I ran a Riley 9 a few years ago and Riley people are finding that modern gaskets do not last anywhere near as long as proper CA types. My 9hp blew a gasket between 1 and 2 cylinders when I was taking a prospective purchaser out for a test run! Fortunately, we were only 1/2 mile from home. Needless to say, he didn't buy the car but he did purchase it 6 months later when I had changed the gasket and bedded it down again.
The Riley gasket came with detailed instructions about tightening the head down in stages and checking torques frequently in the first few hundred miles.
I regret selling that car, it was a very nice example, '34 Kestrel with a manual 4 speed gearbox.....
I haven't, personally had any problems with Seven head gaskets; the only one I've blown recently was on a '34 AH tourer and that turned out to be due to faulty head studs.
(07-11-2020, 06:10 PM)DazeOff Wrote: In 55 years I've had 16 A7's with 2 very recent 'Dogs'. The first (which we still have) we call 'Frankie' because we suspect it was made from parts. The second was said to be "ready to drive..." MY ARSE!!!! 50 hours just to make it even driveable. Problems with A7's just never end and you may just have to accept that.
I'm now into my 3rd 1933 Austin 10 and my god they are fabulous, strong, girder chassis, brilliant brakes, 4 door - just a larger Seven.......but Austin engines either go on forever or the problems never end. In 87 years from leaving the factory, there is so much to wear and fail, but I'm discovering the modern replacments parts are not a patch on the originals. My bitch is HEAD GASKETS, how bloody difficult can it be to make a reliable head gasket?. OK asbestos is out, but it's not rocket science. The latest 10 has only travelled 600 miles from a £9000 rebuild and the head gasket blew today. I wonder why most early Austins had the two cab flaps??? was it to allow the oil vapour to escape generated from leaking head gaskets which caused crankcase compression. You really have to be an enthusiast to own and drive Austins. I wonder which British marque has lasted the longest???
WOW! I wonder what Master Dunford has to say about this
I agree, Austin 10s really are superb machines, when running well - power to weight ratio is superb.
I would really like one of the Ripley Sports, the only problem is stocking spares for another car...
By the look of replacement head gaskets I have seen they are hand made. My last experience was about four years ago when I inspected about twenty before selecting one I thought reasonable. BTW the above ad about passengers dieing of a heart attack being typical is a bit of a worry.
(08-11-2020, 12:48 AM)circeonya@hotmail.com Wrote: By the look of replacement head gaskets I have seen they are hand made. My last experience was about four years ago when I inspected about twenty before selecting one I thought reasonable. BTW the above ad about passengers dieing of a heart attack being typical is a bit of a worry.
...so is the farthing a mile. Do you think the then non-existent Advertising Standards Authority might have objected? If they could? Which they couldn't.
76 mpg, good lord. And if a Chummy cost a farthing a mile, did the Trojan advertisment in the next edition of the magazine claim that a Trojan would actually pay per mile? Was Ms Hurry the great grand daughter of William MacGonagle?
The whole advert is clearly tongue in cheek. Miss I A B Hurry (In A Bl**dy Hurry), 76mpg when being thrashed, passenger jumping out and having a fatal heart attack.
At least it is politically correct, there are no loin cloth clad natives being run over as Miss I A B Hurry flashes past!
(07-11-2020, 06:10 PM)DazeOff Wrote: In 55 years I've had 16 A7's with 2 very recent 'Dogs'. The first (which we still have) we call 'Frankie' because we suspect it was made from parts. The second was said to be "ready to drive..." MY ARSE!!!! 50 hours just to make it even driveable. Problems with A7's just never end and you may just have to accept that.
I'm now into my 3rd 1933 Austin 10 and my god they are fabulous, strong, girder chassis, brilliant brakes, 4 door - just a larger Seven.......but Austin engines either go on forever or the problems never end. In 87 years from leaving the factory, there is so much to wear and fail, but I'm discovering the modern replacments parts are not a patch on the originals. My bitch is HEAD GASKETS, how bloody difficult can it be to make a reliable head gasket?. OK asbestos is out, but it's not rocket science. The latest 10 has only travelled 600 miles from a £9000 rebuild and the head gasket blew today. I wonder why most early Austins had the two cab flaps??? was it to allow the oil vapour to escape generated from leaking head gaskets which caused crankcase compression. You really have to be an enthusiast to own and drive Austins. I wonder which British marque has lasted the longest???
WOW! I wonder what Master Dunford has to say about this
I agree, Austin 10s really are superb machines, when running well - power to weight ratio is superb.
I would really like one of the Ripley Sports, the only problem is stocking spares for another car...
I was fortunate to own a Ripley Sports in the '70s. Yes, a lovely car and the look of a Grasshopper ( sorry!) . I should never have sold it. I believe the model was used by several police forces.
I have looked at a few but always decided that I have enough on my plate - they are good looking cars, along with the Newbury 12 model - did they make a 16 Sports version?
08-11-2020, 11:27 AM (This post was last modified: 08-11-2020, 07:11 PM by Tony Griffiths.)
(08-11-2020, 09:52 AM)Malcolm Parker Wrote: The whole advert is clearly tongue in cheek. Miss I A B Hurry (In A Bl**dy Hurry), 76mpg when being thrashed, passenger jumping out and having a fatal heart attack.
At least it is politically correct, there are no loin cloth clad natives being run over as Miss I A B Hurry flashes past!
Congratulation Malcolm - somebody got the joke! It's just a Photoshop alteration, here is the original. It's still an impressively low fuel consumption, the only time I ever achieved more than 50 m.p.g. over one tank full was by driving at no more than 30 m.p.h. Has car A2401 survived?
