Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[OuBallie]

Driving a classic for the first time.
When I drove my MM1000, nearly 50years after my first car a MM LowLite, it was the light steering.
I just could not believe it.
Next was the brakes!
Coming up to a set of traffic lights (robots), tickle the pedal and nothing, press a bit harder and still nothing, "Oh ****!"
Time to really stamp on the pedal to come to a halt.
Made me wonder how I managed with unassisted discs on my racing 105E.
Well I was rather younger then
The next was the massive travel of the gear lever. I inadvertently kept trying to get back into bottom from 2nd causing the usual grating, until brain got into gear and I remembered to move the lever way over to the right.
Very quick gear changes though for such early synchromesh.
The light steering still has me smiling from ear to ear, as does the exhaust f@rting on the overrun, and right leg muscles now toning up.

Geoff - Happy New Year to everyone and your families.
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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

[peter scott]

When I first put my old car on the road the thing that surprised (or more correctly disappointed) me was the level of back axle whine. Fortunately it was only a day's labour and zero cost to fix it. http://www.scottpeter.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/new_page_2.htm

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

[kevin2306]

First time out in the Singer I was amazed how light the unassisted steering was!

Kev

[ukdave2002]

I commented on the difference expirence I had in driving a Bedford CA, in the 80's I had one, just used to jump in it, drive it through busy town centres and on motorways to the other side of the country without a second thought! I have a CA now and I don't have the same confidence (and this one has a shock absorber attached to every corner, something the first one didn't !)

I suspect it's a combination of no longer having the bravado of a teenager, and 30 years of driving closeted moderns.

I do find the steering on the CA light, partly down to the x-ply tyres me suspects.

Dave

[Ashley]

Way back in the sixties I and many friends had Healey 3000s and drove them everywhere flat out until the dust covers on the brake calipers caught fire, the fanbelts came off and they boiled and blew rusty water all over the bonnet, the 48 spoke wheels disintegrated to be replaced sixty that did the same and finally 72 spoke ones that survived.

We drove everywhere at 100mph that I now know was just over eighty, they often spun in the wet and could be dodgy in the dry at speeds that a Micra would be safe at now It find my present one, that's probably in far better condition than nearly fifty years ago, isn't particularly easy to steer at speed, it's vague and imprecise and the front end is underdamped and it's quite near breakaway at what would be a brisk modern pace.

This is a car that is almost as fast to 100mph as a 2 litre MX5!

Needless to say I drive it at rather more modest speeds now than I do my modern. It's quite enjoyable up to 60-70, but things have come an awful long way since the sixties.

Funny to read about the Bedford CA because I often drove one for work in the sixties and in 1970 I bought another for a tenner to move house. I loved them then, they went well and were a good drive. You just had to be careful not to knock the doors off the runners as one lad at work kept doing.

[ukdave2002]

[kevin2306]

Not a ca but i do remember driving the works bedford cf pickup like i had stolen it, everything was fine until i found its limits unladen, spun more times than torvil and dean!

Kev

[Ellis]

The only Jaguar Mark 2 I had ever driven was my own when I drove it for the first time after restoration.
After only a few miles I thought I had made a huge mistake. It was ponderous, heavy to steer, terrible brakes, not as powerful as I had hoped and it handled like a dump truck.

It may have looked superb but it was appalling to drive but you soon adapt to something which was conceived in the 1950s after all.
The only area I could not come to terms with was the (very) heavy steering so in a moment of madness I bought four Dunlop C41 crossply tyres and had those fitted.
The steering was lighter, certainly, but the handling and roadholding were quite frightening and I really admire the courage of drivers of yore who were able to drive these cars to their crossply tyre limits.

The steering has now been converted to an ex Series 2 XJ6 power assisted rack and pinion which with uprated brakes and dampers transformed the car.

The series 2a Land Rover? I had driven several and knew what to expect.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Penman]

Hi

[Mog]

My old boss had a Dodge tray top, about 30 cwt. I was working for him in the early 1970's so the s/hand Dodge was be fore that time. What surprised me was , that it had 4 wheel disc brakes. There was a compensator for the load in the braking system .
We worked 4 hrs. over time , 2 nights a week and all day Saturday. This lasted for 18 months and was paid in cash ! The good old days !

[Ronniej]

[quote="ukdave2002"]I just used to jump in it, drive it through busy town centres and on motorways to the other side of the country without a second thought!
Dave's comments strike a chord. Back in the mid '60s I had a series of cars that would all be quite sought after now but back then were simply old bangers that an impoverished student could afford. I would drive all over the place with no thought about what to do in the event of a catastrophic breakdown. Ah! the confidence of youth! Happy days.

[peppiB]

Back in 2003 I collected my first classic, a 1965 Moggy, from St Austell station in Cornwall. It had been left there with the keys hidden.

Started her and first impression was a blowing exhaust, then no speedo and ... no petrol. Drove gingerly around until I found a filling station and forgetting how small the tank is managed to spray myself with fuel. After a battle with soundproofing, I managed to find the bonnet release, check oil then head north. Steering was lighter than I remembered from the 60's and ... er ... what are brakes? Had to give the thing 6 months notice if I wanted to stop. Anyway, she cruised the 500 miles home without a murmur.

Nowadays I only have classics (sadly not the Moggy which went last year as I couldn't get my mobility scooter in it) so think nothing of jumping in one and going wherever in the country I have to. Longest trip was none stop to Falmouth and back to Newcastle, towing another car (A frame) on the return journey

[roverdriver]

These are interesting observations. for my part, I have never owned a really modern car, and graduated from Morris Minors, both pre and post war, through Model A Fords, an assortment of British cars, then Ford Falcon's, but in every case, they were all built before power steering was in vogue.

I am of the opinion that a correctly designed car with a 'North-South' engine does not need power steering, it has been the advent of the 'East-West' engine that has necessitated power steering, and so it is now almost universal. IMHO P.A.S. allows the designer to create a car that would otherwise be very heavy in the steering.

As for brakes, they were all probably quite adequate for conditions in their day. I am a driver that tries to avoid the use of brakes, and when I have taught people to drive, I try to get them to follow my example. Of course, a car with an automatic gearbox does require the more frequent application of brakes, but even so, they should IMHO be only required for an actual stop. Reading the road ahead, and leaving a sensible gap should make it possible to rarely throw out the anchors.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[peter scott]

[Ashley]