Wolesley 1500- First car

[Tom592]

Hi all,

I'm new to these forums, so bear with me; I'm 17, and just about to put a Wolesley 1500 on the road as a first car. I am very interested in classics and have been lucky enough to inherit a few. I have decided though that the Wolesley is the most sensible and individual for someone my age as a first car, in comparison with an MG B or a Scimitar etc.

Has anyone got any ideas for any tasteful modifications to make it a bit more of a head turner- also, has it got the potential to be classed as a 'cool' classic?

Thanks in advance!

[williamp]

Leave the looks. Get better brakes, more power, everflex suspension bushes. Maybe modern rubber on minliets.

a lovely car! Pictures please

[Tom592]

Sounds good! I'd personally like to put some MG disk brake on the front, well definetly be putting modern rubber on it, hopefully with some wider wheels.
I'll stick some photos up as soon as I get back from boarding school cause we can't upload photos here!

[niagra]

Classic bucket seats and extra Smiths guages such as rev counter, oil pressure etc. Not sure what you get as standard but it'll certainly make the interior look more purposeful. That should all be insurance friendly, you might even get away with a decent exhaust!

[Aar0sc]

First off, good choice of first car!

Secondly, get on here: http://younggunsclassics.forumcircle.com/

[mph]

williamp said:

Leave the looks. Get better brakes, more power, everflex suspension bushes. Maybe modern rubber on minliets.

a lovely car! Pictures please

Everything except the minilites - don't do it please.

[na]

Tom forget the mods save your money for full and proper servicing, maintennce and repairs

classics don't have to be unreliable, slow and with poor breaking

it's the owners that make them that way, past owners and the current owners please don't join that group there's already too many of them

there are a couple of different trims and model variations(ish) on 1500

my first car in 1977 was a Wolesley 1500 and my mate had one a few years before

there a lad on here than uses a slightly early make of classic as his daily on PH

if you understand and agree with my start bit of advice I can give you loads more if you want it but as Arron will tell you I don't believe in bash it and bodge it and the fun of roadside repairs it's all boring prevention and reliability with me

PM if interested

if you think checking your engine oil dipstick is important you've got a lot to learn

[Tom592]

I will check that site out! Its blocked here at college, so I'll have a look when I get home! Thanks for your ideas, I will consider them all; Also na, I have sent you an email regarding your offer, I look forward to hearing back from you. I shall update this thread with some pictures when I get home so you can all see what it is I'm talking about!

[na]

Tom you have email

Arron will be laughing or groaning about that

ETA: oh of course - where are the photos of your car me and all others will be very interested to see them

and have you had any trouble getting insurance?

[davepoth]

AIUI your car is on a Morris Minor floorpan, so the easiest upgrade to disc brakes is actually the Morris Marina (which is a modified Morris Minor floorpan).

Other Minor suspension goodies should also work, but be aware you've got a lot more weight in the nose than a Minor.

[Tom592]

Insurance was surprisingly easy to get- I got four quotes-

Scimitar- Don't even ask
MGB - £850
Wolesley- £780
Willys MB- £110

That was through Footman James, most were only 3rd party fire and theft, stored in a garage and limited to 5000 miles.

I will look into the Marina brakes- also I'll be looking to make the rear suspension a little less harsh!

[RichB]

Interesting thread. My first car was a Riley One-Point-Five and that was 40 years ago back in 1972! As regards upgrades you could easily bolt on a pair of twin 1 1/2" SUs. To be honest for tuning the BMC B-series there are loads of options

[theadman]

na said:

if you think checking your engine oil dipstick is important you've got a lot to learn

na, are you suggesting that this isn't important...or that there are a lot of other things to do as well?

[Aar0sc]

na said:

Tom you have email

Arron will be laughing or groaning about that

ETA: oh of course - where are the photos of your car me and all others will be very interested to see them

and have you had any trouble getting insurance?

He'll be groaning because you can't spell his name :P

na's advice is good, it's all on my harddrive somewhere (and don't worry, it's also printed and in my car's folder ).
Insurance [u]should[/u] be okay. Should. It's being a tad mad at the moment!

[na]

theadman said:

na said:

if you think checking your engine oil dipstick is important you've got a lot to learn

na, are you suggesting that this isn't important...or that there are a lot of other things to do as well?

I can't say as I'm testing Tom but that rules out a common misconception

Tom,
you're lucky as it appears FLJ no longer offer classic insurance to under 21/25s - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I've replied to your email

ETA: sorry Aaron it's not me it's the keyboard wot can't spell

EFS !! and I've slighty improved and expanded my notes recently and done some on economical mpg driving - now that I do know a bit about and have the experience and dislipine to back it up - on occasion

Edited by na on Friday 20th January 23:49

[LordBretSinclair]

Tom, good to see all the guys giving you sound advice.

All I'll say is well done in starting with a classic and not following your contemporaries in choosing Saxos, C2s etc with hideous sound systems.

Best of luck with the rest of your motoring career.

[Tom592]

Thanks all! Well thats what I thought as well about Footma James- Until I rang them up

They run a scheme that allows young drivers to get insured on certain cars, however you have to own the vehicle and they won't cover you to drive anything else third party- So they still do insure under 25's.

Also, I can't stand tin cans like Saxo's and Renaults, may as well have a bit of class if I'm going to be paying out all this money to be on the road!

Oh, and na, I still haven't received the reply you sent, prehaps you could try resending?

Thanks all!

[spoodler]

Nice choice of car - I was looking for one of these for the other half as a daily, it was going to get an upgrade to MGB with overdrive and discs. She chose a Herald, it now has 75bhp and with discs is a fine daily. Old motors like these can be perfectly capable of everyday use after all it is what they were designed for (the Herald manages ten thousand a year and other than a dodgy heater valve has never let us down) but as advised above maintenance is more important than tuning. Don't underestimate the importance of keeping the charging system, wipers and heater in good nick as they really do affect the useablity of the car. Get the mechanics up to scratch first and if you feel it still needs to be more headturning how about a windscreen visor, whitewalls and two tone paint. Just an example but they won't affect the reliability or the insurance. Best of luck, John.

[Tom592]

I did think about going down the whole MGB conversion route, however I decided that I'd rather sacrifice power for economy- And then there was the option of just changing the gearbox to an MG B one with overdrive, however after researching it I decided that it was a waste of time!

I do like the idea of whitewall tyres though.. I'll bear that in mind!

[na]

Tom I've resent my reply let me know if you still don't get it (in your SPAM folder?)

I don't believe in cosmetic changes or other upgrades until the car has done 12 months of regular driving over various mileage journeys and trips as you might need the money for something more vital

I think you need to get the basic foundations stable before adding more levels - if you follow me

if something is beyond repair or is at a service replacement point then that is a good time to upgrade but you must also be aware of the knock on requirements or consequences

get the basic standard car in good condition, thoroughly test it by regular use then see if or what you need to change

I've seen many classic's delight and balanced spoilt or lost by too many upgrades and modifications

I've just recently done some notes on economical driving and it boils down to driving techniques and discipline and full and proper servicing, maintenance and repair - not that we always want to drive economically