What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Steve kay]

I would completely agree that frequent use and constant attention are the principal requirements. For attention, perhaps little and often. Luck does also come into it however. My Ruby, so well put together by the sadly missed Ian Bennet, has behaved very well indeed. The three occasions when I’d had any sort of failure, blown head gasket, loss of camshaft locating stud and total coil failure, all took place within a quarter mile of home. I pat it on the bonnet, and say well done!

[flywheel1935]

I'm in the process of converting an electric Seven back to original power unit.

At last, somebody doing the sensible thing.
Think somebody in the States has fitted a big gas guzzling motor into a Tesla, Save the planet & stop BMW building huge EV- SUV's, long live Oil and Petrol !!!!

[andrew34ruby]

I'm in the process of converting an electric Seven back to original power unit.

At last, somebody doing the sensible thing.
Think somebody in the States has fitted a big gas guzzling motor into a Tesla, Save the planet & stop BMW building huge EV- SUV's, long live Oil and Petrol !!!!

I agree we should stop the explosion of huge heavy EV's , maybe stop all EV's, but the idea of a small, light, electric seven quite appeals to me.

[Steve Clare]

Dave,
What sort of power did that electric system put out? Did it make for lively driving? Just curious.
Steve

[Dave Mann]

I can't remember the motor rating, I'll check it tomorrow, but it was faster off the mark than a standard Seven, the owner had set the controls to limit it to 30 mph which he considered fast enough for a Seven, he was horrified at me doing 50 mph in a Seven. There was a time when an electric Seven appealed but that faded with the number of EVs going up in smoke. Also it's range of 20 miles (out and back 40 miles) was of no use to me as i need at least 100 mile range.

[Malcolm Parker]

Today I fitted the mark 1 tail section to the hillclimb car.    It is easily removable, sitting in two steel cradles and secured by a single 8mm bolt with a wing nut.    I made it out of scrap pieces of plywood and some thin ash laths that were left over from when I built the Pytchley.   The wood skeleton was covered by a piece of linen, which I soaked in wallpaper paste and draped over, trimming the edges with a pair of scissors and folding it over the edges.   When it dried the linen between the laths was rucked but when I applied a layer of chalk paint as undercoat it became taut again.   Next I applied three coats of mahogany coloured Ronseal varnish, just to use up the tin.   The finish would be great for a Ruby dashboard!    The plan is to paint it with aluminium paint of the sort sold for doing flat roofs.   I am quite pleased with the result, especially as it cost nothing to make!            

[JonE]

so what is the mk2 to be? (sorry, I might need to be reading back further...)

[flywheel1935]

There was a time when an electric Seven appealed but that faded with the number of EVs going up in smoke.

Come home to a real fire, Buy a Tesla !!!!!!!

[Dave Mann]

THE motor is 10 KW about 13 bhp. We all know that IC engined cars use the engine induction vacuum to provide power assistance for the brakes how is this achieved on an electric car? If you have tried to stop a disc braked car with a dead engine you will know what I mean.

[Howard Wright]

Hi Dave

Electric pumps!

I run an electric window van (into which I can put my special  ).  I like it especially when coupled with solar panels on the house roof.  Most local journeys during the summer have been free!

Cheers

Howard