What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Bob Culver]

Copper pipes are always liable to fracture in old age so replacement worthwhile. In his plane Lindbergh insisted that all pipes were frequently interrupted by flexible joints. May be able to clear pipes with curtainn rod.
Always find photos of countryside interesting. Compared with the pop hare it always seems surprisng that so much is deserted. We do not have the web of minor roads and with 40 ton artic milk tankers and logging trucks it is becoming very difficult to find unspoiled roads. Whenever there is slip damge tend to get straightend. A lot of the land area here is rugged moutain entirely unroaded.

[David Stepney]

Copper pipes are always liable to fracture in old age so replacement worthwhile. In his plane Lindbergh insisted that all pipes were frequently interrupted by flexible joints. May be able to clear pipes with curtainn rod.
Always find photos of countryside interesting. Compared with the pop hare it always seems surprisng that so much is deserted. We do not have the web of minor roads and with 40 ton artic milk tankers and logging trucks it is becoming very difficult to find unspoiled  roads. Whenever there is slip damge tend to get straightend. A lot of the land area here is rugged moutain entirely unroaded.

Bob. It wasn't that the pipe had fractured, but that the lumen had somehow become constricted. I did think of rodding t through - I have a length of broken Landrover speedo cable that does the job quite well. Indeed, I used it to make sure that the tank pick up pipe was perfectly clear. The problem in rodding the main line through is that it has some quite interesting bends in it, including an expansion coil that i do not think one could get anything round.

With regard to the Welsh mountains, whilst rugged, they have been grazed by sheep for centuries. Indeed, in the middle ages, Wales was the main producer of wool in the British Isles. In consequence, there have been small summer farms (called 'Hafodydd' - singular 'Hafod') and tracks all over the place. As I hope you can see from the photos, they are ideal Austin Seven country!

Here are some photos that i took today that didn't make it into my original post:

[Steve kay]

Bob, I'm puzzled about the reference to wild life. Is the "pop hare" any relation to our Welsh creature, the "Ludo goat"?

[David Stepney]

Bob, I'm puzzled about the reference to wild life. Is the "pop hare" any relation to our Welsh creature, the "Ludo goat"?

Here in North Wales, we have ninja sheep and kamikaze pheasants.

[Ian Williams]

We have mountain Trolls, Orcs and various other undesirables, however I never seem to have any difficulty finding unspoiled roads through beautiful countryside on which to enjoy my sevens here in NZ, and I am far from alone many of my friends also travel all over the country seeking the by ways. Whilst it is true that we are a developed country with main route traffic just like anywhere else, from his description and experiences I am guessing Bob never ventures out and explores anything but the main State highways in his seven?

[Bob Culver]

hi Steve
Population here.
The screen is midway between my asssisted and unassisted eyesight. And I cannot multi task. Hunting for the keys whilst constructing sentences of a sort stretches my ability to the limit.
Used to explore a few roads like that by bike in my schooldays. Remember helping two vehicles unlock bumpers on one occassion. On vehicles of the 30s and earlier the bumpers would deflect over each other and it was difficult to unhook.
The 4wd fraternity have ruined many roads and access. And the inabilty of many to cope has forced upgarde. I can remember in the 40s and 50s even in our Seven having to reverse to allow passing.
In regular trips up and down the NI in my 1960s modern  I still hunt out back roads. If there is grass in the middle, very satisfying.

[David Stepney]

Here in wales our road system is almost like a third world country, Apart from the deepest south of our land, around the Cardiff/Swansea/ Llanelli area, nearly all out arterial roads are single carriageway. The only exception to this in the north is the A55(M) which runs from Chester through to Holyhead taking the traffic through to the ferries for Ireland.

This makes getting from north to south a bit of a chore. Some weeks ago, i had occasion to drive from here in Bala down to Raglan, about 120 miles and three and a half hours each way. It would almost have been quicker to go to Birmingham on the A5/M54 and down the M6/M5!

[Bob Culver]

Hi David
We have vast areas as behind the placard board but few through roads. With downturn of wool, pines have been introduced; these attract logging trucks and it is the end of narrow winding roads. The changes over just 20 years are very noticeable and when can remember clearly back 50 and much more very dramatic. Metalled roads severely corrugated are and were not ideal territory for Sevens. We often used to go to a beach 25 miles out of town. My father read in a copy of the Road code how to correct a skid. His observation "I am doing that constantly all the way there and back" (on corrugations the rear repeatedly shudders around as in a spin. Much later hydraulic s.as. largely cured). Perhaps also explains why axle eyes were such a problem.

[Ian Williams]

I am sorry Bob, once again I disagree with you, as someone who regularly drives my sevens on metalled roads, as do many of my friends, I find them in general to be in good condition and an ideal environment for our cars. Of course things have changed in the last 50 years, it is true of everywhere in the world, but I am afraid I can't help finding your views incredibly negative and feel they grossly miss represent the situation here.

[Dellie]

Its a little bit cheating, the pictures are from Saturday.
I put the body panels back on the car, and sat in it for a bit, to get some courage to get started again.
I'm planning to start the engine again next week so ordered a lot of stuff for it to happen.







How do you align the radiator shroud? its only attached with the pipes to the engine and some bodypanels.