crabmaster
Member
Posts: 44
Attribute: http://www.austineighteenhundred.com.au
|
Post by crabmaster on Oct 26, 2013 16:55:36 GMT
Thank you for approving my registration to the forum. I am very impressed by the fine atmosphere of knowledge and friendship displayed by the many contributors and topics that I have had the pleasure to read through in the last couple of months - particularly the exploits of Chris C and his car. I am amazed that I have mastered the system to the extent of hopefully posting a message, although I have yet to press the final button whereupon no doubt some error message will appear because I have done something wrong. I have the pleasure of running the relatively new Australian web site www.austineighteenhundred.com.au. I set this up following the retirement of our previous Club editor Daryl Stephens who, for some twenty years, produced the LOCA Newsletter with 6 issues per year every year. An outstanding achievement I am sure you will agree. Although I have not had an 1800 for that long, I have indeed owned (or occupied) a BMC vehicle since 1962 when my father purchased a Morris 850 (Mini) that I restored in the 80's and still have. A few years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a very nice 1800 automatic which I used for a daily driver for some time, and now am slowly attending to the many issues that such a car has developed. This lead me to the LOCA as a source of information and community and it was somewhat disappointing to see this come to a stop - but after that length of time, one can only admire the effort put in by a few for so long. The new website is somewhat different to the LOCA newsletters, and those of you who have seen it - or even registered yourselves on it, will find it chiefly a source of information. I've been able to list every document/manual/parts book and even drawings for special tools, for the Australian 1800- including copies of some of the original BMC staff newsletters that covered its introduction to Australia. In reading your posts on this forum, it is obvious that the Australian car is very much different than that made in the UK. We didn't get centre arm rests, chrome piping, woodgrain door cappings, and so on - but we did get front reclining seats as standard and stronger engine mounts. Perhaps BMC thought that we in Australia would spend time travelling and camping in the outback more than pottering around in the cities. Our MKII cars are even more different with a locally made dual circuit tandem brake system. After the MKII we went to the X6 Kimberley and Tasman cars before they were dropped in favour of the Australian-designed P76 large car. My own 1800 came to me very dusty after being stored in a dry garage since 1980. I soon found out why it had been stored for that long. The poor lady who owned it had driven it into the garage and couldn't get it out again because the reverse band servo piston assembly had cracked away from its mounting. You can imagine the quotation for such a repair - so there it remained. Lucky for me the interior remained extremely good, and I am sure you would agree that working on mechanical items is far easier than dealing with perishable trim and cosmetic knick knacks on the inside. It has been a pleasure to drive and attracts many admirers as I am sure you all know from your own experience with your cars. So thank you again and I look forward to contributing anything I can to the overall discussion. Tony |
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Oct 26, 2013 17:33:56 GMT
Hi Tony,
Thanks for signing up and your kind words. This site is a tribute to the input of the members and I'm pleased to see the membership numbers and activity levels here gradually rising.
I'm a member of your site "down under" and have found it an invaluable resource. You'll find it referenced in the "Links" section further down the forum. Those members here who have not yet signed up with Tony should do so at their earliest convenience.
Good to hear about your car - pictures to follow, I hope?
Chris.
|
|
|
|
Post by dave1800 on Oct 27, 2013 1:35:01 GMT
Hi Tony
I'm glad to see you are enjoying this forum and your expertise is a very welcome addition. I would like to reinforce Chris' message to encourage people here to join your Australian website group which has lots of helpful and interesting information that is difficult to find elsewhere and excellent technical articles you have written.
regards
David
|
|
|
|
Post by Nick RS on Oct 27, 2013 11:17:07 GMT
Hello Tony and welcome. I've looked at your site a few times and see that there is a lot more available by signing up. I will follow Chris and David's recommendation
Nick
|
|
crabmaster
Member
Posts: 44
Attribute: http://www.austineighteenhundred.com.au
|
Post by crabmaster on Oct 27, 2013 12:31:19 GMT
Thank you for your words of welcome. I have attached (I hope) a couple of pictures showing my car. The white sedan is the automatic mentioned previously. A low mileage car with nice interior. I repainted the outside in acrylic lacquer. From a few feet away it looks quite presentable. The mechanicals are showing signs of age but thankfully there has not been too much abuse by former workers. Indeed, this weekend I decided to take the cylinder head off and have a look - since I had started the car after is had been sitting for some 30 years and drove it for a couple of years without pulling it apart first. What I found inside will be the subject of another posting I think, it is likely to run into a couple of pages. Those of you in Australia will recognise this car as a late MKII. Note that it has a compliance plate in the engine bay (behind the air filter). This, for the benefit of those overseas, is a metal plate which lists the year the car was made, seating capacity, who made it, and the Australian Design Rules to which the car has been approved for. For this car, this would have been things like seat belt anchorages for the main part. Note how the side repeater light is below the trim waist line instead of above as in earlier MKII's. In the background is a green utility that I owned for sometime which has now gone to a new owner. The engine bay image shows the tandem brake master cylinder and remote servo unit which only acts on the front brakes. Australian cars (MKII) had a locally made alternator, and the oil filter (now unobtainable) is mounted upright (up-side-down). Original oil filters now sell on Ebay for about $60 on the rare occasions they are listed. Similarly, our MKII cars have a Lucas 29D4 distributor which is quite different to the earlier 25D. Distributor caps are very hard to find for these although some have appeared recently on Ebay Australia for about $35. Before signing off for this evening, I noticed someone had recently, in another thread, discussed the possiblity of bolt on front mud guards. It so happens that an enthusiastic owner in South Africa sent me a very nice article on precisely this project which is publically available on www.austineighteenhundred.com.au/WS_Articles.html THere is a lot more to this than you might originally think. Tony Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by andrewa on Oct 29, 2013 12:58:00 GMT
Hello Tony - thanks for the info on the bolt on wings - it's convinced me to go this route! Welcome to the forum. I've also regitered with "yours" .
Cheers
Andrew |
|
|
|
Post by threelitre on Oct 29, 2013 13:42:34 GMT
Before signing off for this evening, I noticed someone had recently, in another thread, discussed the possiblity of bolt on front mud guards. It so happens that an enthusiastic owner in South Africa sent me a very nice article on precisely this project which is publically available on www.austineighteenhundred.com.au/WS_Articles.html THere is a lot more to this than you might originally think. Tony The process described in the document looks exactly what my father and I have done in the mid 90 to our 1800 S. With the largest part of the suspension forces fed into the bulkhead I think it is not a major weakening of the structure. It is quite involved, but so is getting all the original panels off the car in a condition to reuse them. Regards, Alexander |
|
|
|
Post by andrewa on Oct 29, 2013 14:52:02 GMT
On mine the wings are already off - in one piece - and the valance is about to come off - the inner wing has been beefed up a bit as well. Planning to use "rivnuts" - see my post under Andrews 1800S in rebuild section for details when I get to it.
Andrew
|
|
