14-10-2022, 09:02 PM
(13-10-2022, 08:10 PM)Graham Barker Wrote: David, when I wrote this post, I expected to hear from people whose sevens have run for thousands of miles without letting them down. That's most likely a tribute to some careful and proper restoration and I am envious of those who have been able to do that.
Because I don't have the facilities or the budget, I elected to buy a Ruby that was already restored. The person that I bought it from had made a good job of the body and chassis restoration. I now realise that he was not well experienced in the mechanical and electrical areas. In the twenty months of my ownership, I have been towed home 3 times. I am not unhappy about that, though. It has got me into running a nice-looking seven, at a reasonable cost, like the one I owned in my youth. I couldn't have done it otherwise.
Graham, When I bought my car now 4 years ago, and despite driving it the 70 or so miles from Altringham to Bala, it nevertheless required some work to get it to the reliable state it is in now. Fortunately,two things were in my favour:-
1. As it turned out, the car that I had bought was surprisingly original and appeared to have covered comparatively little mileage for its age
2. I had owned Sevens previously and, indeed chose one simply because of this.
They are, however, high maintenance and I have developed a strict servicing regime that, so far, has enabled me to 'nip potential problems in the bud. I also try to deal with any issues as and when they arise. For instance, I noticed that the brakes were beginning to pull slightly to one side, so I spent yesterday morning completely stripping the front brakes to find that the right hand side shoe pivot pin and become loose. I also swapped one brake shoe from each side to the other and reset all the cables. result_ I now have brakes that pull up straight.
I also use the car regularly. I try to take it out at least once a week and, having sorted the brakes out yesterday, I took it to Wrexham today, a round trip of about 60 miles. It's amazing how using the car regularly improves its reliability.
In writing this, I am also mindful of Chris KC's comments above.
I hope these musings are of some use.