Highland Sports Coupe project...

[Nick Lettington]

I would like to see it Ruairidh, all be it about two years too late, but I could possibly redo the one on my Silverstone to be a little more authentic (synonymous with anorak). 

What angle does it sit at and where are the mounting holes?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Well, I have looked in several places it "could" be and it is not... I may have given it to someone...

[Ivor Hawkins]

I’ll see if it’s in the same safe place I put the Speedex badge all those years ago!

Back on thread, that chassis came together nicely and the late two bearing motor looks to be in great shape...now to the vital stage, getting the bulkhead right!

[Ian Williams]

There now that wasn't to hard was it, thank you Tony for for your input it, helps readers enormously when people explain their reasons for a modification.

[RupertW]

Apologies if I've missed the answer to this elsewhere, but are you keeping engine internals standard or uprating them?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Not hugely Rupert - it is fitted with Pheonix crank and Austin rods - the cam has been reground to standard with 3/4 radius followers.

Quiet and smooth.

[David Cochrane]

When building my repro GE Cup I started with a wedge, however I found 3 problems with it.

The steering box is attached to the chassis by 2 vertical bolts and the horizontal brake pedal pivot. This ensures a good steady mounting. With a wedge the horizontal attachment is missing, so the steering box is only attached to the top of the chassis with the two 5/16" bolts. This also meant that the steering box was rather wobbly, although you could probably brace it in some other way.

As has been mentioned above, the brake pedal ends up in the wrong place which personally I didn't like, although I accept that's a matter of individual preference.

And finally I discovered that the wedge upset the steering geometry, and would cause it to go over-centre on one of the full locks (can't remember which all this time later). This didn't happen when I trial fitted a standard steering box, and I could have solved it by shortening (I think) the drag link. However, I decided to go the original Austin/GE route and fit a raked steering box. Yes, a more expensive way of doing it, but 20 years later I am still glad that I did it.
I reckoned that the risk of the steering going over-centre was dangerous, but I am happy to admit that is just my opinion. It could be that the steering wedge I had was a poor quality one, I don't know - I don't have it any more.

I try to avoid having a go at other cherished suppliers - I don't consider that's acceptable on this friendly forum.

David

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Hi David,

it is essential, if you do use a wedge, to lengthen the drag link otherwise the steering will go over centre as you note above - the Highland Coupe has a lengthened drag link to avoid this.

Interestingly, GE also used a small wedge in early Cups, they elongated the hole in the side of the chassis to accommodate the change in position of the brake pedal spigot before eventually settling on the Super Sports box at 38°.

The Highland Coupe's column has been moved backwards, closer to the centre and lowered (until it touched my belly). The repro. lowered boxes available would not cope with these changes any more than original type boxes so cost was not a factor, they simply weren't suitable for this special.

At the moment the brake pedal is higher which suits my size 12 feet but this may or may not stay like that, we may choose to change it. In fact we have changed our minds on many occasions and this has necessitated many changes along the way - this is likely to be a recurring theme throughout the build.

Peter's work is far more interesting than my mundane mechanicals, his posts will follow in a few days.

[Ian Williams]

I disagree Rory, this is vital information for anyone wishing to emulate your undertakings, an open discussion with informative comments such as Davids and yours are what is needed on the forum. There is nothing wrong with differing opinions if the reasoning for both is explained together with pitfalls and advantages of each view as has just happened.

[Tony Press]

"The steering box is attached to the chassis by 2 vertical bolts and the horizontal brake pedal pivot. This ensures a good steady mounting. With a wedge the horizontal attachment is missing, so the steering box is only attached to the top of the chassis with the two 5/16" bolts. This also meant that the steering box was rather wobbly, although you could probably brace it in some other way."

David - I hesitate to disagree but on my original Austin 7 chassis the wedge which my father made for me was held to the chassis with two bolts down and one on the side replacing the brake pivot while the box was held by two bolts down and the brake pivot on the side ?

I didn't alter the drag link.

The wedge is still fitted to the Flood built Austin 7 Meteor which is being (slowly) restored in country Victoria 60 years later