Take a 2019 Tea Break with Delta

[GORDON STREETER]

Working in the motor trade since 1961 it's always amazed me that you can get a model of a car that is 100% bullet proof after ironing out all the things that go wrong, only for them to bring out the "latest model" with "innovative" ideas that cause aggravation.
To me it would appear that the people that design them think "how can we make it difficult to work on" as well

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

Incidentally my old Peugeot 406 HDI estate that I have had for the last 16 years(and singing it's praises) broke down coming back from Brands yesterday. It suddenly lost all drive for some reason and had to get it towed back. I put it on the ramp in the workshop and started to take the gearbox out last night and have no idea what's happened.
Not one of the easiest boxes to pull out and will go back this morning after my "wheatybangs"

After getting the gearbox out I found that the splined drive in the friction plate was spinning freely.
I might send it back to LUK as it's only done 90k in 16 years

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

After getting the gearbox out I found that the splined drive in the friction plate was spinning freely.
I might send it back to LUK as it's only done 90k in 16 years

In other words.... You’ve broken it!

Again, in my yoof, we had the sweetest little old lady customer with an A35 who would regularly wear (burn) out the clutch every 1500 miles. It was actually quite painful to listen when she drove off the forecourt after getting petrol, but the bell housing bolts never seized up!

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

"how can we make it difficult to work on"

In this matter we think the ultimate reference is the Citroën DS! Its what we call "une voiture d'ingénieur" meant by people totally unable to do any spannering because they dont care and dont like black nails. This car is designed to work not to be repaired. Many of the hydraulic components are built with so tight tolerances that it makes them impossible to fix for an average mechanic or normal work shop.
Talking about Citroën and hydraulic suspension do you remember the last version of the 15 Hydro, a Traction powered by a six in line? It was so prone to overheating that they adapted a large radiator behind the narrow gril, with a huge hole in the middle to pass the crank! Sitôt monté déjÃ* percé!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

In other words.... You’ve broken it!

Again, in my yoof, we had the sweetest little old lady customer with an A35 who would regularly wear (burn) out the clutch every 1500 miles. It was actually quite painful to listen when she drove off the forecourt after getting petrol, but the bell housing bolts never seized up!

In my days as a rep. for ELF in the West Country the Renault dealer in Bath told me about a customer with, iirc, a R30 (might have been a 20) that had consumed 3 clutches in the first 1000 miles. They did not believe that the car had a manufacturing fault so assumed it was a driver issue combined with the rather steep hills in the area.

[GORDON STREETER]

Years ago I had a customer with a MK4 Zephyr estate that the guy used to deliver groceries in, he decided to let someone else do it as he preferred working in the shop.
He stuck an advert on the shop window and an old boy from the village applied for the job.
The first day that he started I got a phone call to say that it had broken down, so I went out to get it going but as I drew near I could smell a burnt out clutch. I got it back into the workshop and took the box out to find that it had been slipping so bad that the clutch linings had actually disappeared into dust !!
I had a word with the old boy and found out that he had never taken a proper driving test as he was in the Army and was just given a licence, however he hadn't driven since the end of WW2 and this was the first time (probably 35 years)!!
I got talking to him and found out that he didn't know anything about column change gearboxes and though it only had one forward gear and was pulling away in top !!!!! He never drove it again

[midgetman]

Yes I had a friend who got those low mileages out of clutches. While manouevering (sp?) to get it to go faster he revved the engine instead of letting the clutch up more. Painful to hear.

Gordon, I loved my 406s, slept in them many times at race meetings, nice and long to accommodate my over-tall frame.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[andy97]

Originally Posted by E.B

Best of luck with that, and look forward to your reports in due course.

A very disappointing day for me, for my first rally, on the Cetus Stages, as the car broke on the first lap of the first stage.
I must say a massive thanks to the organisers who went above and beyond the call of duty at 2100 on Saturday to find me a replacement co-driver when mine let me down at the last minute. Very stressful but I really appreciate the efforts. A big thanks also to Bruce Lindsay for agreeing to sit with me at very short notice. I am just very sorry that my car let us down. As always with motorsport, it has been fine until now!
Once we figure what is wrong and how to sort it, I will be back for another go. An expensive 200 yards!

[Gerard C]

Sorry for you to hear that, Andy. are you talking about your Caterham?

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Sorry for you to hear that, Andy. are you talking about your Caterham?

No, Gerard. This was the Mk2 Escort 1600 (Vauxhall) rally car.
That said, at 3 Sisters Kart track, where the rally was being held, my Caterham would probably have gone very well!!

[Gerard C]

Ha, OK! I raced several Caterham's but it never came up to my mind to have a passenger… To find room for a footrest is already quite a challenge in a LHD!

[GORDON STREETER]

A guy turned up at my workshop today with a sports car on a trailer and from a distance I thought it was a Caterham of some sort, however it was a Robin Hood and more to the point it was one that I had helped build years ago and supplied the engine and box.
It's now in the workshop for a complete rebuild as it's been sitting in a damp garage for the last 12 or more years. I had completely forgot all about it but it will be something to stop me going completely ga ga in my dotage !!!

[delta]

Hang on. Last Friday you had fully retired and were selling up . Must of been spending the day with team Delta inspired you . BTW water pipe now sorted . Don’t send me a bill . 😀😀😀

[ProCo2020]

Hi everyone, I think I’m a once a year poster so apologies for that but rallying and life keeps me away from forums.

Once again Craven MC will be running the Maharajas Tour to finish as usual at the Stoke Row and Nuffield Motorsport Day adjacent to Iain’s workshop. If you fancy taking part the below two links should take you to the regulations and the online entry form.



https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uctqyvuvb...2019.docx?dl=0

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...dxzKw/viewform

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by ProCo2020

Hi everyone, I think I’m a once a year poster so apologies for that but rallying and life keeps me away from forums.

Once again Craven MC will be running the Maharajas Tour to finish as usual at the Stoke Row and Nuffield Motorsport Day adjacent to Iain’s workshop. If you fancy taking part the below two links should take you to the regulations and the online entry form.

No problem! If Mr Rowley starts a thread for Stoke Row or tells me to do it I’ll copy this post to it as well......

[S griffin]

Sounds like a proper historic event. I do tend to enjoy seeing historic cars on rallying as you tend to get more spectacular angles

[Mike Bell]

It’s a classic car run, not a competitive event.

[delta]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

No problem! If Mr Rowley starts a thread for Stoke Row or tells me to do it I’ll copy this post to it as well......

Done Mike. Thanks.

[grantp]

For Ford Anglia fans.


Track evening at Donington on Monday.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by grantp

For Ford Anglia fans.


Track evening at Donington on Monday.

What a funny looking car, never seen one

[justracing]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

What a funny looking car, never seen one

That's strange, could have sworn I saw you driving a purple one some while back!

[delta]

He needs to get back driving that most famous Anglia . Well second to Ron Weasley one .

[grantp]

The Anglia from behind.


A somewhat high rear end I thought.

[grantp]

A blast from a little further into the past.

Sebring 12 hours 1956.

The action really starts about 3 mins in and then there is a lot of sun and concrete but near the end is some coverage of the tighter part of the track and a few minutes that offers some night shots though of course there is not much to be seen from the technology of the day.

I noticed the drivers seemed to be mostly wearing helmets and a few even had overalls of sorts.

https://youtu.be/jKT1Wl9RkjA

Longish tea break required.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by justracing

That's strange, could have sworn I saw you driving a purple one some while back!

This is a lot further back, 50 years !!!