13-02-2019, 09:29 PM
Hi Denis
The best my early Pearl could manage (after much fettling and tweaking) was about 50% on the MOT rollers. I noticed that the MOT man entered the car weight AFTER the test
after commenting that "They never had any brakes when they were new". It was only after I changed the front setup to semi-girling (rears unchanged) that on the next test it had improved to about 60%. I plan to fit a late cross-shaft some time to get front/rear compensation, which might squeeze out a bit more.
There are still quite a few Tapley meters offered at autojumbles etc which can be entertaining. On a modern, "normal" braking comfortable for passsengers peaks at about 30%, all out stop on a dry road more than 100%.
I think those period road test figures are a bit like adverts before the trades description act - semi-fiction !
I can't help feeling that the UK MOT limit was set at 50% in 1960 so that Sevens could just pass, but I believe the limit was raised to 58% in 2010.
The best my early Pearl could manage (after much fettling and tweaking) was about 50% on the MOT rollers. I noticed that the MOT man entered the car weight AFTER the test
after commenting that "They never had any brakes when they were new". It was only after I changed the front setup to semi-girling (rears unchanged) that on the next test it had improved to about 60%. I plan to fit a late cross-shaft some time to get front/rear compensation, which might squeeze out a bit more.There are still quite a few Tapley meters offered at autojumbles etc which can be entertaining. On a modern, "normal" braking comfortable for passsengers peaks at about 30%, all out stop on a dry road more than 100%.
I think those period road test figures are a bit like adverts before the trades description act - semi-fiction !
I can't help feeling that the UK MOT limit was set at 50% in 1960 so that Sevens could just pass, but I believe the limit was raised to 58% in 2010.