Restoring a Top Hat

[Parazine]

I found an interesting Singer Blog online at:

[url=https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/][/url]
https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/

Included is a scan of the 1933 UK Singer catalogue, which prices a treadle 66K in a 5 drawer cabinet, like mine at £18 5s 9d, with the average weekly wage stated as being £3 12s per week, which means that the Singer was just over 5 times the average weekly wage.

Todays average weekly wage is £576, making the new Singer price a staggering £2880!

A 1933 Austin Seven saloon at £125 would be 34.7 times the wage, making the new price today £20k. 

I'll stop rambling......

[Parazine]

Running in!

Running in is hard to do - so might have sung Neil Sedaka in 1962, especially if he had a three speed gearbox to contend with.

The first hundred miles were done in the autumn and the second hundred have gone on this week with the onset of spring-like weather here in the west country, although today is much colder with wintry showers.
As the car is beginning to loosen up, it has paid it's first ever visit to a self-service garage and today I took it for a 45 mile round trip to the BA7C East of Bristol meeting along the A420, it's first major road trip since 1931. This meant a challenging climb away from Bristol on the way back - up Tog hill. An Austin Seven won't climb Tog hill on top gear, even going well so it's especially challenging for the Top Hat, which has a tight engine and a 4.9 axle. The challenge was to maintain a reasonable road speed in second gear without inconveniencing the modern traffic, hence the comments about running in is hard to do.

Here's the car, at the pub, meeting with some siblings for the first time ever.....

   

I made it there and back, without incident and covered 45 miles on just over a gallon of fuel. The car is "interesting" to drive, a little skittish (or was that the strong north wind?), not very powerful (still running in) and fairly quiet (for a vintage Seven). However, the all round visibility is excellent, best of all the body styles I think.

I'm still struggling to get the tickover and slow running even, having tried three carburettors and two magnetos. Any suggestions anyone? I cant see any air leaks before someone asks the obvious.

[Austin in the Shed]

Is the alum inlet manifold flat,most old ones I've seen are bowed like a banana on the exhaust manifold face.

[Parazine]

Took a second cut file across it to get it straight, also across the carb flanges.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Tim, I have left a message on your answerphone...

[Parazine]

Thanks Ruairidh, I've actually migrated on to a 24T-2. The symptoms are exactly the same though, with each carb type, the tickover speed is unstable and the air screw (or slow running adjustment for the 22FZ) has no effect at all. I tried a second 24-T2 to no avail and the same carbs on a different engine run fine.    I thought maybe the magneto was causing the problem so I put the spare on (again, proven on a different engine) but no change in symptoms. All the gaskets, flanges etc have been filed flat and sit snugly, no sign of any air leaks.

What may be happening is that, because the engine is tight, it takes quite a bit of energy to turn it over at tickover, hence the throttle stop screw is wound in, cocking the throttle open by a fair amount. Because of this, there is little depression on the slow running circuit (actually a different, small carb within a carb) and the engine is running on the main jet at tickover (or probably,  the progression jet in the case of the 24T-2). In this case, I would expect things to return to normal when the engine loosens up, although at present, it is still very stiff..... 
220 miles up now, perhaps it will loosen up by 500 miles. 

Top speed has gone up to 35mph with occasional, lightly loaded, brief bursts to 40.

[Parazine]

Tickover and rough running - solved!

Total mileage is up to 325 or so and this weekend, we took the car on it's first club run, to west Dorset, near Bridport. The car was incredibly poor at ticking over and when it got hot, the engine would not run below 1500 rpm, evident after ascending some quite steep hills. We made it to Montacute House on Friday but expired in the car park.

Returned home today and decided to change the spark plugs on a whim. They were a new set, fitted to the car when I bought it, so I used them after the engine rebuild. When I checked them, they turned out to be Champion RD16's, not D16's. Apparently, the "R" denotes a built in resistor, to act as a suppressor but these plugs are not recommended for Magneto ignition ( Are suppressors and resistor sparking plugs OK to use with magnetos? (brightsparkmagnetos.com) )

Lo and behold! Changing the plugs to D16's instantaneously fixed the problems! 20% more power and smooth tickover, no stalling!

Really happy that the Top Hat is finally running as it should. Note to everyone - Do not use Champion RD16 plugs on Magneto cars!

However, it has to be said that the car is a bit of a greenhouse in this weather, so the Chummy may well be used for the North Devon event in a few weeks time.....

[Dennis Nicholas]

What N Devon event?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I believe that the Bristol Austin Seven Club have been running their annual North Devon run since the late 1960s Dennis.

[Parazine]

What N Devon event?

We're at the Lynmouth Holiday Retreat (formerly Channel View Campsite), Barbrook (on the A39, above Lynton) from 7th June for a week, as we have been since the 1980's. Program is an informal mix of walking, driving and sightseeing; you're welcome to join us for a day or longer if you prefer. We aim to leave the campsite at around 10:30 each morning to do whatever we're doing that day. If you want to stay longer, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the organiser so that you can be included in the group.
There's usually a mix of BA7C, CA7C and Devon Seven members.