Column gear changes on old cars

[cockroach]

Thanks to all of you chaps for keeping this thread going!

I'm really enjoying it!

As well as old cars, we could of course try and keep the thread going with relevant anecdotes about the terrible old guitars and amps etc which most of had to use to learn playing and actually use for gigs back then..but maybe that's another thread?

What teh hell! let's talk about both cars and guitars etc!

Ecca, I recall vacuum wipers too- had them on an old 1960 Holden (Australia's own car-similar to Vauxhall 6 cylinder)- they stopped when you most needed 'em!

Trafficators- wot a larf! Those funny little arms that popped out (sometimes!) and lit up...I remember having to give hand signals!

Ahh, Ecca again!- the Ford Thames 400E- we four group members once all slept in the back like sardines half way up a mountain (Mount Buffalo) in Victoria, Australia!

What next?

EVERYBODY had a first guitar with a 1/2 inch high action!

[bazmusicman]

When I was seventeen in 1960 I passed my driving test in a Vauxhall Victor with a 'three speed column change'.

After using cars for a couple years to transport our band gear, in about 1964/5 we acquired a Ford Thames 15CWT Minibus with a 'three speed column change'.
As Ecca says the gears used to 'jam up' if you were not 'slick' with your gear changing, then I would have to get underneath and 'wiggle' the gear rods to release it!!

Happy days!!

Regards Baz.

[cockroach]

Here in Oz in the '60's, one 'speedshop' accessory you could buy was a floor change conversion for column change cars...it was a gear lever with a linkage device on the end- you cut a rectangular hole in the floor of the car, and connected up the floor lever directly to the gearbox linkages which were on the outside of the box,...then you disconnected all the rods and linkages etc of the column change and threw them away, and you had...3 on the floor!

And with that- you were suddenly Jack Brabham!

[anniv 63]

Think we must pay tribute to some of the most talented car mechanics of that era who
could fix anything with a screwdriver and a piece of wire!!!
My grandfather took his old 1939 Ford Prefect to a country garage that specialised also
in tractor and farm equipment repair.
Health and Safety - zilch!! big tractor tyres blown up to pressure with an almighty bang that
almost perforated your ear drum!!
The floor was always covered in an inch of watery oil except for a patch at the inspection bay.
Here the head honcho would lie on a cold stonefloor in his oil soaked overalls, stick his ear to
the exhaust pipe and listen to the exhaust burble for about 5 mins then produce the magic screwdriver
to adjust the fuel mixture screw to tuning perfection, that is until the next tankful of dirty petrol was
obtained.
Yes a real gentleman mechanic, who afforded himself a nice pair of tackety safety boots at least!!!

Mike

[cockroach]

Very true, but back in the day, any chap who owned an old banger had to be capable of some basic mechanical or electrical skill- even if only to get the thing home or to a garage if or when it stopped!

I was never a car mechanic by any means, no natural or learned skills as I was always an office wallah not a trade apprentice etc- but I could often get an old car going or manage to nurse it home- even with no clutch or brakes for example!

You couldn't just whip out a mobile phone in those days and either ring road service or daddy to come and rescue you!

Here in Australia, such admirable people who can fix and can get anything going any time, using minimal or found tools or items, are colloquially known as a 'bush mechanics'...some Aboriginal people who live in very remote places are experts at such skills- they have to be!

[Moderne]

All the above is true - however I'm slightly worried that old cars from the 30s - 60s are all being tarred as unreliable old heaps! Assuming you made sure your basic servicing was done (oil change every 3000 miles, grease the grease points every 1000 miles and check your spark plug and points gaps) then most old cars would give years of reliable service...before the bodywork, floor, sills, spring hangers etc. all rotted away and had to be welded up/filled with plastic padding!

I remember a few years ago there was a similar thread on this site - one chap recalled an MoT tester telling him that although his Wolseley 1500 had passed its MoT, if it was ever involved in a collision it would disappear in a cloud of Isopon!!

And modern cars have their Achilles heels too...I've had to shell out £100s over the years for broken coil springs, timing belts, EGR valves (whatever they are!)...

[noelford]

Journeys to gigs, the length and breadth of the UK, plus a three month French tour, were always made more interesting by the steering column gear shift on our J2, which was broken. In order to change gear you had to grab the vertical shaft with one hand and pull up whilst moving the gear lever into position with the other hand. As those of you with a little knowledge of biology will realise, that meant that no hands were available, whilst changing gear, to steer the vehicle!

[ecca]

Another fine moment in the 400E van was when the wipers completely conked in Paignton , where we were on holiday. Of course, on the day we came home it was peeing down of rain.
I rigged up a loop of string that went through both the part open front windows and across the windscreen outside attached to the wipers themsleves .
We had a succession of exhausted front seat volunteers of the 12 ( yes 12 ! ) family passengers all the way back home, a drive of 180 miles and many hours, there were no motorways then.
They had to work the wipers with their arms; back and forth, back and forth.
What fun.

[JimN]

"Wiper Wallahs".

[RayL]

Old cars had lots of failings, one being the lack of a heater. Eventually it became standard equipment and the heat could be directed either to the screen or to the foot-well. This allowed that perfect combination for late-night driving - warm feet and cool face. It kept you awake and stopped your inactive feet from freezing.

Unfortunately, the move to air conditioning meant that the whole cabin was set to an overall temperature. Very nice on the morning commute when you are wide awake, but very dodgy after a long hot gig when the urge to sleep needs to be counteracted by a stream of cool night air on the face.