What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Bluebird7]

As 'Ermintrude' was feeling a little lonely in the garage all by herself I just bought her a new playmate
   

[Ivor Hawkins]

I’ve had three Morgans over the years and the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire roads eventually rattled them all to bits! Loved them all though, strangely I preferred the little 4/4s to my Plus 8, mainly because I wasn’t always trying to compete with myself on travel times to and from work!

[Bluebird7]

Norfolk roads are so much smoother, used to live in Bucks, and back there next week.!!!!!
Hit a pothole outside Oxford in my Smart, did £1300 of damage, but CSMA solicitor got me full refund.

[Ivor Hawkins]

Whatever you do don’t bring the Morgan, Blue!

[David Stepney]

What have I done today with my Austin Seven?  Well, actually it has been yesterday and part of today and the answer is serviced it.

During the 4 1/2 years that I have owned my car, I have now done a tad over 20,000 miles in it. As many of you will know from my previous posts, I am a bit OCD about regular maintenance on all the vehicles as it does keep them reliable. So, with the Seven, I have adopted a regime of servicing it every 1250 miles:

Short service: (1250 miles) Grease all points, check all levels, paint the springs with old engine oil, check lights and adjust brakes if necessary.
Medium service: (2500 miles) As above, plus change engine oil, remove brake drums and inspect brakes, oil all moving parts and generally have a good look round, making sure that nothing is trying to fall off.
Full service: (5000 miles) As for medium service plus change gearbox and rear axle oil, check and adjust points, clean and re-gap plugs, clean fuel filters and check and adjust carburetor. Replace plugs every other full service.

It is also quite surprising just how much stuff requires timely intervention on these regular inspections. as well as dealing with minor problems that have arisen in the meantime.

With an indicated 14949 miles on the clock, it was time for a 'biggy', and so yesterday morning I set to work.

Two problems that needed to be addressed this time were the question of the noisy front brakes (as matter that i have already mentioned in these annals) and an annoying sharp knock from the rear suspension on rough roads, like the track leading up to my bungalow. This I had already identified as the rear shock absorber links and had ordered the bushes and pins. Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of the postal system, these have yet to arrive. However, looking through the bits cabinet for something else, I cam across a box labeled ' Shock Absorber Bits'  which contained, among other things, 5 link bushes and a quantity of the attendant washers. So, having spent much of Saturday doing all the mundane stuff, and stripping the brakes, cleaning the drums and shoes thoroughly, swapping the drums front to back and making sure that I had the requisite 1/4 inch chamfer on the shoes, I set about sorting the rear shock absorber links out.

The offside link was a doddle, in spite of the fact that the special pinned bolt securing the link to the shock absorber had been replaced at some time past with an ordinary nut and bolt. The shock absorber itself seemed a bit tight, so I adjusted that so that the arm moved under a 12 lb load as i seem to recall they should. (I remember this as it is the same as the preload on Series 3 Landrover swivels.) The nearside was a complete nightmare, however. The lower pinned bolt simply refused to to come out, so the shock absorber had to be dismantled, the arm taken to the bench and heat applied to get it to let go. I cleaned everything up (the wire brush on the bench grinder is a wonderful thing!) and reassembled it all, again setting the shock absorber to match the other one.

Thia one side had taken me 2 hours to deal with, and, by the time the car was all back together again and all the tools put away, is was far to late to take the Seven for road test. besides, I had had enough at 11.00pm.

So, as Julius Caesar would say 'a prima luce', I was back in the garage, having overnight made a mental list of things that I should do like oiling the door locks and hinges, finally checking the adjustment of the brakes and one or two other 'pottering' jobs, I took the car down to the town for bread and milk and then up to feed Misty (the horse) covering about 12 miles. The little car started virtually instantly from cold, went well, climbing Bwlch-yr-Eira up to Misty's field with aplomb, handled well (for a box saloon) and, more importantly, no funny noises from the rear, or indeed from the brakes (although how long that particular fix will last is anybody's guess!) The only noise that still drives me silly is an annoying buzzy rattle emanating from somewhere in the dash area on the nearside at certain engine speeds, but, since I have been chasing that particular funny noise virtually from day one with a conspicuous lack of success, that can wait for yet another day.

Now, I suppose, I shall have to go and wash it.

[Ivor Hawkins]

What an excellent report David. I’m still driving around in mine, but it is due a “big” service as I have a leaking core plug, I think I’ve started to strip a head stud, nipping them up after the last valve job and worst of all, a noisy clutch thrust bearing, so it’s an engine out job and having a Nippy deep sump, that’s a right pain...I’ll put the job off another week or two and do some household maintenance!

[Reckless Rat]

n out today with the "Vieille Roues Cevenoles" to their base of operations in Ponteils & Bresis near Villefort in the Lozère, about 75mins from here. A good turn out which started with breakfast, Cevenole style, with wine or coffee (I opted for the coffee):


Bread, cheese, sausage and/or paté. Ponteils is a stunning location. A bit remote, and bloody cold in the winter but the views are magnificent.















After breaking bread and a chat & stuff we set off to Concoules, where an apéritif was provided by the Mayor:



More food and stuff to drink:



Then we went back to Ponteils for a meal... just in case anyone was hungry. (5 courses plus coffee)

[Reckless Rat]

I spotted this old lorry in a field. It's been there as long as I can remember but it's the first time I've been able to stop and take a picture of it. No idea what it is. I suspect it's French because there's a button markerd "demarreur" on the dashboard (which means starter) - Ideal restoration project if you're game:





The Austin was well received. Plenty of interest. It was the oldest there by quite a few years.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Looks great!

[Steve kay]

     

What I did today was completely run out of patience, caring for and nurturing the little machine. I decided to ignore the oil pressure gauge, the noise was not too dreadful and certainly not big ends, so out we went into the afternoon. Who needs doors, bonnet, windscreen, lights etc, a few drives round a rather hilly triangle, including a few brief bits of second gear along the flat section pictured, otherwise sounding vigorous and pulling well in first.