Poor, misguided boy

[Keith Webb]

While replying on the subject of Rzeppa CV joints in this thread I went looking for an article on the Morris 1100 and came across this site made by a young, enthusiastic chap who owns one of these cars called Borris.
The front page glows with marketing hype about the 1100:
"Anatomy of a world beater"

Engineering genius! The famous East-West engine, with front wheel drive, packs clutch, gearbox, and transmission into one amazing unit. Based on the famous 'A' series BMC engine with an output of nearly 50 b.h.p., the miraculous BMC 1100 is so well balanced for power-to-weight that the performance is outstanding.

And a lot more of it... I read this with quiet incredulity as it didn't quite add up to my recollections of the type. The truth came out on another page:

Since I purchased Borris he has had many mechanical failures.

Some of these include: The synchro in the gearbox failing and having the gearbox rebuilt twice, eleven exhaust pipe breaks and leaks, several brake problems including two master cylinder rebuilds, two new brake discs, a new calliper, two worn front brake hoses, a burst rear brake hose, four sets of brake pads and one set of shoes. The brakes have failed completely twice and faded badly on several occasions. The problem is yet to be sorted. I have gone through several condensers and sets of points. An average of every two months. A burst clutch hose and a new clutch. The subframe needed to be replaced due to tow of 13.5mm, worn bearings and two broken mounts. Other problems Borris has suffered are two dead generators, a coil, a burst pipe on a hydrolastic unit, two CV's, a starter motor, two engine mounts (my fault for doing something stupid) and major smoke problems both blue and black. Some of these failures have occurred at critical times such as one occasion when I was on my way to a wedding. I was one of the speakers and I ended up missing most of the service. I have also been left stranded in the middle of no where more than once. Strangely enough, Borris has only met a tow truck twice. A variety of other problems have occurred but most of them have been long forgotten about.

Sort of reminded me of my youth, toiling on a series of Morris Minors, with the forlorn hope that one day I'd have a car I was happy with... fortunately I also had a CMP from the age of 17...
I was wondering how many of you have had similar youthful experiences with hopeless old cars which you loved dearly and had impossible dreams of restoring... Incidentally the rest of that site makes for fun reading.

[Bill Murray]

Hi Keith:

I may return to this thread later, but just to throw it out, my first ever new car was a 1959 Fiat 600.

I used it to court my wife of now 46 years as of yesterday, who lived in Phoenix Arizona and I lived in San Diego, California, an eight hour drive in those days.

Suffice to say, the car attracted Pat until we were married and she discovered the monthly repair bills were twice the monthly car note.

Been there, done that.
Bill

Originally posted by Bill Murray
Hi Keith:

I may return to this thread later, but just to throw it out, my first ever new car was a 1959 Fiat 600.

Crikey, you got the big ones in the States, we only had Fiat 500's.

R.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
While replying on the subject of Rzeppa CV joints in this thread I went looking for an article on the Morris 1100 and came across this site made by a young, enthusiastic chap who owns one of these cars called Borris.
The front page glows with marketing hype about the 1100:
"Anatomy of a world beater"



And a lot more of it... I read this with quiet incredulity as it didn't quite add up to my recollections of the type. The truth came out on another page:


Sort of reminded me of my youth, toiling on a series of Morris Minors, with the forlorn hope that one day I'd have a car I was happy with... fortunately I also had a CMP from the age of 17...
I was wondering how many of you have had similar youthful experiences with hopeless old cars which you loved dearly and had impossible dreams of restoring... Incidentally the rest of that site makes for fun reading.

My first car was a 1950 Morris Minor 1000, (not split screen), then an Austin A40, then a Hillman Minx...

Yeah, tell me about running repairs, expecially with the Lucas electrics. :dh:

My first vehicle was a brand new little red wagon back in the late 1950's?

Seriously, and embarrassingly, my first vehicle was a 1985 Sunbird Station Wagon (yes, their lemon '85 Wagon year : ) which I paid $1500.oo for and got ripped off as the dealer literally lied to me about the milage and past accidents etc, and I was constantly repairing the damned thing $$$ ... but it got me a JOB, and the job killed the car less than one month after I put $1100.oo of work into it, all within a year. But how I loved having my first licence and my very first car ... in 1998!!! (late starter)

My little red wagon :love: lasted me much longer than my '85 Sunbird and it looked better too!

I should have started buying CMP parts and might have had a whole CMP by now!

Ma Yappy.

[sapper740]

Originally posted by Keith Webb



Sort of reminded me of my youth, toiling on a series of Morris Minors, with the forlorn hope that one day I'd have a car I was happy with... fortunately I also had a CMP from the age of 17...
I was wondering how many of you have had similar youthful experiences with hopeless old cars which you loved dearly and had impossible dreams of restoring... Incidentally the rest of that site makes for fun reading.

1964 Volkswagen Beetle here. 1200 c.c.'s and 40 h.p.! Man, I'd love to have that car still. I once carried 13 people, both in and on the Beetle from one party to another while inebriated. Oops, did I say that out loud?

[Keith Webb]

I still have - a 1959 Singer Gazelle (this is pre the 15 or so Morris Minors). I bought it from my cousin for $25 who had bought it from her dad.

I stopped driving it in the mid-70s and since then it has been at the farm just rotting away...

[Ian Pullen]

I have many fond memories of my LJ Torana. Although I remember driving past the house of the guy who bought it off me not more than two months after I sold it just to see it written off sitting in his front yard......

[Howard]

My first car was an XA Fairmont, 302V8. It was Mum's car and she used to pay me to NOT wash it when I was a young fella. I still have the car, awaiting restoration. (First job after the F15)

[grant fincher]

My first car was a 1962 Series 2 Land Rover. Paid $1,000 cash at the tender age of 16. Paid out over $3,000 to keep it on the road over the next 2 years. New engine, new diff, then new car. We all learn by the same mistakes.
Grant Fincher

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Howard
My first car was an XA Fairmont, 302V8. It was Mum's car and she used to pay me to NOT wash it when I was a young fella. I still have the car, awaiting restoration. (First job after the F15)

Howard, your priorities are almost right... the F15 is in the right order, but then there's helping Tony with his F60L cab 12, right?

[Gunner]

The Big Blue Boat... 440 cubes and sucked gas like there was no tomorrow!

Mike

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
I stopped driving it in the mid-70s and since then it has been at the farm just rotting away...

Aha - the cars in barns syndrome! Next month I am going to have to pick up my 1965 VW Beetle which has been standing in a barn for what ... at least 10 years already?!?! Farmer died, family is selling off the farm. Am holding my breath as what the mice have left of it...

H.

[Dinty]

G'day All, my first car was a Mk1 Morris Cooper S, pure grunt for such a small unit 1275cc, wish I had kept it in a shed and not used it as they fetch good $$$$$'s these days, but had lots of fun way back then in 1967 it cost around $9.00 to fill the 2 tanks (11 gallons) anyway those were the days cheers Dennis

[Garry Shipton (RIP)]

Long weekend trip in 1969
Montreal to Dover New Hampshire
Dover to Boston Massachusetts
Boston to Montreal

All on a total $ 20.00 of gas in both tanks.

[Keith Webb]

Here's the '59 Singer Gazelle Estate late in it's career when it had become a farm hack. I can remember seeing an article in an English mag with a picture of one stating it was "ultra-rare".

In it's day it was nothing special; just an upmarket Hillman with chrome rocker cover and silly bits of wood trim with a walnut veneer on the upper interior door panels.

I had repainted it deep bronze green after filling the many rust holes with bog.

[Keith Webb]

And a shot taken during an engine transplant for the '53 Minor pickup. I paid $40 for it around 1976. Someone had shoehorned a B series and because the motor was too long had put the radiator behind the cab in the rear where there was no airflow. I found a reconditioned Anglia motor which had a lovely sound and much nicer gearbox but the sump sat so close to the ground I cracked it open one day while carrying a refrigerator, fortunately discovering the problem before it was too late, but the engine had to go and in went a motor from a later Morris 1000.

[Keith Webb]

I was already well into CMPs and this is a C15A Wireless belonging to a friend which I used to drive quite often.

[Rusty]

Gee Kieth from all your earlier photos I see that you were suffering from BCS. Its a totaly dreadfull thing to catch in your teenage years and sets one back often for life mentally and economically. I am glad to see that you sought help before it was too late.

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Rusty
Gee Kieth from all your earlier photos I see that you were suffering from BCS. Its a totaly dreadfull thing to catch in your teenage years and sets one back often for life mentally and economically. I am glad to see that you sought help before it was too late.

British Car Stuff? Is it similar to BSE?

Hmmmm ... BCS?

Blitz Compulsion Syndrome??? Would Vegemite cure or create that, I wonder?

Ma Yappy.

[Rusty]

British Car Syndrome (BCS) being the TLA for this terrible tradgedy of the motor car history.

BCS came about in the early 19th centuary when the British Polies created a Taxation system that would create the benchmark for design. The system left engineers no choice but to make 1000cc do the work of 3000cc. Vehicles were not designed for safety or practicle performance of the task undertaken but to do as much work as possible with as few horsepower.
30 mph was the sound barrier to the poms.

This combined to reduce the financial viability of the British car maker worldwide. In order to make ends meet the pommie engineer would build cars with ONE brilliant idea or feature and suround that with bits from other models and the parts bin. This made the one great idea fail as all the other antiqated bits feel to pieces.

Alas then Robert Lucas set up a component supply shop to make the Pommie cars run and the lights shine. But he too sufferd under the Taxation system and could not afford a Quality Assurance department.

The cars that made it to Australia only travelled short distances because the owners could not see in the dark. These low milage examples were bought by Aussie lads who thought that he could sought out the individual problems one at a time.

But if he did not relize he would soon become in the cycle of weekend repairs and a car that used more $ dollars in parts per week than fuel. If he stuck with it he would soon loose all social skills as there was no pay pack to go out with his mate on Friday night. Soon he was a lonly nutter with only other Brittish car fans as friends all feeling sorry for each other.

BCS

THE END :dh:

[Rusty]

Blitz Compulsion Syndrome??? Would Vegemite cure or create that, I wonder?

OH SHIT Vetts I thought I was Cured of BCS after selling all my landrovers (but for 1)

BUT I still have BCS its only changed Marque to Blitz Compulsion Syndrome.

I am Stuffed now, any one want to buy Ford Blitz trucks??


HELP

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Dinty
G'day All, my first car was a Mk1 Morris Cooper S, pure grunt for such a small unit 1275cc, those were the days cheers Dennis

Hey Dennis, you too, eh? My first car was also a Mini, but not a Cooper, it was a 1100cc Mini K Panel Van. Commercial gearing meant it did 80km/h flat chat. Roomy dark recesses in the back were intended to impress the young ladies and carry heaps of camping gear. The ladies weren't terribly impressed it seems, but it was a ton of fun to drive and never really caused me too much trouble. All my mates at the time had either a Mini or a Moke, add CB radios and Friday nights were as hectic as "The Italian Job", but never faster than 80!

[Dinty]

G'day All, Tony I'm DOOMED born in Staffs UK 49 (not all that far from Solihull) exported to the farthest reaches of the Colonies NSW, first motoring experience that I can recall was to see the floods in Maitland in 55 went in a Hillman Minx, travelled the local roads in AEC buses (my late father did his apprencticeship with AEC Scotstoun) travelled to High school in Maitland by railmotor (Rolls Royce engines) my first car Morris Cooper S, bought my first Land Rover in 69, I think I have 10 of them now so when are the Men in White coats coming for me cheers Dennis
Sits and waits in anticipation for the avalanche of criticism of owning a fleet of Land Rovers mostly ex-military :dh:
Anyone local coming to the Broke village fair 10/9/06 generally a good showing of all types of motoring marques and yes CMP's as well.