Mulliner Wood Frame Construction

[Colin Morgan]

Hi

When I was working on a 1929 Mulliner saloon recently I found that the left-hand side of the wooden frame had been assembled using left-hand threaded brass screws.  I think these are original as the rest of the car has not been messed with.  A few of these screws are shown in the picture below.  Has anyone else come across them please?  Why would they do this – I don’t think the Austin factory used them?  Would this help stop the screws loosening when the frame shifts on accelerating/braking/cornering?? 

Colin


  Mulliner LH Screws.jpg (Size: 33.36 KB / Downloads: 843)

[Dave Wortley]

Blimey Colin! Is it April 1st already.

[DavidL]

Its like the chief designer said to the youngster "and draw the other side as a mirror image"...

[Nick Lettington]

Perhaps the chap on the left hand side of the line was left handed?

[Colin Morgan]

I'm lefthanded - not sure what that has to do with it? A few are bent - does anyone know where I can get replacements, please? Usual (reliable) suppliers don't seem to have them.

Colin

[Austin Carr]

I'm lefthanded - not sure what that has to do with it?  A few are bent - does anyone know where I can get replacements, please?  Usual (reliable) suppliers don't seem to have them.

Colin

Not woodscrews but these are left hand thread:-

https://www.mutualscrew.com/department/o...-13401.cfm

[Colin Morgan]

Thanks, Austin

Colin

[Colin Morgan]

The supplier I spoke to today tried to sell me a left-handed screwdriver too - funny man.

Colin

[Tony Press]

Hi

When I was working on a 1929 Mulliner saloon recently I found that the left-hand side of the wooden frame had been assembled using left-hand threaded brass screws.  I think these are original as the rest of the car has not been messed with.  A few of these screws are shown in the picture below.  Has anyone else come across them please?  Why would they do this – I don’t think the Austin factory used them?  Would this help stop the screws loosening when the frame shifts on accelerating/braking/cornering?? 

Colin

I am intrigued - how on earth did you find out these were LH thread woodscrews ? Given that they would be very uncommon I suspect that anyone would normally spend some time tightening these screws, eventually resorting to damage !! 

Why LH woodscrews- I can see why some cars had LH axle nuts and centre lock wheels are usually marked left and right with instructions on the thread, but I cannot see why a screw would benefit from a LH thread ??

Cheers, Tony.

[Colin Morgan]

Hi

It always helps to have a screw driver in good condition that fits well - once the screw slot is damaged life becomes very difficult. Since they seemed very tight, I was using the usual trick with wood screws of trying tightening a bit more before loosening, and to my great surprise one came out!

Colin