What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Hugh Barnes]

The car passed the test with flying colours - huzzah! - headlining will be fitted next week. The wrinkly tin is actually part of the Velux installation and is supposed to be like that!!

:-)

[Malcolm Parker]

The roof looks great.   The real test will come when you are driving along into a strong headwind in the rain!
When I was building the Ulster I drilled a couple of small 3mm holes in the corners of the tail floor so that any water that got in through the spare wheel hatch would drain out.
I find that if I have driven on wet roads water actually gets in through the drain holes.  I can only assume that there is negative air pressure around the tail of the car which is sucking the water in.   The tail section was sealed very thoroughly inside and there is an air-tight bulkhead behind the seat.
Even though my saloons are pretty watertight I still carry an old towel in each, stuffed on the floor behind the drivers seat.  You never know when you might develop a leak!

[Nick Lettington]

That roof looks fantastic. 

In my ORT, I had a big polythene bag for my passengers' laps for a while. Eventually, I fashioned a scraper to remove the crusty remains of the rubber seal from the bottom of the windscreen and replaced it with something from screwfix that was meant for widowcleaners squeegees. It works very well indeedThough my home-made frame is a little ratty, the roof, made by a retired coach trimmer, is probably the best bit of the whole car!

I also carry an old towel for leaks. I theow it underneath when I park on the drive of somebody i like

   

[Hugh Barnes]

As some here know, I have had that car for a terribly long time and the roof, particularly, has had a chequered history. A very dear friend of mine never fails to remind me of the time I braked and a huge shoot of water went down her neck. The roof had been sealed up in the 50s (though had left the sliding panel). I am being incredibly focused on getting this right. I have promised my friend a ride in the car when complete and I don;t want a repeat performance. I also dont want to immediately ruin the rather nice Simon Laxton provided headlinig kit that is about to be fitted.

To Malcom's point, I think when the car is stationary it will be under the greatest strain, I imagine that when driving, the airflow should blow wany water off the back of the roof - the real issue then will be how well the screen is sealed. That was also refitted as part of this work and is yet to be tested!

[Denis Sweeney]

My Ruby roof is totally water tight whilst stationary however in heavy rain water somehow manages to get in under the front near side corner, I first noticed this whilst on the Eurotour in ‘22 driving to and from the Bugatti museum in Mulhouse. Dual carriageway driving somewhere between 45 to 50 on the clock heavy rain and not much visibility.
The sliding roof when closed sits under the front lip but when there is a lot of water about and running well it does come in.

[Malcolm Parker]

Over the weekend I got the new engine back in the Ulster after sorting out a loose flywheel and fitting a longer starting handle shaft.  It fired up immediately on the handle with a duff battery and old petrol in the tank.
I let it idle for about ten minutes and yesterday, with a new battery,  took it up the road to check the clutch operation and the brakes which had been adjusted.
There was some hesitation when the throttle was opened, more than simply a cold engine and a cold day.
On looking at the plugs, number three was sooty and there was evidence of some water getting into cylinder.
Today I took the head off.  The new gasket I had fitted when I put the engine together had failed between the bores of number 3 and 4 cylinder, see photo.        The gasket was one I picked up at a jumble a few years ago.  It broke up when I removed it.    
The cylinder head on the engine was an angled early head with quite a high compression ratio.  This head measures 37mm at the nearside and 33mm at the offside.       
I am replacing the gasket with a copper/'asbestos' one from our cherished suppliers and will be fitting a less aggressive angled head which measures 38mm on the nearside and 34mm on the offside.      It is interesting to see how the combustion chamber shape alters radically with an extra 1mm off the face.
I will report back in due course!

[Nick Lettington]

Ah... one of those funky "cardboard" gaskets. I have one I use to align the head studs before refitting a head. They aren't much use for anything else!

[Malcolm Parker]

I seem to remember that it was in a pack containing all the engine gaskets.   I used most of the others during assembly of the engine but using the head gasket was clearly a mistake!

[Steve Jones]

Don't worry. I think I've got another one here you can have

Steve

[Alan]

Look on the bright side - you got to see those lovely shiny pistons again.