Gordon-Keeble at Sywell Pistons and Props
Discussion
V10Mike said:
It did indeed, though it went through one other owner before I bought it in 2000.
Nice to see it's still being used. I met Martin around 1993, and built the engine for that car. He became a great friend, and was my best man. He now lives in Greece, having retired. He did have a few disasters with it though; he was a bit clumsy to say the least!
One I remember was when he dropped it off the jack (he was jacking it on the sump!!) and it split the sump open. Poor old Martin didn't notice, so he did no more than drive it to my house in Rugby from Redditch and on to the Silverstone Classic, leaking oil.
I pointed out the oil pressure gauge reading zero on the way back, and calmly relayed the jacking story to me, and we found on stopping, it had no oil in it all! Rebuild number two followed shortly after!!
Lovely car anyway, as said, glad it's still being driven & enjoyed.
Pete
T70RPM said:
Nice to see it's still being used. I met Martin around 1993, and built the engine for that car. He became a great friend, and was my best man. He now lives in Greece, having retired.
He did have a few disasters with it though; he was a bit clumsy to say the least!
One I remember was when he dropped it off the jack (he was jacking it on the sump!!) and it split the sump open. Poor old Martin didn't notice, so he did no more than drive it to my house in Rugby from Redditch and on to the Silverstone Classic, leaking oil.
I pointed out the oil pressure gauge reading zero on the way back, and calmly relayed the jacking story to me, and we found on stopping, it had no oil in it all! Rebuild number two followed shortly after!!
Lovely car anyway, as said, glad it's still being driven & enjoyed.
Pete
Well, what a coincidence, you also built the 383 engine that's now fitted -I bought it from a chap called Spencer Bird in 2005! We had some correspondence at the time. Still running well, though it uses a bit of oil -I'm not sure the rings ever bedded in properly.He did have a few disasters with it though; he was a bit clumsy to say the least!
One I remember was when he dropped it off the jack (he was jacking it on the sump!!) and it split the sump open. Poor old Martin didn't notice, so he did no more than drive it to my house in Rugby from Redditch and on to the Silverstone Classic, leaking oil.
I pointed out the oil pressure gauge reading zero on the way back, and calmly relayed the jacking story to me, and we found on stopping, it had no oil in it all! Rebuild number two followed shortly after!!
Lovely car anyway, as said, glad it's still being driven & enjoyed.
Pete
I tried to contact Martin to find out a bit of history when I bought the car, but if he'd moved to Greece it probably explains why I didn't get a reply.
I've still got the old engine -the bottom end bearings got very loose; it's sitting in the corner of my garage waiting for a rebuild some day.
V10Mike said:
T70RPM said:
Nice to see it's still being used. I met Martin around 1993, and built the engine for that car. He became a great friend, and was my best man. He now lives in Greece, having retired.
He did have a few disasters with it though; he was a bit clumsy to say the least!
One I remember was when he dropped it off the jack (he was jacking it on the sump!!) and it split the sump open. Poor old Martin didn't notice, so he did no more than drive it to my house in Rugby from Redditch and on to the Silverstone Classic, leaking oil.
I pointed out the oil pressure gauge reading zero on the way back, and calmly relayed the jacking story to me, and we found on stopping, it had no oil in it all! Rebuild number two followed shortly after!!
Lovely car anyway, as said, glad it's still being driven & enjoyed.
Pete
Well, what a coincidence, you also built the 383 engine that's now fitted -I bought it from a chap called Spencer Bird in 2005! We had some correspondence at the time. Still running well, though it uses a bit of oil -I'm not sure the rings ever bedded in properly.He did have a few disasters with it though; he was a bit clumsy to say the least!
One I remember was when he dropped it off the jack (he was jacking it on the sump!!) and it split the sump open. Poor old Martin didn't notice, so he did no more than drive it to my house in Rugby from Redditch and on to the Silverstone Classic, leaking oil.
I pointed out the oil pressure gauge reading zero on the way back, and calmly relayed the jacking story to me, and we found on stopping, it had no oil in it all! Rebuild number two followed shortly after!!
Lovely car anyway, as said, glad it's still being driven & enjoyed.
Pete
I tried to contact Martin to find out a bit of history when I bought the car, but if he'd moved to Greece it probably explains why I didn't get a reply.
I've still got the old engine -the bottom end bearings got very loose; it's sitting in the corner of my garage waiting for a rebuild some day.
I'm still in touch with Martin; pm me if you want his contact info.
Pete
Scotty2 said:
Can I ask what its like to drive?
You can get some idea from this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSyTVLqsGjMHi V10Mike,
Used to own No 6 in the mid eighties, had a great deal of fun with it although it was a bit ropey then,great to see the subsequent owners were able to spend the time and cash on it it so richly deserved. Made a great error in judgement by swopping it for what turned out to be a very very poor Sunbeam Tiger from a chap in Nottingham.I went through a great deal of classic machinery back then (2 x MK1 cortina lotus's, 4 x MK2 Jags (all 3.8)Cooper S, Triumph Vitesse Conv (3), 65 Mustang conv,then went racing with the MGOC for a few years, all of this was affordable then, it staggers me to see the current values. Feel free PM me if you want to know anything more about BFU...all I have now is a large mortgage teenage daughters and a tool kit with a bent screwdriver and rusty pliers, but do hanker for something one day....
Used to own No 6 in the mid eighties, had a great deal of fun with it although it was a bit ropey then,great to see the subsequent owners were able to spend the time and cash on it it so richly deserved. Made a great error in judgement by swopping it for what turned out to be a very very poor Sunbeam Tiger from a chap in Nottingham.I went through a great deal of classic machinery back then (2 x MK1 cortina lotus's, 4 x MK2 Jags (all 3.8)Cooper S, Triumph Vitesse Conv (3), 65 Mustang conv,then went racing with the MGOC for a few years, all of this was affordable then, it staggers me to see the current values. Feel free PM me if you want to know anything more about BFU...all I have now is a large mortgage teenage daughters and a tool kit with a bent screwdriver and rusty pliers, but do hanker for something one day....
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