Another little project

[catgate]

 

One day I was informed by a chap I knew, that another chap had stuffed his nice new car into a wall, and the garage, to which he had taken his car debris, had taken it  to a small workshop where they made/repaired all things manufactured with fibreglass. The fibreglass place had rectified things  by using the damaged car as a pattern for a new body casting and this car had been taken away leaving virtually all  of  the original car at their works (well outside at the back). There were also one or two bits still left at the garage.  The fibreglass boys wanted rid of the debris and if I crossed their palm with silver it could be all mine!

 

I went and crossed their palm to their satisfaction and eventually got a all the parts move to Catgate.

 

I was fortunate enough to acquire a  2ltr. Triumph Vitess engine and gearbox,   so after quite a bit of rebuilding of the bonnet and getting a windscreen and a pair of doors from the Marcos works, I was able to put it on the road and it was immediately commandeered  by my dearly beloved.

 

[Belatucadrus]

I can't remember the details but I think it was Frank Costin designed an aerodynamic race-car for somebody. They took one look at it and decided it needed more air vents as it was bound to overheat. Problem is while Frank knew what he was doing they didn't and the new vents totally screwed up the airflow he'd so carefully designed for. With the teams improvements heating issues that weren't there got created and also they started to get lift at unfortunate places buggering up the handling.

[Belatucadrus]

4 hours ago, catgate said:

immediately commandeered  by my dearly beloved

Clearly a woman of taste.

That Triumph straight 6 was a nice engine, my mum had one of the Michelotti  Triumph 2000 mark 2s typical Leyland car much of it was very good but some of it was cobbled together fibreboard bollux and despite my Dad having anti rust applied when it was brand new the wheel arches and bottom tray rotted something awful. Much application of fibreglass kept it going for quite a long time. Did yours have the Overdrive button on the gearlever ?

[catgate]

 

I had a "vehicle rotting" occurrence with a mini . A friend of mine, who had a garage (along with his father), had kindly  got me a new mini body so that I could make my wife a new car.  I had another friend who had a scrap yard (a Vehicle Disposal  Facility) and so I was able to gather together "the makings" of a  bespoke Mini. I have forgotten the precise details of the power plant. I know I had it re bored,  and put oversize pistons in, along with a "tuned up" cylinder head.

It also had a "sporty" exhaust system. I sprayed it Metallic Silver on the roof and  Royal Blue for the rest.

One day just after completion Mrs Catgate's brother called to see us and brought with him his attractive but simple wife.  We walked out to the garage to look at the mini and when I opened the door she said, in a most peculiar surprised voice, "Ooooh! It looks like a real one!" 

It lasted for over eleven years in perfect condition and had a wonderful performance. My wife said that it virtually drove itself.

 Its demise was due entirely to a clown who worked in a garage over the road from where my wife worked. One day he was doing some pressure washing on a customers car and persuaded her to let him pressure wash her car. ( I think it was more than the car wash he was interested in)

All the mini floors were poorly made and, due to the expansion caused by the heat of the spot welding, there often were little little bulges in in the seams. Due to this there was a possibility of a bulge letting in water. I had put thick grease into the few bulges I could find when I built the car and all had been well.

His hot water had melted the grease and had made its way into where it should not have been… the void in the panels beneath the doors. Needless to say, a few months later the side panels below the doors reveal small rust holes that grew bigger almost daily.

We continued to run it until one young chap who worked in the same office as Mrs Catgate made her what I though was a silly figure offer for it, despite its condition. He ran it for quite a long time until it finally disappeared from the scene. We never did find out what had happened because Mrs Catgate had moved to another branch of the company which employed her (and commandeered the Marcos)!

 

[AlanHo]

In my early motoring days I had a 1954 Standard 8 car. Rather than an ignition key it had a push button starter.It had a crappy side valve engine with an S U Downdraught carburrettor.

 

The engine was past its prime - that is, if it ever enjoyed a prime, and was the very devil to start on cold winter mornings.

 

To get it started I used to :-

 

Prop the bonnet open.

 

Disconnect the battery charger leads that had been charging the battery overnight.

 

Wind the drivers window fully down.

 

Pull the air filter off the carburettor to expose the air intake.

 

Light up my parrafin blowlamp.

 

Stand at the side of the car, reach with left arm through the window and press the starter button to get it turning over, at the same time directing, with right hand, the blow lamp down the carb. intake.

 

You had to keep the engine cranking until it started - if you let it stop - the petrol in the carb would blow back and sent a sheet of fire out.  My right hand and lower arm were normally devoid of hairs in the winter.

 

 

 

[catgate]

I was surprised no one took them to court for misrepresentation. They called them Standard  and there was nothing standard  about them apart from the trouble they all caused their owners.