What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[David Stepney]

What have I done with my Austin Seven today? Well, had it to bits again.

Those of you who have paid any attention to my posts will be aware that, a few weeks ago, I had the engine to bits to cure a little end rattle. Since then the car has not had much use (for me that is) having covered about 300 miles or so.

As it had not been out for a week, I took it to LLangollen about a week ago, and was dismayed to discover that it had developed a faint but noticeable big end rattle when warm. I nursed it home and, on Thursday, stripped the sump off to see what was amiss. Thankfully, there were no silver bits in the oil and the gauze filter had none either. However, I did notice several bits of silicone sealer on it. All the big ends were tight with no discernible play, but I took each one apart to examine the bearing material. All was well with no scoring or other worrying marks. The oil pressure had been normal, but I poked the oil jets through anyway to make sure they were clear. They were.

Almost on a whim, given the presence of bits of silicone in the gauze, I tried pumping pumping oil from my oilcan through the drillings from the oil troughs to the crank pins and found that the drilling to No 1 big end was partially blocked. After much poking about with bits of wire and a small plastic cable tie (the passage appears to have two right angles in it), and flushing it copiously with brake cleaner, I got it clear, but nothing untoward came out, or, if it did, I must have missed it.

As I had not had a clear run at the job, being called off almost hourly by Leon, who was having fun trying to get the brakes to work on his Beetle, fitting all new brake cylinders including the master cylinder, new shoes and springs etc., it was almost 10.00 pm by the time the little car was back together again. I tried it ' round the block' (about five miles) and the rattle appeared to have gone. Took it to Wrexham yesterday, doing about 80 miles and all appeared to be well, with only the usual funny noises, mostly from the fan which, despite my best ministrations, has rattled ever since I have owned the car.

Although i have no proof, I suspect from finding silicon debris on the gauze, that a small piece of silicon had somehow found its way into the crank The last time the engine was apart, I used blue Hylomar and I think I shall stick to that  (no pun intended) in the future.

Incidentally, any suggestions as to how to deal with the fan rattle would be gratefully received.

[John Cornforth]

Regarding the fan, during my recent engine rebuild I checked the balance of the fan blade, on the basis of leaving no stone unturned. I was surprised to find that I needed to file 2 or 3 mm off the tip of one blade to get it well balanced. Considering that the fan spins faster than the engine it could well have been a source of extra vibration and noise.

[Tony Griffiths]

Reduce lining thickness to 1/16" and it will fail under the load needed to generate brake force; increase to 4" and it will never bed in - simples. For any width in between which is capable of sustaining the necessary load and which can make proper contact with the drum, the brake force is simply µ x R...

Just fitted new plug leads.  Nothing wrong with the old black ones, but these match the red and black colour of the car, so that's got to be an improvement !

John, what's the black box mounted on rubber buffers with a lead from the distributor?

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To take up the spindle end play in the building of a spare DJ6 distributor, I parted off three very thin shims in bronze: 0.54 mm, 0.75 mm and 1.2 mm thick. The 0.54 needed just a little polish and was then spot on. Before this, I'd tried a new, spare electronic conversion top; it gave a good spark but, after one cough from the engine. it died.

[Chris KC]

Having tried every trick in the book to remove the 3 x 3/16" BSF screws from an old sunroof clamp plate, I gave up yesterday and drilled them out. Didn't go too badly, but left a couple of weak threads, so today I set about repairing them.

It's one of those ideas which tends to go better in one's imagination than in practice - but I ran a 3/16" thread down the middle of a 1/4" screw and made a thread insert - worked perfectly!

   

Contritium praecedit superbia as they say - on the second one I managed to break off the tip of a carbon steel tap in the hole and bad words were said....

[John Cornforth]

Re: the "black box" on my car.

This is an electronic ignition unit of the simplest kind, "Transistor assisted contacts". The contact breaker is retained, but switches a lower current so doesn't wear out.  This was to my own design (for six volts), and has proved reliable for 15 years.  Not rubber mounted, just on two different thicknesses of metal spacer to leave room for the loom to pass underneath.  Even though modern tech, I tried to make it look as if it was made in the thirties.

[Dave Mann]

A friend gave me 3 starters and 3 dynamos to repair, all done except one dynamo needs the armature rewinding    

[Reckless Rat]

Mem'Sahib is busy chatting to her mates an whatsapp so I thought I'd escape for an hour and have a run round in the Austin.
The traffic as usual, was horrendous:



But the were some nice things to see en route. This is a little hamlet just outside St André de Cruzières in the Ardèche.



and then on the way back I took this one for you all - very bucolic!



Happy days!

[Ivor Hawkins]

I see you were making the best use of the air conditioning!

[Reckless Rat]

Full on! Nice day today, about 32°C. Car ran fine, no overheating.

Had a close shave on re-entering the village when a non-local (91) failed to accord precedence at the "give and take" chicane and suddenly found himself in merde street facing not only an A7 but 4 other cars coming the other way. He very quickly had to exit stage left onto the footway with a very apologetic look on his face. Some folk really do not look any further forward than the end of their bonnet.

[Steve kay]

Eric and Janet Guest were well known in the Seven and VAR worlds when living in Kent. The Ruby did the Lands End John O Groats. Since retiring  to Herefordshire, farming and grandchildren have taken up rather more time. Sadly Eric had major strokes last year, and requires full care in a home, so Janet needs to dispose of the collection of Austins. A small working party got together to fill up sumps, change petrol and clean fuel pipes, speak nicely to magnetos to encourage sparks and to pump up tyres. Most machines cooperated, and went out blinking into the sunshine to have their pictures taken. Local auctioneer Nigel Ward will be selling the collection at the end of the month, Saturday 31st August.