was looking as I wanted - menacing!
The close fit at the rear did manifest itself later after some spirited cornering, with very very light score marks on the tyre sidewalls, but nothing that wasn't cured after some judicious use of a file against the flanges.
Ride two up was fine, but with four up it could be a little choppy.
The overall look had the desired effect of drawing attention.
How do the young bloods today put up with the rock hard ride of their Saxos?
Next mod was the inevitable 13" thick rim leather steering wheel, followed by heaving the standard SA front seats out and fitting Corsair ones after mods to their frames.
What a difference that was, so so comfortable.
A DIY centre dash console, as then sold in the UK, to house five instruments was the pinnacle, and really had guys pointing.
I was THE man!

Geoff - Daydreaming.
_________________
Too many hobbies, not enough time!
1935 Austin Seven Ruby ARQ
1957 Austin A35 2-door
1967 Morris Minor 2-door
2007 Fiat Doblò MultiJet (It carries the spares etc)
Model Engineering

ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4242 Location: South Cheshire

When I was a youth, I had an old talbot sunbeam, it was parked on a hill facing upwards...and the battery was flat. " don't attempt to jump start it in reverse" were the words of my dad ; who knew a thing or two about cars.

Anyway I was a cocky 19 year old who knew better than to take experienced advice from anyone Cool

.....so I turned the ignition on put her into reverse dipped the clutch and let gravity do the hard work, the car started instantly as I released the clutch, I stopped her fine and took her for a spin to recharge the battery. 20 mins later I figured should be long enough, so I went to my girlfriends house, parking on the drive, all was well Smile

........until I had to reverse out of the drive....no reverse gear Embarassed

Ahh so that's why you don't jump start in reverse Sad

....the rest of the weekend was spent getting a replacement box from the scrapyard, we got one off an Avenger, not sure if the ratios were the same, but it worked!

Dave

Penman · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4866 Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Hi
In my case the advice (legal requirement) came after I did it.

Back in the early 60's when we had the Vauxhall Light 14/6 with the hydraulic front suspension we put some new tyres on the fronts.
Previously it had a terrible understeer, possibly because the hydraulics were shot, I know the car wallowed around on the uneven and bumpy roads we had.
The new tyres totally cured the understeer, you could put the car into a corner and let go of the wheel and it just carried onn going round on it's own, how ever you then had to make sure you wound the steering back off at the right time.

Can anyone guess what we had done wrong even though it wasn't illegal at the time?
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 2:35 pm Post subject:

peter scott · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7215 Location: Edinburgh

peppiB · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:31 pm Post subject:

Penman · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4866 Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Hi
Yep, that's it, we had a pair of those new fangled Cinturatos on the front.

Edit:
Thinking about this, they just might have been Mich Xs.
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

Keith D · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:31 am Post subject:

Back in about 1970 I decided to buy myself a Mark 2 Jaguar.

Everybody I knew who had anything to do with cars threw their hands up in the air and warned me not to go near one! The availability and cost of spares in Australia, the hot climate aggravating the known boiling problems of the Mk2 Jag. The advice against buying one was almost endless.

However, I knew much better. This was the best looking sports sedan ever built (in my opinion) and I needed to own one. I bought a 3.4 auto (Manuals, my first choice, were very few and far between in Oz)

Biggest mistake I ever made! Most efficient way of boiling water known to mankind! I spent a fortune trying to stop it boiling in summer (To no avail!). I had auto trans problems, fuel pump problems, Carburettor troubles (If SU's can actually be called carburettors!), anti-locking brake problems and it was also incredibly thirsty! And although with good compressions, it used a lot of oil when driven at high speeds across country. (I had to drive all over the state of Victoria as part of my job)

I was appalled at how cramped and in-accessible everything was under the bonnet, especially after owning a 1965 Holden HD wagon that one could actually climb into the engine compartment to effect a repair!

I listen to peoples advice since then, especially those who know what they are talking about!

Keith

JohnDale · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:58 am Post subject:

Got married,cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

MikeEdwards · Joined: 25 May 2011 Posts: 2713 Location: South Cheshire

OuBallie · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 10:58 am Post subject:

MikeEdwards,
I should have qualified my question by including 'with their lowered'.
There are a couple in town that look horrible to drive, as they appear to have rock hard suspension ala go-kart.
Not good on some of our bumpy roads.

Geoff - In Garage till mid-night last night with aircon on. Heaven!
_________________
Too many hobbies, not enough time!
1935 Austin Seven Ruby ARQ
1957 Austin A35 2-door
1967 Morris Minor 2-door
2007 Fiat Doblò MultiJet (It carries the spares etc)
Model Engineering