Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,532 Threads: 90
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Location: Monmouthshire
Yesterday afternoon, the stalwart Ruby volunteered for some essential shopping duty. When I emerged from Waitrose I could see a chap looking at the mighty machine, and waiting to chat, at a suitable distance of course. He started by being very flattering about how there seemed to be no drips at all which encouraged me to enthuse about silicon gaskets, our wonderful suppliers and senior Scottish engineers who ring you up and tell you what to do. He'd evidently been looking inside, and spotted some evidence of use in events and completion. We talked about autotesting and rallying. He had not done nav rallies, but for many years had done stage rallies, latterly in a 4w drive Subaru. Before finally going I our separate directions, he told me that whilst the Ruby looked great, he actually considered that he would be far more frightened sat in the passenger's seat navying on a frosty night at 20 mph than he ever had been, wearing full harness belts inside a roll cage with plumbed in fire extinguishing, at 80 mph on a rally special stage!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 2,748 Threads: 31
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Location: Auckland, NZ
And I guess that was without mentioning steering arms! A basic seat belt will keep persons inside the car in the event of a fall over, a great gain with closed cars.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,532 Threads: 90
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Location: Monmouthshire
Anyone with any competition experience, whether in a Seven or a Scoobiedoo, will have asumed that a David Cochrane steering arm would have been fitted!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 926 Threads: 52
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Location: The delightful town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
Another twelve miles in the seven this evening, my second drive ever in a seven. Everything seems good, except the oil leak. They didn't sell silicon gaskets thirty years ago when i built the engine.
Joined: Sep 2017 Posts: 175 Threads: 66
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29-05-2020, 05:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 29-05-2020, 05:24 PM by morrisminor.)
Andrew , I always find with my Ruby is that it screams its head off in 3rd then 4th too high, could do with a 3 and a half ! Fun to drive though.
Joined: Jan 2019 Posts: 1,481 Threads: 17
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Location: Bala North Wales
Car type: 1933 RP Standard Saloon
There's an even bigger gap between 3rd and top on the 4 speed crash box!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 2,249 Threads: 33
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Location: Deepest Frogland 30960
Car type: 1933 RP Standard Saloon
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,666 Threads: 46
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Location: Auckland NZ
Car type: 36 Nippy, 31 RM, 38 Special, 24 Works Rep
This is where Andrew Bird comes in, the single best modification you can do to an Austin seven in my opinion is get the gearing correct.
Black Art Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,257 Threads: 32
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Location: Cheshire
Car type: Race Ulster, 1926 Special, 1927 Chummy, 1930 Box
I’d second that. For an Austin seven, particularly a competition one, it is all about gearing.
Alan Fairless
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 2,748 Threads: 31
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Location: Auckland, NZ
The gears are wide spaced. 3rd is about the same as 2nd in many powerful 3 gear cars. But the cars are very capable. Even with a full load and unmodified it takes a mighty hill to defeat. In earlier times many climbing roads had been formed in horse and cart days. Grades were moderate and the road winding so could not go fast anyway. I have travelled up and down the North Island several times a year for 50 years. Well into the 60s there were winding sections where the Seven could keep up with traffic, even climbing. Many contemporay low power cars were only 3 gear, revs nearly doubled in 2nd, and were tedious. As many motorists seldom exceeded 45 mph in any car they tended not to exceed similar rpm. Prior to the motorway about 1950 the entry to Wellington NZ involved a long gentle winding climb. My father used to state thet the Seven regularly caught up with Morris 8s committed to 2nd.
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