Augusta special

[DavidLaver]

We're out of sequence here - but the wheels got painted before the car was extracted from its tomb. 

David

[DavidLaver]

The tyres are MOT failure Aurelia 165x400s.  Fine to roll about on for now.  Hardly the priority at the moment, and a lot could change between now and when it becomes so.

As the VSCC don't like radials one of the early ideas was to re-rim at 18ins for some Michellin DRs or Blockleys with a similar rolling radius to the "Super Comfort" SCSS baloons.   

When I looked a year ago the supply of SCSS was good again, and the prices not outragous, and its a distinctive tread pattern, and with the Bibendum rims an unusal feature was leaning back to the original fittment.

Just looked today and the DR price has gone up a bit of late, SCSS less so.  Blockley still look good value, and another option since I last looked is the 5.50x16.   That feels wide for such a little car, but the 165s don't look out of place...

When the time comes it will be "horses for courses" from the options on the day.

Meanwhile these two heard that running a tyre depot with space in the corner to restore a car isn't a bad way to live.  Do they get a job for half term Chugga?
 
David

[chugga boom]

i like your thinking START THEM YOUNG!!!

[Dilambdaman]

David,

The Michelin DR is a lovely tyre both in looks and ride but expensive (£100 each more for the Dilambda) and I'm reliably informed that they do around a third of the mileage that you get with a Blockley which are just as period looking.

Robin

[DavidLaver]

PROPER WINGS !!

These are ex-James Parry and of course before the kettle went on I had them propped in place and the grill unhooked from the wall.

The trick was to look from an angle where something else got in the way so it wasn't just a third of a car but a third of a car peeping out.

Lights are in a box somewhere in the loft...  Tempting to make up a number plate to hang from the track rod.

David

[chugga boom]

amazing how different the car looks with wings on isnt it!!, glad your pleased with them, keep us all posted with your progress jp

[JohnMillham]

I prefer the shape of the early wings to the later ones. Shame you can't find an early grille to go with them. It's good to see some progress.
Regards, John

[DavidLaver]

I think I've found an early grill - keep your fingers crossed for me...

David

[DavidLaver]

Got the lights on in just a couple of hours late afternoon.   

The box of lucas repros had been sitting there for perhaps fifteen years having been bought for a project I started but passed on when the Augusta arrived.   A stroke of luck was that the Lucas 1130 sidelights were exactly what James had on his car.

The "proper" headlights I have need a lot of work, so I removed the "ice cream cones" from them something of a struggle, even with a plate to clamp them firm.  My second stroke of luck was that the MUCH larger Lucas bolts JUST fitted.

Spotted the mistake with the rubber?   The first one had a much larger middle hole and for the second I thought just enough for the wires and keep the road muck out.  The problem is there's no way to reach the bolt to adjust the lamps.   They'll be on and off a few times before that matters so "next time" I'll cut the larger hole...

Spotted the problem with the ice cream cones?   They are not a pair, so one has a hole in the front for wires and one in the back.  The plan is to weld both holes up and run the wires under the wings.

The headlights are Lucas SS700 shells and PL700 inners.  Not what I'd choose today but "they were just sitting there" and will do to get passed the MOT man and see where I'm going.   One cunning plan is to remove the glasses from a cheap set of units and bond on flat perspex with a print of the Bosch pattern.

David

[DavidLaver]

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/lights_head.html

Am thinking the budget 7in, cut the lense off and replace with flat glass with the Bosch pattern printed on.  There's an option to have the sidelight in the headlight so the wing mounted can be the indicator.

At John Turner's the other day we looked at a 30 year history of headlights for his car - and my quest is to find what he believes to be a Golf Mk1 bulb retainer clip so he can mount some lights with proper Bosch glasses bonded on.  There's some modern looking units on the car, but its not clear why they replaced the ones with the lenses bonded on.   He also has the obligatory "will get round to restoring them one day" lights.

Has everyone else got "real lights" - or are there some artful dodges out there?

Looking at my photos I noticed the March Augusta mounts the lights direct to the wing without cones, and all sorts of side light variations.  I also think my lights (or perhaps one of them) came off the Airline Saloon also at Goodwood given the colour match - I bet a fair bit of cross polination goes on as with my wings being ex-James Parry and am sure ex a few other cars as well along the way.

David

[Running Board]

I would not advise plain glass/Perspex David: you'll get an atrocious beam pattern.  The original glasses for both Lucas and Bosch lamps were especially designed to match the reflectors, the glasses having a "pattern" which was actually a series of prisms, each refracting the light and the whole giving the total beam pattern. 

For one of my Aurelia B20s, I tried Lucas reflectors/halogen lamps mated to the original Carello glasses and the beam patterns were awful (possibly the reflector's focal length was incorrect for the glasses?). 

When I was trying to complete my Augusta many years ago, I couldn't find any Bosch lamps for sale and the originals were tatty and incomplete, so I bought a pair of very similar Carellos in Italy.  These are of FIAT origin - Ardita or possibly Ballila and are slightly larger than the Bosch lamps.  I've welded up the sidelamp tell-tales and adapted the shells to fit the Bosch/Lancia pedestals, then fitted 6V halogen lamps which, together with beefed up cable sizes and earth returns, give excellent lighting. 

[DavidLaver]

In a parts swap with Ron I got some Cibies, about 8ins, he thinks off a French made Ballilia.  They're in a box with some other bits and bobs waiting to be collected.

This evening I clipped the battery charger earth onto a headlamp shell, bridged to the other with a steel rod, and had some fun turning the lights on and off.  Its a good clear beam for sure.  The look of the tripod lucas is growing on me.

The sidelights are dual filament and the bright is plenty brighter than the normal to use as indicators.

With flat glass I don't expect the greatest lighting but it can work.   My Austin 7 special has flat perspex in shells made from large scale radio control aircraft prop spinners - very lightweight, and not a bad light to drive by and a good enough pattern for the MOT man.  The reflectors were 2CV.

Horses for courses - and as yet I don't know what course so can ponder all the options.  Thinking about it seeing the variety John Turner's car has had somewhat sparked this thread as well.

What are the sidelights on your car?   Were they factory or put on at Alperton or a later addition?

David

[johnturner]

I reckon that when they came out of the factory all of the cars, including the chassis on which the March cars were built, would have had the headlights mounted on cones and none would have had separate side lights.  The side lights originally fitted within the case of the Bosch headlight were too far from the edge of the body to satisfy UK regulations and so Alperton fitted the type of separate side light that appears on Mike Wheeler's March car.  They must have had a very large box of these since the same sidelights were fitted to other cars including the later Lambdas.  Earlier Lambdas had torpedo sidelights made by, or copied from, the similar CAV light but labelled CAC (Curtis Automobile Company)  Other types of side light would have been fitted by people who imported used cars.

[DavidLaver]

Checked all my notes pretty sure its cibies not carellos but have never seen "old" cibies.  Just did a google and turned up this.  Quite a distinct "cone" shape rather than the "bullet" or "bowl".

http://truck-n-a.com/1932_Fiat_508_Balilla_Spyde.html

David

[donw]

The side lights on the "Airline" by which I think you mean the John Charles ( green with blck wings) are non original but are lucas style torpedoes fitted when I restored the car.  John is correct that Alperton fitted wing mounted side lights to comply with UK contruction & use regulations.  I think the wymann style with a white front and rear red lense as mainly fitted by Alperton look best, they some times turn up at autojumbles.

Belnas where fitted with CIBIE lights which would be perfectly ok for you special.

Don