Member postings for john halfpenny

I used the Arc Euro scales for my Naerok. Left and rear sides of the table, and on the quill. Quite straightforward fitment.

PM sent.

Where are you Danni. I have one near Coventry.

The questioner asked which we used - dictionaries are collections of all possible words/meanings, and in my opinion an unreliable guide to common use. I have always used jib.

I think all the lathe threads are metric, so are you sure the pitch of the nut is threads per inch?

Why not look at similar vintage engines?

Pearce Duffs custard powder was the best, but it probably contained lots of E numbers which are now banned. I believe the factory in east London burned down, but a version is still available in the Canary islands, of all places.

How about using a poly vee belt inside out, ie driving on the flat side. I've seen this done on slightly larger machines, but the motor pulley of the Hexacut may be a problem because of the small radius?

Yes, I've known a few (well, someone had to say it)

And because of Brexit, we no longer have a say in the CE regulations - another great leap forward for an independant UK.

I'm afraid that 'why o why' threads always end this way.

You are right Duncan. I have a modern V8 petrol that takes fully synthetic oil. At 6000 miles, it looks, smells and feels like new - but I change it for peace of mind and to demonstrate a sevice history.

I think a lot of the opinions on this thread are based on old experiences back from the seventies or earlier. I would have agreed with them, but for seeing a torn down 100,000 mile petrol engine at Jaguar engineering 10 years ago. I found it hard to comprehend the absolute cleanliness and lack of visible wear on component parts - no carbon build up, and no sludge. Modern oils, fuels and filtration, and tight manufacturing tolerances, make an enormous difference.

However, old habits die hard, so I continue with all the good practice mentioned here, and change oil at half the manufacturers recommendation on my current modern. I wonder if it is in fact necessary.

Edited By john halfpenny on 14/07/2023 21:31:34

It may surprise you Bruce that many new cars do not have a sump plug.

Citroen (and I think David Brown) made a big thing of this kind of gear, but I havn't seen one on the flank before. They are typically on the circumference to cancel axial thrust forces.

Try to get an old Smiths electric (240v). Mine ( a wedding present!) is over 45 years old - never missed a beat, nor has it lost or gained any time. It must be very over-engineered.

I keep my metric and imperial electrical socket screws in separate tins since first encountering this 25 years ago. They are not interchangeable.

The AP (Mini) box allowed lower gears 123 to be held and changed manually, or be fully automatic in D. Regrettably never fitted to sports cars, but I did often have an Alfa 2 litre prototype with 4 speed auto transaxle at weekends. Canned by Fiat, but a fabulous machine for visiting my girlfriend, instead of my more mundane transport. My best Preston to Warwick was 1 hour 42 min on a Sunday evening in 1976.

The beauty of DSG is(was) that 95% of the gearbox is identical to a manual. All that is needed is a quill shaft through the mainshaft cluster and a small wet clutch at the opposite end to the main clutch. So it fitted in the same space as a manual and coukd have the same number of ratios, but of course manuals are no longer required by most users.

DSG itself is a very old idea -used by Citroen and others more than 100 years ago. It can give a power on shift - very useful for tractors

Edited By john halfpenny on 09/06/2023 11:13:33

When I was a development engineer on hydraulic auto gearboxes, the two significant problems were starting from rest, and getting a smooth gear change without flare or tying up (for all oil temperatures and throttle openings). The first was typically solved with torque converter, maybe also fitted with lock-up clutch for the last 5-7% of slip. The latter was addressed by ever more complex valve blocks, but by the early 80's we saw the early use of electronic position control for a manual type clutch, and electronic maps to account for the shift variables.

Our prototype DSG on a Ford Fiesta never reached production, but VW did make a big success of it a few years later.

I have a modern hydraulic 8 speed auto, and am very impressed with the shift quality under all conditions. It's very difficult to catch out the logic, and the packaging is very impressive.