December 1977
DORSET AUSTIN SEVEN CLUB
I would like to begin this month with a few words of thanks to
Bernard's wife, Jackie, for her splendid effort each month in typing the
newsletter from a written draft. Also a big thank you to schh...
you know who!! for getting the newsletter duplicated for us.
Back on the Austin scene it is good to see Gary Munn using his '30 box through the Winter - best of luck
with the driving test. Those re-silvered reflectors and 36w
bulbs give a fantastic light (I think he carries a spare battery!)
Bernard and I had a pleasant evening trip to Bristol recently and
had a look at the BA7C films. The highlight was an Austin pulling a Range Rover
out of some water. Ian Dunford told us we could borrow the films, so we will
have to take him up on the offer in the new year.
I had an interesting chat with Ian Moorcroft who runs the Register
and he gave me some useful tips on restoration – his own car took well over 2000
hours.
Welcome to new member Reg Stones from Highcliffe who has a '33 box and a '33 Big Seven. Reg says in his
letter that the Big Seven is well up together but the box requires a lot of
work.
I thought it might be a good idea to compile a list of local
restoration services. This would include such things as wheel building, shot
blasting, spraying, welding, etc. - don't keep those names to yourself, let us
all benefit from their skills. So if you have had a job done well or know
someone who can do it, let me know and we will publish a list.
A friend of mine, John Dibben, from Wareham, is rebuilding his '29 Chummy to take a holiday
to France. He has had his crankcase bead blasted by Armour Rotor Products at
Winton and the result is a finish very much like silver paint. The advantage is
that mating surfaces need not be masked and the process would be ideal to
preserve the originality of sand cast alloy. A slight drawback is the fine matt finish picks
up the dirt. John has also used
Armour epoxy enamel on-his wheels (brushed on) and
it certainly gives a fantastic gloss.
Finally folks, don't forget to get those subs. to Lawrence Rideal
at 36 Diprose Road, Corfe Mullen -
membership £2 + 75p if you want the A7CA magazine.
This Month’s Meeting Nags Head,
Ringwood. Thursday 15th
December. Christmas noggin & natter night.
Next Committee Meeting. The Angel, Longham.
Thursday 5th January.
BEARINGS If
you want any bearings other than shells for your Austins
I can get them for you at 40% discount. Contact Phil Whitter on
Broadstone 694857 or see me at the meeting.
On Saturday 4th February we are holding a Social Evening in the
skittle alley at the 'Monmouth Ash' at Verwood. This is the big 'get together'
evening of the Dorset A7 Club calendar so please being your wife/girlfriend/friends
along.
Come and enjoy a friendly game and a chat together with chicken,
sausage, jacket potato and roll and butter all for £1 per head.
Please let our Social Sec. Gary Munn have your money & details
on the enclosed form. His address is:-
36 Avon Avenue, Avon Castle, Ringwood. Telephone Ringwood 78795
after 7 pm.
We need a minimum of 30 not to make a loss, so please try to come
along and have a good night out.
P.S. A map showing how to get there will appear in the January
newsletter.
WANTED
Pete ?reliving wants two Ruby wheels and hubs with bearings.
Telephone: 888438
Two rear springs (matching) for box. Reg Stones, Highcliffe 4355
Reg also has remains of Big Seven and Ruby bodies - open to
offers.
TECHNICAL TIPS This month
we have an article on adjusting steering boxes.
FOR SALE
Austin 7 saloon 1934. Taxed and MOT until January 1978.
Substantial offers to Mr. J. R. Bond, 10 red Roofs, 1 Dudsbury Ave., Ferndown.
Telephone: Ferndown 892748
THE RACING AUSTINS by Charles Goodacre (cont.)
For the 1925 season, Austin decided to supercharge the 7. Jimmy
Clark and a fellow called Stanley Jaeger designed the Roots supercharger. It
was a beautiful little thing with two three bladed rotors and was mounted
horizontally in front of the engine and driven from the camshaft gear.
There were no chain drives in the Austin Seven engine, everything
was gear driven, and the reason for this was that chains had to be bought
outside the company, but the company could make the gears themselves.
As a matter of plant philosophy, it was always Austin's idea that
if you wanted to make money in the motor industry you had to make as much of
the car as you possibly could, so that any profit that was going came to you
and not to some accessory firm. The Austin company, therefore, cast all their
own cylinder blocks and crankcases, they forged their own crankshafts, made
their own bearing shells, cut their own gears and made all their own rear axles
and wire wheels. By following this policy, the company had got itself out of
the red and by 1926 was pretty profitable. The company was run by two men under
Sir Herbert Austin.
Commander C. R. Engelbach, an ex-Naval
Officer, came to the company as the Official Receiver in the dark days and
stayed to become works director of the company for the rest of his working
life. Ernest Payton had very good connections with the city of London and as
financial director helped the company out of its financial problems. Together they
ran the company in a very personal manner, almost as a feudal operation. The
Austin Company was popularly known as the old umbrella for if you worked for it
you could never, ever, be fired unless you robbed the till.
The supercharger increased the engine output from about 20 bhp to
38-40 bhp which gave a spectacular increase in performance.
Two supercharged cars were built, a new one for Sir Herbert's
son-in-law, Arthur Waite and the second a modified version of the works racer
of the previous season but with the radiator pushed forward to make room for
the supercharger. These cars were quite fast. They used to do about 90 mph
which was a high speed then for a very light little car weighing about 6½ cwt.
They were quite safe, there were no serious accidents with them, and they were
quite successful.
When the question of a driver for the second car was raised by Sir
Herbert, Waite said they had better let Alf Depper,
the racing shop foreman, have a go. It was the old man's principle that if you
built racing cars and they were any good then works drivers should be able to
win with them. After 1928 Sir Herbert worked on the principle that if you had
250 apprentices at the factory and you could not find two or three enthusiastic
young men who were good enough drivers to win races with the cars, then the
cars were no good. He liked to employ works drivers because you could control
them and he didn't have to pay them any money. He only paid them a bonus if
they were successful and any prize money came to the company. Then, of course,
with all due respect, these young apprentices were expendable, because they had
no dependent relatives, no children to look after or wives or anything like that.
So you insured their lives for £10,000 and that was it. If one got killed that
was just too bad, there was always another one waiting to take his place.
To be continued