varesecrazy said:

When you say 'coasting' down hills

Do you mean clutch up..or down?

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Thanks for the reply - crikey 7mpg is a bit alarming!


The coasting thing - yep its a bad habit I know - but that's coasting in neutral with the clutch up - I'd never do it with clutch down as I imagine it would annoy the clutch-release bearing

MaxHeadroom said:

Thanks for the reply - crikey 7mpg is a bit alarming!


The coasting thing - yep its a bad habit I know - but that's coasting in neutral with the clutch up - I'd never do it with clutch down as I imagine it would annoy the clutch-release bearing

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Coasting down hill Max? That brings back memories of driving with my Dad when I was just a wee sprog. We lived in the Scottish Borders but Mum's folks were all based west of London. Although my Mum would take the train with my younger siblings, my Dad loved to drive and the roads were much quieter in those days -1950's - so he would take me with him for our annual visit south. Sometimes we would go down the A1 and sometimes, if the weather was good, we would go down the west coast over Shap. This was before the days of motorways and the climb up Shap was always an adventure with frequent, rather risky, overtaking of the heavy lorries which were grinding along in low gear at no more than 10 to 15 mph. When we got to the top we would join the ritual of sitting for half an hour with the bonnet up letting the engine cool down.

Going down the other side we would frequently coast in neutral for several miles at a time. but the old A6 didn't go down all the time as it wound around - probably a good thing as the brakes in those days (Drums all round) wouldn't have stood it! Dad would often comment how much fuel we were saving doing this.

Now a days I'd be thinking twice about doing this. Partly because I think most modern fuel systems cut fuel delivery when on the overrun whereas there will still be a small quantity of fuel used if in neutral with engine idling - the saving would probably make little difference to your fuel bill though. I also notice how easily my new Ibiza rolls compared to the old Cordoba (the Cordoba was a variation on the Ibiza/Polo) so I guess it's using much less fuel to overcome rolling resistance? But more than anything I'd be concerned the engine might stall and stop. Then you'd have no power steering and probably only one good thrust on the brake pedal before the servo vacuum dropped to nil - most disconcerting if you're not expecting it, and I think the highway code actually advises against it so it might be illegal?

However, thanks very much for bringing back some very pleasant memories from my younger days. I remember we once took a Primus with us to make a cup of tea whilst waiting for the engine to cool down. We never did have the cup of tea though because we couldn't get the stove to light up! And the car? On the early journeys it was a Standard Vanguard Phase 1 - with column gear change, remember them? definitely like stirring a bowl of porridge. Then, great excitement, he replaced it with a Phase 11. both cars were black.

p a j you have reminded me my old man had a bright red phrase1 vanguard .it had 2 20 gallon water tanks each side of the wings. also a/c .it was a export model it came from kenya . had to remember to drain them in the winter o happy times

MaxHeadroom said:

Thanks for the reply - crikey 7mpg is a bit alarming!


The coasting thing - yep its a bad habit I know - but that's coasting in neutral with the clutch up - I'd never do it with clutch down as I imagine it would annoy the clutch-release bearing

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No.. 7mpg means 'FUN'
( I had a 125 Italian bike that used 9 litres in 14 miles..more excitement..)

If your TA has freed off noticably..
It will freewheel very well..

As I own TAs and diesels.. the techniques vary greatly.

Thanks P A J - what a fantastic insight into a much simpler past world; those must besome very treasured memories!


You're quite right of course, its no doubt unneccessary in a 'modern' and dubious in terms of legality.

I still own two classics - one of which is on the road ('79 Midget) - a proper car with carburettors, condenser and points, and the powered steering is just my arms.

7mpg, Varescrazy - that's got to be one heck of a lot of fun

MaxHeadroom said:

Thanks P A J - what a fantastic insight into a much simpler past world; those must besome very treasured memories!

I still own two classics - one of which is on the road ('79 Midget) - a proper car with carburettors, condenser and points, and the powered steering is just my arms.

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Yes Max, many memories but it often takes something to happen, or someone to say something, to cause them to surface through the foggy fug which is my brain these days!

One of the earliest memories I have of those epic journeys (you couldn't expect to do the whole trip in one day like we do now when we go down to Devon or Salisbury) was during a stop over at a hotel in Darlington. It may well have been the first time I went with him, I was certainly very young. I had been put to bed and Dad had gone down to the bar. I remember waking up to an absolute cacophony of noise. There were people shouting excitedly and church bells ringing, I remember feeling quite frightened - Were we at war again? - The hotel had a very grand staircase which descended into the entrance hall and I went to the top of these stairs and, looking down into the hall/reception area, I saw many people all seeming very excited, shouting, laughing, shaking hands and slapping others on the back. Many were drinking what I now know to have been Champagne. I think by now I was crying, I remember being very upset, when suddenly my Dad rushed up the stairs to me and told me not to worry, Princess Anne had just been born!

'79 Midget, Lovely. Probably a black bumper vehicle? I've worked on a number of them but many more A35, A40, etc being as it was a BL dealership I worked in back then. As I'm sure you know, but for the edification of younger readers, many vehicles in those days didn't use ball joints in their front suspension. Instead they used king pins and trunnion bearings. One job I remember very well which could be quite a hassle, was rebuilding these assemblies. Often routine maintenance was not strictly adhered too and heat and a lot of "blue" language was needed to dismantle the worn components. King pins and their bushes had to be renewed and the bushings had to be reamed out to size.

Here's a video which shows the replacing of the bushes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-gdjnCpldI

As you'll know it was very important to regularly grease these parts otherwise they wore excessively and failed their MOT. Our boss had a standard little speech he would deliver to the customers when they were paying the bill about the importance of regular maintenance. I later learned the truth of this when I got heavily involved with Hillman Imps which had a bit of a reputation for wearing out their king pin bushes. My Imps were all "toys" and everyone I bought needed the pins and bushes done. As the Imp used swing axles there was no need for the top and bottom trunnions used on the BMC cars, they were more like the assemblies you would find in a beam axle so simpler to deal with. This was probably all to the good as the early cars had plastic coated bushes - I seem to remember it was Teflon? - with no provision to grease. This was pretty much a disaster and they soon started using bronze/brass bushing with a grease nipple. Way back in those days, cars I owned with assemblies like these which required greasing, I would give a couple of strokes of the grease gun to every month - usually with Molly Grease, which I found especially good for Mini ball joints - and I never had wear problems at all.

So, you've told us about the Midget, What's the other one?

Those were the days. No ECUs, engine management systems, power-assisted everything, sensors by the bucketful - but as you say, they needed careful, regular maintenance. I'd forgotten that the Imp family had swing axles at the front. I'm struggling to think of another car that had them at the front, although plenty had them at the rear (Mercs, Beetle etc). I had a Stiletto in my student days which had been lowered, so the wheel camber was even more pronounced. In the dry it was pretty amazing, but it was a terrifying ditchfinder in the wet (not helped by the poverty tyres...). Happy days!

gar074 said:

I had a Stiletto in my student days which had been lowered, so the wheel camber was even more pronounced. In the dry it was pretty amazing, but it was a terrifying ditchfinder in the wet (not helped by the poverty tyres...). Happy days!

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Yes, in the wet particularly it was quite easy to end up going straight on with quite large amounts of lock wound on. In fact once adhesion was lost, the more lock you wound on the straighter it went! - pretty terrifying to experience. During the couple of years I got involved in rallying I learned how to set the car up for a corner on loose surfaces by steering away from the corner momentarily and then, quite aggressively, steering into the corner which produces a sort of pendulum effect which swung the rear end out. Works great on closed roads but not recommended in front of your local road policing unit! My rallying exploits were spectacularly unsuccessful but I learned a great deal about car control.

I once had the pleasure of driving a fully restored saloon on cross ply tyres (they came originally on these - Dunlop gold seal C41) https://www.sportsandclassics.com/p...n/original-c41-dunlop-gold-seal-520-13-tires/ A very interesting experience when you've driven on radials for so many years, quite a lot less ultimate grip but a nice gentle breakaway (although, out of respect, I didn't drive it like a hooligan)

MaxHeadroom said:

Thanks P A J - what a fantastic insight into a much simpler past world; those must besome very treasured memories!

7mpg, Varescrazy - that's got to be one heck of a lot of fun

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@1984 for me..
Yes I still remember it.. using LOTS of its power.. : thumb:
It had @70% of the rated power of the van that towed the 3 bikes there

In a few moments of boredom, I decided that I really must reinstate an original aerial as the reception would be far better than with the Gucci-looking dumpy one that was on the car.

However with a few offcuts of old heatshrink that I had lying around, I decided that it might be possible to make it look... more FiAT-like

After which I added the aerial topper
Well, I like it!

varesecrazy said:

No.. 7mpg means 'FUN'
( I had a 125 Italian bike that used 9 litres in 14 miles..more excitement..)

If your TA has freed off noticably..
It will freewheel very well..

As I own TAs and diesels.. the techniques vary greatly.

Click to expand...

Hi Varesecrazy
What was your Italian 125cc that used 9 ltrs for 14 miles? Was it an off road job?

Motorcyclist Colin said:

Hi Varesecrazy
What was your Italian 125cc that used 9 ltrs for 14 miles? Was it an off road job?

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Yes..
Proper factory enduro

1981 Cagiva WRX 125.. one of 3 in the UK

British Championship Enduro course in South Wales.. those were the days

I washed the car yesterday but was unable to follow up with a layer of wax as it started raining, so I braved the gusting wind and did it today.

(Wax used was Colinite 845 "Insulation Wax"- it gives a real 'wet' shine.
If anyone is interested, Silver and White are two of the most difficult colours to make look shiny; Colinite 845 could well be your answer!)

My car is green, so there may well be a better wax for dark colours. Its just that I already had a bottle of Colinite in my kit.

MaxHeadroom said:

In a few moments of boredom, I decided that I really must reinstate an original aerial as the reception would be far better than with the Gucci-looking dumpy one that was on the car.

However with a few offcuts of old heatshrink that I had lying around, I decided that it might be possible to make it look... more FiAT-like

After which I added the aerial topper
Well, I like it!

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I totally love it!!! ENVY!

Thanks, Panda Nut

Wrestled with the sump plug on our 169. Isn't it amazing that a main dealer service results in the sump plug requiring an estimated 200lb/ft to undo it. It tool the biggest spanner I possess used as a lever on my Fiat sump plug wrench and 99.9% of my strength to undo it. The required torque is 15! And as to how tight the oil filter was, in 45 yeas I have never had to exert so much force to get a filter off. I can only assume it was tightened up by a baboon. I think it confirms the decision to bring the cars back and do it myself is sound. I wonder the sump has not been irreparably damaged as a result.

From the comfort of my cosy sitting room (central heating on in September - a new record ), watched my Panda slowly disappear up to its axles in water, as the deluge continued for the second day running.

Panda Nut, re your comments on the sump-plug....

They're everywhere; in the RAF they were always known as 'the duty gorilla'
In civil aviation ...they still exist

I had my car serviced by Cloverleaf Car Services in Gloucester the other week and I knew they had taken the wheels off, so when I got home I had a little check to see just how tight they'd done the wheels up (often done by the duty gorilla with an air-powered gun at many workshops, I've found)
I was really impressed and almost embarrassed for even checking - they were tightened up to perfection; just nicely nipped.

Full marks to them for that!

finally plasti dipped my hubcaps, not the cleanest job if I'm honest!

Just had exhaust system no3 installed, 2013 4x4 43k.
Both times the flexy joint gave way.