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Post by bisdu on Dec 10, 2015 19:11:04 GMT 1
The Triumph Herald had a chassis and outriggers not monocoque! Stop talking dirty
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Post by lib on Dec 10, 2015 20:49:25 GMT 1
And the outriggers rusted through so quickly, but a quick tack weld of 'steel' from a heinz baked can and a dose of bitumen, voila a MOT pass.
Ah for the days when sawdust 'cured' noisy gearboxes and diffs, and a dose of fullers earth cured an oil soaked clutch ......
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Post by Ali on Dec 10, 2015 22:06:49 GMT 1
I bought an A40 in 1970 for £8.00 and yes it was pale blue. It had 6 months MOT and air conditioning via the holes in the floor. The first time I braked hard both headlights fell out and dangled on the wires. I ran it till the MOT expired then sold the engine for £5.00 and scrapped the rest. Cheap motoring. I had to pay £20.00 for my next car, a Triumph herald. Happy days Oh JP I laughed - you brought tears to my eyes there, what a fab description
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Post by JohnP on Dec 11, 2015 9:14:12 GMT 1
yes and the outriggers used to rust out. I remember tipping my herald on it's side against a couple of hay bales at work so that a collegue could weld in a new box section to reconnect the back suspension.
Later I was the proud owner of a 2 litre Vitesse. Now that was exciting. A lightweight car with a a heavy 6 cylinder engine and rear suspension that "tucked in" under heavy braking. it is the only car I ever had with a*** end steering. On a wet road it was always a challenging drive.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2015 10:40:21 GMT 1
Through work in the 1970's, I sometimes drove a Hillman Imp van with extreme negative camber on the front wheels. In a strong wind it was 'challenging' to get round corners....
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2015 10:54:16 GMT 1
My first ever car, a Ford Popular, black with a self fitted white stripe back to front. No water pump, vacuum operated wipers which stopped when going uphill, brakes operated by rods that vibrated when brake drums were wet and no heating. Ahh, the good old days!
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Post by JohnP on Dec 11, 2015 14:37:29 GMT 1
Through work in the 1970's, I sometimes drove a Hillman Imp van with extreme negative camber on the front wheels. In a strong wind it was 'challenging' to get round corners.... Everyone I knew with an Imp used to have a bag of sand in the bottom of the boot over the front wheels. It made the steering a bit heavy but at least something happened when you turned the steering wheel. BE, I had a friend years ago who was a mechanic. He had a "sit up and beg" Ford pop. After lowering the suspension and uprating the brakes he shoehorned a 3.5 litre Rover V8 into it. Still wouldn't go round corners but on the straight...wow. It was more brown stripes than white ones I recall.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2015 14:55:26 GMT 1
It was even worse, as at the time, I was a TV engineer and often carried my tools and a couple of colour tv's in the back. Sadly the firm took a dim view of bags of sand in the boot.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2015 17:42:14 GMT 1
My cousin Neil had an Imp that he brought up to rally spec! He tried spray painting it but it looked like the old fashioned speckle finish prevalent in public toilets in the 60's! He hit a concrete lamppost in Sheffield and broke it off at the base. The light on an arm at the top spun upwards and latched onto the bonnet and he pulled the whole caboodle down East Bank road for a couple of hundred yards.
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Post by lib on Dec 11, 2015 23:12:39 GMT 1
Well remember the Imp. For some, now forgotten reason Shell had a bunch of early production models. My mate at Shell Transport, based then at the petrochemical works near manchester, asked if I wanted to take an Imp down to the motor show in London. This would be in 1963 if my memory is correct.
Interesting little motor. The automatic choke was a novelty and worked, lots of dials too.
Off we went, no M6, was A6 through the peak district and off south. Car drove well but after driving at full throttle for a while the car slowed and and engine revs dropped, We of course stopped worrying that we were getting partial seizure as the temperature rose. Temp gauge was ok, no real sharp rise. Start off car performs perfectly, but fault occurs several times. Not a thing can we find that is causing the problem. We find, by accident, that 'blipping the throttle when the car slows seems to cure the fault.
Get to London, visit the show, talk to the guys on the Rootes Group stand all is revealed.
The accelerator pedal not connected to the carburettor by cable or rods. Instead there was a a pneumatic system made by, I think, Dunlop. The pedal compressed a 'balloon which transferred the pressure to the carburettor butterfly and opened and closed it. We had one where the one way valve to replenish air in the system was faulty so lost pressure when pedal kept depressed .............
This system didn't last long before it was scrapped and cables introduced.
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