In article ,
Derek ^ wrote:
The Austin 803cc. We had the first one in Scotland. ;-)

The first "A" series engine.

Yup. First seen in the '50 or so A30.

I had a 948 cc engined A35 van which achieved nothing like that.
About 39 mpg for 2-3 weeks after it had been serviced. *If* you're
lucky.

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, so I
doubt he drove that gently. The tyres lasted almost as long. ;-)

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.

--
*Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time *

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

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Derek ^ wrote:

The Austin 803cc. We had the first one in Scotland. ;-)


The first "A" series engine.


Yup. First seen in the '50 or so A30.


I had a 948 cc engined A35 van which achieved nothing like that.
About 39 mpg for 2-3 weeks after it had been serviced. *If* you're
lucky.


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, so I
doubt he drove that gently. The tyres lasted almost as long. ;-)


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.


Wasn't there an earlier side valve A series?

You could certainly get 40-50mpg out of some Minis. I even had 50mpg
out of a 1300 spitfire...driving on snow and ice..never more than 50mph..

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
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.


Wasn't there an earlier side valve A series?

No - the side valve engine fitted to the first Minor was pre-war based
Morris. The A Series was post war Austin - some say loosely based on the
WD Bedford 'high speed'.

FWIW, Issigonis originally intended the Minor to have a flat four engine,
but funds didn't allow, so they used what was lying around. ;-)

--
*Be nice to your kids. They'll choose your nursing home.

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

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Wasn't there an earlier side valve A series?

There was a 748cc sidevalve engine used in the pre war Austin 7 but it
wasn't an A series - it had a two bearing very spindly looking crank
as well. A friend drove his to Le Mans the other year and it never
missed a beat while much more exotic machinery keeled over in the
heat.

You could certainly get 40-50mpg out of some Minis.

I got around low 40's out of my 1000 - but it was always driven flat
out. Seeing the speedo hit the zero stop from the wrong side down a
very long hill was quite amusing ;-)

--

In article ,
Matt wrote:
Wasn't there an earlier side valve A series?

There was a 748cc sidevalve engine used in the pre war Austin 7 but it
wasn't an A series - it had a two bearing very spindly looking crank
as well. A friend drove his to Le Mans the other year and it never
missed a beat while much more exotic machinery keeled over in the
heat.

Later versions were three bearing.

You could certainly get 40-50mpg out of some Minis.

I got around low 40's out of my 1000 - but it was always driven flat
out. Seeing the speedo hit the zero stop from the wrong side down a
very long hill was quite amusing ;-)

They had very optimistic speedos. If you calculated the maximum speed at
valve float it all becomes clear.

--
*If tennis elbow is painful, imagine suffering with tennis balls *

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
Matt wrote:
Wasn't there an earlier side valve A series?

There was a 748cc sidevalve engine used in the pre war Austin 7 but it
wasn't an A series - it had a two bearing very spindly looking crank
as well. A friend drove his to Le Mans the other year and it never
missed a beat while much more exotic machinery keeled over in the
heat.

Later versions were three bearing.

You could certainly get 40-50mpg out of some Minis.

I got around low 40's out of my 1000 - but it was always driven flat
out. Seeing the speedo hit the zero stop from the wrong side down a
very long hill was quite amusing ;-)

They had very optimistic speedos. If you calculated the maximum speed at
valve float it all becomes clear.

Agreed, on a standard 1000 you would hit not much beyond 5000 rpm
before the valve train went to pot but no one said it was standard ;-)
6500rpm in top was around 110 mph or zero mph depending on how you
interpreted the reading.

It also had a mapped ignition based on a Motorola 6800, but before you
say so what, this was back in 1981 and the development system for the
processor cost around the price of a new Mini! (it was also used for
other purposes though)


--

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:16:05 +0100, Matt
wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
Matt wrote:
Wasn't there an earlier side valve A series?

There was a 748cc sidevalve engine used in the pre war Austin 7 but it
wasn't an A series - it had a two bearing very spindly looking crank
as well. A friend drove his to Le Mans the other year and it never
missed a beat while much more exotic machinery keeled over in the
heat.

Later versions were three bearing.

You could certainly get 40-50mpg out of some Minis.

I got around low 40's out of my 1000 - but it was always driven flat
out. Seeing the speedo hit the zero stop from the wrong side down a
very long hill was quite amusing ;-)

They had very optimistic speedos. If you calculated the maximum speed at
valve float it all becomes clear.

Agreed, on a standard 1000 you would hit not much beyond 5000 rpm
before the valve train went to pot but no one said it was standard ;-)
6500rpm in top was around 110 mph or zero mph depending on how you
interpreted the reading.

It also had a mapped ignition based on a Motorola 6800, but before you
say so what, this was back in 1981 and the development system for the
processor cost around the price of a new Mini! (it was also used for
other purposes though)

Exorcisor (and the Intel MDS) made good door stops.

--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd. http://www.pherber.com/
SanDriLa - SDL/MSC/TTCN/UML2 application for Visio http://www.sandrila.co.uk/

Paul Herber wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:16:05 +0100, Matt
wrote:

It also had a mapped ignition based on a Motorola 6800, but before you
say so what, this was back in 1981 and the development system for the
processor cost around the price of a new Mini! (it was also used for
other purposes though)

Exorcisor (and the Intel MDS) made good door stops.

Never came across the Intel MDS - our Exorciser was in regular use for
quite a few years though as we used very similar hardware on many
jobs. It probably achieved occasional door stop status as late as 1990
and finally went in the skip in 1994. At the same time I dumped a
brand new 8 inch floppy drive not realising 10 years later NASA would
be desperate to buy them.

--

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:08:08 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
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.

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...

My A35 van was used to drive the length of the M1 twice each weekend
back home to Leeds, and to commute to work from South Harrow to TV
Centre. It had a well worn Zenith downdraught carburettor, which was
reputed to make it thirsty. In any event tt always had a sooty exhaust
pipe. I eventually changed it for an SU but it made no difference, and
all manner of fiddling with float chambers and weaker needles changed
nothing. :-(

The tyres lasted almost as long. ;-)

About usual FWIR. A local reject tyre shop had "Remould Quality"
Pirelli Cinturato radials, very cheap which lasted rather longer, not
as long as the mileage we are used to nowadays, but better.

The tyres the vehicle came with to me with were narrow Michelin Cross
ply tyres made of very hard rubber. I once, very embarrasingly, spun
out of control steering straight ahead accellerating away from
suburban traffic lights in second gear just after the first light rain
for weeks in a hot summer, I got them changed for radials ASAP.


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.

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. :-( .

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

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).

DG

"Matt" wrote in message
...
Paul Herber wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:16:05 +0100, Matt
wrote:

It also had a mapped ignition based on a Motorola 6800, but before you
say so what, this was back in 1981 and the development system for the
processor cost around the price of a new Mini! (it was also used for
other purposes though)

Exorcisor (and the Intel MDS) made good door stops.

Never came across the Intel MDS -

Ours were connected to an NRM if anyone remembers.

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.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

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

......until the oil fed primary gear dumped oil on the clutch ;-)


--

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 19:45:48 GMT, "dennis@home"
wrote:


"Matt" wrote in message
.. .
Paul Herber wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:16:05 +0100, Matt
wrote:

It also had a mapped ignition based on a Motorola 6800, but before you
say so what, this was back in 1981 and the development system for the
processor cost around the price of a new Mini! (it was also used for
other purposes though)

Exorcisor (and the Intel MDS) made good door stops.

Never came across the Intel MDS -

Ours were connected to an NRM if anyone remembers.

I've still got 1 or 2 handbooks.

--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd. http://www.pherber.com/
SanDriLa - SDL/MSC/TTCN/UML2 application for Visio http://www.sandrila.co.uk/

In article ,
Matt wrote:
The first A series I had that could be driven pedal to metal without ill
was the first Mini.

.....until the oil fed primary gear dumped oil on the clutch ;-)

Never had that problem with my Mini vans, and the most I paid for one was
25 quid. ;-)

--
*All generalizations are false.

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
Matt wrote:
The first A series I had that could be driven pedal to metal without ill
was the first Mini.

.....until the oil fed primary gear dumped oil on the clutch ;-)

Never had that problem with my Mini vans, and the most I paid for one was
25 quid. ;-)

It was only on the *very* early ones - they moved to a deva bush
primary gear that effectively ran dry and plugged the oil feed in the
crank about 1961 IIRC.


--