nath
New Member
Posts: 1 
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Post by nath on Dec 30, 2017 19:15:44 GMT
Hi, I’m a new proud owner of a landcrab, 1972 red and chrome and just kind of stumbled into it rather than fulfilled some life long dream. But having it stuck in storage for 5 months and only visiting it or taking it out in fine weather means I can’t rwally enjoy it as much as I’d like to. It drives and stops well, corners lovely, kids can come along with etc. I’m just thinking about ways to make it my daily driver without having to remortgage the house. One bonus would be a tighter gear change and potentially an overdrive as it happily cruises at 60 if not a little noisy. Also with only 8 of this year on the road and 8 sorn it’s got to be worth keeping rather than looking at German 70s classics for greater reliability.
Any pointers?
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Post by Penguin45 on Dec 30, 2017 21:32:23 GMT
Hi Nath, welcome aboard.
My cars are in daily use without too much modification. Principally this is rust protection! I would certainly get the car up in the air, chase out any surface rust and get the underside fully proteted. Be warned, if they start to rust properly they can rust for Britain. There is a section dedicated to rust on the forum and some of what goes on in the restoration threads is pretty horrific!
Being a transverse engine with the gearbox "in-unit" there is no possiblilty of fitting an overdrive. The only practical way to do it would be to use a 1750cc E4 power unit (Maxi, Allegro) with the 5 speed gearbox. The E6 engine fits the 2200 and Six cars, so logically the E4 could be made to fit; but, is it really worth that much effort? E4 produces less power than the "B" and has an entirely different torque curve. Can't see much point myself! My Austin regularly returns 35-38mpg on motorway cruises. The engine seems happy enough at the higher revs compared with "modern" vehicles.
Gear change - two systems. The early one uses cables, the latter is a rod change. Neither has the snappy "rifle bolt" action of a Ford gearbox of the period. I find both quite usable - the cable change is exact but slow. The rod change is more positive. Wear can be the nylon ball fitment at the bottom of the gear lever, but much more likely to be the roll pins in the union between the selector rod and the input shaft.
Noise. Mine suffer from wind noise from the front passenger door; otherwise adequate modern sound insulation across the front floor, bulkhead and wheel tubs makes a great difference. Dynamat is a popular modern choice.
There is only so much you can do - I love mine for what they are.
Anyway, others will no doubt add to these comments. Be good to see some pictures - maybe start a thread in "Your Cars" for us to follow.
Chris.
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Post by peppib on Dec 31, 2017 8:47:02 GMT
Hi Nath
My '69 MkII is my daily driver - the only 'modification' was fitting an alternator earlier this year (have owned the car for 11 years, and the alternator for 10 come to that)
Last year she succumbed to rust and Chris fitted new inner and outer sills, and floor for me (he just loves poking rust!) She now has substantial protection on her underside
I find no problem in modern traffic, and she certainly out performs some of the small moderns and will cruise all day at 70. She can be temperamental (that's why it is a She!) but speaking to her nicely (and a kick in the right place) and she comes around to behaving again. Great thing is there are no electronics to malfunction and interfere with the enjoyment. She is certainly my first choice of car (the other one I own is a Mercedes Benz)
Dave
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