What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[jansens]

Engine back in today with the fixed gearbox.

Then engine back out. AGAIN. Seems you can't set the clutch pedal easily with it in the car. The stop on the crankcase was worn away so I TIGed that up while the engine was out. The clutch works now but is extremely stiff. I guess because I fitted the racey, double clutch springs. That might not have been a good idea! The gear shift is also very stiff but working. The positioning of the radiator surround and top bonnet support is critical too or else the fan bolt heads hit the radiator. Still, with all this practice, I can get the engine in and out in minutes now. if you lift from the number 4 spark plug hole the engine (without starter and dynamo) and gearbox balance perfectly level. It's very easy to tilt it up or down to get everything into place.

I am hoping the clutch springs ease up with usage?

Simon

[squeak]

Engine back in today with the fixed gearbox.

Then engine back out. AGAIN. Seems you can't set the clutch pedal easily with it in the car. The stop on the crankcase was worn away so I TIGed that up while the engine was out. The clutch works now but is extremely stiff. I guess because I fitted the racey, double clutch springs. That might not have been a good idea! The gear shift is also very stiff but working. The positioning of the radiator surround and top bonnet support is critical too or else the fan bolt heads hit the radiator. Still, with all this practice, I can get the engine in and out in minutes now. if you lift from the number 4 spark plug hole the engine (without starter and dynamo) and gearbox balance perfectly level. It's very easy to tilt it up or down to get everything into place.

I am hoping the clutch springs ease up with usage?

Simon

Simon you could try countersunk allen head bolts in the fan.

Mentioned on here in a previous post, 'the clutch pedal shaft can be drilled and tapped to take a small bolt which when screwed home leaves just the head showing'. With the engine in place an open ended spanner engages with this head to assist pedal adjustment.  cheers  Russell

[David Cochrane]

Wheels & tyres this afternoon. The RP had suffered ANOTHER puncture on the way to the PWA7C New Year's Day lunch at Old Dalby, so that needed fixing. The spare wheel had a nice Staybrite wheel centre but a very ancient tyre, and the punctured wheel had a painted centre. The Chummy's front tyres are worn and the spare spare wheel has a couple of broken spokes. So it was off to my local Kwik-Fit with 5 wheels in the boot. Poor lad who was assigned to my case had only been working there for a week, but fortunately he had a motorbike so knew a bit about our sort of tyres. The machine which holds the wheel and winds the tyre on & off wouldn't stretch down as far as Austin 7 wheels so he had to do everything with a couple of long tyre levers and some useful shaped plastic pieces to protect the paint on the rims. He did very well, and I now have 3 empty Chummy wheels, the Staybrite wheel on the car and the spare wheel with a better tyre pinched from the Chummy's spare spare wheel, also a spare inner tube under the RP's back seat. Next job is to replace a few broken spokes then fit some Longstone tyres to the Chummy's wheels.

[Steve kay]

Pushed the RP to the back of the garage so I could start to prep the Liege for the Clee Hills Trial.

Not a moment too soon to start Clee Hills prep. I've just come to the sanity of the forum after studying what used to be the hallowed bible, the MSA Blue Book, but now seems to be Motorsport UK website. Well, if it helps the kids read it on their smartphones on the school bus it must be a good idea. Desperately checking to see what is allowable in class zero. Young Bromley and myself decided to celebrate Citroen's centenary with 2CVs in the Clee Hills, but discover that a Liege and two Dellows are also allowed in class zero. Seems almost like turning up for a Bert Hadley event to find a 512 Ferrari and two 917 Porches entered, because they're quite old as well! I think replacing the Solex with a Weber might be allowed, but even with a few more horsepower we sure ain't going to trouble the engravers in any case. Looking down the entry list indicates a fair number of well known Sevenists in a variety of machinery, what would motor sport do without us?

[David Cochrane]

It was very interesting watching a YouTube video of cars on this year's MCC Exeter Trial attempting the Simms section. Many modern cars with loads of horsepower failing, then a Frazer Nash and an Austin Seven RTC romping up! You might find that you will do better than you expect.

[Roger Goldthorpe]

It was very interesting watching a YouTube video of cars on this year's MCC Exeter Trial attempting the Simms section. Many modern cars with loads of horsepower failing, then a Frazer Nash and an Austin Seven RTC romping up! You might find that you will do better than you expect.

I have to admit the Liege is often beaten by Austin 7s. I am always amazed by the skill employed in finding the grip with their skinny tyres plus negotiating the ruts with their narrow track.

The video of Alan Bee on Simms last year is inspirational. If you can find it, it is well worth watching.

[jansens]

It was very interesting watching a YouTube video of cars on this year's MCC Exeter Trial attempting the Simms section. Many modern cars with loads of horsepower failing, then a Frazer Nash and an Austin Seven RTC romping up! You might find that you will do better than you expect.

I have to admit the Liege is often beaten by Austin 7s. I am always amazed by the skill employed in finding the grip with their skinny tyres plus negotiating the ruts with their narrow track.

The video of Alan Bee on Simms last year is inspirational. If you can find it, it is well worth watching.

Is this the one you mean? An Austin 7 saloon at about 15:40 goes straight up more or less:




Either way, very amusing film. I think in a lot of cases a limited slip diff would help! It must be very stony there? To get that much smoke off the tyres on mud and there also seems to be a sign stuck to a tree warning about flying stones. 

Simon

---

And for those other filthy colonials like me who have no clue what the Exeter trial is this explains it pretty well.

[Bob Culver]

Thanks Simon
I don’t enjoy mechanical torture of anything, and many of the cars seemed far too precious for such antics. I would have thought dabbing the clutch would be more effective than blue smoke.
Questions for all.
What tread pattern is allowed at the start? Are split handbrakes etc allowed?
What powers the Seven saloon? Many Sevens would struggle on that grade dry! Any theories for its success other than weight distribution and narrow tyres? Is the diff locked? The reaction of the children is priceless. Austin could have sold tens of thousands of cars new with that sequence.
When riding in Sevens easy to get the impression the springs do not do much. Trials pics certainly dispel that notion.

[Steve kay]

It was very interesting watching a YouTube video of cars on this year's MCC Exeter Trial attempting the Simms section. Many modern cars with loads of horsepower failing, then a Frazer Nash and an Austin Seven RTC romping up! You might find that you will do better than you expect.

I have to admit the Liege is often beaten by Austin 7s. I am always amazed by the skill employed in finding the grip with their skinny tyres plus negotiating the ruts with their narrow track.

The video of Alan Bee on Simms last year is inspirational. If you can find it, it is well worth watching.

Is this the one you mean? An Austin 7 saloon at about 15:40 goes straight up more or less:




Either way, very amusing film. I think in a lot of cases a limited slip diff would help! It must be very stony there? To get that much smoke off the tyres on mud and there also seems to be a sign stuck to a tree warning about flying stones. 

Simon

---

And for those other filthy colonials like me who have no clue what the Exeter trial is this explains it pretty well.

Limited slip diff sir, why,  that's cheating! Sometimes before the start and sometimes at random at the foot of hills, scrutes will produce rollers and ask some or all competitors to spin a wheel. There were people caught some years ago, no guilty party was driving a fwd post 1945 Citroen. Anyone these days would be in utter disgrace, refused service in the bar at Shelsley and every pub in Presteigne. Solid back axle cars of course do well, Nashes, GNs and even Trojans. The sight, sound and smell of a Trojan slowly but surely making its way up a hill, accompanied by spluttering two stroke sounds and in a gently swirling  cloud of smoke is splendid.

[jansens]

Absolutely, of course, if against the rules then that's cheating! Like I say, I am just a filthy colonial

How would a modern car with all the computer assists do I wonder? I know 4WD are banned. I liked that the Beetles seemed to do well. I am assuming the weight over the back wheels helps?

I like that it seems to be an even open to all sorts but the vintage cars do just as well as the (slightly more) moderns.

Simon