Hairy Bikers and Other Petrol Heads

[oldravendale]

This thread reminds me.....



My second - or perhaps third - car. A Honda S800 which was a stunning piece of machinery. Four carbs and an engine of only 791cc it revved at 10,000 rpm (yes, that's not a mistype) and a top speed of 100 mph, 0-60 in 13 secs. At the time it was regarded as the fastest 1 litre car in the world. It was replaced by the more often seen (I was going to say common) S2000. I wish I still had that S800 now, not least because good ones sell at a tad short of £40K!

Brian

 

[Osgood]

Sounds like that engine was derived from their motorcycle designs?

 

[simond]

I remember a guy having a Honda s800 when I was an undergrad sandwich student at the shipyard. I never looked it up, so the history is interesting. The s2000 are very popular with the owners to whom I've chatted. And look great too.

In the 80's, I was the proud owner of a Lancia Fulvia 1.3s3 2+2 coupe, which was simply wonderful. I wish I still had it, but it was written off by a tennis coach from Oswestry whose stopping power did not match the 4 humunguous discs on the Lancia (and my delicate paw on the pedal) as I avoided a nasty shunt with a bloke who pulled out from a parking spot without using his mirror.

similar but mine had the steering wheel on the other side. 4 Cibie rally lights, and black trim. More like £15-20k for a nice one. fab car.

 

[oldravendale]

Sounds like that engine was derived from their motorcycle designs?

My understanding was that it was indeed derived from their experience with motor cycle engines. In fact a friend and I rebuilt the engine, new roller bearings, wet liners and all and the fit of parts and engineering prowess was remarkable. It still would be but at the time I bought the Honda after a Morris 1000 (which I disliked with a passion) and a comparison of BL engineering and finish of the time and subsequently (like my Rover SDI) the direction of the British motor industry was pretty clear.

Brian

 

[Focalplane]

Brian, have you read the Rotter’s Club by Jonathan Coe? A must read for anyone who wants to remember the 1960s in the SW side of Birmingham (think Longbridge, unions etc.).

Paul

 

[Dog Star]

...think Longbridge, unions etc., ...

And possibly Red Robbo who died recently.

 

[farnetti]

[Brian, have you read the Rotter’s Club by Jonathan Coe? A must read for anyone who wants to remember the 1960s in the SW side of Birmingham.]

And Hatfield and the North.

Ken

 

[oldravendale]

Thank you Paul.

I've not read that and will add it to my reading list for sure. It was a sad time for the British Motor industry (and a lot of other industry too). The more I've read about that period in our history the more my opinions about the bloody minded unions have shifted. Management was just as much to blame for the poor relationship, in fact more so in many cases. Also, putting aside the environmental issues, until I actually went down a coal mine in, I guess, the 1980s or 90s I had no idea about the conditions those guys worked under. My opinions took a sharp turn to the left!

However, this is not the place for politics so I'll get back in my box.

Brian

 

[Nick Dunhill]

This was our family scoot until 10 years ago. We had a TR7 which had to go when the boy was born so chopped it in for this. It had been totally rebuilt when I got it (for10k) and sold it 9 years later (for15k.) Despite their dreadful reputation it never let us down.

I'm lying we had a Volvo estate as well as a real family car! We went from Sheffield to Orkney one summer in the Stag when fuel was £1.50/litre. The trip cost nearly £500 in fuel plus £250 on the ferry. We could have flown for less!

 

[Nick Dunhill]

For those interested this is my current sled.

I can't resist a Guzzi.

 

[Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen]

This was our family scoot until 10 years ago. We had a TR7 which had to go when the boy was born so chopped it in for this. It had been totally rebuilt when I got it (for10k) and sold it 9 years later (for15k.) Despite their dreadful reputation it never let us down.

I'm lying we had a Volvo estate as well as a real family car! We went from Sheffield to Orkney one summer in the Stag when fuel was £1.50/litre. The trip cost nearly £500 in fuel plus £250 on the ferry. We could have flown for less!

My Dad was a mechanic in the BL days. His stories of the quality of new cars was horrendous. One of his favourite jobs was working on Stags, principally hacksawing the head from the block.

Tim

 

[Eastsidepilot]

My Father and his brothers as building contractors bought BL cars and commercials for their company.
Unfortunately at one stage they bought a couple of Morris Marina's my Father took his back to the dealer after 6 months with rust bubbling through the front wings paintwork and his brother took his back with a strange clunk noise which only sounded when turning sharp right very shortly after delivery.
The garage where they bought them from, a BL dealer phoned up and reported that the mechanic had found the problem ........ a piece of lead tied to a string which was taped to the inner panel of the front passenger door behind the lining, apparently a Friday night built car when the production line crew were getting bored !
My Father asked what the dealer was going to do as it was under guarantee, when they suggested re-spraying the wings he said he'd rather have his money back which they flustered over but they gave in and sorted another new car.
Both he and his brother didn't keep them long and went out and bought Jag's later.

Col.

 

[Nick Dunhill]

My dad had 2 consecutive Marinas. First one was a brand new one in Damask red. The windscreen seal leaked and I remember him taking it back to the dealer to complain. I was sat in the back seat as a mechanic poured water from a hose over the winscreen whilst another mechanic was inside the car spotting where the water came in and marking it with a stick of chalk. I wondered where the bilge pump switch would be located! Damask red was a good substitute for BR coach Maroon if you're interested.

Not deterred he chopped the red one in for a brand new mk2 Marina in Sandglow with a brown vinyl roof. I remember laughing out loud at the amount of rust that bubbled through after only 18 months. I passed my driving test in it and my sister crashed it learning to drive. Happy days.

My dad part exchanged the mk 2 marina for a Princess in champagne ( I think) with a brown vinyl roof. He drives Toyotas now.

 

[Max M]

Back in the day British cars used a positive earth system which encouraged corrosion. (due to with Galvanic corrosion?).
This may well explain, in part, why the cars mentioned above corroded so quickly.

 

[Nick Dunhill]

Yeah, they never painted the panels inside cavities either. Inside the sills and inner wings etc. Do you remember the Ziebart thing you could buy where they drilled holes and sprayed wax into the cavities to protect them? The TR7 I had still had some of the grommets that they used to bung up the holes afterwards, so I guess it had been done. That's probably why it had survived so long.

The worst car I ever saw for rust was my Uncle Harry's Alfa Sud. He bought it from new and it was a fabulous car, but within a year it was almost a scrapper. The underside of the bonnet was full of corrosion and the windscreen pillar/A post. Awful. I suppose it was the norm in the 70s.

 

[Scale7JB]

For those interested this is my current sled.

I can't resist a Guzzi.

Nick, I believe one of our crew is the Chairman of the Moto Guzzi owners club, or something thereabouts.

JB.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Yeah, they never painted the panels inside cavities either. Inside the sills and inner wings etc. Do you remember the Ziebart thing you could buy where they drilled holes and sprayed wax into the cavities to protect them? The TR7 I had still had some of the grommets that they used to bung up the holes afterwards, so I guess it had been done. That's probably why it had survived so long.

The worst car I ever saw for rust was my Uncle Harry's Alfa Sud. He bought it from new and it was a fabulous car, but within a year it was almost a scrapper. The underside of the bonnet was full of corrosion and the windscreen pillar/A post. Awful. I suppose it was the norm in the 70s.

The Italian motors did get a reputation for rust especially Fiat and also early Japanese cars from what I remember. I recall Dad Ziebarting his old Wolseley 15/60 back in the '60's.

Col.

 

[Nick Dunhill]

I know this is nothing to do with modelling and I ought to be on a BSA blog but.....the fella rebuilding my BSA B44 engine sent the crank away to a specialist in Brum to get it pressed back together with a new big end journal/bearings and Hermes lost it!

Have got all the crank cases mended/reconditioned etc ready.

Luckily the restorer hassled and hassled Hermes and 3 weeks later it turned up in a very damaged box.

 

[Steph Dale]

I know this is nothing to do with modelling and I ought to be on a BSA blog but.....the fella rebuilding my BSA B44 engine sent the crank away to a specialist in Brum to get it pressed back together with a new big end journal/bearings and Hermes lost it!

Have got all the crank cases mended/reconditioned etc ready.

Luckily the restorer hassled and hassled Hermes and 3 weeks later it turned up in a very damaged box.

Reconditioning work looks very well to me!

If my experiences with Hermes have been anything to go by, the parcel turning up on time would have been more remarkable...

Steph

 

[Eastsidepilot]

I know this is nothing to do with modelling and I ought to be on a BSA blog but

This is all acceptable mate, don't not post any updates with the re-build, this thread and a few others on here are like having a coffee break from the main job of model making, takes me back to my Triton days

Col.