New to the fold in a Special

[Steve Parkin]

The Low Tech no water loss version was exactly that used on the Renault 4. Very effective

[Peter Naulls]

I have a version of Terry's overflow tank, it works a treat. In my case it's made from an offcut of exhaust pipe with the ends blanked off, it fits neatly between the rad and cowl.

Peter.

[Hedd_Jones]

If the car is a LWB and has a 4.9:1 banjo, any D type 5.25:1 is a straight swap, notwithstanding any messing previous owners have done to brakes etc. If it was standard it would be a case only of swapping pinion flange and or ball link off the current axle if they were different.

For sporting use I understand it is widely considered that a lower ratio is more suitable. In fact, the 'sports' were fitted with lower ratios again. I have a Nippy axle here that might one day go on in my daughters box saloon.

I'm not sure how steep the hills are round there, The 2 box saloons, with broadly standard engines. They climb hills well, 1st is used occasionally only, generally on feindishly steep hills. Though I have found hills that the 4.9 equipped car wouldn't go up and the wife had to get out. One was the hairpin on Bwlch Pen Barras (due to momentum rather than steepness), Trial Hill in Cilcain was another, also on the Hirnant Pass between lake Vyrnwy and Bala. The 5.25 car despite its 6 inches extra weight seems to go up anything its pointed at.

[Malcolm Parker]

With an Austin 7, the choice of rear axle ratio is always a compromise between comfortable cruising without the engine revving its nuts off, and hill-climbing ability.
With 19" wheels the 5.25 ratio is probably best, as well as being the most readily available.  The Regent 5.44 ratio is excellent if you can find one.

[Parazine]

The Regent 5.44 ratio is excellent if you can find one.

The Regent ratio was 5.375 (8 x 43). I have one pair in the Chummy and one pair spare on the shelf. It is an excellent bit of kit, if the engine can rev.

[dickie65]

I think I have a brand new Regent CWP in the garden shed, its been around since the late 1970s still in greased paper !!!
I sold one in its original box a couple of years ago.

[DavidL]

Kind of a dumb idea, but if you want to see what it looks like on 17in wheels all round and on 19in wheels all round put the pairs left and right.

I rather like the clearance between tyre and mudguard, and on mine I started too close and then increased "to stop the funny noises". Its amazing how much the wheels move about and how much the car rolls.

If it was built for trials why not have a go at one? There's a lovely cartoon with someone building up a Lotus 7, then stripping it to race. Be a shame to unpick all the modifications only to go back the way you'd come.

My only other thought, as a recent convert to cycling, is to plan a route to suit the car. Google will give an elevation profile if you tell it you're a bike. I like "plotaroute" and "cycle.travel". The algorithms look at traffic data to find quiet roads.

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I buillt a dash for my godson to match his measurements, only to find the steering column (at the stage he was at) hung on a bit of string and able to move substantial distances left and right. Would a tweak to the left help you? Its going to depend on how the box is fixed as well as how its hung up the top.

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Can you adjust the peddles at all to make more space? Can you drop the floor a bit? Could the seat be lower or further back? Could the steering column move higher?

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Have fun !!!