What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Mike Costigan]

Yup; VW 2513 is a very familiar car from years back. I think it was Geoff Winder's car, I'll check back through my old photos to see if I have any showing it.

[Alan]

Can’t remember the numbers but Geoff’s Chummy was definitely VW something.

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Just checked. VW 2513 is correct.

[Nick Lettington]

The peril is running again and I wanted a few shakedown miles to be confident that I am less likely to break down on the way to church... well no more so than usual... so it's useful features were put to use.


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[Mike Costigan]

Hugh Spencer won the Llwnbarried Trophy on the 1974 Light Car Welsh Weekend driving VW 2513; memory suggests he had borrowed the car from Geoff Winder, but I see that a couple of years' later Geoff was competing in another maroon chummy, VW 4885 ...

   

[Tony Griffiths]

As registration plates were often swapped from car to car as mood/taxation/MOT/competition preparedness/etc combinations waxed and wained, they might or might not be the same....

[Alan]

Both numbers still exist as Austin 7s according to DVLA.
I have a photograph showing 2513 in the background at the Peak Trials in 1977 or 78. I imagine it was Geoff driving it.

[AustinWood]

Last weekend we took the Fabric Saloon for a drive of about 60miles round The Borders. It is running very well and having spent a long time checking steering & suspension it is also driving very well.
However as we approached the village of Roxborough sparks started falling from under the dashboard. It had done this once before but only briefly. This time it persisted and as the ammeter was illuminated from within we stopped to investigate. Couldn't see any cause for such a display. There was evidence of some short to the wire feeding the brake lights and the ammeter was very hot.
We wrapped anything that could conceivably touch what it shouldn't in tape.
Chris sat in the back with the passenger seat tipped forward so he could get at the battery isolator if needed and I drove the 11 miles home. The battery was showing 6.4 volts so no major problem and the journey was uneventful.
On Sunday we removed the petrol tank and the SM5 switch panel, and took out the ammeter.
Dismantling the ammeter showed that the coil had melted and distorted but had reconnected itself.
During the week I made new coil using the earth core from ring main cable. The third attempt worked and it all went together. I connected a 36W bulb through the ammeter and a multimeter and both showed 6 Amps. A very pleasant surprise.
Today I simplified the wiring behind the dash. It's all quite recent and in good condition.
On reconnecting the SM5 - a very fiddly job, I made the discovery that the ammeter was upside down. Irritating and more fiddling to remove it and refit the right way up.
All back together and all electrical systems work as expected. Can't check the charging as the tank is not yet back in.
Tomorrow will be tank fitting and a final test.
Slightly worried as we couldn't see what actually caused the problem.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I drove two Austin Sevens today, a Brooklands and a Mk1 Ruby.

I built the engines in both cars - they were not similar to drive in any way, but they both made me smile - a lot!

[Dave Mann]

    Here's a photo of some of the clag removed from the fuel tank with the aid of Deox C which has cleaned the gauze up so I can get full bore flow from the drain plug. Between cleaning sessions I've cleaned and oiled the rear springs and refurbished the shock absorbers removing the groan when i got it the car.

[Robert Leigh]

In the last week I used my 1929 Riley. All seemed well on Monday, but on Wednesday there was no charge at all, but I did 30 odd miles without worrying because the mag covers the ignition. On Friday I looked for the problem and everything pointed to the dynamo on the front of the crankshaft below the radiator. I was puzzled as to why the projecting cranking dog wobbled substantially at the front of the dynamo, so I removed it and dismantled. Unfortunately the armature shaft is very heavily worn by turning in its bearing, so the postion immediately in front of the commutator needs building up by more than 20 thou I guess. I think I need to find a helpful expert.
Plan had been to take the Riley on a run with the 750/ PWA7C North Herts section today, so I got the Chummy out, which had been fine on Tuesday. After about 4 miles it missed a beat or two and finally failed on the dual carriageway roundabout over the A14. I knew the petrol was lowish so I put in the contents of my can and it restarted a bit unhappily and got me another 5 yards. When I looked more carefully under the bonnet there was a little fountain of water from a cylinder head core plug and the distributor cap on the magneto was well splashed. I managed to restart agin after topping up the water and coughed and spluttered 3 miles to the edge of my home village. I gave up at that stage and called a pal who only had a short rope, but kindly towed me the other mile home about 7 ft from his back bumper. Getting the Ulsteroid out from the back of the garage involves moving a few things and lifting my hinged loft staircase, so I chickened out at that stage and went to the finish of the run in the air-condtioned comfort og my Mercedes.