Do I really need a new project?

[DrData]

Bernie, looks like you are making great progress. I know what you mean about weight. My limit for a new dog is about 40 lbs (about 18 -19 kg), ruling out bigger breeds that I like. Enjoy a nice cool drive. Here in the US, on the west coast, we are moving into fire season, with temps about 32 C (90 F) and high winds. My chore today is to make sure the “go bags” are packed and staged near the more modern cars in case we need to evacuate. 
 

Cheers!

[Rapier]

[Rapier]

Todays photographs show firstly the gearbox now installed back in the car and the essential piece of equipment (home) made from scrap some years ago.

Without this it would be impossible for me to lift the 35 kg gearbox out of and back into the Rapier. It does involve the car being lifted to the maximum height possible with my jack stands.

At times I really doubt my sanity, I am sure that no sensible 85 year old person would even contemplate doing any of the things that I manage to do.

 

Bj.

 

 

 

 

[Frank Tate]

At times I really doubt my sanity, I am sure that no sensible 85 year old person would even contemplate doing any of the things that I manage to do.

 

Don't doubt your sanity!  Be proud of your abilities.  If you don't do, then you won't be able.  Keep on keepin' on!  😉

[Digger914]

Bernie,

Not too much I can say about the preselect transmission, in theory I know how they work and the cone looks like I thought it would, but that open hole in the top doesn't look anything like I imagined it would, so I guess that I don't really know how they work. 

 

The floor jack appliance is a whole different story, pure common sense ingenuity. Almost makes me wish I'd never seen a factory built tranny jack attachment, this is something I could have built from scrap and used on my own garage floor.

 

Up until I had to accept the fact that I was permanently injured,  I figured I would still be splitting firewood at 85 like my great grandpa and working 8 hours a day several days a week like my dad did. I still split my own firewood with an hydraulic splitter, the logs aren't as big around as the ones I split by hand with a maul. I've purchased a lot of power tools and made some special tools so I can do everything that I need to along with a lot of things that I want to. Sure it hurts, but the less you do the less you can do and I'm not ready to stop doing. The toughest old man I've ever known told me that when you stop you drop and when my Uncle George dropped at 99, he surprised everyone who believed he would live to be 105 like he'd started telling people he would when he turned 75. 

 

Sanity at 85 is overrated and how many people do you know that are older than you are telling you that you shouldn't be doing what you're doing at your age. The fact that you're still around and able to do these things?

[Rapier]

About the only people my age that I get to meet on a regular basis are the people that I play "Petanque" with every Monday morning. I doubt that any of them have anything other than the vaguest idea of what a Lagonda is or what is needed ro keep one "on the road". The main subject of conversation is about very topical subjects, we do not even get to discuss local politics or the price of a bottle of wine. Some would be shocked to learn that both Helen and I share half a bottle of "red" between us every day.  Shock - Horror!!

i.e.  A quarter of a bottle amounts to just one standard  wine glass.  Most "reds" come six bottles to a carton. Our usual purchase is a dozen bottles. Occasionally we will buy a "dozen" of something special to "Put down".  Probably the oldest bottles in our "Cellar" would be around twenty years old.

Bj

Edited May 21, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[DrData]

Bernie,

 

Nothing wrong with a little red wine every day. Actually, there are five glasses to a bottle of wine, unless you "pour heavy" then it is three or four or "pour light" and then it is six. Once, in a restaurant in Las Vegas, our young waitress did not have any idea about serving wine...decided to pour out the bottle all at once and we all had glasses filled to the rim...we now refer to that as a "Las Vegas" pour.

 

Glad to see that the tranny is in.  Your floor jack is a great little piece of work. On the MGs, you can either R and R the transmission from below or remove the floor boards and R and R the transmission from above, which is what most owners do. 

 

So far, no bottle of wine has lasted twenty years in our cellar.  Unless you have really good climate controls you should make a point of drinking your older supplies before they turn to vinegar or sludge.

 

Enjoy the test drive and then celebrate with a fine bottle of wine.

 

 

[Rapier]

We have a very moderate climate, we  live in the south east corner of Australia. It never snows in winter amd we virtually never have frosts. In Summer it only rarely reaches above 30 degrees C. I cannot remember when we last had a wind storm.  We live on a comparatively small block of land, 1/5th of an acre. We have lived in the same house for almost 50 years.  We have three sons and a daughter all adults. so lots of grand children. I still have the same wife (Helen) that I married more that 60 years ago.

We have two (almost) modern cars a VW Jetta and a Peugeot. My 1934 Lagonda Rapier is my one permanent "vintage" car and my current project is the 1923 Alvis.  The only sport that I play is a weekly game of Petanque on Monday mornings. Our oldest bottle of wine in our very limited cellar is 2012.  I was born in November 1936 I have no known health problems. Having said that I did have bladder cancer but that was removed 35 or 40 years ago and has not returned.

Despite all this life is never boring.

 

Bj

[Rapier]

What happens when a STUPID 86 year old attempts to put the gearbox back into his car single handed. Even more  so when the gearbox weights 35 kgs.

 

Bj.

[Frank Tate]

A minor setback.....as long as it is not on top of you, you get a do-over.  😉

[Rapier]

Thank you  Frank,

The box is now back where it belongs and tomorrow I can move on to finishing the job. 

At least I can be reasonably confident that the slipping in top gear has been cured. I still have to fix the linkage in the gear selection mechanism but that is a relatively minor problem.  

Tomorrow is another day.

 

Bj.

[Digger914]

23 hours ago, Rapier said:

What happens when a STUPID 86 year old attempts to put the gearbox back into his car single handed. Even more  so when the gearbox weights 35 kgs.

 

Bj.

Like I said earlier, " Almost makes me wish I'd never seen a factory built tranny jack attachment" 

No age 86 or STUPID involved. People half your age drop trannies on the floor while using floor jack tranny attachments and it can happen even with  a helping hand.

[Rapier]

Unfortunately in my case the expression "Helping hand" simply does not apply. I do have three sons but!

I have now all but finished re-installing the gearbox. Just some minor linkages to re-connect.  Then all I need to do is to refill the "box" with some new oil.  I bought this some time ago so I have an unopened 5 Litre pack "on the shelf".

Finally I will have to refit the carpet and generally have a "tidy up". Before this I will start the motor and trial select each gear. FINGERS CROSSED.

After all it was only "Top gear" that required attention.

 

Bj.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Digger914]

Not a lot of room for two under a car on jack stands, floor jacks are tippy when top heavy and sometimes helping hands are more of a well intended hindrance.

 

Glad you were able to get the tranny in and while you're filling your old gear box with new oil, I'll be filling my new tool box with old tools. All except for my oldest tool, my dad's old locking pliers that wasn't in the drawer where it was supposed to be, or any other tool box drawer.  The new tool box has working locks and it's big enough to hold all the tools from all my garage tool boxes and because helping hands sometimes help themselves, the new tool box is going to stay locked when I'm not around until my dad's old Channellock / vice grips are found.

[Rapier]

Wow Digger

You certainly are well catered for with both space and storage.

The cable (wire rope) for one of the counter balance weights for the (lift up) front door has just broken. So I have another day's fun waiting for me.

This mornings photographs show:-

 My two tin tool boxes, supposedly one for Metric and one for Imperial (inches). also in the same group is the leather tool bag from the Rapier. This is a re-purposed ladies Leather hand bag. This holds the Whitworth and "SAE" spanners etc for the Rapier. Having said that the Rapier also so has a trick or two of its own. Among other things it has in unexpected places such things as the occasional "Cycle Engineers" thread just to make sure that you do not take things for "granted".

I am sure that you have all seen these before but just to keep you up to date here are todays three photographs.

You can also see that I am reasonably well catered for with storage shelves, so very little is thrown away.

The re-purposed "Jam-tins" from the kitchen hold Screw-drivers, Snips, and Files are within easy reach of the bench. There is a large(off-set) vice at one end of the bench and a smaller vice next to the grinder/belt sander near the main door. At the other end of the bench is combined wire brush and grinding wheel.  The large wall clock needs a new battery!

As our garden is mainly Australian Native plants, including several large "Gum" trees, (Eucalypts) we have a steady supply of falling leaves all year round. Most of these seem to end up being blown into the garage while the door is open, which is most days!

 

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Rapier]

Of interest in todays photographs are 1. My new "toy" a 1923 Alvis. this has been mechanically restored and is now awaiting a new body. The timber body frame came with the car but will need to be replaced. 
The other photograph shows my method of fixing storage "tins" to the wall. These are "opened" and the sides folded back to make attaching them simple.

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Digger914]

55 minutes ago, Rapier said:

"Cycle Engineers" thread

Is this the same as "British Standard" ?

 

Like what you did with the cans, I remember when Empress Brand Jelly & Jam came in tins. I use old coffee cans screwed through to the wall open end pointing out as cubby's for lightweight items like gloves, clean shop towels and being round they also do a good job of keeping face shields and goggles somewhat clean and handy.

 

 

[Rapier]

BSF and Cycle Engineers are similar. But sufficiently different not to be compatible. 

As the name suggests it was used almost exclusively by Bicycle Manufacturers except that it sometimes appeared in 1920s and 30s British cars usually in odd places, such as in the ENV Preselector transmissions.  Over the years many people just forced a BSF nut onto a CY bolt. etc etc.

For people with plenty of spare time, the internet is full of this information.

Size (inches)	Wire Gauge	Threads per inch
0.056 inch	17 WG	62 Tpi
0.072 inch	15 WG	62 Tpi
0.080 inch	14 WG	62 Tpi
0.092 inch	13 WG	56 Tpi

 

Whitworth Threads Chart - BSW - Boltport ...

https://boltport.com › Threads › BSW

 

 

 

Nominal Size Ww	Thread Form Type	Major Diameter mm d=D	Pitch mm p	Threads per inc...
1/16"	BSW	1.587	0.423	60
3/32"	BSW	2.381	0.529	48
1/8"	BSW	3.175	0.635	40

Edited May 25, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Rapier]

Now having looked at all this I cannot help but wonder where all this is taking me.

Perhaps today is not a good day.

I really should be out in my garage finishing the job that I started a week or so ago.

It is too easy to sit here wasting time.

 

Bj.

Back to work.

[DrData]

Out of curiosity…have you tried to start the Alvis?  Just having that lovely chassis in the workshop would be a great temptation, even if it was up for adoption.

[Digger914]

21 hours ago, Rapier said:

BSF and Cycle Engineers are similar. But sufficiently different not to be compatible. 

As the name suggests it was used almost exclusively by Bicycle Manufacturers except that it sometimes appeared in 1920s and 30s British cars usually in odd places, such as in the ENV Preselector transmissions.  Over the years many people just forced a BSF nut onto a CY bolt. etc etc.

For people with plenty of spare time, the internet is full of this information.

Size (inches)	Wire Gauge	Threads per inch
0.056 inch	17 WG	62 Tpi
0.072 inch	15 WG	62 Tpi
0.080 inch	14 WG	62 Tpi
0.092 inch	13 WG	56 Tpi

 

Whitworth Threads Chart - BSW - Boltport ...

https://boltport.com › Threads › BSW

 

 

 

Nominal Size Ww	Thread Form Type	Major Diameter mm d=D	Pitch mm p	Threads per inc...
1/16"	BSW	1.587	0.423	60
3/32"	BSW	2.381	0.529	48
1/8"	BSW	3.175	0.635	40

As I was cleaning and moving tools from the old boxes to the new box, I found this same multiple page chart from a different source tucked under my MGB service manuals and remembered why I used my SAE tap&dye set on  my 4 BSW  holes. 

[DrData]

Digger….quite the tool chest!

[Digger914]

11 hours ago, DrData said:

Digger….quite the tool chest!

I bought a damaged display because I knew I could fix it and the price was right. Got even better when they sent me the wrong damaged display, so I got free delivery, free repair parts and another hundred dollars off.

[Rapier]

Rather than extend this conversation I am going out to my inadequate little garage to finish putting the gearbox back into the Rapier with my inadequate little tool kit.  At least I will be doing something.

Bj.

[Digger914]

22 minutes ago, Rapier said:

inadequate little tool kit

Bernie, it looks like your entire garage section is one big toolkit with a car stuffed inside. Nothing inadequate about your tools and certainly nothing inadequate with the way you use them. 

[Rapier]

Thank you Digger.

i have one problem with jobs like putting the gearbox back. 

Each time i do one of these jobs I can see a better way to do something.

Todays example is the linkage for the gear selection mechanism. I find myself looking at a simple modification to make it more positive.

You really have to understand the inner workings of a "pre-selector" gearbox.

The gear-leaver does not actually "Change" to gear but Pre Selects the required "gear".

Depressing the "Clutch" pedal and releasing it does the actual gear change. It in fact has nothing to do with a clutch, for instance my Rapier does not have a "Clutch". Depressing "that" pedal actually makes the gear "change". I.E. engages the "pre-selected gear".......

Time for you to do some research, you never know what you will discover?

English 1930s& 40s Daimlers add to the confusion by having a "Fluid coupling" between the engine and gearbox. Just to add further to the confusion, this works in conjunction with a Pre-selector gearbox.

If you ever stop in traffic next to one of these cars you can sometimes hear the "Lovely music" the "transmission" is making?

If you own "one" you will know the pleasure that you can enjoy just driving in "stop-start" traffic.  The sounds together with the feeling of superiority that you can have over the "common herd".

I should add that it is now a very long time since I last owned a Daimler.

 

Bj.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Rapier]

OK, I know that many of the people reading this have only ever driven a car with an Automatic Transmission, they can have no concept of what I am talking about and that is OK too.

 

Bj.

 

I have only ever driven either a Manual or a Pre-select car except for a short while in the 1970's, I had a Studebaker, from memory it was a V8 and had a Two-speed Auto. 

[Rapier]

There again, driving anything in the 1970s means that I must be positively ancient now.

Bj.

[Digger914]

Now that I know that the Rapier tranny isn't fluid coupled, I have no idea what makes it smoothly transfer power to the wheels from a dead stop.

There is book learning and there is actual hands on experience. Up until I saw all the fingers, valves and castle nuts of your transmission photo. I thought I knew how a preselect works and I probably do, but that doesn't mean that I have the slightest idea of how to work on one.

[Rapier]

It is really quite simple, everything comes our of and goes back in through the front. There are a couple of web-sites that deal with the subject. My own knowledge comes from the "School of Hard Knocks".

A very long time ago when I was writing "stuff" for the Automobile magazine, I used the pen-name "The Impecunious Enthusiast".  Nothing has changed other than the Editor of the Automobile.

 

Bj.

[Rapier]

It is no more difficult to  drive than a normal manual transmission, To start from stationary, the pedal can be controlled the same way as a clutch.  Once rolling,  gear changes are as quick as your left foot can depress and release the pedal.

For detailed info go to:-  https://www.vorwahlgetriebe.de/the-wilson-preselector-gearbox/?L=1

 

N.B. In principle, the "Wilson" and the "ENV" boxes are the same with only minor variations.

Bj.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Digger914]

So your preselect would be the ENV 75 pictured, then guessing that the castle nuts on the side somehow attach to the bands and that there is some sort of internal spring tensioned ratcheting mechanism to keep the bands adjusted with band shaped friction material that grabs the spinning part and when it's held tight the propellor shaft turns with the banded gear Thinking this way gives me a different conceptual view of the internal workings, but I would still need to see how all the inner parts fit together before I would even consider attempting to repair one of these things.

[Rapier]

You have to remember I have been driving and maintaining cars with Pre-selector gearboxes for more that 60 years.  First with Daimler 15 hp and later Lagonda Rapiers.  Almost three quarters (75%) of my life with almost never a time when I did not own one !

Now the day is all but done, I have fled from the "garage". I still have to do the "fine tunning" of the Rapier's gearchange linkage  but that should only take a few minutes but ir will have to wait now until later in the week. It is now 5.30 on Sunday afternoon. I have changed out of my "dirties". Time for a glass of "Red" (wine) before Sunday night "tea".

Another week "done & dusted".

 

Bj.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Rapier (see edit history)

[Rapier]

What I have to remember is to refill the gearbox with oil before I go any further.

You may remember some time ago I added a "Dip-stick" to the filler cap.

 

Bj.

[Rapier]

Today has not been a good day, The gearbox is still sliping in top gear. This means that it has to come out and apart again!

I really need to look at the spring pressure for the bands and top-gear.

 

Bj.

[Digger914]

Sorry to hear that, was looking forward to hearing how good it worked.

[Rapier]

Thank you for your confidence in my ability, unfortunately on this occasion it was a little misguided.

 

Bj

[Rapier]

One thing that is sure, is the fact that I really must make a decision regarding the Alvis. Does it stay or does it go.  Right now, while I believe that my "old cars" keep me alive and mentally alert they can be extremely frustrating. I tell myself that I am just going through a bad patch.

I have owned and enjoyed  the Lagonda Rapier for so long now that I really do need to keep it. Working on the gearbox while a pain, it really keeps me active. Both physically and mentally. The thought of taking the car to England and France for one last "Touring Holiday" is an incentive to get the work on the car done.

That is "BY MY SELF !"

 

Bernie j..

[Rapier]

OK! The Alvis is now definitely FOR SALE. I now have the Rapier's gearbox out of the car and it is currently draining the oil prior to my looking further into the top gear slipping problem.. All this being so things are starting to happen.......

 

Bernie j.

[Digger914]

Saving a small fortune and doing the work yourself is always a bit of an adventure, doing the same job a second time because it didn't work as expected after is a task. A couple of days ago I invested $30 in materials and made a tool do the dirtiest job that nobody does. I would have gladly purchased new if the parts had been available, but there is that certain sense of accomplishment that makes cleaning up the greasy mess worth the effort. 

 

Hope you get that gear slippage fixed this time.