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Post by Ben N on Jul 21, 2017 4:48:17 GMT
Finally got my 1971 Austin 1800 mk2 insured and on the road again on Saturday. What a pleasure! It hadn't been out since October when the tandem brake master cylinder dribbled half of its contents into the engine bay beneath. On Sunday I took it to the classic car (and airplane) show at the Campbell River Airport. 150+ classic cars and mine was the only Austin as usual.  Unfortunately, this morning I found it listing heavily to the driver side of the car. This was bad timing as we'd stayed at my uncle's overnight so had a good hour of driving on bumpstops to get home again today. When I bought the car last year, the passenger side was down and was luckily just a cracked hose and not a displacer. I can see green drips in the front displacer housing tube (where the hoses go in) so I'm hoping that when I get the displacer out this weekend, it may just be another hose leaking. |
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Post by andrewa on Jul 21, 2017 16:47:54 GMT
Car looks stunning - whitewalls suit the car well - and envious of where you live - just looked it up on the internet - good luck with the hydro - hope it's a relatively easy fix.
Cheers
Andrew
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 21, 2017 18:50:02 GMT
Good looking car, well done. Hope it's just a hose letting it down.
Chris.
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Post by Ben N on Jul 23, 2017 5:15:31 GMT
Well the hose is definitely cracked, so that's a relief. The rubber has badly decayed at the outside of the bend. The connection to the pipe did not give in easily - took hours of penetrating oil and nervous attempts before it surrendered. The whitewall tires were on the car when I bought it, and I think they suit it too. It's a ring of white rubber in the tire itself so I found sanding off a thin layer makes them bright again.  |
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 23, 2017 9:59:30 GMT
Good news about the displacer. Just a reminder if anyone has the misfortune to blow a displacer (other than the hose) please try and hold on to it as the internal parts may be needed for remanufacturing if they are in good condition.
regards
David
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Post by Ben N on Jul 31, 2017 4:08:55 GMT
New hose fitted, everything back together and suspension pumped up to level again. That's both front hoses failed within the one year I've owned the car. I'm starting to worry about the rear ones... Without access to a proper pump nearby, I have made one from an old MGB clutch master cylinder I had. The end of the hose has a bleeder button and screws onto the schrader valve of the suspension. I remove the Austin's clutch master from the bulkhead and set it just to the side, and bolt my pump one in its place. Once bled of air, it pushes fluid reasonably quickly past the schrader valve into the system. The reservoir on the MC I use is rather small though, so I do have to top it up quite a few times to get the car from sitting on the bumpstops to the right height.  |
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Post by dave1800 on Aug 2, 2017 0:20:06 GMT
Well done, that's an ingenious solution. The rear hoses do seem to fail more than the front ones based on ancedotal evidence, other than front failures due to abrasion if the separators are missing.
regards
David
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Post by Ben N on Sept 25, 2017 4:58:35 GMT
Compared the speedometer with my wife's phone's speedo app a couple weeks ago and confirmed my suspicion that it read several MPH low at highway speed. So, I checked the size of my tires - 185/75R14, a bit big. Then found the DOT code - the tires were made in 1985! Time for new tires... 165/80R14 is not easy to find here and whitewalls almost as rare these days. (I will miss the whitewalls) Canadian Tire had a sale going on Michelin's last week (basically bringing them down the the price of the other brands) so the lucky Austin now sports a set in 175/70R14. And the speedometer is now close enough to accurate to not bother me. It also now has an era-correct radio/8-track player. I picked it up at a swapmeet this summer and coaxed it back to life with new rubber belt and patient greasing of its moving parts. I also had a broken Archer Voltage Inverter given to me (for putting a -ve earth radio in a +ve earth car) that only needed a new transistor. The inverter is now hidden above the passenger side parcel shelf and powers the 8-track/radio which is grounded to the car normally.  |
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Post by andrewa on Sept 25, 2017 5:58:32 GMT
8 track looks v.cool and love the choice of sounds!
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Post by bent8rover on Sept 25, 2017 12:36:07 GMT
I do like 8-tracks, quite a rare bit of tech back in the UK. I put a Motorola unit in my Rover P6B and it sold with it still fitted, but still have an new-in-box Akai unit to put in a car one day. It was going into the ealry Maxi but I sold that on too soon. Also have Akai home HiFi recording deck - although you'd struggle to call it hi-fidelity! BTW, did you know you were spotted and posted about in the Spotted thread? Hello, Silversleeves race team member Scott spotted this car while camping on Vancouver island Canada this summer. The odds of this happening are so remote He had to send it with himself in the photo.  |
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Post by Ben N on Sept 25, 2017 22:48:33 GMT
Yes, I did notice it in the spotted thread. Scott was VERY excited to see another landcrab as they are nearly extinct around here. I am yet to see another one in person.
I'm also fond of vintage hifis, and have a quadraphonic amp in my living room. My father-in-law used to have a '77 Lincoln Continental that I think had a quad 8-track player in it - the height of 1970's luxury!
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Post by Ben N on Nov 4, 2017 20:26:04 GMT
One of the wheel cylinders was starting to leak so replaced both sides with new. Previous owner had inventive ideas on how the clips go, and had done it differently on each side. I also bent and flared new brake lines as the nuts and pipes were well rusted together at the old wheel cylinders.
Drove down to Comox yesterday morning to visit a very sad looking MGB in a shed, with an overdrive gearbox I'd like for my BGT. It was about -4°C so I had the heater on hot-boost-car, and side vents closed. Warm (wouldn't say hot) air was coming out by my feet but after about 45 minutes, mostly at 90km/h, it was nowhere near warm enough to be tempted to take your coat off. Should I expect more heat or are 1800 heaters known to be a bit weak? I greased the heater controls when I had the parcel tray out this summer so I don't think anything's not moving there that should be. Perhaps it's just hard to keep the 1800's tardis-like interior warm.
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Post by dave1800 on Nov 5, 2017 1:22:59 GMT
You should expect excellent heating as Tommy in Norway has previously reported in temperatures way way below freezing. The heater outlet on the head can get clogged up over the years and the rubber hoses deteriorate internally. David Should I expect more heat or are 1800 heaters known to be a bit weak? I greased the heater controls when I had the parcel tray out this summer so I don't think anything's not moving there that should be. Perhaps it's just hard to keep the 1800's tardis-like interior warm. |
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Post by Ben N on Nov 5, 2017 15:08:31 GMT
Good to know the heater should work well in cold weather. The rubber hoses were replaced a year ago but not sure if anything else could be clogged up a bit. Searching the forum, I found this quote from Tommy:
My door seals have likely never been replaced and I do hear some "whooshing" noise from the drivers door especially at speed. Some of that could be the sound of the warm air being drawn out.
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Post by Penguin45 on Nov 5, 2017 16:41:13 GMT
Hi Ben. You might consider flushing the heater through. The hoses are easily accessible, so attaching a hose pipe and rinsing through back and forwards a few tiumes is a simple operation.
Chris.
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