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Welcome Austin seven Friends
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First drive!

Well-first one in a Seven since 1958!
Becoming re-acquainted with a Seven is an interesting experience. Mind you, the last one I drove was my 1931 Box (now metamorphosed into an Ulster rep according to the lists!) & this one is a 1929 RK saloon.....
Initial impressions were that it was quite brisk off the mark, big gaps between the three gears, and the brakes were better than I remembered, very little clutch movement (I remembered that!)and the advance & retard made little difference to the "performance!" - except when starting. I cannot hear any "pinking" due to the general noise level & my lack of hearing!
Driving reminded me about the importance of anticipation and how essential it is to hang on to every bit of momentum! A slow change from two to three after pressing an indicated 25mph out of second resulted in the need to go back to second and start again (it was on an uphill incline!)

Oil pressure is a heady 4-5 & no sign of over heating. Gear change is worse than a Mk 1 mini....aim the long wand in the general direction...is this normal? or can it be improved? Dynamo charges healthily, but no difference between summer & winter settings (I put the lights on if I get concerned about cooking the battery!)
What are reasonable max speeds in the gears (with a wobbly speedo needle?
Top whack is about 40-45, but it drops off at the sniff of an incline. I will check the compressions ( when it eventually started after a 3 year hibernation, the compressions were 20-25 something - I didn't note the units, being so overcome that it ran!)

Location: Stratford upon Avon

Re: First drive!

Welcome back David. At least with being a previous driver it didn't come as too much of a shock!
Brian

Location: Near M1 Jtn 28

Re: First drive!

Great post David - sounds like you have had a lovely day!

Re: First drive!

On cars such as the Seven, where need to use every rev but do not wish to overdo things, It is useful to decide an acceptable sustained top speed, and from the gear ratios determine the equivalent in the gears. In their heyday in the hands of most mature owners, few Sevens would exceed or even regularly attain 45 mph. The 3 speed cars are higher geared than later, so 50 mph equivalent is still quite conservative; 28 and 16 mph.

Diminished hearing can be helpful; on long trips my car was good for an extra 500rpm with earplugs. But it is important not to apply more advance than necessary.

Location: Auckland, NZ

Re: First drive!

An exciting moment

Location: Centre of the Universe

Re: First drive!

David, my RM is a little younger than your RK, but mechanically I think it's identical. I assume from your description that you have ball-change gear-lever; yes, it's a bit sloppy, but you soon get used to putting it in the right place!

Like you, I find 40-45mph is a comfortable maximum running speed, although if you hang on 50mph should be attainable on the level without too strong a tail wind! Under normal circumstances I will change up at around 15mph and 30mph, but on an incline I am prepared to rev it up to 35mph to get enough speed to engage top at 30mph. (My speedo is so inaccurate that I use a gps speedo, so these are pretty accurate speeds I'm quoting).