What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Steve kay]

If we had any spare medals, one should immediately be awarded to Howard for strength and courage far beyond any editorial call of duty. The LCES tour celebrating the centenary of the Small Car Trials never intended the full mileage or every climb, and I have yet to hear of anyone managing the reduced mileage.  Of course it rained, this is Wales, and since the construction of the bridge at Beulah there is no longer any fear of being washed downstream in what could be a very deep ford. The big question is, did any Chummies manage Bywlch y Groes? 
For the seriously brave, the full Small Car Trial tour beckons on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th May. You do not have to say that your car is even faintly original, entry numbers are so low that anyone dropping a Flathead V8 into an Austin Ten chassis will be most welcome. And whilst cars are meant to be pre1940, a number of hopeful participants have no chance of getting their machines ready, yes I know which Clyno bits have yet to be sourced let alone fitted, so we are also happy to accept fallback machines such as MGA and Pickersleigh Road products post 1945. 
The full nav notes are ready to be sent out so you can sit in the warm and dry at you kitchen table and mark up the routes. Also the historic booklet in PDF. Howard used some of the Austin Harris/LAT images in the recent Grey Mag. Partly due to the nature of PDF images and partly due to the constrained size of Grey Mag illustrations, I have had printed a number of copies of the historic booklet giving the many snaps in high definition and much larger size. 
So, fearless drivers of specials, Ulsters, Grasshoppers or almost anything please do not hesitate to contact me: stevekaytwo@btinternet.com

[austin]

I have to say the booklet is excellent, if I could get down to do the tour I would, looks like a great challenge.

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

Today I had a welcome full day in the workshop after a weekend of driving.

I completed an SU inlet manifold for the van.  It is based on an old updraft manifold (upside down) with the centre section cut out and a segment of 2 1/2” aluminium bar fabricated to take the two parts.  The joints are formed by heating the centre section and allowing it to shrink onto the two outer bits.  I don’t have a tig welder so for belt and braces I brazed the joints.  Seems strong enough, just need to clean up the carb and work out accelerator, choke and fuel lines.

Cheers

Howard

[goodwoodweirdo]

thats nice work !

[Duncan Grimmond]

Andrew, among my wheeling machines I have a very small one designed for getting into tight spaces such as headlamp shells and rims...

[Howard Wright]

thats nice work !

Thanks

Howard

[Ivor Hawkins]

Brazing aluminium, you are brave Howard!

Lovely job though.

[Howard Wright]

Brazing aluminium, you are brave Howard!

Lovely job though.

Hi Ivor

Thanks.

Lumiweld aluminium braze.  As long as you clean everything with a stainless wire brush it works well. You need to be careful on thin sheets as the heat required is not too far away from aluminium’s melting point.

Howard

[Robin Boyce]

Re the Light Car Welsh, we managed the Bwlch y Groes climb in the '23 Chummy although having to stop halfway to top up the rad., with a split header tank that saw us give up later.  The insurance included RAC recovery; after 3 hours with regular texts from them such as "we are very busy in your area" (what?!, in very rural Wales) we opted for an expensive taxi to Llandrindod to to fetch our trailer.  A previous recovery by RH (not a regular occurrence) had been trouble free.  
We also climbed Bwlch y Groes during the 2004 tour but should have remembered to fit a fan this time!

[Steve kay]

That is most encouraging, the first reported successful ascent of Bwlch y Groes. Can we look forward to any more, or even many more? I presume all flew up Gibbet Hill, which is second gear in a Ruby and third in a 2CV. Reports on Senni Hill or Pennau?