ken anderson. Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 let the film speak for itself ken anderson...ne...1 motoring dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trebor Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Just remembered when I bought a Bsa a10, ran that round for about a year locally then went on a run from Norwich to Huddersfield and after a few days onto Blackpool then Southampton. I was giving it a blast into the city centre before speed cameras were about the engine started to run rough. I still rode back to Norwich carefully, on stripping down the crank was at -30 and the shells were -20. I got away with a regrind to - 40 ok You cant do that with today`s engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony K Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Posted by ken anderson. on 11/01/2016 17:41:49: let the film speak for itself ken anderson...ne...1 motoring dept. That reminds me of the time when we, as a family, got our first television. It must have been about '61 or '62. There were often 'public information' films shown. One I particularly remember, but I don't know why, was instruction on how to wash your dishes. Wash your plates and dishes and stack then fo dry. If you must use a drying cloth, make sure it's clean. There was another one about drivers not dipping their headlights but I can't remember the details. I'm going on to youtube now to see if they are there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area 51 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Best thread on here for a long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Etheridge 1 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 The Alpine MK 5 GT in 1976 After it was stolen in 1981 Edited By Mike Etheridge 1 on 12/01/2016 00:16:32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 BSA A10s - the day I passed my test I rushed home and unbolted the sidecar so I could go for a ride solo. That was the day that I learned how well square cornered ex sidecar tyres gripped on a wet bend. I still bear the scars from the hedge I went through. All good fun when you're 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trebor Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Posted by Bob Cotsford on 12/01/2016 11:30:36: BSA A10s - the day I passed my test I rushed home and unbolted the sidecar so I could go for a ride solo. That was the day that I learned how well square cornered ex sidecar tyres gripped on a wet bend. I still bear the scars from the hedge I went through. All good fun when you're 16. That brings memories back, I was a bit of a devil and used to unbolt the sidecar on long trips sometimes. I used to get everything I owned into the sidecar back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area 51 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Love the picture of the Sunbeam Mike, must had been terrible to see it after the smash.. some rotters about. Who is the naked chap up the road with his worldly wares on the floor and in the boot of his Lada? Not by chance a far end of the med type who made an early dart for freedom was it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Etheridge 1 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Area 51, If it was possible to fall in love with a car this is what had happened to me with the Alpine. I had bought a Maisonette with a garage so I could keep the car under cover, but unfortunately the contract had not been finalised. Just a week before the car was stolen I took it to Colley Hill in Reigate for a spot of slope soaring. On the day it was stolen I had an afternoon off work to play a game of golf at the High Elms near Biggin Hill and raced a friends VW Golf to the course in the Alpine. Later that evening I took my woman friend to a restaurant in Crayford where I parked the car opposite. I had intended to use my Fiat 128 Sport Coupe that evening but a drive shaft failed on the car (Typical Fiat!). Of course when we left the restaurant the Alpine had gone but was quickly recovered by the police in Thamesmead where the thief had crashed into a box steel barrier driver's door first. The thief had kicked his way out of the car via the rear hardtop window and left a pool of blood in the rear of the car. He was pointed out to the police by a witness but he was not arrested. My woman friend's son was about 11 years of age at the time, he liked the Alpine so much that he has since owned the white Alpine shown in the earlier photo. Edited By Mike Etheridge 1 on 12/01/2016 13:21:59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Posted by trebor on 12/01/2016 12:29:08: Posted by Bob Cotsford on 12/01/2016 11:30:36: BSA A10s - the day I passed my test I rushed home and unbolted the sidecar so I could go for a ride solo. That was the day that I learned how well square cornered ex sidecar tyres gripped on a wet bend. I still bear the scars from the hedge I went through. All good fun when you're 16. That brings memories back, I was a bit of a devil and used to unbolt the sidecar on long trips sometimes. I used to get everything I owned into the sidecar back in the day. Ah yes the square tyre syndrome ! My mate wasn't so lucky with his Triumph Thunderbird . He did exactly the same thing and both him and his passenger spent the next few weeks in St Georges Hospital Tooting . He was in traction with a broken thigh and his passenger nearly lost the front of his foot as it went into the chain and sprocket !!!! . No crash helmets either !!!!!!! those were the day's Lucky and stupid ? or young and foolish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 A long time ago, 50 years this year, I bought a Lotus 7. It was sold to me by the owner of a garage that had significantly rebuilt it but the owner couldn't afford his bill. It was painted to match the Lotus 7 Patrick McGoohan drives in the opening titles of the TV series "The Prisoner". Although mine was a year younger being "D" registered and you really could drive straight under multi story car park barriers! Of course you can still get the same sort of thing from Caterham Cars. It was also one of a number that had been modified by Cosworth with a 'gas flowed' head, new cam. oil cooler, new crank, twin 40DCOE Webbers and the all important "COSWORTH" cast into the ally rocker cover. The old joke was that not only could you feel that you had run over a penny in the road but you could tell which way up it was! At the time its performance was astronomic. Not the speed so much as the road holding and acceleration which tempted you to over take in the most ridiculous situations - but there was rather less traffic then. Only got stopped by the police once when I 'out dragged' an unmarked Austin A90 at a set of lights - no contest really - but they were only interested to look at it and asked whether I had built it myself! In those days the MOT required a road test and it was always the 'senior' mechanic that seemed to take it out even if he not actually done the MOT himself. I even had a mechanic come out and ask if he could sit in it while I filled it up with petrol. After 3 years I got tired of the discomfort and long motorway journeys where almost everything could cruise faster and sold it for exactly what I paid for it and bought a Dolomite Sprint in mimosa yellow but that's another story. I later found out the new owner crashed and wrote it off within 12 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Posted by trebor on 11/01/2016 17:44:52: Just remembered ... Bsa a10 ... I got away with a regrind to - 40 ok You cant do that with today`s engines. You dont need to, with proper oil, modern bike engines last forever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Lotus 7, a top limit of about 8 stone girlfriends, bigger and wouldn't fit, and they had to be tough. And could that motor frighten you, when it let go it was a serious handful. God I feel old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Donald Yes. You really had to be more or less Colin Chapman's size and he was not a big man. Woman tend to have wide hips! The only picture I have, taken in the last year of my ownership now with polished aluminium body panels and decorated "Team Stallion" for a club driving test day! Period cars in the background too! The little louvres in the bonnet just in front of the windscreen fed a pretty efficient cockpit heater which on a cold day with the 1/2 tonneau in place made it almost luxurious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucksboy Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 We used to travel up to north Wales to see my Grandmother in my Dads old A35. The rear brake slave cylinders used to leak and coat the brake shoes in fluid. He used to spend the time up there fixing the car to cope with the journey home. He used to boil the brake shoes on the cooker to clean the brake fluid off and then re fit them for the return journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Land-rover man myself but once met a Lotus 7 very unexpectedly on a bend in a single track road,any other vehicle I would have seen coming over the hedge.As he slid towards me I turned my series 2a and climbed the hedge bank to avoid collision.The look on his face as he skidded past beneath my tilted over landy is well remembered , I guess he thought he had had his chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Etheridge 1 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Area 51, THE SEMI-NAKED CHAP The Alpine picture was taken in the extremely hot summer of 1976, so I am sure that was his reason for removing his shirt to carry out some car maintenance on what could have been a Fiat 124 or a derivative. I did not know him really but understood he was dating a former Croydon High School girl who lived in our road. LOTUS 7 I knew a chap who played cricket for Streatham Colts who built up a Lotus 7. As he knew I had an interest in cars he invited me to ride in the Lotus around Thornton Heath High Street. The performance of the car was amazing! More recently another chap I worked with had a Caterham 7 and may still have one. He used to race the car around the Nurburgring race track but was recently involved in a serious accident on the track as a result of a car defect I think. This was not as bad as an earlier incident he suffered when a woman jumped off a bridge above a motorway and went through his car windscreen. He survived, but she did not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area 51 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Mike, lovely motor that Alpine; from memory it was a super summer too! I expect the hard top wasnt on it a lot.. Enjoyed your recollections of that period for you; the places/ladies/days out.. we all had them Mike.. fond memories indeed young sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle 899 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Posted by Bucksboy on 13/01/2016 11:28:19: We used to travel up to north Wales to see my Grandmother in my Dads old A35. The rear brake slave cylinders used to leak and coat the brake shoes in fluid. He used to spend the time up there fixing the car to cope with the journey home. He used to boil the brake shoes on the cooker to clean the brake fluid off and then re fit them for the return journey. Green A35 Countryman was my second car in 1965, Standard 10 was the first which I wrote off on a bend I thought I could negotiate, at too fast a speed as it turned out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 them were the days when traction control was -your two hands and feet..... if your tyre's had tread on - you were a millionaire...air con...was the window open/closed.....be carefull they dont fall out also.....and all the cars used to rain in! .....one of the mini's i bought (no 4)..i asked the owner if it rained in? no was his reply...anyway a couple of weeks later-a dark wet night...my brother in the passenger seat complaining...there was water under his feet!...big style.... ken anderson...ne....1..... water ingress dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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