Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Uncle Joe]

What are the virtues of the particular classic car that you own? Or its vices?

And what made you choose it in the first place?

[Norfolkandchance]

As a (hopefully) soon to be owner of a classic car, I like the fact that they have a personality all of their own. No two cars are quite the same with little quirks and such. That they are simplistic to fix as they are just basic spark/fuel etc. Modern cars are all becoming clones of each other, too many gizmo's to go wrong. A classic car needs to be driven whereas a modern car you just sit it and it almost drives itself.

Maybe I am a touch contrary as I gain my earnings from modern cars, but they just do not have a place in my heart like an old car does.

Not quite the answer to the question you asked but not owning a car yet I cannot answer it in the way you mean.

[Scotty]

Chrome, Flash & Fins!

Outrageous thirst!

We had a stock 8hp 1952 Ford Anglia and I needed a change. I went to the local "classic" American dealer in Glasgow and saw a 1974 Cadillac that was so tacky I just had to have it. However, when I took the other half to see it, sat her down inside the rear passenger compartment, shut the door and the courtesy lights went out, in the gloom a voice said - "this is like a ******** hearse, NO, you're not buying this horror!"

Whereupon she then found "our" 1957 Chevrolet lying at the back of the lot, dirty, smelly and twice the price of the Cadillac and decided that was what I wanted! We've owned her for 12 years now and its been huge fun.

Scotty.

[Uncle Joe]

Norfolk: When I posed the question, I didnt know how to include prospective classic owners such as yourself. I like your reasoning though!

[Rick]

The A40 Devon: I like 50s cars anyway, especially BMC cars for some reason, and the shape has always appealed, so when this one came up for sale locally, I sold the Standard 10 and bought this. It is also simple to maintain, and feels like a proper old car to drive. The fact that it was in decent condition to start with also was important (I didn't want another non-runner!).

Downsides? well a flatter roof would sometimes help



Rick.
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[peter scott]

My old girl is full of virtues.... ...well OK I'm slightly biased however she
did demonstrate one of her vices some years back.

I was driving along the old A8 (the road that used to link Edinburgh and Glasgow) at about 50 mph when I hit a small pot hole. This knocked the front axle into a very violent oscillation. With heart racing I considered my fate, wondering whether the application of the brakes would make matters worse and send me off the road. I lifted off the accelerator and fortunately the oscillation eased off and I pull into the grass verge and took a very deep breath.

I've never had a recurrence of this behaviour and can't understand why it happened although it might have had some connection with my shock absorbers being in the hands of a reconditioner at the time.

You just can't rely on the self damping of leaf springs.

Peter

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[Old-Nail]

I don't know which is the nicer view here the cabin or the scenery - both beautiful!

[peter scott]

You are always very generous Old Nail. Thanks for your kind words.
The scene is from the little single track road that runs along the south side
of Loch Tay. You can see more of it in this rather low definition video...
http://www.scottpeter.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/JVS620%20video.wmv

Peter

[Geoffp]

I think that beautiful photo says it all Peter, we need look no further to know why.
I'm a bit rusty on my dynamics theory, but IIRC, the rigid front axle and large wheels will act as one unit and if a bump or pot-hole sets them vibrating at a certain frequency, a speed of about 50 mph sounds about right, to set it off, then instead of damping itself down, the vibration will get more and more violent, as you described. Jaguars of that era, and other large sporting cars were fitted with 'harmonic' bumpers with the rounded ends filled with lead, so that the whole assembly would in theory not vibrate in this way until a speed well above the maximum the car could reach. In those days I suppose theory and practice did not entirely co-incide, or perhaps someone like Uncle Joe will come along with a more accurate answer.

Geoff

[peter scott]

Hi Geoff,

Yes, you summed up my thoughts at the time. There was no indication of the oscillation being damped (and yes my car does have the harmonic stabiliser
complete with lead weights) and I was perified about it increasing in amplitude.

Some years ago I wrote a spoof article for April 1st about an SS Jaguar coupe with such a problem If you scroll to the bottom of this
http://www.scottpeter.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ss_jaguar.htm
its entitled "Startling Discovery". A complete load of nonsense.

Peter

[Uncle Joe]

If you hit something like a pothole at speed, what happens is that the suspension is forced up against the bump stops. When this happens, the forces have to go somewhere, and are transferred through the steering parts. This causes the oscillations.

Cure? Make sure that all the related components are in top class condition, and if its possible, adjust the caster to the extreme of its tolerance.

I think.....

[peter scott]

[Uncle Joe]

Sorry Peter, I thought that you were joking... but at least the others know why it happens....

[peter scott]

I'm not sure how well this one qualifies or how well my descriptions fit the virtues and vices categories but here goes...

Back in the late 70s our sprog had grown too large for the "back seat" of our Ginetta G15 so I looked for something more family oriented (whilst retaining good corrosion resistance) and decided on a Reliant Rebel Estate. There weren't a lot of these about but I found one with a con rod through the side of its engine, at a remote hill farm in the Lake District. I think it cost me £70 but I can't remember now whether that included the cost of the Furniture van that transported it back to Edinburgh or not.

Anyway, after sticking another engine in it, it proved to be quite good transport and whilst 700cc doesn't make for easy overtaking on A class roads
it's amazing what you can do if you just give yourself a good run at it prior to what you think will be the next oportunity. You can always slam on the anchors at the last minute if there does prove to be oncoming traffic.

We covered a fair mileage in that car and leaving aside its virtues of low fuel consumption and good road holding, it did have one nasty vice. It kept losing teeth from second gear on the layshaft. I twice had to replace layshafts and the failure was exactly the same one and a half teeth each time. I would have just swapped gearboxes with a three wheeler, which were plentiful in scrap yards but the Rebel uses a much longer tail shaft so a strip down was the only answer.

The up side of this was that we had a nice pair of matching candlestick holders which we used for many years thereafter.

After the second failure I decided that the Rebel was just too fragile and replaced it with a Kitten. The Kitten gearbox was fine but one day I was tearing up a steep hill in second gear when there was a loud bang. No, I hadn't killed the gearbox. A nice triangular chunk of one of the cylinder liners had detached itself and was rattling around in a now useless cylinder.

At this time I happened to buy an immobilsed Kitten van and when I opened its engine, what should I find but an identically shaped chunk of cylinder wall rattling around in the same location as my car.

After replacing two cylinder liners I gave up with Reliants and made another stupid purchase but that's another tale.

Peter

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[Rick]

great story Pete a long time since I saw one of those in action!

Rick
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