Early family cars

[Mike K]

Seems that most of us began with British cars ( me Triumph Herald ) ... the next generation had the Jap range .. older Datsuns and Toyotas as a first car .

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Seems that most of us began with British cars ( me Triumph Herald ) ... the next generation had the Jap range .. older Datsuns and Toyotas as a first car .

Yes, I had 15 (yes fifteen) Morris Minors of various types including two series II Utes, a series II panel van and woodie along with the more pedestrian 2 and 4-door varieties. Never had a series I or a convertible though, and most ranged from free to $75 for the most expensive one. Also had a series MO Oxford.

What did I learn from the experience? I learned to seriously dislike the 803cc engine with it's weak bottom end, also the syncros on the series II gearbox with it's ridiculously long throw gearlever, that alloy rear wheel cylinders with steel pistons are a very bad combination, that you can ignore the manual when removing the master cylinder and, instead of removing a torsion bar can flex it out of the way with a jemmy to withdraw the bolts, I also learned where to hit the firewall with a large blunt object to kick the SU petrol pump back into life on a hot day... that the sump on a Cortina engine sits way too close to the road when you convert the minor to decent power, and especially for the Oxford, the diecast door handles loved to just snap off.
Oh yes, and you just cannot tune twin SU carbies once they're worn.

And that's just to start.

Bet the next generation with the Jap cars had far less trouble but also less 'learning' and 'growing' experiences.

[hrpearce]

If you continue to drive after the flange gasket blows it melts all the solder in the starter If you hold your foot hard to the floor for just over two hours on a well worn engine disaster can strike, it droped a valve, smashed a piston, put the conrod through the block which also smashed the camshat into four pieces so I learnt how to swap engines more than fix them

[Mike K]

The triumph herald . The 'P' plates displayed , tell other road users there is a probationary driver at the wheel..who has less than 12 months experience .

The car had twin SU carbies and I was always fiddling with them .. it would fart and miss . I didnt know what i was doing .. until a relative who was a mechanic altered the diss points gap and it ran a lot better . They had weak diffs and nylon front suspension bushes that were prone to wearing out in quick fashion. My 2nd everyday car was a 1942 MB Jeep .. still on P plates when I got it ... and LHD too .

The 34 Ford in my original post, was sitting in the same back yard.. 20 years previously ! The other car in the background is my brothers 1956 Vanguard . Another Herald , same as mine is behind the Vanguard.. we had 3 of them on the road at one point... people were almost giving them away then.

Mike