racer2_uk

Evening Barry and all, Barry, you are very observant, the weather has been superb which has given us lots of days out ! On one of our trips we went through Oakamoor near Alton Towers and found the old station platforms, the railway went along time ago, not far away we stopped by a reconstruction of Joe Bamford's ( JCB excavators ) first factory, on one of our VSCC pub meets a great looking Morgan Aero turned up, the owner also has a race version, now we move onto Prescott hillclimb and again I found a great looking Morgan, although a little older, Prescott always brings out superb car's, this outrageous Salmson was the only saloon of it's type and spent years in a Swiss ladies clothes shop, this Amilcar was stunning, then when you think you have seen everything a Bugatti engined Frazer Nash turns up, the Chalmers went very well, we took 2.5 seconds off our time from the last visit, the VSCC start crew's are always smiling, Prescott is a wonderful place, so far this year we have traveled over 2300 miles with very few adjustment's or issues, in fact it has began to feel " normal" to drive the Chalmers than the modern car ! Andy

Evenin everybody, The fantastic weather is still with us and the Chalmers has been all over the place, on a lovely trip around Cheshire I stopped off at Oulton Park race circuit, I had my first race win at this track, it was way back in 1995 in a Ford Sapphire Cosworth, a few people were out testing in the heat, I then went on to Stretton Mill which is the oldest water mill in the UK with it's original working's, the caretaker started up the mill for me, one night I drove over to see a mate in Denstone which is near the huge JCB excavator factory in Rocester, we drove up the road to Denstone college for a photo, in the week I collected some of the spare Chalmers engine parts that had been worked on for me, the crank had a light polish, and the rods have been re metaled, today we had a great trip to Wales, in fact the route we used took us in and out several times, we stopped for lunch at The Boat at Erbistock, a really beautiful spot down by the river Dee, we then carried on to Llangollen, we went along by the canal, to the motor museum, which was closed, maybe another day, we have now covered nearly 1900 miles this year and will be soon getting ready for the VSCC event at Prescott at the start of next month. Andy

Evenin everybody, We are a couple of weeks into a period of stunning weather and the Chalmers has been out and about a lot and I have been getting through the factor 30 sunscreen, Shelsley Walsh is the steepest hill we go to and is always great fun, a little quieter than usual this year and very hot, this GN was beautiful, the Chalmers went 2 seconds faster than before which is a good indication the engine is in good order, our local VSCC pub meeting had a superb car park this month, including 4 Riley's, 2 XK Jaguar's, a wonderful Humber special, and a pristine 1934 Moto Guzzi, This week I have made a bit of room by selling my 1943 Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine, it is going to a new owner who will ground run the engine, with over 1500 miles this year the Chalmers is feeling strong and we are enjoying the sunshine. Andy

Evening Wayne, Barry and everybody, Gentlemen, thank you very much for your kind words and interest in the Chalmers adventures, we are having so much fun getting around on this old car, last week we took the Chalmers up to the Lake District for a short break and then to a friends birthday party, our camper makes towing the Chalmers on the trailer look easy, we stayed at the excellent Black Beck camp site which I would recommend to anyone wanting to stay in the Lakes, on the first day we drove only a few miles up the road to nearby Newby Bridge and the Lakeland motor museum, https://www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk/ this museum is a wonderful place to visit, we were about to park in the car park when Edwin who is one of the museum director's spotted us and ushered us into the museum concourse area by the main entrance, we were then shown around the museum by Chris who is another one of the directors, these guy's made us feel so welcome, they have a great collection of car's, bikes and motoring items, four hours later we carried on our drive ! we drove around lake Windermere and onto Coniston where Donald Campbell attempted the water speed record, we stopped for lunch with Coniston in the background, the next day we called in to Old Hall farm, http://oldhallfarmbouth.com/ to see Alex and Charlotte who seem to work about 30 hours a day building steam engines to rearing abandoned deer fawns ! Alex now has the Fowler name and is building and restoring steam traction engines, we saw a large traction engine in mid rebuild alongside a special boiler repair, a rebuild of a Sentinel steam lorry was nearing completion and was one of a selection of the many steam powered vehicles being worked on, they also run steam traction engine driving courses which look very interesting, this was the end of a run out and the steam was being released, it was very exciting to see and hear, on our third day we drove out to Cartmel which is the home of "sticky toffee pudding" and is a beautiful tiny village, the last day was a drive to our party, it was a typical biker do with a lot of beer and loud music, it was a great night, happy birthday Ken. We have now covered about 1400 miles and I will give the car a check over before this weekends Shelsley Walsh hillclimb. Andy

Evenin everybody, We have been out and about a lot recently and have had a great time meeting up with loads of petrolheads, We had a fantastic reception when we called in at our local Shires Bikers weekend party, this BSA was very sharp, The annual Wharf pub classic car night has an amazing range of car's with over 200 in attendance, and also many bikes, Netty found her favourite bike, Mill Meece was open again and the Chalmers always has new fans, We have now driven over 1200 miles this year and it was time for a new set of tyres, the front's lasted over 12,000 miles and the rear's about half that, the hillclimb's really take it out of them. I hope to take the Chalmer's on a short tour soon, weather permitting. Andy

Evenin everybody, It is always good to go to Yorkshire and this trip to Harewood Hillclimb was no exception, even when we had rain through the night and through into the afternoon, the course was wonderful to drive on, the map gives you an idea of how twisty and diverse it is, you even go through farm building's on the way up the hill ! the Chalmers performed really well in the wet and I actually got to the point where I could start to drift the tail out, this was so much fun, of the 2 Edwardian car's in the class the Chalmers was fastest in both wet practice's and damp 1st and 2nd runs then on the dry 3rd run we were beaten ! it was still the best hillclimb I have had in ages, I have not thrown the Chalmers around like that before, Harewood hillclimb has to be on your "things to do and see" list. in the afternoon I assisted Chris Williams when an oil leak appeared on the Lion engine, we found a tiny crack on a camshaft oil feed pipe, with lot's of people offering tools, blowtorch and solder we had the repair sorted and the mighty Napier Bentley was back out on the hill, after a great weekend I will check the car over and then take advantage of the good weather. Andy

Hi Falconriley and all, The only time you have to watch out is puddles of water, other than that nothing at all. I have really enjoyed my times in Queensland, I raced at Bathurst with a team based on the Gold Coast, we tested at Lakeside, we finished 19th in the 1998 FAI 1000. A few years later we were with Dick Johnson at his place at Stapylton, he showed us all round and we saw the sister car to the DJR Sierra RS500 I used to own and race. Thanks for looking. Andy

Evenin everybody, Sorry as usual for the late updates. The weather has been good and the Chalmers has been out and about to all the usual haunt's, It was great to see Clive and his Chalmers again, a set of the valve spring's will be on that car as very soon, our trip to Foxfield railway's military day is always fun, it has a great atmosphere, good food and old stuff everywhere, on an evening's drive out to the Raven cafe Bikers night I found this beautifully built special, a dream of what could have been ? on Monday a quick run out to the Audlem festival and parking up in our usual canal side space the Chalmers found two new admirer's from the narrowboat next to us, while looking for Chalmers stuff online I found this photo from Curborough with the caption, " like wrestling a bear " With 900 miles traveled this year so far it is time for a check over ready for Harewood hillclimb this weekend. Andy

Curborough was hot, fast and lots of fun, I was 0.02 quicker than last year ! that really isn't an improvement, although I was still running the old carb as the bigger one still gave starting problems, This wonderful 1907 Humber turned up, a real little gem, unfortunately it had some troubles but will be back at the next meeting, A friend turned up on his Henderson, it sounded really good with the exhaust cut-out, Just before Curborough a special delivery arrived, new Chalmers valve spring's, these have been hand made for the current engine and the spare, with 105 years and some rust pits I thought it was about time for a change, A good warm spell has allowed the Chalmers to have done over 600 miles, a new set of tyres has been ordered ! Andy

Evenin everybody, The sun is out and the Chalmers is flying along, I have been able to get out and travel quite a few miles recently, Audlem again always a nice place for lunch, The Shroppie Fly was also good for lunch, more to follow.

Evenin everybody, I have not been here for ages now although I have been doing loads of stuff, the Rolls has now got working brakes and is ready for the paintshop and several mundane spring task's have been achieved. We have had a few day's of great weather and I have been able to get out on the Chalmers for some good run's, I got as far as Tutbury Castle, this is quite old, started off in 1068, I did several trip's with the spare carb I fitted, it was difficult to start, gave terrible miles per gallon but did go better ! but after lot's of adjusting and a few difficult start's I decided to swap it back to the original for driving out and then maybe a quick swap back for the hillclimb's, A nice afternoon tea can be found in Audlem, in the next door shop to the cafe they have a brass "National Cash Register", a local link between the two Chalmers product's ! The spare crankcase is looking very good, Well out on one of my sunny day's out I found this Austin 7 looking well used in the great setting of a pub carpark, With over 400 miles now this year everything feels good and I am looking forward to Curborough on the 6th May. Andy

Evenin everybody, Very sorry for the lack of updates on the Chalmers and the spare engine, The block has been bored and honed, there is some discolouration where the rust was in number 4 cylinder but no pitting or any holes, all the outer faces have cleaned up well, a set of pistons that are ready to be modified to match the originals are here as are the replacement valves, these are as before from a Caterpillar D9 dozer, the crank pressed off the flywheel and is in good condition, now awaiting a light grind to clean it up and the rods are being re-Babbitted to suit, the rear bearing carrier and oil seal are ready to be re-used, the Rolls brakes and ride height system has been a much bigger job than I ever imagined, the car is now movable under it's own power and only requires a few more job's before it goes for bodywork, now back to where we should be, today I fitted the carb off the spare engine which on inspection was a slightly later model and is 1.75" rather than the original of 1.5", hopefully it will give the car a little more go ! as the weather is improving I hope to have a few runs out to set this carb up and see if there is any improvement in performance. Andy

Evenin everybody, Sorry again for the lack of updates, my main excuse is the lack of warmth outside ! I do sound very old ! I have been working on stripping down the spare Chalmers engine and it has gone quite well, number 4 piston was stuck but after pouring in some diesel and putting pressure on for a few days it came out only leaving a bit of a rusty patch on the bore, I removed the water jacket cover plate and removed a mouse nest, acorn's and a mouse skull ! when doing this most of the bolt's that went through to the coolant snapped off, I was able to remove this portion of the bolts and restore the threads, the block has been taken for a rebore and the rusty portion of the bore has now been removed and the other bores have been taken out to the same size, all the timing marks line up, the crank was pulled out and looks to be in excellent condition, I am still working on my Grandfather's Rolls Royce, the brakes are really taking a lot of time but I am getting there slowly, the Chalmers crankcase and sump are away being fully cleaned and should be back in a couple of weeks. Andy

Morning Barnfind_Chalmers, It looks like you have a 1910 Chalmers Detroit 4 cylinder, my 1913 engine design evolved from that type of engine, the general layout is the same, it is very similar to the car here, http://fountainheadauto.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/creamers-car.html What a great find, well done. Andy

Evenin everybody and a Happy New Year, Christmas really did arrive here this year, a spare 1913 Chalmers engine and gearbox arrived last week, I have started to take it apart and I am very happy with it, it has not run for over 60 years, it is come apart really well, the carb is in great condition and will be tested on the car this spring, it looks very clean inside, number 4 cylinder has had some water in it, I am soaking it in diesel while adding some load, it has moved a little already, It is a great feeling knowing I have some good spares and hopefully a running engine. Definitely a happy New Year. Andy

Afternoon everybody, I have been working on the shadow's brake's which are not only the most complicated braking system I have ever seen but is also the most seized up braking system I have ever seen, I started with the reservoir that was full of brake fluid jelly , I will have to strip all the various brake valve's, there is about 10 of them ! The weather has been exceptionally cold for us this year, we walked down to the field and checked on the donkey's, Have a great Christmas, keep the workshop's warm and busy. Andy

Evenin everybody, Sorry for the lack of updates, the winter has arrived, I think the chances of getting out on the Chalmers are slim, I am doing some work on a 1967 Silver Shadow that my Grandfather had in 1969, I have stored it for over 20 years and we are starting a restoration, I am doing a few things before it goes away for bodywork, It started without to much trouble but the carbs needed cleaning up which took a bit of time but was worth it. The exhaust will be next to receive some attention, always the worst job. Andy

Evenin everybody, The cold is with us ! I have been out a few times on the Chalmers this last couple of week's but not very far, I have been over to the Crewe railway heritage centre, I was able to get very close to the 1938 Crewe built Duchess of Sutherland, also on the museum site I found my mate Ray's double decker bus, I got another great shot of the old Joules brewery building next to the canal in Stone, these beautiful almshouses in Nantwich, while I was looking for more Chalmers information on the web I found these photo's of one of my trip's out, they were taken locally while I was calling in for fuel, you never know if you are being followed ! with 3250 miles so far this year I don't think there will be many more to add unless we have a heatwave ! Andy

Afternoon Wayne and everybody, Thank you Wayne for your word's and interest in our travel's, and 200 miles is a long way, I have driven it on a Chalmers ! Sorry for the lack of updates, a holiday and wet weather has kept us off the road, today I got to take a short drive out and bumped into a mate out on his Harley, with a bit of luck we should get a few more good day's. Andy

Hi Dale, Have a look on ebay motors for "snubber" there should be something the same or very similar you could modify. Andy

Evenin everybody, A big thank you to Cadillac Carl for pointing out that Dick had a Chalmers engine available, what a great chap Dick is for saving this engine many years ago. I am looking forward to seeing this engine close up. We have had some good day's and have been out for a few more good run's out, we called by the 16th century Tixall lodge near Stafford which was originally a gatehouse to a long demolished hall, today I drove out to Wales, well just into Wales, and stopped on the Bangor on Dee bridge built in 1660, it has 5 spans and is still in use just one way, a little further on is Malpas, a lovely little town where I stopped for lunch at the old fire station ! a great day on the road, the Chalmers ran beautifully and we have now covered 3000 miles this year. Fingers crossed for a few more nice day's. Andy

Evenin everybody, Prescott "long course" has been a great event today with great weather and wonderful car's and people, the Chalmers went really well and we climbed the hill 2.9 seconds quicker than last year, result ! the meeting is not as big as the summer event but we still had a great turnout of car's, this car called "the Menasco Pirate" after it's aero engine was quick and sounded wonderful, you don't get many event's with 3 ERA's in attendance, one of them took the fastest time of the day, that was the last hillclimb we will be doing this year, how fast has this year gone ! Andy

Evenin everybody, I couldn't resist going back to the Mill Meece show for it's second day, I didn't manage to set off until mid afternoon but there was still some great thing's to see, it was still sunny when I left home, this 1925 model T Tudor is a regularly used car, of the many stationary engines this Crossley was beautifully finished, a great and colourful Norton, I think it is a Dominator, the show is regularly held in the grounds of the old pumping station, the engines are still complete and will be running again in the near future, even though it was late they had a bit of cake left. Andy

Evenin everybody, The sun came out again and we drove down the road to Mill Meece pumping station, our local little regular show, you never know what will be there, today we found a lovely Douglas, a 1934 Riley 9 Monaco that had been found in a railway goods yard and then restored, there was a superb Ford AA light truck carrying an amazing collection of adjustable spanners, I have never seen so many different makes and types ! the other great thing about the little shows we attend is they all have a wonderful selection of tea and homemade cake ! The Chalmers has now covered over 2800 miles and if the sun stay's out I might even try and get back to Mill Meece for another slice of cake tomorrow. Andy

Afternoon everybody, The weather has stopped play recently, so I spent some time doing a few thing's on the Chalmers, I made a new thinner set of copper valve sealing rings which have increased the compression a little more than nothing but have improved the seal, the combustion chambers look good with no issues, today the weather improved for a few hours and I had a run out to Stone in Staffordshire to look at the canal and it's old industrial past, the new apartments and the old "Joules" brewery in the background, I was able to get to an old canal bridge near one of the locks, the canal's are very busy again, Stone has one of the earliest narrow boat dry docks still operating, it is a wonderful old building, we will be at Prescott hillclimb on the 23rd, it is the long course which flow's so well and the Chalmers feels really good around it. Andy