In article ,
Derek ^ wrote:
I suppose it depends on other things like driving conditions, etc. But
father managed to wear out the engine by something like 35,000 miles,

That was about the accepted norm, (I was shocked to the core when on
buying my A35 I read the manual and found that the service intervals
were evry 1500 miles!). At that stage you could de-coke it, drop the
sump and fit Hepolite "Oil saver" rings, (maybe big end shells if the
oil pressure was low) and ... wait for it, get all of another 10,000
miles before it was re-bore, re-grind, and oversize pistons time.

It's interesting that many won't accept that modern oils can do vast
mileages before being changed - 15,000 is becoming the norm. And engines
just don't wear out these days - although they may break. But when oil was
changed at 1000 miles or so, the car would need two or three 'engines'
before the end of its life.

Considering I drove 650 miles *Yesterday*, getting another 10,000
miles after a traumatic refit like that, scarcely seems worth the
candle. It could be as little as 6 weeks driving, and nowadays there
would be a whole lot more gubbins to remove if you were to take the
cylinder head/sump off.

so I doubt he drove that gently.

It could be that he had a niche application for the car. But OTOH ...
22 HP wouldn't exactly have been a ball of fire...

28 bhp springs to mind - hence Austin A30. But it was very low geared, so
more lively than the much larger earlier side valve.

[snip]

I've heard it said the 948 cc engine was a retrograde step fuel
consumption. Something about "Siamesed" ports.

All the A and B series were the same. Siamese inlet ports and a siamese
exhaust port for the two centre cylinders. Which caused the most common
failure - cooked exhaust valves on 2&3.

The way I read the article, I took it the increase in size resulted in
the "siamesing". Must have read it wrong.

Ah - it could have meant siamese bores - where water didn't circulate
round the entire one. Increasing the bore size might have made this
necessary.

Hmmm, I did get episodes of burnt out valves, (didn't record which
ones) I replaced them all, and those regular trips the length of the
M1 flat out at 69 +/- 2 mph for 2-1/2 hours can't have helped. :-( .

The first A series I had that could be driven pedal to metal without ill
was the first Mini.

However now, even with a a 125 HP turbo diesel I can't achieve the
timings I did in 1969/70.

Yup. Traffic, I suppose.

I can well exceed the MPG I got. 650 miles from 68 litres with 4
passengers and overnight baggage. (seems to be 43.11 mog).

Modern engines are very efficient - and they'll get better, too.

--
*Sorry, I don't date outside my species.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.