racer2_uk 33 Posted November 5, 2017 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted November 25, 2017 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted December 24, 2017 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted January 8, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted February 17, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted March 28, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted April 25, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted May 8, 2018 (edited) 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. Edited May 8, 2018 by racer2_uk (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted May 8, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted May 29, 2018 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 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
falconriley 6 Posted May 31, 2018 Do you find that you get peppered by stuff thrown up from the front tyres? Unfortunately our local laws wouldn't allow this even if it was original, some type of guard over the tyre is compulsory. Matthew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted May 31, 2018 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 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted June 3, 2018 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 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted June 17, 2018 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 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne sheldon 207 Posted June 20, 2018 Thank you for your continuing updates and reports! A wonderful vintage road/speed car, doing what it was meant to do. I continue to check in here from time to time. Again, thank you. And a beautiful countryside to enjoy pictures of as well! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry Brown 9 Posted June 23, 2018 real gearheads in the UK, Morris minor, chopped hawgs and Vincent Shadow all at the same meet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted June 27, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted July 5, 2018 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted July 18, 2018 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 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry Brown 9 Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) Great stuff Andy .It looks like you are getting great weather judging from the brown grass ( lack of rain?) It has been brutally hot here and we could actually use some rain. I should mention the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa where I used to work has a beautiful operating Fowler which they restored.It has the distinction of having helped create the first paved road in Canada in Toronto as I recall. Edited July 18, 2018 by Barry Brown added info (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted August 9, 2018 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 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry Brown 9 Posted August 11, 2018 Great photos of interesting stuff as usual. Thanks for posting and congrats on the improved time. Surely you should win some sort of award from the VSCC for racking up such mileage including racing no less in such an elderly car! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted September 13, 2018 Evenin Barry and everybody, Barry, I don't think I will get an award for having fun driving the car but I feel more elderly ! The Chalmers has been on more adventures around the countryside, the great weather we had gave us many enjoyable drives, which is basically lot's of runs out for tea and cake On a trip to Derbyshire I pulled in at Osmaston Park, the drive up the park didn't seem to end, in the village they had a scarecrow competition, this one was brilliant, I found another place by the canal, this the flint mill in Cheddleton near Leek, they have 2 operating wheels, this mill ground burnt flint for the pottery industry, the old control tower at Sleap airfield has a great cafe overlooking the runway, it is a typical WW2 building, last weekend was Loton Park hillclimb, we had rain on Saturday and a dry Sunday, on Saturday the Chalmers was the 2nd quickest in the Edwardian class in the wet practice and went on to get 2nd handicap in class, on the dry Sunday we tried our best but were back to slowest in class, as with all VSCC events you see some gems, this Peugeot was beautiful, Mark Walker's "Thunderbug" is motoring art, The Chalmers clutch fluid needed changing after Loton as the extra heat from hard start's tends to overheat the lubricant and makes the clutch drag, a new kerosene and engine oil mix and we are back to normal. with Curborough, Harewood, Shelsley Walsh, Prescott short and Loton Park done we have Prescott long course in a couple of weeks and that will finish the competition for the year, along with about 2700 miles so far the Chalmers is doing well, I will be starting on the spare engine rebuild soon. Andy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racer2_uk 33 Posted October 1, 2018 Evenin everybody, We had a sunny Prescott long course meeting last Saturday, the Chalmers went well, 1.6 seconds faster than last year, there was a good selection of Edwardian's, a varied selection of racer's, and some great "homebrew's", the long course is a very flowing track that is wonderful to drive, We have been out and about since the last update, a nice lunch stop in Alton, with it's round lockup, and beautiful bridge, and as usual we have to wait at the railway crossing on the way home, you may have spotted my Chalmers "ECU" ( Elastic Control Unit ) it holds the advance for me ! we have now traveled over 2800 miles and hopefully we will have a few good day's left. Andy 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry Brown 9 Posted October 6, 2018 Andy, Are you referring to Alton in Hampshire? That would be quite a jaunt from Staffodshire. I only ask as I have some Brough friends near Alton. Barry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
