Where's Wally?

[Reckless Rat]

The toilet paper is not Austin related. It has a direct link however to the "facility" which is in the corner just off shot. My garage has all mod cons, heating, air conditioning and live entertainment. I'm working on a teleporter to get mugs of tea sent down.

Hammers don't count.

The fan belts aren't Austin, they're drive belts for the mower.

The front suspension triangular thingy plate is a brush cutter blade for the strimmer.

The jump leads are actually a 12v LED battery tester

My list is at 13.

[David Cochrane]

Got all the ones mentioned so far, plus
Steering box drop arm
And I can see what might be the end of a steering column C-spanner

[Reckless Rat]

That's a good spot David, the C spanner. Keep going...

By the way nothing is staged, it's exactly how it is down there. There are no "low-ballers", it's just a bit of fun. A bit chaotic because of the ongoing moped job but I do know where everything is. (you should see the rest!) (and this is only about half)



Just been repainting some of the bistrot chairs for the barbie area.

[Howard Wright]

Hi Reckers

I do envy you your anvil  .

Cheers

Howard

[Nick Turley]

Front camshaft bearing, Rear camshaft, bearing centre outer, dynamo gear.

[Reckless Rat]

None of the above, Nick. Front axle spacer for the moped on the bench next to the 13mm spanner.

[Andy Bennett]

Tour plaques on the wall?

That's one exhibitionist toilet you have there and a spotless floor. Are the chairs lined up for demos?

Oh and you need a bigger tree stump if you are going to give something a good wallop on that beak and don't want the anvil on your toes. Been there.

Andy

[Reckless Rat]

The anvil came from the UK, from a farmer friend of mine near Sheffield. It weighs 100kgs. The tree stump isn't as big as I really wanted, and Andy is quite right about the balance problem, but it does for most jobs. The stump is acacia.

There's a nice view down the valley from the throne.

There are about thirty rally plaques round the wall, dating back to when I first drove the Austin down here in 2001. They are in date order, clockwise (I'm a bit OCD)

I have thought about tiling the garage floor. I should have done it from the word go, but I can't be arsed shifting everything now to do it.

There are just a couple of things you've missed...

---

This is the view from the "Throne" looking out of the garage down the valley, sort of east south east-ish. The pointy tower is the village church, and the "château" which dates to the 13th century is just to the right. It's not really a château just a big-ish manor house. The ridge in the background is the end of the Massif Central and the Cévennes national park. From there south, apart from a few pimples it's flat all the way to the coast, about 78km, at Grau du Roi on the Camargue.

[Andy Bennett]

Beautiful view.

Slightly off subject but, whilst there is often debate about the designation of the multitude of different body types for Austin sevens that's nothing to anvils.

I have an old catalogue from one French manufacturer from the 1920s and they have over 60 different types (then multiplied up in the number of sizes). Catering for all from the Oddsmith making nails, to the fully apprenticed blacksmith. What most in the UK have (including Reckers and me) is the 'London pattern'. My wife paid £20 for mine about 20 years ago at a farm sale and had 3 burly men load it into the back of her 205. She wanted it as a garden ornament as her great grandfather was a blacksmith. A few years after that I decided to put it to its correct use when I took up blacksmithing.

Such was the importance of the blacksmith that they were regulated from 1434. You could only call yourself a blacksmith if you had served your time and the 'Company of the Craft of Blacksmythes' could strike you off if the quality of your work was sub-standard. Meanwhile anyone could call themselves a doctor and chop your arm off (there's a reason doctors operate in theatres, it was public entertainment).

Having said that, in the 18c many small villages had a 'bonesetter' who administered to farmworkers with dislocated shoulders etc. That job usually went to the strongest man in the village who could pull a joint back into position, and that was the blacksmith. Jack of all trades.

Today even a knackered anvil only good for an ornament is hundreds of pounds. Again not a dissimilar price story line to that of the life and times of the Austin 7.

You can tell I am not in the mood to go outside and do some work...

Andy

[Reckless Rat]

As young Mr Grace said in "Are you being served":

"You've all done very well"

Just a few things that no-one mentioned. First of all was the back of an old rally plaque with "Do not start, No oil" on it. It has a cut out for the nose piece:



There is also a packet of ear plugs I took with me to Santiago de Compostella, and just below, second row, compartment on the left, if you've been to specsavers you will notice the ball ends of two brake levers:



The front number plate is from the RP, complete with a nice round hole in it worn by the front damper centre bolt (with my flywheel puller below):



Hard to spot, but well done David, was the 'C' spanner:



but no-one spotted the Scottish Austin Seven Club badge (unpainted) sitting in plain view:



So 15 items altogether:
33 2brg Crankcase
Flywheel puller
Steering arm (with crack)
Steering drop arm & bush
HC Head Gasket
SA7C badge
1930s tax disc
Whitworth spanners (in the blue holder)
Number plate
Rally plaque with cut out
Valve spring compressor
Grease gun
Ear plugs
Brake levers.
C spanner

Happy Days!
Covid jab tomorrow (if they don't cancel it, again)