Introduction from a New Owner!

[Colin Morgan]

In the above photograph the chassis number looks like C1?09??, but it is unclear in the picture. If the second number is '1', then is it consistent with April 1930, if it were '2' this would put the chassis towards the end of 1930, and '3' early 1931.

[Leisureking]

Thanks Collin. The chassis number is 109264.

It is not particularly clear from the photo because I am using a mobile phone camera, and the camera operator doesn’t have much skill with a lens!!

I don’t intend to paint the chassis, but I will be using a clear protective coat to seal it. I was wondering if there is a way to make the stamping a little clearer, but don’t want to risk damaging it, or spoiling the originality.

[Colin Morgan]

That makes sense - these stamped numbers are often hard to see from a single photograph - and in this case I found the apparent gap between the 1 and 0 puzzling.

I think the general opinion would be to leave it well alone and not tamper with it, other than to clean off and read.

However, someone may have a trick to enhance the visibility of what is there?

[Leisureking]

I am back working on the 7 this weekend, and have started to strip down the steering box. As expected, it has been severely bodged during a hard life!

Is it worth trying to save? The steering is very notchy, and so far all I have done is try to clean it up to inspect, but the profile of the worm gear looks somewhat worn. Is this normal? If it were slightly worn, I would use some grinding paste to machine the surfaces.

The brass is badly damaged in places and has been drilled with the housing tapped to provide additional sealing, I suspect

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance, as always!!

[John Mason]

That gear looks good compared with mine. The teeth on mine have worn to such a degree they are as sharp as razor blades.

John Mason.

[Leisureking]

I have managed to find a bit of time to start taking even more things apart! The engine is packed up and ready to go to Ruairidh, and so I thought it prudent to start examining the gearbox. As anticipated, this is equally as bodged as the rest of the car, as far as I can tell!

All seventeen of the roller bearings as missing from the race, and given that they aren’t in the box as far as I can tell, I assume who ever was last in here just decided not to put them back!

The ‘box seems to be original to the car, and miraculously the gears seem undamaged and all play seems to be within tolerance parameters.

Did these boxes not have any front seals? I bought a gasket set from a cherished supplier, which includes a felt seal, but Woodrow doesn’t seem to show one in the diagrams. Did they revert back to a helical scroll? It seems odd that they would. I also can’t get the roller race out, even with heating and there appears to be some damage to the scroll. Is there anyway to replace these?

Sorry again for the barrage of questions, and thank you again for all the help!

Best,

Tom