For those interested in old cars.

[Dunsignalling]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I ended up driving and working on mkIII / mkIV Escorts and Orion's quite a bit when they were current. They all felt very light on the back end and if you braked sharply before a bend the back end would lift off then step sideways. As the rear axle wasn't driven, you couldn't power it back into line.

Still, it kept me busy straightening them out!

That goes a long way to explaining one that impeded my journey to Cornwall some years back. It had been towing a caravan that looked (from what remained of it) a bit big for a car that size and the driver appeared to have braked on the left hander at the top of the downhill bit of the Launceston bypass stretch of the A30.

 

From the aftermath, that seemed to have destabilised the caravan which rolled over, taking the Escort most of the way with it, before becoming detached. Apart from the chassis, there was no part left of the caravan that would have needed two people to lift. The car wasn't going anywhere but a scrappie, either... 

 

John

Edited June 18, 2021 by Dunsignalling

[Oldddudders]

ISTR there being discussion about the much rarer RS1600i, which apparently had a different suspension setup, being more nervous on the limit than the XR3i. Where those respective limits were, and how you might find them in everyday driving, was not really identified..... 

[Hobby]

12 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

 

I like the idea of a shed roof on a "shed" vehicle!

[MrWolf]

Apart from the dents it was a sprayed on shed. Rather like weathering a new model loco. It also has Ford Anglia / Cortina etc hubcaps instead of the Chevrolet "Dog dish" hubcaps.

[Hobby]

It was the angle and position of the shed roof in the background that made me comment ...

Edited June 18, 2021 by Hobby

[PhilJ W]

13 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

C1960 Chevrolet Apache. Fitted with a proper 350 cu.in V8.

 

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

 

I like the idea of a shed roof on a "shed" vehicle!

Like this?

 

[boxbrownie]

18 hours ago, RANGERS said:

I had one of those too, it went like an XR in a straight line but the suspension wasn't up to it on the bends, way too soft and nothing like as fun to drive. Much better kitted out than the XR mind, the first car I had with ABS, the Ford mechanical system, stand on them hard in the wet and it was like driving over corrugated iron!

I remember my mate on SVE took me out for a short drive during a particularly wet and freezing day with slush on the road, it was a Mk3 Cortina with a Teves prototype ABS system (we were evaluating for the DE1 Scorpio) he drove direct from the plant to the roundabout over the A127 we were doing about 50-60 when we arrived and I was shitting it, he was a brilliant driver but an idiot (and a very good mate, he wouldn’t mind me saying ) as we approached the roundabout he just slammed the brakes on and it was a complete revelation of the outcome compared to an unfitted vehicle, where as we might have just slid and hit several lampposts and rolled down onto the A127 in anything else, this Cortina just squirmed a bit and stopped at the white line…….oh boy, actually that’s not what I said to him 

 

Yes the mechanical Ford set up was a bit basic and slow, but it worked but the teves and other electromechanical systems were light years ahead…..then again they cost a bomb at first compared with the Ford mech system, hence why it was on the low segment models.

 

edit : just reread what I typed, it was a Mk4 Cortina…..a 2.3……

Edited June 18, 2021 by boxbrownie

[Nick C]

12 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I ended up driving and working on mkIII / mkIV Escorts and Orion's quite a bit when they were current. They all felt very light on the back end and if you braked sharply before a bend the back end would lift off then step sideways. As the rear axle wasn't driven, you couldn't power it back into line.

Still, it kept me busy straightening them out!

The smaller 90's Peugeots (205, 106) were like that too - with a very light rear end on torsion beam suspension, they were very susceptible to 'lift-off oversteer' - though some of the more skilled rally drivers I knew were able to make full use of that, gettting them to oversteer into a corner and powering out of it. 

[doilum]

5 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

ISTR there being discussion about the much rarer RS1600i, which apparently had a different suspension setup, being more nervous on the limit than the XR3i. Where those respective limits were, and how you might find them in everyday driving, was not really identified..... 

The true escort anoraks will find all the details in Graham Robson's book on the Escort. It is mostly to do with camber and castor angles. The purpose of the RS model was to homologate the parts needed to become a successful motorsport replacement for the rwd RS. The early XR3 had a much more race track focused steering geometry which was gradually taken back to something nearer to the standard cars as time progressed. I had an early four speed carburetor version with ridiculous turn in on smooth dry tarmac. My later injected model was a much more civilized ride but still capable of  a 60mph cruising speed on cross country journeys. By contrast, the much faster GTi that replaced it was only happy at 50mph on the same roads.

Edited June 18, 2021 by doilum
Additional information

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

The smaller 90's Peugeots (205, 106) were like that too - with a very light rear end on torsion beam suspension, they were very susceptible to 'lift-off oversteer' - though some of the more skilled rally drivers I knew were able to make full use of that, gettting them to oversteer into a corner and powering out of it. 

I thought my 205 was meant to do that and drove it accordingly! 

 

It's in the DNA of FWD cars to understeer and lifting off (by the right amount) just tightened it into a corner if it was trying to go straight on.

 

Never once got close to achieving the rally drivers' definition of oversteer.....

 

John

 

 

[MJI]

Last hatch I drove in anger had both lift off and power oversteer.

 

Was fun getting back end out of loose chippings.

[Captain Cuttle]

Abandoned hanger full of antique carriages, lorries and all sorts.

 

 

[boxbrownie]

Obviously still in storage in case of another 17th century attempt on the castle! 

[Rugd1022]

The Maser 430 arrived today, it's taxed, insured and MOT'd but needs a thorough clean up inside and out. Immediate plan is to acquaint myself with the Biturbo parts guru David Askew in Claybrooke Magna (not too far away) then pay a visit to Migliore in Bromsgrove and pick their collective brains about getting the engine bay cleaned and tided up properly, in any case the 2.8 V6 could do with a tune up as it hasn't done much mileage for about eighteen months or so....

 

 

 

The wet patches on the garage floor are where I've had a clean up to get rid of dead leaves and dust, ie: it's not the contents of the V6! I'm still pinching myself that it's actually here and I need to arrange fetching the van load of spares that come with it. The wheels, although kosher Bitrubo ones, are a bit too BMW-ish for my liking so I'll be replacing them with something else at some point.

[Captain Cuttle]

5 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Obviously still in storage in case of another 17th century attempt on the castle! 

I liked the lorries with solid tyres and is one a steamer?

[boxbrownie]

3 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

The Maser 430 arrived today, it's taxed, insured and MOT'd but needs a thorough clean up inside and out. Immediate plan is to acquaint myself with the Biturbo parts guru David Askew in Claybrooke Magna (not too far away) then pay a visit to Migliore in Bromsgrove and pick their collective brains about getting the engine bay cleaned and tided up properly, in any case the 2.8 V6 could do with a tune up as it hasn't done much mileage for about eighteen months or so....

 

 

 

The wet patches on the garage floor are where I've had a clean up to get rid of dead leaves and dust, ie: it's not the contents of the V6! I'm still pinching myself that it's actually here and I need to arrange fetching the van load of spares that come with it. The wheels, although kosher Bitrubo ones, are a bit too BMW-ish for my liking so I'll be replacing them with something else at some point.

Oooo I rather like that in White….looks tidy, I can see what you mean about the wheels but at least they are “period” BMW style 

[boxbrownie]

Oh yes, and get rid of that cheap and nasty plate!  Beejabers 

[pH]

In the the beer store/supermarket underground parking yesterday (the good weather brings out the convertibles).
 

Chevrolet Chevelle SS396. I won’t guess at the year beyond ‘late 1960s’.

[Rugd1022]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Oh yes, and get rid of that cheap and nasty plate!  Beejabers 

 

The plate's been on the car since '97, I'm not sure whether to keep it or put something else on it, I've never been a fan of Irish plates really but we'll see what transpires. The original reg' was 'K24 NCR'....

 

 

 

 

 

[Oldddudders]

5 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

I've never been a fan of Irish plates 

If they're good enough for London buses, then.....

[BernardTPM]

1 hour ago, pH said:

Chevrolet Chevelle SS396. I won’t guess at the year beyond ‘late 1960s’.

Seems to be a 1968 (model year). The 1969 MY had an extra horizontal chrome line across the middle of the grille. 1967 and 1970 models had different bodywork.

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

The plate's been on the car since '97, I'm not sure whether to keep it or put something else on it, I've never been a fan of Irish plates really but we'll see what transpires. The original reg' was 'K24 NCR'....

 

 

 

 

 

Me either, no fan as they just look a Chavy way to hide the age of a vehicle……as in London Buses eh Dudders? 

 

It’s sort of relevant, but……I’d be in two minds as well.

Edited June 20, 2021 by boxbrownie
Because chavy got changed to chevy…..might be correct though….

[MrWolf]

18 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Oh yes, and get rid of that cheap and nasty plate!  Beejabers 

 

Your Maserati deserves better and an original number will let it grow old gracefully.

 

The cover number is more suited to some P.O.S. Range Rover with bling bling wheels and gangsta tinted windows.

 

I've often thought that there's nothing wrong with such vehicles that an RPG can't sort out....

 

[Northmoor]

27 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Me either, no fan as they just look a Chavy way to hide the age of a vehicle……as in London Buses eh Dudders? 

 

It’s sort of relevant, but……I’d be in two minds as well.

Those London buses are barely ten years old.  The reason they have NI plates is that they were all built by Wrightbus in NI and individually driven to London, so had to be registered.

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

Those London buses are barely ten years old.  The reason they have NI plates is that they were all built by Wrightbus in NI and individually driven to London, so had to be registered.

They’ve never heard of trade plates?