It's a sickness, I tell you
Discussion
I thought I was over the classic(*) car thing. Then my wife bought me a Classic & Sportscar because of the "Griffith Vs. Boxster" article. And now it's returned in full horrific force.
I must keep repeating to myself; I do *not* want a P5B Coupe. I don't. Not at all. Nor do I want to win Fifth Gear's 911. And why on Earth would I want (another) Alfasud? When would I drive it? Where would I keep it?
Get thee behind me, Satan.
(* Slow, rusty, unreliable, thirsty, poorly handling, no brakes, etc., etc. And yet, somehow wonderful.)
I must keep repeating to myself; I do *not* want a P5B Coupe. I don't. Not at all. Nor do I want to win Fifth Gear's 911. And why on Earth would I want (another) Alfasud? When would I drive it? Where would I keep it?
Get thee behind me, Satan.
(* Slow, rusty, unreliable, thirsty, poorly handling, no brakes, etc., etc. And yet, somehow wonderful.)
zumbruk said:
I don't want a Moggie, because we've had one already, and unless it had some more modern mechanicals transplanted into it, they're too much pain to drive.
That sounds a bit odd to me. Painful in what way? Sure they're no ball of fire performance-wise, but I'd rate them as very easy to drive - steering is light and precise, gear change is smooth - OK no synchro on first but you hardly ever need first - engine is flexible and responsive. I admit that people used to over-servoed modern cars moan about the brakes, but I never found them a problem - you can get down Porlock Hill and they still work at the bottom. The biggest lack is the lack of fifth gear for motorways, for which a simple palliative is to install a 3.73:1 diff out of a Wolseley/Riley 1500/1.5.
It is an illness, but one I'm happy to put up with and my better half seems to reluctantly accept. I've always enjoyed my cars and motorbikes and I always will, dispite all the welter of anticar we are suffering lately 
My biggest problem is, and its getting worse as I get older, I achieve an ambition to own a certain vehicle and then 6 months later I have another vehicle in my sights. Trouble is I cannot afford to collect so sell to buy
and then I think 6 months later I should have kept that, and so I go on
Still be a dull life otherwise
My biggest problem is, and its getting worse as I get older, I achieve an ambition to own a certain vehicle and then 6 months later I have another vehicle in my sights. Trouble is I cannot afford to collect so sell to buy
and then I think 6 months later I should have kept that, and so I go on Still be a dull life otherwise
Pigeon said:
I don't want a Moggie, because we've had one already, and unless it had some more modern mechanicals transplanted into it, they're too much pain to drive.
That sounds a bit odd to me. Painful in what way?
Not the act of actually driving them - they are, as you point out, easy to drive. They just can't keep up with modern traffic. Or stop with it...
I need to disagree, they keep up with all traffic round my way, except for motorways, maybe. Our Moggie which is standard except a heated rear screen is more than capable of keeping up with traffic. It is used everyday by my partner and she would not drive anything else.
If you want a cheap to run car for local journeys you would have trouble beeting a moggie.
If you want a cheap to run car for local journeys you would have trouble beeting a moggie.
I need to disadisagree...
A couple of years ago, we decided to buy a convertible Moggie for Sunday afternoon trundles, so we went to Charlie Ware's place at Inkpen and took out a refurbished California car converted to RHD with a disk brake conversion.
*What* a disappointment. The intervening years (and the fact that the first car we owned as a married couple was a Moggie) had obviously glossed over the inadequacies. It didn't go, it didn't stop, it didn't go round corners. In short, although very sweet and most attractive, it was *rubbish*. And dangerously so. We took it back and decided that if we ever bought one, it would need some more modern mechanicals.
A couple of years ago, we decided to buy a convertible Moggie for Sunday afternoon trundles, so we went to Charlie Ware's place at Inkpen and took out a refurbished California car converted to RHD with a disk brake conversion.
*What* a disappointment. The intervening years (and the fact that the first car we owned as a married couple was a Moggie) had obviously glossed over the inadequacies. It didn't go, it didn't stop, it didn't go round corners. In short, although very sweet and most attractive, it was *rubbish*. And dangerously so. We took it back and decided that if we ever bought one, it would need some more modern mechanicals.
Mine went round corners OK, indeed following mates would report daylight between the inside front wheel and the ground. I found the best technique was to get all the braking and changing down completed with about a second to go before hitting the actual corner, to allow the suspension to return to a neutral attitude, then turn in and boot it.
Stopping was never a problem. True, heavy braking has never been part of my style. But for four little drums and first gear to get the car down Porlock Hill and still have brakes at the bottom seems pretty good to me. You do need to shove on the pedal hard, but that's not the same as not being able to stop; I'm of the opinion that a lot of the criticism of Moggy brakes is down to peoples' familiarity with modern cars, which I consider to be over-servoed. I could certainly lock all four wheels without a problem when testing the brake balance after adjusting them.
Go-wise it certainly isn't a ball of fire, but there's enough to keep up with modern traffic and indeed overtake quite a bit of it, even with a 3.73:1 back axle, also to overwhelm the rear suspension when pulling out of junctions in first, which I consider to be the car's major fault, though I never broke any half-shafts. With a 1275, twin SUs, a tubular three-branch manifold and a straight-through pipe with the silencer behind the rear axle it goes really rather well, until the clutch cries enough. I determined that a 1600 Cortina clutch with one extra hole drilled in the cover to match the Moggy's locating dowels would sort the problem, but never got around to fitting it.
It does sound to me like you had a lemon, which I find surprising given that Charlie Ware was involved.
Stopping was never a problem. True, heavy braking has never been part of my style. But for four little drums and first gear to get the car down Porlock Hill and still have brakes at the bottom seems pretty good to me. You do need to shove on the pedal hard, but that's not the same as not being able to stop; I'm of the opinion that a lot of the criticism of Moggy brakes is down to peoples' familiarity with modern cars, which I consider to be over-servoed. I could certainly lock all four wheels without a problem when testing the brake balance after adjusting them.
Go-wise it certainly isn't a ball of fire, but there's enough to keep up with modern traffic and indeed overtake quite a bit of it, even with a 3.73:1 back axle, also to overwhelm the rear suspension when pulling out of junctions in first, which I consider to be the car's major fault, though I never broke any half-shafts. With a 1275, twin SUs, a tubular three-branch manifold and a straight-through pipe with the silencer behind the rear axle it goes really rather well, until the clutch cries enough. I determined that a 1600 Cortina clutch with one extra hole drilled in the cover to match the Moggy's locating dowels would sort the problem, but never got around to fitting it.
It does sound to me like you had a lemon, which I find surprising given that Charlie Ware was involved.
Pigeon said:
Mine went round corners OK, indeed following mates would report daylight between the inside front wheel and the ground. I found the best technique was to get all the braking and changing down completed with about a second to go before hitting the actual corner, to allow the suspension to return to a neutral attitude, then turn in and boot it.
Stopping was never a problem. True, heavy braking has never been part of my style. But for four little drums and first gear to get the car down Porlock Hill and still have brakes at the bottom seems pretty good to me. You do need to shove on the pedal hard, but that's not the same as not being able to stop; I'm of the opinion that a lot of the criticism of Moggy brakes is down to peoples' familiarity with modern cars, which I consider to be over-servoed. I could certainly lock all four wheels without a problem when testing the brake balance after adjusting them.
Go-wise it certainly isn't a ball of fire, but there's enough to keep up with modern traffic and indeed overtake quite a bit of it, even with a 3.73:1 back axle, also to overwhelm the rear suspension when pulling out of junctions in first, which I consider to be the car's major fault, though I never broke any half-shafts. With a 1275, twin SUs, a tubular three-branch manifold and a straight-through pipe with the silencer behind the rear axle it goes really rather well, until the clutch cries enough. I determined that a 1600 Cortina clutch with one extra hole drilled in the cover to match the Moggy's locating dowels would sort the problem, but never got around to fitting it.
It does sound to me like you had a lemon, which I find surprising given that Charlie Ware was involved.
I agree, never had an issue with the brakes, but then I was bought up without discs and servos. Properley maintained they are fine. i find most people think old cars are like the bangers they drove when they had no money, they often say to me how do you manage to run old cars, they must brake down all the time. Every time you drive a moggie over a speedbump the front suspension colapses, austin sevens have no brakes, etc.
It is all untrue, a properly maintained old car will do all these things fine if you are prepared for it, push the peddle harder, service it correctly and most of all use it, that way everything stays working.
It reminds me of when my mate drove my austin seven he managed 100 yards before scareing himself with the brakes, he was convinced they had no effect at all, you should have seen how he held on for the drive home.
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