I ventured out on our New Year's Day run with  a slightly pleased look on my face, having fitted my new Electronic Ingition Distributor and being happy with its tweaked timing.
Life was all good until about 20 miles in and a spluttering and loss of power. With the head gasket suspect we took a ride home at the excellent hands of RH and SOS services. Not so pleased with myself anymore.

Today and a compression test showed zilch compression on 2 and 3 so it was off with the head. 
The head gasket was last replaced about 4 years ago. I tightened then to 20lb, (repeating after a run), but it did feel like some were looser than others when undoing them today, so perhaps they had loosened off?

This time I decided to be a little more delicate about removal so made myself some extractors using hollowed out spark plugs and plates across the studs. 
 
This left the gasket in place and revealed below, a missing chunk between 2 and 3. I cannot see it anywhere (it isn't on the head). I haven't yet poked in every corner in the valve area but it is not obviously there. Surely it couldn't have vapourised or been sucked away into the water cooling system.


  gasket.jpg (Size: 297.14 KB / Downloads: 688)

Anyway, that curiosity aside my real question is as follows.
Prior to this failure I had noticed some bubbling around head stud 3 (centre back). Nothing too bad but just blowing a few water bubbles from around the stud.
With the head off it seems right to also do something about this. Stud 3 doesn't have any water way around it and is well away from the failure so I guess the water is coming up around the stud thread. The solution would seem easy, remove it and replace (I have spares) with threadlocker to seal. 
However, under gentle persuasion it does not want to move. I have locked a couple of nuts on it and turned but it is solid.
Given the problem I am trying to solve, do I:

Persevere with the spanner and risk snapping the head stud, opening up a whole new world of problems?
Heat it up, but I only have a pretty large brazing torch so it won't be delicate, although I could make up some baffle to protect the surrounding areas?
Try to clean up the top of the stud thread into the block and then dribble down thread locker, appreciating that I am only going to get down a half thread or so, and then back it up with lots of goo around the stud base to seal it off?

For goo, I know that is a whole thread of its own, but I have red Hermatite, blue hylomar and some Loctite 5920. Last time I used the blue hylomar. 

Thoughts appreciated on the stud question.
Oh and Happy New Year

Andy B

Hello,

I have a 1937 chassis which appears to have been modified to allow it to sit much lower than it would normally, obviously with flattened springs. The bush connector has a lowered three rivet fitting, I wondered if this was particular to a model or likely a racing modification? Other than the chassis register, is there any other way of finding how a chassis number (2708**) may have been registered? Do the 750mc keep a record of chassis numbers for instance? Is there anywhere else I could look?

It was bought earlier this year from eBay along with a few other parts, previously in the collection of a Dr Holmes - Pickering. I have little history other than this. It's been known as a chassis in this state since 1970 at least.

My intention was to return the car to the road but not sure if I would have to remove this fitting and replace it with the correct 4 bolt bush connector to pass an inspection. Is it even worth trying to build a special now?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Chris

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Greetings all, and HNY to you all.

May we have a cost run down please on rebuilding an engine without using a supercharger, to effectively give more power and torque.

This could be very useful for not just me but other newcomers.

My engine is totally unknown and I certainly don't want to start it up (I haven't even got a complete carb for it yet) and cause damage, so I prefer to strip it down entirely, which will happen in due course.

Could us newcomers be given some expert guidance, re what ought to be replaced as a matter of course, and the overall cost of doing so. The idea being not just a rebuilt engine, but one with additional power. It would appear therefore from Malcolm Parker's reply concerning a blown engine that 30 plus BHP can be obtained without a blower being fitted.

Some guidance and costings will be much appreciated. Malcolm mentioned a "Barlow" crank, I don't know of this, I know of Phoenix of course, plus what pistons have been used.

Maybe this kind of guidance could be offered as a standard "document" for newcomers. 

To recap then, what is the maximum road usable power that could be obtained, combined with reasonable economy, and at what cost?

regards

Arthur

My father bought the Saloon, we still have, in 1964 with money given to him by his mother and grandmother for his 21st birthday.

He bought it from a man called Nick Gifford - some years back he read an newspaper article about an ex-film producer turned jam maker of the same name and used the email contact given to reconnect.  Last year after several emails and phone calls I was able to meet with Nick in person when he visited his daughter near Glasgow.

Nick told me that he bought the car from a scrap yard near his school in Blanford Forum aged 14/15.  He set about restoring the car with help of the school janitor over a period of years (we now suspect that the janitor in question was none other than Ray Stephens - but that is yet to be proven!).  He completed his education at the school and was then able to drive the car home to his parents in Bristol, selling it a few years later to my father.

I intend visiting Nick this summer at his home in France on our upcoming summer tour in the Pearl.

Nick sent me some photos of the car this morning - the first is early on and has his own painted number plate, sidelights on the wings and the correct headlights.  The second photo is pretty much as my father bought it and largely as it is today - painted plate (by some notable artist who Nick is trying to remember!!) small headlamps and Austin 12/20 sidelights up on the scuttle.

Some years ago I acquired the correct window gear for the passenger door, which has always been missing, and to my surprise the door was too narrow to accommodate the winding gear.  Nick confirmed the door was a replacement hand made by a polish body worker - it is well made but too slim!

Nick has promised to write down the story he recalls of the car do that I can put it with the rest of the paperwork.

54 years later and a further 350000 miles down the road the car is still in use.

   

   

And today...

   

Hi Thanks for adding me, I am a classic car owner but not Austins, my reason for joining is being bored over xmas i decided to look at some super 8 films taken by my late farther, they have been in the loft for years. I came across a film with two Austin sevens on it, they belonged to my Farther and brother, the one DOP167 according to the DVLA is no longer with us, but 580 FWD is, does anyone know the owner of this one, as I have quite a lot of footage from the 60s, touring Devon. I will put it on DVD for them if they want,it will fill in a bit of its history in for them.

I try and get a run out in the Austin on New Year's Day if the weather is clement. Today it was mild and dry, but threatening with rain in the afternon. I managed a run out of about 20 miles, up to the Col de Portes which to be fair isn't that high, only 500 metres or so, but a nice view all the same.




The big lump in the left background, covered by mist is Mont Lozère which tops out at 1700 metres, higher than Ben Nevis.

This is the location (well about 100metres before the junction)




Happy New Year everyone.
Bonne année, meilleurs vœux et surtout de la bonne santé.

Four Dunlop racing tyres CR48 Lx15 plus inner tubes in original packaging. Tyres have never been used.

Offers requested

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Special offer - two for the price of one this month!

An Australian-bodied 2-seater, my photo is captioned as a 1925 Holden body, JonE's picture captured from eBay was listed as a 1929:


  1926 Holden 02.jpg (Size: 225.72 KB / Downloads: 296)


  1926 Holden 01.jpg (Size: 235.04 KB / Downloads: 295)

They would appear to show the same car on the same occasion, so one caption is obviously wrong! 6-inch brakes and dished steering wheel would support the 1925 identification, but I think I have read somewhere that Holden didn't start building bodies on Austin Sevens until 1926; so, is this a 1926 car, or perhaps not even a Holden?

I am posting these here as it seems many do not go to the gallery posts, we have Douglas Alderton to thank for alerting us to these on the Pre War Minor forum. Many are from the LAT archive and there are some real gems and the ones I have put up are just a small sample.

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RAC Van pictures in mid 1934

  Austin-Seven-New-Zealand-Invercargill-to-Auckland-reliability-trial-1930-ws.jpg (Size: 134.8 KB / Downloads: 1057)
1930 Reliability trial.

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One for Mr Dunford!

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Taylor with interesting body finish.

  LATplate-Red-8615-Austin-Seven-racing-car-ed-ws.jpg (Size: 279.26 KB / Downloads: 1067)
No caption required!

  Seabrooks far north trip.jpg (Size: 110.05 KB / Downloads: 1059)
Seabrook, proving that Austin Sevens could traverse even the worst NZ roads!

  LATPlate-Motor-694-13-Austin-SevenTourer-1935-ws.jpg (Size: 278.07 KB / Downloads: 1056)
1935

Today, I took a quick ride in my A7. Just after starting I realized a noise from the gearbox area.

It is like a knocking, especially when I release the trottle - any idea what I should check first ?
It a 4-speed gearbox with a period remote lever.

thanks
Oliver