Just joined this merry gang

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourselves' started by Keith Bennett, Jan 11, 2024.

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  1. Keith Bennett

    Keith Bennett

     
    Keith Bennett, Jan 16, 2024
    #21
  2. Keith Bennett

    Keith Bennett

     
    Keith Bennett, Jan 16, 2024
    #22
  3. Keith Bennett

    Keith Bennett

    She's wonderful fun on damp days in country lanes as she still runs cross-plies which, for you youngsters, are narrow profile tyres made of harder rubber than radials.

    Early steering boxes use the "worm & peg" system: make a fist, stick the thumb in the air and rotate the wrist. Image your arm is the steering column and that your thumb sits within a coarse screw thread. As the thread turns, associated arms moves the road wheels. A very basic design which was developed for the once common cross-plies.

    With the advent of the much softer (and thus grippier) radials these steering boxes suffered increasing wear especially at low parking speeds.

    Hence "Gab' - a tortuous shortening of GaBrielleH (blame the wife!) - still keeps her hard-wearing cross-plies.

    So, why "fun" on quiet rural lanes? With nobody watching, it's easy to enter a gentle drift, which needs careful handling especially as Gab has no seatbelts...

    And before I hear the sucking of teeth at my stupidity (certainly after our crash) all I can offer in explanation is 1) I've been enjoying that for over fifty years aboard the old bird; 2) I can control most skids which might come my way; and 3) it ensures I treat all road surfaces with great respect!
     
    Keith Bennett, Jan 16, 2024
    #23
    scrooge95 and JamesLey like this.
  4. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    I remember working on A40’s while doing my apprenticeship. Simple and reliable if maintained properly. I worked mainly on my grandad’s as he was always dropping her in while I was there hoping for a bit of discount.

    I thought crossply referred to the tread pattern, three straight lines around the circumference with grooves coming off them that formed a Y sort of pattern, the v part of Y faced forward. And radials have a more complex tread pattern for better grip? Every day is a school day!

    I do remember having crossply remoulds on my Austin 1100 when I first got it in 77 but soon changed those for radials!

    edit. The main difference in the two is chord layering not tread pattern. Crossply have stronger side walls apparently!
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2024
    Poptop2, Jan 16, 2024
    #24
  5. scrooge95

    scrooge95 Moderator and piggy bank keeper

    She does sound like a lot of fun (the Austin, that is!)
    I'm pretty sure the spare wheel for my Morris Traveller has a cross-ply tyre still (although I'm now running slightly wider van wheels on it, so the spare is really more like a modern space saver anyway, and would only be used in dire emergency)
     
    scrooge95, Jan 16, 2024
    #25
  6. surreyvan

    surreyvan

    Big Welcome , Love the A40 brings back memories for me My father had a grey & white one which we used to go on holiday in , happy days
     
    surreyvan, Jan 23, 2024
    #26
  7. Matty74

    Matty74

    Welcome Keith, great stories and pics, keep them coming Some fantastic places in Wales, glad we moved here


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Matty74, Jan 24, 2024
    #27
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