Rob Driver wrote:

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Haha, my first car was one with a starter cable attached to a manual solenoid on the starter motor.

It got a real kick out of it if it actually started.

A four cylinder side valve of around 800cc was not even half of a V8.

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 Because we lived remotely,and in my first job,driving bulldozers,I was working almost 100 hours per week,I was able to save a bit of money.My first car was a Cooper S mini,with a full race engine,slippery 'diff' and a straight-cut gearbox.Had 120HP at the ground,which was unreal for that time in history,and it handled like it was on rails.Did a bit of racing in it,but I preferred real wheel drive for rallying etc,although the Torana XU-1 I tried was really a bit too big for that.Wanted to get a Cosworth Escort BDA,but a road accident,as a passenger,put me into intensive care,followed by 6 months in hospital.By the time I was again ready to go,I had lost all my sponsors.Bugger! Still like to have a bit of a play on dirt,but SS Commodore is miles too big to do too much.Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 4th of December 2021 03:34:54 PM

yobarr wrote:

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Rob Driver wrote:

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Haha, my first car was one with a starter cable attached to a manual solenoid on the starter motor.

It got a real kick out of it if it actually started.

A four cylinder side valve of around 800cc was not even half of a V8.

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 Because we lived remotely,and in my first job,driving bulldozers,I was working almost 100 hours per week,I was able to save a bit of money.My first car was a Cooper S mini,with a full race engine,slippery 'diff' and a straight-cut gearbox.Had 120HP at the ground,which was unreal for that time in history,and it handled like it was on rails.Did a bit of racing in it,but I preferred real wheel drive for rallying etc,although the Torana XU-1 I tried was really a bit too big for that.Wanted to get a Cosworth Escort BDA,but a road accident,as a passenger,put me into intensive care,followed by 6 months in hospital.By the time I was again ready to go,I had lost all my sponsors.Bugger! Still like to have a bit of a play on dirt,but SS Commodore is miles too big to do too much.Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 4th of December 2021 03:01:19 PM

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  Yobarr, Haha the joys of not working for your family, you actually got paid.

Modified cars was not really something my old man approved of although he did get me a full length of copper pipe once so that I could take the muffler off a Morris Minor and make it sound*good* 

He also had a plate machined to match the exhaust manifold and he actually made me a set of extractors and an inlet manifold that a single throat Stromberg bolted onto. I think the old man had a secret fetish. 

I though I was in heaven with a car that made a bit of noise.

Later on in life I got myself an FC Holden with widies and triple carbs, a 30/70 cam and extractors, then having a wife put paid to that. 

Bloody thing still didnt sound like a V8 

Rob Driver wrote:

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DeBe wrote:

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Rob sounds like my first car, Ford Prefect was the same.

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 Similar DeBe, mine was a 1937 Morris 8 Roadster..

Wish I had it today.

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 Those old cars were very safe though.By the time they got to an accident site,all the accidents were over! Cheers

I will try to get this back to V8s

Does anyone remember the paper trucks that used to roar through the little towns in NSW during the night and drop the newspapers and sometimes even the mail.

We lived about a mile from the Main Street and on a quiet night if you laid still in bed you could hear them coming and going.

I think country VIC used to have them as well.

I put a brand new Holden 308 in our KGL Bedford  (replaced 300 c i. petrol)  in 1973.  More power, quieter, more economical - great conversion for our use (pulling generally around 7 ton.)   KB

 

Rob Driver wrote:

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Hi Landy
The single cylinder AJ my mate had wouldnt run out of site on a dark night. 
If I remember correctly it ran out of puff around 60 mph.
I was not aware that they made a twin.
Probably made to compete with Trumpys at the time.
The very first bike I had and it was around the same time, about 1966 was a Honda Dream.
If I had that bike today I would ride it with a paper bag over my head to hide my identity  

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Hi again Rob, I also apologize to Iana but you guys are starting to talk my language. I had a 500 Triumph speed twin to follow up the AJS, not quite as fast as the AJS but a better balanced bike. I still have a 1948 500 BSA M20 side valve single buried in the shed somewhere probably even slower than your mates AJ single which would have been overhead valve I believe.

I also Peter had a BSA Bantam for a while (Probably slower than the M20) but mine never stood still for long enough in those days for the oil to separate, home at 2 o'clock in the morning and off to work again at seven. Wish I still had that stamina today.

Back to the Morris 8 Rob here are two Morrises Mrs landy and I have at present, unfortunatly the eight is a 1938 Tourer and not a Roadster but it do's still have a cable to the starter motor.

Yes Yobar they are slow but you cant hurry style. Landy

Morris Minor with a Consul motor.That's different,Rob.The MK1 Consul was 1500cc and MK 1700cc.When I was young and stupid,we put a highly modified Cortina 1600 GT engine and gearbox into a 1958 Morris Minor,with wiiide wheels, leather upholstery and all  flash gear.T'was a nice car till my mate ran off the road,and head-on into a culvert.Wrote it off.Bugger! Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Sunday 5th of December 2021 04:24:55 PM

iana wrote:

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I once knew a guy who put a 540 cu inch motor into a Ford MK4 Zephyr, truck clutch and a special gearbox. Another put a v8 into I think a Morris Minor van, had to drive it from the rear seat. They were doing all sorts of crazy things.

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 Oh yeah! MK4 Zodiac was an absolutely beautiful car in its day,but gutless.However,went miles better with 350 Chev in it! Cost a fortune to keep tyres up to it though. Mate had a MK 3 Zephyr with a highly modified 302 Ford V8 and a Muncie box.Girls loved the sound of the little V8 screaming its head off.Anglia with a 1764cc motor was another good little car.Kids thes days don't get to experience the thrill of building these sorts of cars, unfortunately.Too many stupid laws.Cheers

Rob Driver wrote:

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Landy said,

Back to the Morris 8 Rob here are two Morrises Mrs landy and I have at present, unfortunatly the eight is a 1938 Tourer and not a Roadster but it do's still have a cable to the starter motor.

Hi Landy,

Yes my Morris 8 was a Roadster.
It was the same colour as yours but mine had black guards. It had wire wheels and a beehive grill. The wheels and grill be give were red.
I owned it in the late 60s and the chrome on it was like new. They were such a simple vehicle but were a great unit.
I was young and stupid at the time I had the Morris 8 and I eventually damaged the front guard when I hit a tree.
I had bought a large quantity of mechanical spare parts to suit the Morris cars and amongst the bits was a 4 speed gearbox from a Morris Minor side valve which bolted in with only having to shorten the tail shaft.
After the damage I sold it to a guy I went to school with who had one the same and he got it for spares.

I then got a 1952 side valve Morris Minor. It was a highlighter not a low lighter. It was a two door body.
We mucked around with that car with the extractors dad made and eventually I bought a Ford Consul and fitted the Consul motor to the Morris Minor.
That made it one very quick Morris for its day.
Those early Morris cars had a Nuffield diff, not a BMC unit and you could not break them.
Unfortunately women started to feature as more important at that moment than did cars so I bought a more conventional but very boring Holden FC sedan.
Over the years I have had a great crosscut of cars including a 46 Ford Coupe, an XB 2 door V8 GS an S Series Valiant and a very tidy Statesman De Ville.

There is no story without pics but in the early 80s we completely lost our house in a fire. Until that happens I dont think anyone realises what you do actually lose.
I would have some later pics but as we sold our house in NSW and now we are in Qld I have a lot of personals held in storage.
If I ever get to sort the contents I might be able to post some later pics.

To keep this on topic I am now off to a Bathurst day to watch the race and to listen to the V8s with a couple of mates.  

-- Edited by Rob Driver on Sunday 5th of December 2021 12:03:31 PM

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Sorry to here about Your fire Rob but look forward to seeing any photo's you may sort out later. Hope you enjoyed Bathurst amazing how the cream keeps on floating to the top
Go Holden Landy

Rob Driver wrote:

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Hi landy

The fire was devastating to say the least.

I enjoyed the race, I am basically a Ford man but was not unhappy at all with the result.
I thought that the two boys who won drove a tidy and safe race.

I am not a van Gizzy fan, never have been,  I am not impressed with his driving style which at times is quite dangerous to other competitors.
His antics yesterday got him a ride on the Karma bus all the way to no 18 across the line.

My thought was the main Ford team made some very simple tactical mistakes which need addressing.
It was a good result for the Monster Mustang and on the whole a very entertaining afternoon.

Hi Yobarr

The Consul motor was from a MK 1 so was the 1500 cc size.
On the day the best conversion was for a Cortina Motor but they were big money to get one of them. I bought the complete Consul for $20.00 as it needed brakes repaired and the owner wanted a new car.

As a matter of interest the Consul engine was a very long stroke design and as such ground clearance was a problem.
With a torsion bar front suspension I wound it up higher but clearance was still a problem.
To get over this I dry slumped it and then I could cut the sumps depth. The torsion bars were easily adjustable to take the extra weight.
To fit it into the engine bay lengthways I cut the firewall and recessed it back as close as I could to the steering rack and I made a spacer and welded and finished it into the grill panel to be able to move a custom radiator further forward but still maintain the bonnet lock.
Of course there was the need to modify exhaust, wiring, and all the other bits but in the end it worked well. I also added a PBR brake booster to stop the thing.

But do you know what,
It still didnt sound like a V8  

-- Edited by Rob Driver on Monday 6th of December 2021 09:48:15 AM

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 Not a V8 Conversion but I did this one in early '70's to use as an Autocross car .....1967 Isuzu Bellett motor and gearbox  "mid mounted" under the dash in a 1958 Prefect............ I learnt a lot  from the Project ....mainly do not bother doing it again! (minimal cost was the main advantage....!) 

-- Edited by KJB on Monday 6th of December 2021 10:04:51 AM

Rob Driver wrote:

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Hi KJB,

A great project with a very positive message   Dont do it again  

Just going back for a moment to the 308 in the Bedford, I am pretty sure that there was a conversion bracket kit available to fit the V8 although as with most other things in those days all that stuff was made as the job went along.

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Have a few photos I'd like to post,but at the moment I am stuck in the back of beyond,with very poor phone reception.Having just broken two ribs  doesnt make me happy either.Old fellas shouldn't try doing things that were easily done in earlier days! Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Monday 6th of December 2021 11:44:58 AM

iana wrote:

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I once knew a guy who put a 540 cu inch motor into a Ford MK4 Zephyr, truck clutch and a special gearbox. Another put a v8 into I think a Morris Minor van, had to drive it from the rear seat. They were doing all sorts of crazy things.

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 These are examples of what could be done in the day! The Morris Minor body is mounted on a shortened Ferrari F1 chassis,and runs a 327 cubic inch (5360cc) Chev V8,while the HiLine 1958 Ford Zephyr runs a 283 cubic inch (about 4600cc)  Chev V8.The Ford Anglia (Anglebox) also has a V8,and because of no under-bonnet toom for the "plumbing",both the Zephyr and the Anglia have the exhaust pipes sticking through the bonnet! You may notice that both the Zephyr and the Anglia were registered,and were driven to race meetings by the low budget teams. Cheers.

Yes, when Oran Park was on many of the cars drove to the race meeting.

Just mask the headlights and race em.

Rob Driver wrote:

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Hi KJB,

A great project with a very positive message   Dont do it again  

Just going back for a moment to the 308 in the Bedford, I am pretty sure that there was a conversion bracket kit available to fit the V8 although as with most other things in those days all that stuff was made as the job went along.

-- Edited by Rob Driver on Monday 6th of December 2021 10:30:25 AM

Interesting you mentioned the "Kit" for the V8 Conversion. Our truck was used as a test bed in the refinement of a kit produced in Geelong. Had no problems.

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