Glastonbury Festival 2007

Did you watch any of Glastonbury at the weekend. If not then you still have the chance as the BBC have part of there site alowing you to Watch and Listen Online.
Glastonbury Watch and Listen theres a lot of footage filmed over the weekend but unfortuntly there dosen't seam to be any of 'The Killers', not to worry there playing at 'T in the Park' as well.

If your still intrested and can view in windows standalong player. Then here are 'The Kooks'
'The Kooks' from Glastonbury

1907 - The Mad Motorists - 2007

Not sure if any one has been following this but, 1907 - The Mad Motorists - 2007 are on there way.

But has anyone heard of them since Tuesday June 19, the last bits of information that we've heard from them was, they had just been lost in the Gobi Desert, theres a stowaway on board, Vince had had his camera stollen in Ulaan Baatar and they were heading off to Sukhbaatar which was 216 miles from Ulaan Baatar in Mongolia. that was on the 19th June. Not to mention flying Austin 7's!!!

This picture was taken in the Gobi Desert

But where are they now, who knows??

A new thought of the day.....

'Change is inevitable except from a vending machine'...
I recieved this from a friend today, it's a good one so it's up in the Sometimes....

Thanks L S

Weather Forecast

Just added a Weather Forecast feed from the BBC Weather center. To the List on the right hand side, Sorry only Dundee area.

Camshaft Retaining Bolt

I notice on the Austin 7 Friends forum, that theres been a discussion on the Camshaft retaining bolt. See here Austin 7 Friends Forum, Camshaft retaining bolt



I thought I'd show the mod that I do when building up a new engine.

1. Drill out the crankcase retaining blot hole to 5/16th.

2. Tap the camshaft bush to 5/16th BSF.

3. Make up a 5/16th stud. ensuring that the stud will not fowl the camshaft when fully inserted into the bush.

4. Assemble the cam in the case, insert the stud through the case and locate in the cam bearing (I also use loctite on the stud)

5. Place a fibre and a flat washer on to the stud smothering them with gasket sealant, then tighten up using a 5/16th nyloc nut.

Front Crankshaft Bearings, Austin 7

If you elect to fit the modern angular contact bearings, fit the bearings back to back i.e. this is with the faces marked 'Thrust' adjacent and remember to check you have the correct bearings.

The picture shows the 'full width' standard angular contact bearings, ready for assembly into the crankcase.

The Wee long drive home

I've just updated my Austin 7 links to include two new web sites. There people who are currently attempting to drive from Peking to Paris the first The Mad Motorists are in 3 1933 Austin 7 Box saloons (Rusty, Dusty and Crusty). And the others are doing it in two late Austin 7 Chummy's.
Have a look there are some fantastic pictures of the drive

Austin 7 Engine Rebuild

I'm currently rebuilding a 7 engine just now, but one thing I forgot to do (two things) was before I had the crank balanced check it fitted the crankcase. I ended up after it was balanced grinding a very small amount off the web at No.4 to allow it to pass through the rear bearing housing.
Also didn't check that the con rods fitted down the bores (+60) and now have to grind the small lugs off so they fit then re balance them.
Bugger!!

To top it off I broke an oil jet the other day, ordered a new set and the posties decided not to deliver any mail to us today.......

The Wee trip south

Last week I had some business to attend to in Ambleside in the Lake District. Tuesday morning saw me leaving at 7am in my 1930 Austin 7 to drive to Ambleside, I arrived at 1pm. With 3 unscheduled stops due to the car using water, (rad boiled Woops!!, after me slowing down in road works).

The way back was a bit more fun as the sun shone all the way back, that is until I got to Dundee!! Leaving Ambleside I took a wee road called 'The Struggle' which is a 23% climb upto the top of the Kirkstone pass.

A thought........

The pages of live are Written, so we are told
Destined to live each day, as the chapters unfold
Times of joy, times of sorrow
Days of anticipating a special tomorrow
our time is measured on this plane

A loved one dies, the partner cries
the book is closed
Fond memories remain............

The Napier Railton fires up ahead of the Festival

The legendary speed machine will excite crowds on the circuit and in the renowned Brooklands paddock
Built in 1933 for John Cobb, it has a 24-litre W12 Napier Lion aircraft engine, turning out 530bhp at 2,350rpm. It broke the world 24-hour record in 1936, sustaining an average of 150.6mph for 24 hours at Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA. In the 1950s it was used for aircraft braking-parachute testing and now belongs to the Brooklands Museum where it will take centre stage in the centenary celebrations.