How about a 'period' classics pictures thread
Discussion
Flying Phil said:
Here is my other Sprite in 1974
And in 2017 several incarnations later!
To think folk used to throw these away. And in 2017 several incarnations later!
A mate had a 1958/9 Frogeye in the seventies, plate raped it and gave it to a another mate who used it as a giant plant pot; interior out, filled with soil and stuff planted in it.
nicanary said:
threespires said:
I'd go for Turner
The wheels and general appearance make me reckon it's the infamous "Tatty Turner" of Pat Fergusson, which terrorised larger-engined cars in that period. It was Climax powered. The E-type has a boot rack! Could be one of the Autosport 3-hour races?I thought it looked a little short for a Turner (but to be fair I hadn't seen a side-on shot before) and initially thought Elva or Fairthorpe (!)
I don't know the actual details of the race - just going through some pictures from the era taken by my late father,
(the crashed Marcos I posted a few pages back was from the same meeting) but that sounds like a good possibility.
The E-Type with the boot rack - probably still in "touring trim" from a European jaunt...
Not that it really matters, but the photo could be the Molyslip Trophy race on 30 September 1961. That's Alan Markelson's Corvette without doubt, and the E-type could be Robin Sturgess', who used his car in road trim. There was a Marcos entered, of company founder Jem Marsh, and it recorded a DNF which could well be the crash.
Having said which, there was only one Turner entered, one R. Seabrook, who finished 3rd in class, buit this was a 950cc model (BMC A-series) and it does seem unlikely that it would have qualified on the grid alongside much larger cars.
Thus my conclusion could be wrong.
PS Just found a photo of the start of that race, and the Turner had a hardtop!! Wrong event.......
Having said which, there was only one Turner entered, one R. Seabrook, who finished 3rd in class, buit this was a 950cc model (BMC A-series) and it does seem unlikely that it would have qualified on the grid alongside much larger cars.
Thus my conclusion could be wrong.
PS Just found a photo of the start of that race, and the Turner had a hardtop!! Wrong event.......
I have a photo that is taken from nearly the same viewpoint as the Snetterton photo above. Though it's in b/w not colour, it even looks like its from the same time, though the difference is that the "Autosport" and "Motor Cycle" signs are displayed in a different lettering style, and the cars on the track are Triumph TR2 or TR3s.
dandarez said:
Yep, Mark 1's
It appeared in Practical Motorist or similar. They said I should get an engine decoke etc as it had done 95,000 miles! It's how I really got into cars. I took their advice and went to a Imp nut who raced his car who told me he could give it a complete overhaul, valves, new rings, shells, the lot. When I picked the car up there was no oil pressure. I was a little upset by this after I had handed over my hard-earned cash. He said 'Oh give it a drive, it'll come back up.'
It didn't. Then the real knocking started. I was utterly clueless about engines. I drove it straight back. He scratched his head. The oil drained, he put it up on his ramp and had the sump off, and I watched him. Nope, it's all fine he said. All back together, fired up, tapping got louder. 'Oh, not sure why it's making that noise? Perhaps take it for nice long drive, sure it will settle down, there is nothing amiss in there that I can see, it's all new.'
I might have been clueless but to take a car for a long drive with no oil pressure sounded stupid to me. I went straight to the nearest Rootes garage where I would eventually become a 'Oh, it's you again!' regular!
Mechanic came out and listened. He said he guessed something was amiss with the crank or bearings. How much would it cost me to have it put right?. Strip down initially would be needed to find out what is wrong, probably around £!!!!, then parts if needed, plus labour again...
Oh s
te. Ok, I'll think about it. I drive off (noisily) straight to see a wise old man I knew. He was a double decker bus mechanic so anything engines he was the guy to know. Even better is that he drove a new Imp! I was an apprentice at the time so was worrying where the hell am I going to get the money to put this right?
Bill (bus mechanic) lifts my boot lid (engine lid) and says start it up. Instantly he says 'Your big ends are knocking'.
'You what?' I'm at that point visualising a goblin or something with a big hammer in the sump!
Told you I was clueless! Most I'd ever done up to then was the cosmetic stuff although with some help I had bolted a Stromberg carb on to replace the standard Solex thingy from Derringtons in London.
It changed from that moment for me.
'Bill' the bus mechanic suggested that I 'Go and get a set of bearing shells, you can change them.' 'Can I?' 'Yes. he said, and make sure you get your money back from that Imp 'racer' guy. So I did. In fact, he gave me all my money back bar the parts he used! I never told the 'racer' guy, I just moaned that it was still knocking, and he said sorry and handed back my money, and hoped the garage could sort it out for me.
Armed with my cash I went back to the Rootes dealer, but not for them to fix it. Came away with a sump gasket and a pack of big end shells as Bill said.
Jacked the rear of the car up in my mate's garage (seems like yesterday to me, even now!) while he changed a rad on his souped up 1300cc Mini. By the time I had finished bolting my sump back on, his hands were grazed and cut from trying to replace his Mini's rad! - there was literally no room in his engine bay at all. I had a Mini too at one point, but not for long. You can keep them!
What was causing the big end knock?
It was so simple! The idiot had simply put a bearing cap on the wrong way round. That was all it was! I never used all the shells, just replaced the ones that had run with a new pair, bolted the cap back the correct way round, put the sump back with new gasket, filled up with new oil, fired up. Quiet as a mouse! I was so happy!
Never looked back. From thereon it was phoning Team Hartwell at Bournemouth on a regular basis, or visiting, modding everything in sight, upgrading to a 998cc engine, Aston Martin silencer slung across the rear crossmember, bendy exhaust manifolds, Chesman heads, camshafts, transaxles, whatever.
That's a great story! I can relate to your experience in as much as whatever skills I might have as a mechanic were born from the necessity of having to fix a broken car and not being able to afford to pay someone else to do it. My equivalent would have been when my newly acquired 1275cc Midget blew a hole in a piston, most likely because the oil filter hadn't been changed in a very long time and was more or less blocked (I needed to hammer a scredriver through it to lever it off...) This of course meant the head had to come off and the sump removed and like you, I replaced the big end shells while I was at it. Seemed daunting at the time but a great learning experience and a major sense of satisfaction when it started and ran smoothly, with no blue smoke!It appeared in Practical Motorist or similar. They said I should get an engine decoke etc as it had done 95,000 miles! It's how I really got into cars. I took their advice and went to a Imp nut who raced his car who told me he could give it a complete overhaul, valves, new rings, shells, the lot. When I picked the car up there was no oil pressure. I was a little upset by this after I had handed over my hard-earned cash. He said 'Oh give it a drive, it'll come back up.'
It didn't. Then the real knocking started. I was utterly clueless about engines. I drove it straight back. He scratched his head. The oil drained, he put it up on his ramp and had the sump off, and I watched him. Nope, it's all fine he said. All back together, fired up, tapping got louder. 'Oh, not sure why it's making that noise? Perhaps take it for nice long drive, sure it will settle down, there is nothing amiss in there that I can see, it's all new.'
I might have been clueless but to take a car for a long drive with no oil pressure sounded stupid to me. I went straight to the nearest Rootes garage where I would eventually become a 'Oh, it's you again!' regular!
Mechanic came out and listened. He said he guessed something was amiss with the crank or bearings. How much would it cost me to have it put right?. Strip down initially would be needed to find out what is wrong, probably around £!!!!, then parts if needed, plus labour again...
Oh s
te. Ok, I'll think about it. I drive off (noisily) straight to see a wise old man I knew. He was a double decker bus mechanic so anything engines he was the guy to know. Even better is that he drove a new Imp! I was an apprentice at the time so was worrying where the hell am I going to get the money to put this right?Bill (bus mechanic) lifts my boot lid (engine lid) and says start it up. Instantly he says 'Your big ends are knocking'.
'You what?' I'm at that point visualising a goblin or something with a big hammer in the sump!
Told you I was clueless! Most I'd ever done up to then was the cosmetic stuff although with some help I had bolted a Stromberg carb on to replace the standard Solex thingy from Derringtons in London.It changed from that moment for me.
'Bill' the bus mechanic suggested that I 'Go and get a set of bearing shells, you can change them.' 'Can I?' 'Yes. he said, and make sure you get your money back from that Imp 'racer' guy. So I did. In fact, he gave me all my money back bar the parts he used! I never told the 'racer' guy, I just moaned that it was still knocking, and he said sorry and handed back my money, and hoped the garage could sort it out for me.
Armed with my cash I went back to the Rootes dealer, but not for them to fix it. Came away with a sump gasket and a pack of big end shells as Bill said.
Jacked the rear of the car up in my mate's garage (seems like yesterday to me, even now!) while he changed a rad on his souped up 1300cc Mini. By the time I had finished bolting my sump back on, his hands were grazed and cut from trying to replace his Mini's rad! - there was literally no room in his engine bay at all. I had a Mini too at one point, but not for long. You can keep them!
What was causing the big end knock?
It was so simple! The idiot had simply put a bearing cap on the wrong way round. That was all it was! I never used all the shells, just replaced the ones that had run with a new pair, bolted the cap back the correct way round, put the sump back with new gasket, filled up with new oil, fired up. Quiet as a mouse! I was so happy!
Never looked back. From thereon it was phoning Team Hartwell at Bournemouth on a regular basis, or visiting, modding everything in sight, upgrading to a 998cc engine, Aston Martin silencer slung across the rear crossmember, bendy exhaust manifolds, Chesman heads, camshafts, transaxles, whatever.
rallycross said:
Dapster said:
Classic 80's H&S at work. Maximum protection for the spectators standing on the outside of the bend and the marshal (who looks about 12) standing behind the crowd!!
thats the entry to the pits after the race has ended....IIRC that was the end of an early heat - the Gartrac Escorts had already gone back into the paddock, well ahead of these 4 cars.
The red/white/yellow Mini was seriously quick - one of the fastest 2wd cars.
Not sure of the date for this one - Croft again - John Welch's Astra - this was genuinely "mental fast".
rallycross said:
Dapster said:
Classic 80's H&S at work. Maximum protection for the spectators standing on the outside of the bend and the marshal (who looks about 12) standing behind the crowd!!
thats the entry to the pits after the race has ended....Plinth said:
Not sure of the date for this one - Croft again - John Welch's Astra - this was genuinely "mental fast".
I think that's John's first one from the colour scheme, the one that was built up from the car Opel built for the Dakar, and in which John damaged his back in that big shut, which meant building a 2nd Astra. The 2nd one was the one in white/yellow colour scheme..........IIRC.....but aging memory cells mean I could have got it the wrong way around
nicanary said:
aeropilot said:
Plinth said:
Photo taken in 1965 (ish).
To save you guessing, the middle car in the background is a Ford V8 Pilot.
The 3 x Fords in the picture were the easy ones for me..... To save you guessing, the middle car in the background is a Ford V8 Pilot.
I have no idea what that red thing is though...??
A quick Google and I'd not realised there were a number of earlier versions of the Bond to the very familiar wider grille Type E, F & G that I remember from my childhood days.
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