What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Bob Culver]

Hi Andrew

I appreciate the fast wearing 3rd brush is a pain. But a regulator able to use would seem the least taxing of the dynamo and/or the most efficient.
(for any curious, 10 amps average output acheived only by a severe chopping action is more taxing of the armature than a steady 10 amps.)

[bob46320]

At last, got the C35A dynamo back in service, new brushes and new wire from the main commutator brush to + terminal. I think the cause of the problem was when this wire de-soldered itself from the terminal tag on the main brush. Splatters of melted solder found inside the dynamo. I think this shows the importance of having a crimped termination on this wire, also reduced the dynamo output from 10 amp (Which has been the output for years) back to 8 amps. Now waiting for some resistance wire from e-bay to make the field resistor (Bruce says 26swg ??). I believe that the original resistance wire was wrapped around the ignition light socket on the switch panel, but my switch panel has the remains of that wire but a shorting wire soldered across the summer settings switch, thus necessitating a resistance at the dynamo terminals. (1932 RN)

Sometime I need to replace the other braided wire from the other main brush to earth. I wondered if the screening off screened cable would be flexible enough ??

In my trawlings around the net to confirm that the field resistance for the summer setting should be between 3 - 5 ohms, I came across this firm in Lincoln doing dynamo reconditioning.
E I C S-products Ltd
Unit 19 Blackwood Court, Lincoln LN6 3AE

[Bill Dixon]

Bob if you mean the resistance for the ignition lamp, I have used a 27ohm resistor in place of the resistance wire for the last 40 odd years. The dynamo is about 3ohms but is about 18 swg. Bill.

[Mark McKibbin]

While pulling the reflectors off the new Chummy I thought the washer on the back was a bit lumpy, after a clean up it turned out to be a penny ....my birth year as well so must be auspicious.

[Chris KC]

I feel sorry for the 'roo...

[Dave Wortley]

Not today but the day before I spent 3 hours trying to work out why my newly rebuilt 4 speed box locked up when engaging bottom gear. It finally dawned on me that it was the different speedo drive casting needed shorter screws than the previous one fitted. Shortened two of the screws and bingo.

[Duncan Grimmond]

Today was the first available salt and rain free day so I drove the car to the workshop and then on to the classic car gathering at the Punch Bowl in Marton-cum-Grafton. A good turnout but most of the cars I would be hard pressed to describe as a classic, mostly 1970s stuff...one chap hadn't come in his Escort as he only drove it to shows. He'd never heard of an Austin, never mind a Seven and said he'd never even seen one. He googled it and up popped a Chummy and he was raving about it! I had to explain that mine is not a standard machine.
It's startling to realise that what one takes for granted is totally unknown territory to another.

[David Stepney]

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Last weekend, my 14 year old grandson Leon came to stay for a couple of days, so, on the Sunday, I took him home to Telford in the Seven, going via the Llangollen Motor Museum. Young Leon was well impressed by both the Seven and the museum, so I shall endeavour to encourage his interest in proper motor cars.

The museum has two Sevens: A '27 Chummy and what is described as a '32 RP saloon, although I suspect it may be later than that, as it has what look to be factory fitted semaphore indicators.

It is very reasonable to get in. £5.00 for me, with Leon and the Motoring Dog getting in for free!

The little car covered to 140 miles from Bala to Telford (via Llangollen) and back with no incident.

I think that i have mentioned before that I have adopted a regime of planned maintenance, so gave the Seven a good lubrication service on Thursday and generally made sure that all was in order with it. I have noticed that, when greasing the kingpins, the grease comes out of the top caps and nowhere else, so I shall pull the kingpins out this week and clean all the grease passages in the hope that everything can get its fair share.

Today, I had occasion to go to a meeting in Porthmadog and, it being a reasonably decent, if windy day, decided to use the Seven. It was a bit drafty over the mountains to Trawfynydd but was otherwise quite a pleasant trip.

I gave a lift to another attendee back to his home in Barmouth. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera, so no photos and, anyway, it rained on the way home from Barmouth. Again, the little car covered to 80 miles or so without drama or incident. In fact (after previously  running a Porsche for several years!) I am constantly amazed at just how reliable the Seven is!

[Steve kay]

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The dear lady wife said that since I had been banned from the Measham by having LEDs which threatened Western civilisation, as observed from the Iron Bunker of Colnbrook, she would instead treat me to lunch. An excellent distraction, though our contributors in North Wales will probably think we drove all the way to Lincolnshire, the flanks of the Skirrid being mere bumps.  Overnight news from a secret location outside Leominster, no-one failed at scruting. No doubt reports or anecdotes of the heroic event in due course.

[Robert Leigh]

The 1932 RP which I bought in 1959 was fitted with semaphore indicators, and they were not uncommon on other RPs at the time. They looked as though they might have been factory fitted. The brochure 1060a from 1933 shows the car with semaphore indicators fitted.
Robert Leigh

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I am pretty certain that the rated output for the C35A was 9 amps, including ignition current which does not show on the ammeter, so setting 8 amps maximum on the ammeter seems sensible. The C35M was the only A7 dynamo rated at 11 amps, unless someone has evidence for something different.
Robert Leigh