The simplicity was certainly a reason the older ones used to drive marinas, plus the dealership had turned from BL to Fiat and some of the more mid age had come from a fiat dealership which changed to BL and they, predominantly, drove Fiats!
What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
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What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
Oh yes, the wee rear engine'd Skodas, subject of much unwarranted mirth! During the period when I was a trainer students would often turn up in them as they could be bought cheaply. In my opinion an ideal car for a student of car repair and maintenance to own. There wasn't basically much wrong with them but they did need constant care and "fettling" in daily use. I developed quite a liking for them back in those days - but I've always been drawn to hopeless cases!
Edit. The Imps, with which I became completely obsessed later on, were an excellent car in the snow - even if they did tend to want to go straight on!
Mine was pretty reliable, though it had a tendency to seep from the crankshaft oil seal, I gave up after changing it twice! The carb was a pain to set up as, I think with bad/basic manufacturing, no matter how little you turned and adjustment, it was either MORE or LESS, which was odd as it was a Webber, but once set, it was a dream
600, 500, 850’s and 126’s were also pretty good in the snow!
It sounds very familar, I bought a Iveco Daily LWB with a snapped cambelt from auction, a local farmer friend I bought my sacks of excellent spuds(now longer available) let me park it in his yard , remove engine which I rebuilt with s/h conrod, new bearings, piston rings , honed the bores and if memory serves me right fitted a 2.5 head on the 2.8 engine
.Another one as a youngster even his mother called me from the back by his nickname, later on when he took over the farm, I had sold a Fiat Ducato with no engine(it went in my boat ) to a Polish guy who diverted a driver (who could speak no English) of a 20 tonne lorry to collect the van. I thought a trailer and ramps had been organised, but the lorry was about four foot off the ground and it seemed he expected a fork lift to be available to load?
Fortunately my farming friend had a solid loading ramp, we towed the Fiat to the farm ramp , the lorry driver backed up to it and I rolled it in to his lorry, two days hassle to sell a £375 non runner Ducato!
At the dealership that went from Fiat to BL the ex parts guy that joined our dealership bought the smaller parts van from them, an 850 ‘pig’ van that had an engine out of an 850 sport coupe (903). It wasn’t ‘fast’ but it certainly was more entertaining!
From memory didn't some of them have a reverse "scroll" on the crank with the theory it would rewind the oil back into the engine rather than leak oil,which it still did?
Our top field was planted out every second year with potatoes which the farmer next door came in and lifted for us then bagged them up and delivered them back for us to sell on. There were always bags of potatoes in the potting sheds waiting to sell on to the shops in town - so heavy that I, as a young lad, couldn't really lift them. Our Gardener/estate worker took great pleasure in ragging me mercilessly about what a wimp I was as he was merrily chucking half hundred weight bags around - I would have been about 10 years old!
The Maxi was a car we saw quite often, it was a big success in our area. I wasn't so keen on them although I think it was the first "true" hatchback? They used to rust badly around the rear suspension mounts, mind you that was nothing out of the ordinary when you worked daily on the 1100/1300 and completely inconsequential compared to the way the Renault 4 rear suspension mounts rusted out. Looking back on it, we've come an awfully long way with rust prevention haven't we? The Maxi was the first car I ever changed a one piece front wheel bearing on - before that the'd all been two bearings like the marina, Mini, etc. which you could drive the old ones out and new ones in with a soft (brass?) punch. I got a shock when I was asked to do that Maxi and ended up taking the hub down to our local engineering works for him to use his hydraulic press on. Pretty much the norm now a days, but quite unusual back then. I also wasn't all that keen on the "E" series motor with it's shimmed valve adjustment etc - when I'd been so used to the A and B series. However I later owned an Allegro 1500 estate which had that engine and I got to love it dearly. Think it was on 155 section tyres?
I'm sure you know this PB - you were a "DAF man" in your earlier days weren't you? - The early DAFs with the swing arm rear suspension, so Daffodils, 33, 44 and 55 all effectively had locked rear axles when moving slowly, always made parking an interesting maneuver as the rear wheels fought each other and the stressed out belts sometimes made "interesting" cracking noises if they slipped in the pulleys. They only managed differential speed between the two rear wheels once enough speed had been achieved to allow the variomatic pulleys to start acting - probably around 7, maybe 10 mph? At any speed, if one rear wheel was turning the other had to too. They were brilliant in the snow, mud, etc. One year, in my DAF 33 van, I was one of the only cars to get out of the car park at the Doune Hillclimb when it turned into a mud bath following a sudden very heavy rain storm.
That…I can’t remember
As for the first ‘true’ hatchback, there are lots of competing marques for that one, some getting as petty as ‘it may have opened like a hatchback, but it was on stays not gas lifts so doesn’t qualify’
You had me doubting my memory for a minute, until I went on an Imp site.
I remember we had one in workshop trying to reduce oil past the rear "seal" and tried to improve it's crankcase breathing as we felt it was pressurising due to blow by pushing the oil out.
"Swapping your Imp engine for a new Sunbeam B1 one is reputed to have advantages:
- Better oil sealing due to a rear crank seal, as opposed to the Imp's (inefficient) oil return scroll."
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Didn’t one of the EU countries extend the life of (I think) the DKW Munga by ditching the air cooled DKW/Auto Union 3cyl engine and sticking the 1000 ‘fire’ engine in.
I know some owners have put a variety of micra and small renault engines in
I know some owners have put a variety of micra and small renault engines in
Don't know about the DKW Munga, but the Wartburgs I used to work on in the 70s with a water cooled 3 cylinder two stroke engine and oil mix in the tank, later had a VW Golf type engine due to emission laws. The original three cylinder two stroke Saab used to rally I recall with great success.
Yes, that little Saab engine was a blinder!
Very fond memories of standing in Cardrona Forest many years ago - before Mrs J took up most of my spare time - listening to one of those SAABs screaming towards us, flashing past in a hail of small stones and disappearing into the trees again. Such happy carefree days! Compared to many others of the time they looked quite narrow and high and looked as if they should roll on the first corner!
There are still a few very potent Imps around the hillclimbing scene. Do you notice where the thermostat is mounted? The engine went into the back of the car flywheel facing forward - like the beetle - and that thermostat housing was tucked up against the rear bulkhead. quite difficult to get at and a real sod if one of the studs snapped off. Much easier on the estate/van version with it's access hatch in the load floor. I've built a number of these and their big failing was that they had cast iron liners which were integrated into the aluminium block casting when it was cast. The top of the liner was just below the deck face of the block so the head gasket sealed against the aluminium not the steel of the liner itself. If the engine overheated seriously - and they were a bit prone to doing this - then the liners would move slightly and/or the aluminium around the top of the liner would degrade and from that moment on it wasn't worth trying to reuse that block. The real "screamers" (getting 7 to 8,000 rpm out of them was quite doable) were usually Wills Ringed.You had me doubting my memory for a minute, until I went on an Imp site.
I remember we had one in workshop trying to reduce oil past the rear "seal" and tried to improve it's crankcase breathing as we felt it was pressurising due to blow by pushing the oil out.
"Swapping your Imp engine for a new Sunbeam B1 one is reputed to have advantages:
- Better oil sealing due to a rear crank seal, as opposed to the Imp's (inefficient) oil return scroll."
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They still do quite well in competition, especially the space framed "monsters", and sound great!
Late 70s was the last time I worked on them and have done thermostats, as you say not the easiest job.
I did own one for a short while (like most of my vehicles
) but in fairness if I wanted a nippy rear engine, rear wheel drive a Renault 8 or 10, I did have two of the 10s, but fancied a tuned up 8 after seeing them in the streets of the South of France around 1978 in the boy racer scene, a bit like our Fords and Minis were. Easy to work on, I did an engine swap in my dinner hour.
Back in my Firestone days there were often some quite indecently quick Renault 8's to be seen amongst the enthusiasts when we were down at Le Castellet - Circuit Paul Ricard. The negative camber on the rear wheels had to be seen to be believed.but in fairness if I wanted a nippy rear engine, rear wheel drive a Renault 8 or 10, I did have two of the 10s, but fancied a tuned up 8 after seeing them in the streets of the South of France around 1978 in the boy racer scene, a bit like our Fords and Minis were. Easy to work on, I did an engine swap in my dinner hour.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
My Panda 100 was way the worst vehicle I have ever driven in snow even with brand new tyres. How it could be so bad escapes me but 195 tyres and rock has suspension must be a bad combination, It was an utter embarassment stuck on level ground in the firms car park. The only saving grace was that at least 6 people tried to move it and nobody succeeded. I had to chip the ice and snow away and make two tracks up to the road. Many hours later I could go home.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I had an Estelle and concur it was much more than its reputation suggested. Some suprising good engineering touches. Needed fettling to keep it sweet but no other issues and dirt cheap parts.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Clearly you need to eat far more chips.
I never owned an Estelle, but I did have the use of one for a couple of months while rebuilding a Capri (long sad, expensive story)
It was a bit loud, a bit rattly, and the paint was pretty dull, but I suspect most of those were caused by poor (or no) maintenance or cleaning.
I never had a problem with it, apart from having to ignore the Skoda jokes which were everywhere at the time (for instance
Q: "what do you call a Skoda with a sunroof?"
A: a skip, or
Q: "what do you call a Skoda heated rear screen?"
A: a handwarmer).
Of course the people making the jokes were happy to accept a jump start or a tow from a Skoda when their (usually BL) cars failed to start.
It was a bit loud, a bit rattly, and the paint was pretty dull, but I suspect most of those were caused by poor (or no) maintenance or cleaning.
I never had a problem with it, apart from having to ignore the Skoda jokes which were everywhere at the time (for instance
Q: "what do you call a Skoda with a sunroof?"
A: a skip, or
Q: "what do you call a Skoda heated rear screen?"
A: a handwarmer).
Of course the people making the jokes were happy to accept a jump start or a tow from a Skoda when their (usually BL) cars failed to start.
