Going back to the days of my youth the only car publication which I've consistently found interesting and relevant to my car obsession is Car Mechanics magazine. I now subscribe and the latest edition has just dropped through my letterbox - December 2019. Starting on page 50 of this issue they've done a 4 page appraisal of our "little darlings" (Panda 2004 to 2001). It would be easy to point out the weak points we are all aware of, which they've failed to mention, like the metal water pipe on the front of the engine and the rust problems on rear axles. Also they mention nothing of MES which I think is a must for anyone into fixing their own Panda (and others) but, as you might guess, the car pretty much comes up smelling of roses and in their final "Verdict" summing up actually give it a very strong recommendation. Next time you're in Smiths, or wherever, it's well worth a read whilst your other half is doing the serious shopping (oooh, that sounds just so patronizingly stereotyped doesn't it? Sorry "other halfs".

Actually I can't remember an issue where there hasn't been at least a couple of issues which I've found to be of great interest but this issue has really hit the nail on the head for me. The Panda appraisal was what first caught my eye but they've also done a "Timing belt clinic" on the Rover KV6. My wife's sister has one of these and I've always thought it would be a bit of a pig to do. This article has decided me that I'm not going to volunteer (no, more than that, I'll actually turn it down if asked!). Then they have a feature on a visit to the Fuchs oil tech centre in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. I've been aware of Fuchs for some time now and using it in the Punto for a couple of years (got a special offer) but now I know they are supplying TPS's quantum range of oils I'm switching the "family fleet", en mass, to this brand. So this article was very timely for me.

The main feature of the month is "Mechatronic gearboxes" I'm fascinated by this relatively new approach to gearboxes - I literally wouldn't have one in a gift though! They've really gone into it in depth - 9 pages worth of highly illustrated explanations - fascinating stuff! There's diagnostics on a Proton Savvy (I've liked Protons ever since my older boy had one - which was spectacularly rammed by bank robbers trying to escape the police - no really, it wrote it off! Shame, it was a very nice car). So there are going to be many happy hours of reading ahead.

Sorry if this sounds like an add. I really don't have any vested interest in this publication other than that I hope it continues to prosper and provide me with information and entertainment into the far future! If you've never looked at it you should.

Stay safe everyone
jock

Aye Jock I know where your're coming from. Today we have the "tinternet" & all that comes with it, car wise both good & bad. I smile when I read the very first post of young drivers...WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE MY 1.2 FASTER. In saying that there is far more information to be had regarding vehicles problems & what to look for.

How right you are Jim. (this sounds a bit like the mutual admiration society, doesn't it? But I do find I share a lot of your opinions and outlook on life). Although I'm deeply bothered by the security issues we keep hearing about, which seem to be an inherent part of using the internet, there is a shed load of info out there. You do need to use common sense and be careful about what you actually decide to use though.

As far as the current youth trying to make their, often unsuitable, vehicles go faster - ever has it been thus. My early attempts involved Mopeds. These were the true "old style" mopeds which were little more than bicycles with 49cc 2 strokes like the Mobylette, which was my favorite:

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1177190

I had several of these, which you could pick up for "sweeties" back in the '60's. One would be on the road with the others supplying spare parts and as a source for parts to modify. I learned a lot about stuffing pistons and filing out exhaust and inlet ports to alter timing and improve breathing - great fun when a piston ring catches on the edge of a port at high revs because you've filed out the port too wide! Experimenting with exhaust expansion shapes was great fun too and affects the engine dramatically, Having got more power from the engine you could then machine up a bigger engine pulley for the drive belt to up the overall gear ratio. My more successful efforts were managing to get around 50mph (standard machine struggled to hit 30!) I actually managed to overtake - actually it would be best described as "crept past" - my pal's Honda 50 on the Staines bypass. The problem with these high speed runs was always the brakes which were challenged even at normal speeds. Trying to stop from a max speed run especially if on a downward slope (didn't need to be at all steep) would result in smoke pouring off the linings and stopping was more a matter of aspiration than actuality!

My brother did similar things with an NSU Quickly moped. It seemed pretty sophisticated with chrome plated cylinder bore and reasonable size drum brakes at both ends. He ground down the head on a glass plate to increase compression ratio and filed the top of the exhaust port. He also found a sort of expansion chamber shape exhaust. It really can't have been anything designed for more power but seemed to help. He actually overtook a Yamaha FS1E on a long straight. The FS was considered to consistently top out at 48 so that little Quickly became quite the little demon.

Brakes? What brakes? We were not smart enough to think of using better linings so it was basically grab a handful and keep a broom handle handy to jam into the back wheel spokes.

DaveMcT said:

My brother did similar things with an NSU Quickly moped.

Click to expand...

Now you've made me feel all nostalgic Dave. I've owned an NSU Quickly (mine was the rare "peanut" tank version with 2 speed box - later versions had a more practical larger tank and 3 gears) Here's a video of exactly the same bike, even down to colour!



I found it in the back of a friend's garage which I was helping to clear out back in the '70's. He'd just bought the house and let me keep the Quickly as a "thank you". It was in poor "unloved" condition so I stripped it down to the last nut and bolt, resprayed the frame tank and mudguards with a vacuum cleaner powered spray gun - anyone remember them?

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Vintage-Ele...-Decor-Prop-/264522060472?hash=item3d96be52b8

The result was actually very good. Mechanically I "refurbished" it and used it a lot until the mid to late 80's when it became more of a toy for fair weather outings. Of late I've not had it out very much so when, just a couple of months ago, I was approached by a very enthusiastic moped collector, offering a fair price for it, I sold it to him. I'm still feeling a little bereft but I've stayed in touch with him so don't feel quite as big a "traitor" as I otherwise might.

There is a very active club for them and spares are nearly all still available although often batch manufactured. So, if for instance you want a barrel and piston, they may not have them on the shelf but they'll take your order and when enough people want them they'll commission a batch and you'll get yours.

Trouble is for most of my life I've had a "bike" of some description. Now I don't and I'm missing it! I recently heard of a Douglas Dragonfly, completely dismantled in several cardboard boxes. I know it's now gone to a new owner for more cash than I could justify, but a project like that holds great appeal for me. Mrs Jock is not at all happy with the thought though! She says that at 73 if you fall off you no longer "bounce" but tend to shatter and she is now too old to go picking up the pieces! She probably makes a good point!

PS Yes Dave, a chromed cylinder bore! I'd read about this in my college text books but this was the first - and maybe last - one I actually remember seeing "in the flesh" Don't think the Mobylettes had it? However memory dims with age.

My Bro's Quickly was exactly like that right down to the petrol tank. But he had three gears (Oh Yes!) and a proper bike seat with struts down to the back frame.

I was very upset when he literally gave it away to a pal who promptly trashed it. It needed the final drive shaft sorting out due to "standard" fault of slipping sprocket drive taper that would leave the bike stranded when the drive key let go.

He "moved on" to a Honda CB 125S. The one with a really nice overhead cam engine.

Bikes get under your skin. Treat them respect and you'll be ok. I know an 80-somthing who still rides including a Ducati engined Norton "Norcati" that he built himself.

I missed the bikey mopeds.. which on balance, despite your great stories, I think was a good thing.

My era choice was either a tatty three or more years old FSIE (the un-restricted one with the dis-engageable pedals), an even more tatty Suzuki AP50 (with the dis-engageable pedals) or a relatively new but restricted Yamaha FS1-M (or DX variant with a disc brake, if you were flashy like my brother).

I went for a pretty good nick metallic blue FS1M. 32mph was all it had in it, compared to an easy 45 of the pedal-carrier FS1-E's... or even 50mph or more, if you were my mates Geoff Hallam and Tim Howard, who were locked into their own private arms race, who could get more speed out of their Fizzies..

(In the end Howard had the edge, mostly because his used to blow up so often - it was named "Rattler" for a reason - that the only way to repair the cylinder was to knock out the liner and fit an oversize one, which made his "moped" 62cc. )

The masochistic lads who I was secretly jealous of, might opt for a Puch Monza GP.. which had a very Bohemian approach to speed governors - Puch just used to fit a plastic spacer onto the top of the carburettor slide, so that effectively the throttle couldn't be opened fully. If you unscrewed the top of the carb' to see what was going on in there, the plastic spacer could just fall out accidentally, thus restoring the full slide movement and ergo 48mph.

I managed eventually to stuff a YB100 engine into my beast, since Yamaha had thoughtfully made the engine mounts identical. That, plus some bodgery of a Jama expansion chamber mated to a Micron exhaust header pipe turned the engine into a bit of an animal. It would occasionally threaten 70mph... but top speed wasn't the ultimate since the Jama silencer (throwback from when my moped was still a moped) wasn't up to flowing the gases from the 100cc engine.. but pick-up was pretty formidable.

Next thing I knew though, the lads had gone "250cc" (with L-plates).. a Suzuki X7 and an RD250 respectively, so my "trick" 100 moped was suddenly blown into the weeds ... and looked like a moped, rather than a proper motorbike.

But by then I'd applied to go to Polytechnic, so that nice Mrs Thatcher sent me a student grant cheque for £380, which was the most money I'd had in my hands ever. That same day I passed (made a special trip to) the local motorcycle emporium where I saw a Yamaha RD200DX (disc brake! ) for sale at £375.

Sorry, Maggie...God told me to do it...



Ralf S.

God, this brings back memories of my Puch GPS at college, considered the Rolls Royce of mopeds at the time. It was fast after a few hidden modifications...scary the prices being asked for them now. Then the picture of a 60 year old crouched in a racing position on one of those wouldn't be a pretty sight! Hey Ho - the Panda will have to do....