Hi,

I am a new novice owner of a 1931 RM Saloon . The car has been renovated sometime in the 80's and not used much in the last decade or so, apart from a seized engine rebore last December. It has an oil leak from the block/crankcase gasket and i guess it needs nipping up a bit. I did this on the carb side and stopped the leak. I cant get onto the nuts inside the valve cover. Is there a technique to this ie a cunning box spanner and do I have to remove the valve cover studs to get to them?

Also, I have trouble getting a smooth gear change from 3rd to 2nd. Its my inexperience I know, should I let the speed come right down in neutral before trying to change? I cant seem to get the right revs for a crunch free change.

Many thanks for your help

Welcome to the Austin Seven fold Chris. Sevens do tend to leak in the area you mention so it is not too worrying proded you are not losing a lot of oil. The 3 nuts inside the tappet cover should be special 'bottle' ones with a plain tubular portion topped by the usual hexagon. It is quite possible that these have been replacd by ordinary nuts which will be difficult to get at. If this is the case, I believe that the correct nuts should be available from the usual suppliers. I'm afraid that gear changing is one of those things that just needs practise at double de-clutching.
If you are anywhere near Nottingham on June 3, there is a large gathering of A7s and spares suppliers at Wollaton Park
Hope you enjoy your new toy

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the kind welcome and fast response. They look like ordinary nuts to me so they will be hard to replace I guess. Its not a lot of oil, just I'm not used to it!
I notice that my electrical cutoff has no fuse in it and on further investigation there is a modern looking black box tucked up under the dash. I wonder if this is a modern replacement? Should I try and resurrect the old one?

Thanks again

Chris

Hello Chris, are you sure there is no fuse? The earlier cutoffs were a CF1 type and have a fuse made from a strip of metal, not the glass type that you might be expecting. This was fitted across a pair of knurled fingernuts.

Chris,

See http://www.a7c.co.uk/spares.htm#cylinderblock look for part no. ref. BA38 Barrel Nut and hold the cursor over the green ref. no. an illustration will appear.

Jeff.

Hi again,

The cutout looks to have an 1 1/4" fuse carrier with metal clips but I havent yet found a part number. I will look tonight.

Thanks Jeff for your link, what link is this? Is it the A7OC shop?

I hope I wont bore you with all the questions I have as you all will have gone through this many times before.

Which Owners Club should I join for the Brooklands area, one which meets up so I can bore some more people?

Chris

Hi Chris,

The link is to a private company A7 Components Ltd., run by David Cochrane, see www.a7c.co.uk/index.htm. The Barrel Nuts as you'll have seen on David's site are only £1·00 each - 3 required. My method of removing nuts in awkward locations, not on an Austin I have to say, but on a 1930's Morris, is to use a very small, preferably new sharp cold chisel, with the chisel point near the corner of a flat, give it a number of short sharp blows with a small to medium sized hammer in the direction of loosening the nut, once the nut's lost its initial grip you should then be able to use an open ended spanner even at an acute angle to remove the nut fully. Obviously you'll ruin the nut, but if you're replacing with new, it doesn't matter - just make sure you don't damage the stud thread. It's always worked for me, but you need to proceed with great care.

Jeff

Hello Chris,

Welcome to the world of Austin Sevens.

Looks like you're getting first class advice is respect to your oil leak. If you are at all reticent about attacking the bolts, just ignore the oil leak for the time being and use the car. Take the opportunity to meet up with other Austineers in your area (you're lucky living in the UK, you have an abudance of fellow owners).

On the matter of you cut-out, its fuse and the black box which may or may not be associated, may I again suggest that, providing the dynamo is registering a charge, that at this stage you leave well alone and use the car a bit.

When you manage to have a pow-wow with some other owners, then ask them to have a bit of a look at your set up. Someone may have fitted an electronic "regulator" or maybe you may have a VW 6 volt conversion dynamo fitted to your car.

A few minutes inspection by someone from your local club will probably sort all that out.

If you have a digital camera and would like to send me some pics of the cut-out and the dynamo, or perhaps easier in the case of the dynamo let me know what writing is etched/stamped into the case I could identify it for you.

But, local hands on would be the best, and there are plenty of experienced people on your doorstep who will be very happy to have you as audience and witness to their artful skills. Make sure that any beer you buy them is done after the inspection though!

I have found Austin Seven folk to be a very friendly bunch of people on a truly global scale and know that you will too.

Best regards

Barry R
Tasmania
Australia

Chris asked:
Which Owners Club should I join for the Brooklands area, one which meets up so I can bore some more people?

The Brooklands Centre of the 750 Motor Club is a very friendly and helpful bunch - www.750motorclubbrooklands.org.uk
Contact Nigel Coulter (coulters.email@btinternet.com) for details; contact me privately for his phone number. They have a run at Brooklands next week (Wed 30th) starting at the Blue Anchor in Byfleet at 8pm.

David

Sorry for the double posting, I've just thought of a couple of other things.

Chris, you mentioned that you had trouble getting a smooth gear change from 3rd to 2nd. You should change from 3rd into neutral, rev up, then change from neutral into 2nd. Much easier to demonstrate than to explain!

The aforementioned Nigel Coulter is a whizz at electrics. He will advise re your cut-out.

David

As said, a big Welcome to the Austin 7 world. Once you've sorted out your nut problem, you may need to know that hard cornering causes an Austin 7 chassis to flex, which in turn affects the crankcase-to-block joint because of their differing materials. To cure this you leave one of the crankcase mounting bolts out, or loose, or spring-loaded (whichever you prefer) to allow for some flexibility. Do this and I'll be surprised you'll have much leakage again. Cheers, Bill in Oz.

Hi to you all,
Many thanks for the wealth of info, I will leave well alone for the moment and enjoy the good weather today. I drove 17 miles to work this morning along the lanes of Surrey allbeit at 6am!
I have improved with the gear changing by engaging the clutch before revving the engine, seems to help!
David, how do I contact you privately for the phone number of the Brooklands guy?
Thanks Again.

Chris

Unfortunately the Brooklands Centre's walk round the Byfleet Banking has had to be called off because the whole place has been closed due to the forthcoming centenary celebrations. They are now meeting for a Noggin & Natter at the King William IV pub, West Horsley from about 8pm.

David

next nearest to brooklands is the surrey austin owners club. www.surreyaustinownersclub.co.uk your always welcombe 4th wed. of each month at the Fairmile pub in Cobham.
Jon.

Nice to see loads of people answering your queries. Apart from the other two local meetings held in your area, The Austin Seven Owners Club (London) meet at The Fairmile, Cobham on every third Monday. I am afraid you've just missed this month's meeting but next month is our annual concours event. We would be glad to see you.