The Seven third gear is much as the mid gear of relatively powerful 3 gear cars. RPM in 3rd of 4 speed is about same as 2nd of 3 speed for most unmodified non sport models.
Other cars of the time were 3 speed and in low power models ratio in 2nd often close to 2:1. So there were other slow cars on hills. Trucks here in the 60s used to seriously obstruct my Seven so they were certainly slow, although much fewer of. Imediately sped up after the brow.
An horrendous vehicle was the 3 speed, engine half in cab, Fordson 10 hp. The hi revving din far exceeded a Seven.
The railways here ran a fleet of road buses. These cruised a little under 50 mph. I could follow easily and occasionally attempted to pass but once out of the slipstream and alongside no show.
My Pytchley saloon with 4 speed CR gearbox, 5.25 axle and about 8.5 cwt will do the steady climb out of my village to the hill top in 72 seconds. The long hill is taken in 3rd gear, it will not pull top.
The other day I timed the RL saloon on the same climb. 3 speed box, 4.9 axle and at least a cwt heavier. The time? 72 seconds, exactly the same as the Pytchley. Most of the run was done in top gear.
In theory the Pytchley should be quicker. Both engines are similar spec except for the cylinder heads. The Pytchley has a bronze 9E1 head and the RL has a Dave Dye Ricardo head. Perhaps I need to fit a similar head to the Pytchley?
Happy to send you one up if you'd like to do a comparison Malcolm.I have a couple in the car and can post unless you have someone close going to Wiscombe.
Thanks for the kind offer, Dave. I actually have one in stock that I had forgotten about! I found it a few weeks ago whilst rummaging around for a head for the new engine that is soon to be installed in the Ulster rep. In the end I have fitted a wedged early head to that engine. Early running on the test bed looks like it will be okay.
Since fitting the Ricardo head to the RL saloon its hill climbing in top gear has improved significantly and the whole engine runs smoother than before.
Driving the same bit of road with a gradient over and over is a good test to see if the latest tweak or correction has made any difference, or if there has been an undiagnosed fall-off in power? There is a length of old lane near me, with trees along to shelter it from the wind, and if the car will climb that comfortably in top at just over 30, then it is about where it has always been. If I have to change down, then something is not right, given I am not two (or more) up at the time.
Hi Malcolm
Results very odd unless cr radically different. There was a curious head illustrated here recently that seemed to be a mirror Ricardo.
Either one of yours?
The degree of warm up and grade of oil has considerable influence.
In the 60s, away from home, in the manner of the time, I boarded. The landlady's grandaughter's boyfried had a sv 1950 Minor. He worked at the airport and was bemused that one of the other techs with a modified early Seven saloon overtook him flat out on the level most days!
Both engines have similar CR's. The RL has the Ricardo head and Lucas dizzy, the Pytchley has the wedged early head and a bosch (Skoda) dizzy. The Pytchley has a deep Nippy type sump and I think you have hit the nail on the head, the oil will take ages to warm up. I will have to try it again when everything is thoroughly warm.
05-05-2022, 08:28 AM (This post was last modified: 05-05-2022, 08:29 AM by Mike Costigan.)
I agree; my car takes at least ten miles of running before it's giving its best, and that's with the standard sump. I would imaging the extra oil in a deep sum might take twice as long to heat up.
In the 1960s after weekends I often used to leave my parents home at 6 am for the city 60 miles away, allowing for the traffic there, for 8am. Then there was no other traffic before 7am
As I left I saw the silhouette of a Ruby cross at the junction 1/4 mile ahead. So it was pedal to the mettl even more than normal. 30 miles later the SAE50 had thinned and I caught up and on a very long straight crept past. He slowly disappered in the mirror. Was a university student car i knew. He would have had at least 30 miles of warm up when I first saw.
On some cold Wellington days with the notorious southerly winds the Seven on 50 grade could not hold top gear..
In the days when my 1934 Ruby was daily transport, I had little problem tackling hills but, having recently returned Ruby to a drivable state after a long layup, the issue you describe is all too familiar. However, the more miles on the clock, the better I'm getting at making steady hill climbs and that "you can do it Ruby" refrain has resurfaced from the depths of my memory bank.
