Hi Gene,
I'm still waiting, with everything "bated", hopefully for the one that has "been agreed", but date of delivery is not yet "Writ in stone" (for reasons that are
"Entirely beyond our control, unforeseeable, and too numerous to mention here".)
I think most of our readers are aware that I was born shortly before the outbreak of WW2 ( I can remember shooting down V1s (Pilotless flying bombs, aka "
Doodlebugs") with my wooden Tommy gun. I can even remember Dad calling me out of the Anderson shelter, to watch a Doodlebug fall out the sky, barrage balloons were to hold the steel cable up, for the enemy planes to fly into. Searchlights! The "crump" of Ack-Ack guns! Blokes in brown suits wandering the streets ... sometimes they'd let me hold their guns. Happy daze.
(Get me a bucket of sand ... and I'll sing you the "Desert Song", too! )
To recount ... the plan is to start with a sad S2, drop it onto a galv chassis. Either find a 4x2 front axle, or rip out the front diff and drive shafts. Parabolic springs. New heavy duty steering rods (they look more convincing), new upholstery. Fit a set of 14" wheels, in respect of Barbara's knees. (I wonder if 13" wheels will fit over 11" brake drums?
Engine? I've been thinking Morris Marina 1800, but until I get a load of metal to look at, I can't make that decision. Maybe a 1300cc would be adequate for my needs. (Power is a drug ... it doesn't matter how much you've got, at the end of the week, it's not enough. My Scimitar GTE pulled 30mph per 1000rpm, red-lined at 6000rpm. I once had Barbara's CRX indicating 1000mph in 3rd gear. ( Please don't tell her). In 1959, I traveled at 550 knots (at 41,000ft) but that was in an RAF Comet. The trouble is, at my age, I
know they are out to get me.
Gearbox? I doubt that I will ever actually again need 4WD, but that's where they hide the hand brake. Not insurmountable, but all agro. On the other hand, not using a Landy gearbox would allow an automatic. What exactly are the rules? I know you cant have a hydraulic hand-brake ... but but how is that worded ..,EXACTLY?
Er ... hydraulic
secondary braking system, operated by the now defunct clutch pedal, and use P in the auto box for parking?
Probably best if I stop "taking the tablets", and research "carden "disc" hand. brakes.
I will try to resist thinking about having disc brakes all round, with the hand brake incorporated in the caliper. Similarly banishing thoughts of having two calipers on each of the rear discs, both hydraiulic, one foot operated, as normal, the other pumped up by the hand brake lever (or even the defunct clutch pedal.) Actually, a disc "foot+hand" brake, might be the easiest solution. I will ponder.
602