British Leyland

[pete376403]

Remember the Gypsy? http://www.allisons.org/ll/4/Austin/Gipsy/]

Remember its Daddy? (Austin Champ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Champ

[Virago]

And now for my all time favourite Austin...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-272892452.htm

That is gorgeous. In British Racing Green too...

Still, $40K though...

[Edbear]

That is gorgeous. In British Racing Green too...

Still, $40K though...

Yeah, makes me sad. I just can't afford all the toys, so many classics, so little money...

[240]

Ah British Leyland!!
I started my apprenticeship in '79 at NZMC and one of the first jobs i got was to help with doing a clutch on an old 1800.At the end of the day i thought fuck this! if this is what a being a mechanic is going to be like you can stick it up your arse!Luckily the mechanic who was doing the job told me that they often give a truly shit job to the new boy to harden him up,so it would not allways be this bad.
I thought o.k i can handle that then the next job was a by pass hose on a mini!! fucken hell what were the poms thinking??
So there we go days and years of pumping up suspensions,doing brakes on minis at their first service (and every 5,000ks thereafter),adjusting ball joints,valve grinds on b series engines,cam chains on 1750 maxis,engine mounts on 1100s,gear levers on marinas,engine out and gaskets and seals replaced at 1,500 km on minis to temporarily fix the oil leaks,trying to get a Marina to turn a corner without the door handles scraping on the ground,and don't get me started on the sd1 Rover!!etc etc etc.
Then along came Honda....change oil and filter..all done.!
Gotta say though I do look back with a smile on those days and the Brit stuff was high maintenance (very) but i still like them!
In fact give me a 2 door Marina coupe with the 1750 twin carb motor (yes i know it handled like a 1940 American school bus and it looked like spongebob squarepants) over a Honda Accord any day!
From reading some posts on here it seems a couple of you guys know may just know where I am coming from.

[SixPackBack]

BMC were never able to make a 4 cyl bigger than 1800...I've heard of bigger,they must be stroked because the 1800 engine was the max bore they could go.This is because the boring machine they used was built back in the '30's when they made engines to the RAC hp rating....this penalised bore size,so they made long stroke engines.By the '60's bores were bigger,but the boring machine couldn't be extended for more spacing.The 1800 has siamesed bores and is as far as they could take it.

Just another reason for their demise - they couldn't afford to retool,and just had to keep trying to use the old tooling.It was the same throughout the British motor industry....Ford and Vauxhaul were able to use their German factories....and some US stuff as well.It's alright to sit here over 30 years later and say why didn't they just buy new tooling,but it just wasn't possible at the time.Anyone who has been in business will know the catch 22 of updating your plant.....and why don't you just go out and buy a new bike today? I sure can't afford it....and if I did it anyway,other parts of my life would come crashing down.

Do you have any supporting evidence on the boring machine issue?

[Virago]

...Gotta say though I do look back with a smile on those days and the Brit stuff was high maintenance (very) but i still like them!
In fact give me a 2 door Marina coupe with the 1750 twin carb motor (yes i know it handled like a 1940 American school bus and it looked like spongebob squarepants) over a Honda Accord any day!
From reading some posts on here it seems a couple of you guys know may just know where I am coming from.

Yep, know exactly where you're coming from.

It's not just BL stuff, most of the British motor industry product from the 50s, 60s and 70s can be looked upon with exasperated fondness. No rose-tinted glasses now, we can see the stupid engineering flaws for what they were. But many of the cars can now be viewed as design classics.

Best looked at with nostalgic indulgence, leaving the frustrations of ownership to the mechanically and financially well-endowed.

[Motu]

Do you have any supporting evidence on the boring machine issue?

There is a book all about the B block engine,explained in there.Tech Books should have it,but if you don't want to buy it just to prove me wrong,any good library should have it.

[SixPackBack]

There is a book all about the B block engine,explained in there.Tech Books should have it,but if you don't want to buy it just to prove me wrong,any good library should have it.

Cheers. Might look into that.

[Motu]

Ah British Leyland!!
I started my apprenticeship in '79 at NZMC and one of the first jobs i got was to help with doing a clutch on an old 1800 then the next job was a by pass hose on a mini!! fucken hell what were the poms thinking??

Yeah,a clutch on an 1800 is a pretty rough start....but they weren't that hard,just a lot of work,but I'd rather do one than say a clutch on a Terrano these days.Bypass hose on a Mini was always an apprentice job.When I used to complain my foreman would say ''Impossibilities just take a little longer'' or ''There is no such word as can't''.Good training in the day - these days mechanics just collapse when something too hard comes their way.

[240]

Yeah,a clutch on an 1800 is a pretty rough start....but they weren't that hard,just a lot of work,but I'd rather do one than say a clutch on a Terrano these days.Bypass hose on a Mini was always an apprentice job.When I used to complain my foreman would say ''Impossibilities just take a little longer'' or ''There is no such word as can't''.Good training in the day - these days mechanics just collapse when something too hard comes their way.

Well said mate!

[Indiana_Jones]

Ah British Leyland!!
I started my apprenticeship in '79 at NZMC and one of the first jobs i got was to help with doing a clutch on an old 1800.At the end of the day i thought fuck this! if this is what a being a mechanic is going to be like you can stick it up your arse!Luckily the mechanic who was doing the job told me that they often give a truly shit job to the new boy to harden him up,so it would not allways be this bad.

Sweet as, wanna do the clutch on my 1800 for a 12 pack? lol

-Indy

[Motu]

Both my 1800's had recon engines and new clutches - you don't want to get ripped off when buying a $300 car eh?

Just thinking about my now 40 years as a mechanic and what we did then...and what we do now.It may have been dirty hard work,but shit we did a lot of work.We never replaced an engine or gearbox,they were removed,stripped and rebuilt.Never fitted new water pumps either - they were stripped and bearings and impeller replaced.These days we replace an engine for a blown head gasket,and don't touch anything that may require skill....

[merv]

Hey if you guys are getting excited about British Leyland and BMC before that check out my Trade Me auctions I've put a few original sales brochures up. The Princess one is here http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=276212813 and if you search against my user name bikemerv on Trade Me you will see Morris, Triumph Riley and the like too. I'm busy trying to find enthusiasts to connect to our old stuff that I cleared out from the family home when my eldest Bro' died and I've hardly touched the surface for treasures. Sold a few bike brochures but went back to loading cars up this week.

[merv]

Lol the Princess brochure already has a buyer - sweet

[Indiana_Jones]

One of the guys on the Wolseley forum owns a Wolseley 2200, which was just the badged version of the Princess before they named it so.

Last car to ever have the Wolseley name on it

-Indy