E Pluribus Thames Part 2

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 Mar-Apr 2013

INSIDE THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS EDITOR’S BIT AC 2 Litre 4 May 7th at 7:00pm VCB May This issue marks the start of year A Rolls For Two Governors 9 event: Garage tour at Fred Van four for me as editor (yikes!). Hearts and Tarts 2013 10 Aggelen’s house—21113 97th Special thanks to John Peirson, St. Patrick’s Day Parade 11 Ave., Langley Steve Blake and David Ballantine VCB March Event 12 June 4th at 7:00pm- VCB April for their great contributions this Upcoming Special Events 13 Event: British Classic Auto—shop month. Many thanks, as always , Welcome to OECC / The Boot / At tour—346 W. 5th. Ave, Vancouver. to our regulars, Walter Reynolds, the Wheel 14 July 2nd at 7:00pm—VCB July Les Foster and John Chapman for event—garage tour –7491 Aubrey always coming through with inter- St., Burnaby esting and well written articles.

tization that made swift work of it. What at first E Pluribus Thames Part 2 seemed to be an overwhelming task became a logical sequence and within about a month we had it all tri- By Les Foster aged, sorted, and stored. The last job, not without a In the July-August 2007 issue of the Roundabout, I touch of sadness, was to demolish the building and its wrote a story called “E Pluribus Thames”. The article storage platform and take it all to the dump. Calla recounted the saga of one of my 1951 Ford Thames and I actually had a lot of fun working together and it E83W pickup’s first long runs after its then-recent me- gave us a real sense of accomplishment to finally see it chanical restoration. The article went on to lay out done. It was a good start to our retirement and we future plans for Phase 2, the body restoration. The rewarded ourselves with a trip to Palm Springs where heart of the article, though, was the declaration that the swimming pool and sun soothed our aching mus- this Thames pickup would be, as the American coins cles! say, “E Pluribus Unum”- out of many, one.

More than four years later, to make this second phase of the restoration possible, a great deal of infrastructure work was needed. My son and daughter-in-law had bought my Tsawwassen house and my fleet had to be down-sized from six to one. A forty year collection of parts had to be reduced to those bits essential to the restoration and future maintenance of just the one Thames. The process of doing all this took about a year. I sold off the vans, estate car, and another pickup rolling chassis together with tons of parts. One van was given away in exchange for the removal and return of its frame for use under my pickup. A ton or Calla poses at “Dagenham West” so of less desirable bits went to the dump in Gerry before its deconstruction Parkinson’s pickup. The bulk of the fleet found its Work on the actual truck had been going on concur- way to Parksville in a truly epic transport involving rent to the infrastructure efforts beginning in the au- Gerry’s pickup, a trailer, and a lot of muscle. A few tumn of 2011. As soon as the hot-rodder who took one months later, the collection was re-sold to a fellow in of my vans returned its frame to me, it was straight- Coombs. The new owner sent a flatdeck for the last of ened and given new cab brackets and minor repairs by my surplus bits, packed into another E83W pickup Gerry Parkinson and then sent off for blasting and box. Meanwhile, “Dagenham West” (my backyard powder coating. Upon the frame’s return, early in the complex where, in a reversal of the process at the winter of 2012, work on the project commenced in ear- original Dagenham Ford plant, whole vehicles came in nest. Our overseas member, Carl Knorr, soon arrived and ferrous oxide went out) had to be demolished and from Czecho for a six month stay and joined Gerry and the land scoured clean of any sign of the great works. I on the resto work at Gerry’s home shop. Alan Miles This meant sorting all the parts, transporting them lent us a hand, too, and quickly the cab and box were from the compound of Dagenham West to the main removed from the chassis and then the chassis was garage, and levitating most of them into the attic. The stripped of all its running gear. Everything was trans- heaviest items were neatly stored around the edges of ferred to the “new” frame with the exception of the en- the one garage bay that I was now allotted in my for- gine. All the running gear had been completely rebuilt mer residence. My wife, Calla, was in her glory at in Phase 1 of the resto back in 2005- 2006 but the mo- this. She has a natural gift of organization and priori-

tor that had been rebuilt at considerable cost back Now the new cab needed doors and they had to open then had failed on the 2008 London-Brighton Com- and close, damn it! The E83W cab has a wood-framed memorative Run. I had since been running on a good back wall sheathed in a sandwich of .025 aluminum used motor but the blown one was now in Coquitlam and eighth inch mahogany plywood. This all rests on Automotive (now Wescan) for a really professional re- a flimsy sheet metal floor structure to which removal build at the very fastidious hands of Laurie, their head floor plates are bolted. It has all the rigidity of good machinist. English toffee -on a warm day. The tool of choice in the body adjustment department was the largest available hammer! After many days of struggle, somehow, the doors began to fit decently. Gerry welded. Carl and I ground and filed. Gerry made a superb new rear wall and perfectly duplicated the wood rear wall header. The cab was beginning to come together.

Once the basic cab installation and repairs were complete it was returned with the chassis to its garage bay. I had the doors blasted then rebuilt the wood structure of their lower part after Carl welded up some rust holes. I then primed the doors and re-mounted them. After not a little fighting and the studied appli- cation of a sledge hammer, they conceded and an ac- ceptable fit was obtained.

Les with Laurie from Wescan, picking up the newly rebuilt motor

It is difficult to recount every step in the pickup’s restoration but once the replacement frame was in place we turned our attentions to the cab. This was not the same cab that adorned the pickup prior to disassem- bly. It was one from a 1952 Thames pickup bought in New Westminster some years ago and repaired by Carl and me at my place. Carl had skillfully removed a non-standard passenger footwell and grafted in part of the firewall and floor of yet another E83W to return it to original spec. I had then blasted and primed it myself. So finally, six or more years later, the replace- Thames sporting its new cab ment cab was sitting on a fully restored rolling chassis. When the cab went “home”, the pickup box returned to Gerry’s for repair. “Repair” does not, perhaps, do jus- tice to the effort needed to return the box to a sem- blance of structural integrity. A plasma cutter was the first line of attack! Extensive patching was needed at the base of the upright side supports, a completely new, heavy-gauge, rear cross member had to be created and the bottom two inches of the box sides, which are bent to form a mounting flange for the plate floor, had to be replaced. Finally a new one-piece floor plate complete with sixteen hand-formed channel supports had to be installed. New mounting brackets tilt tubes and extensive repairs to the tailgate followed. The whole job took a couple of months of hard, dirty work!

Next page: Gerry hard at work welding up the Thames pickup box Carl and Les with the new chassis

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 2

Help Still Wanted

Although 2014 seems to be a long way off, now is a good time to start planning a route for the Brits 'Round BC 2014. In the midst of all the physical work, I was playing de- We need a 'Wagonmaster' tective- tracking down parts and sourcing fasteners, etc. The Thames shares many smaller parts with U.S. for this event. I found that Fords of the mid-1930’s and they can be had much more reasonably than bits from Britain. It can be chal- by starting early on the or- lenging but rewarding to find the cheaper domestic re- ganisation it was never a placements. Hardware Sales in Bellingham Washing- ton proved to be an invaluable source of slotted screws 'job' or 'chore'. and other fasteners not easily available locally. Bump- ers and lamp trims went to Dependable Plating who Here is an opportunity to did a beautiful job and Steve Diggins has my two seats serve the club and embark (after blasting, powder coating and new backs) for re- upholstering. As I mentioned earlier, Laurie at West- on a tour with your friends, can in Coquitlam rebuilt my engine to the highest standards. I sometimes dreaded his phone calls but I know new and 'old', enjoying a that his attention to detail will be well worth it. route of your choice. On the Ides of March we transported the box to a shop Every assistance will be for blasting, priming and finishing bodywork. Hope- fully we will be luckier than Julius was on this date! provided by past When the box is completed the cab will go to the body shop. Hopefully, in a few months I will be able to move 'Wagonmasters', so don't be on to the “fun” part of the job- re-assembly of all the small parts and the joy of seeing the finished product! intimidated by thinking it is

So it has come to pass, my truck is truly E Pluribus too much to do by yourself. Thames, now even more so than before! The DNA of If we do not get someone to many E83W’s live on in my pickup. I have owned a Thames since I was fifteen years old and it has always organise this event, It Will been my dream to restore one from the ground up. Maybe it’s moved from dream to bucket list but I’m get- Not Happen. ting close to the finish! Please reply to Ric Mac- It would be disingenuous to say that I’ve done it. Donald at Truly, Carl Knorr, and Gerry Parkinson have restored the truck. I am a mere apprentice at best and my most [email protected] or valuable contribution has been to oversee the original- ity of repairs, supply parts, enthusiasm and comic re- 604-710-9506. lief. Without these friends, and Alan Miles, John

Chapman and others who I have been brought together with through the Old English Car Club, none of this would have been possible. Great credit goes also to Calla for her patience, unwavering support, and very hard work. E Pluribus Thames, E Pluribus Friends!

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 3 When the war ended, the Company was in desperate AC 2-Litre need of a new model to capitalize on the rising demand for cars but it deemed it too risky financially to develop

an all-new model. By Walter Reynolds

In the January-February, 2013 issue of the Round- about, I mentioned how, in the mid-1960s, my Dad helped a friend repair the wood frame of the rear end of his friend’s AC 2-Litre.

AC 2-Litre at speed. (Encyclopedia of Classic Cars photo.)

While other car manufacturers were experimenting with independent front suspension (IFS), AC chose not to go this route for the new car. Instead, a new design based upon the pre-war chassis was conceived. This was NOT simply the pre-war chassis (as many have suggested). While it was an evolution of the pre-war product, some of the apparently subtle changes would have been significant in practice. Much more obvious changes to the frame were for accommodating a longer and wider body for increased passenger space. Minor Rear frame like that which my Dad would have improvements to springing, damping, and parts of the worked on. (Ian Strange photo.) chassis frame ensured that this was about the ultimate development possible for the conventional beam Because of the work that my dad would have done, I’ve axle/leaf-spring arrangement. All together, these im- been thinking for a few years about writing an article provements resulted in none of the old problems associ- on the AC 2-Litre. Well, here it is: ated with cars suspended this way, and meant that there were none of the new problems being encoun- While the details in this article are taken from internet tered with IFS. AC's new design engineer Z. T. and reference book sources, I have also referenced the Marczewski takes much of the credit for AC developing AC 2-Litre web site of Mr. Ian Strange in the UK who the old technology rather than following the route of is somewhat of an AC 2-Litre aficionado. Ian owns a most other manufacturers. 1949 example, a car which he inherited from his fa- ther. A brief history of the car, as described by Ian, is A real benefit of IFS for other car makers, was for a included at the end of this article, along with links to more forward mounting of the engine, which was his web site which contains all the information you mainly of value to smaller cars. The AC's engine block ever wanted about the AC 2-Litre, including his resto- was still mounted entirely rearward of the front axle, ration history of the car. to help maintain weight distribution for the desired handling. Rear seat passengers were also within the Even before the end of World War II, AC had been wheelbase, while the fuel tank was mounted above the struggling to keep its costs low enough to stay in busi- rear axle. The brakes were improved by use of very ness at its Thames Ditton factory in Surrey, England. large 12 inch (30cm) diameter drums, and, until 1951

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 4 were hydraulic at the front, and mechanical at the went into production. Some of the then modern trends rear. Disc wheels with deep central wells, made sure in styling were incorporated, such as split windscreen that the drums were exposed to cooling air flow. and rear window. There were no running boards. Rear

wings featured spats. The radiator grill and cowl were curved back with a compound curvature. Wings were essentially of helmet type, but extended backwards for a more sleek appearance. The bonnet was still long, but not excessively so as seen on many up-market pre- war cars. The style was pillarless, that is, the door hinge pillar (B post) only extended up to waist level, to help increase all-round visibility.

(Ian Strange photo)

AC's wonderful straight 6 alloy block engine was re- tained, with some modifications. To achieve a lower bonnet level, the water-pump was moved to the left- hand side of the block, and pumped coolant from the radiator into the engine. This engine was basically the long-stroke engine developed in the 1920s for the AC 16. Triple S.U. carburetors now featured a thermostati- cally controlled cold start device. The specification for the aluminium alloy castings was improved, to reduce the rate of corrosion.

Power output for the 1947 production start was 74 bhp (Ian Strange photo) which was increased to 85 bhp in 1951. The car had a Moss 4-speed gearbox, with no synchromesh on first Polish engineer Z. T. Marczewski was a new addition gear. The rear axle was a Moss rear axle with hypoid- to the staff at AC. He played a major role in turning bevel final drive for keeping the propeller shaft fairly the basics of this car chassis and body style into real- low. ity. The prototype saloon (built on the second chassis, number L801) appeared in early 1947, in time for the An experimental chassis, number L800, was built and official launch of the new car in March. This car was fitted with an open tourer body and helmet wings. This very spacious and had a light and airy interior - just as permitted testing of the mechanical set up, before the the design brief expected! Classic and collector car body styling was finalized. L800 took to the roads in write-ups of the AC in much later years often claimed 1946. the production car to be heavy. In fact, at 2,912 lb, it As for the body, a wide range of labour-intensive was lighter than most of its rivals of similar size. Mod- coachbuilt designs were out of the question initially, ern cars have since become a lot heavier, which leaves mostly because labour costs had risen since the pre- the AC looking very light indeed! The prototype was war days. Instead, AC designed a two-door saloon body quoted as weighing 25 cwt (2,800 lb) for a car 15ft 4in using the traditional construction of aluminum over an long. ash frame, with little in the way of styling embellish- The prototype initially had a separate frame for the ment. split windscreen, but this was dropped in favour of two The Prototype: For the body style, what was needed separate windows mounted directly into the body (with was a large 4/5 seater saloon, with plenty of head-room a fairly thick central pillar with the bonnet hinge and large window area. Harold Connolly drew out moulding continued up this pillar). The production run some ideas, some of which looked very similar to what

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 5 of cars subsequently changed back to the idea of a troduced, although officially launched for the 1949 separate windscreen frame during 1948. model year.

The throttle was controlled by a cable rather than the traditional linkage system. All three pedals featured the AC emblem. Steering column was adjustable for length. The steering wheel was a plastic rimmed Blue- mels Brooklands wheel, the rim having an attractive marble-like appearance. The prototype's front seating was initially a bench seat, but soon changed to a split seat to allow adjustments to each half separately. The interior upholstery/trim was high quality leather, wal- nut and cloth, plus velvet pile carpeting, although very plain looking. Under the wings were wire-mesh stone- guards. Actually they were a slush damping device, for preventing slush splashing out from under the wheel- arches. The bonnet was hinged at its rear, and had an elaborate system for opening it. Electric lighting was installed in the engine bay. The bonnet had two pairs of louvres directing warm air onto the windscreens for de-misting.

The prototype was a 2 door saloon, and the doors were unusually wide. This gave easy access to rear seats AC 2-Litre Drophead Coupe. without having to tilt the front seats. The profile of the (Ian Strange photo) front wings was continued into the doors, and this provided door pockets for small hand luggage. Luggage This was for export only, but most were right-hand space in the boot was large compared to pre-war cars, drive. This was a superb looking car, described by the although the trend by this time was for much more lug- "Motor Industry" magazine simply as "Dream Car from gage accommodation. So it looks tiny by modern stan- Ditton"! It looked stylish with hood (convertible top) dards! The boot lid (bottom hinged) contained a tool either up or down. Rearward visibility was extremely kit. Under the boot was a compartment for the spare limited with the hood erected, and not much better wheel accessible via a separate door. Semaphore traf- with it folded! Some of these export cars featured extra fic-indicators (trafficators) were mounted low down just bonnet louvres, doubtless for hotter climates. Many behind the doors. early ones also had 16 inch wheels, in place of the Production models: A few of the earliest cars had a usual (at that time) 17 inch rims. The very first drop- double-layer of alloy for the bulkhead around the foot- head had fixed side windows, cabriolet style. Sadly, wells, sandwiching soundproofing fibre-board. The in- very few were built and production of them ceased in ner layer of alloy was soon discontinued. The radiator 1950, apart from an experimental car later on. cowl was originally made of aluminium alloy, but this During 1948, an alternative drop-head version was in changed to brass. development. Buckland Body Works created a much Externally, the hub-caps were changed to a simple modified open body for the AC. part-spherical shape with AC emblem in the centre The Buckland had a single-piece fold flat windscreen, (similar to the hub-caps that Triumph used at that thicker, more rounded door tops, the front wing line time). continued to the rear wings, and the hood (convertible Trafficators were moved to a position just behind the top) was fully concealed when folded. Interior and boot side windows. A conventional starting handle was sup- were much altered too. Later ones had a cut-away door plied, clipped inside the boot (as were tire hand-pump top, and in some cases alternative styles of rear wings. and jack). A pivoted section of the radiator grill un- During 1948/49, several chassis were supplied to other clipped to permit access for the starting handle to con- companies (sometimes with wings). A few of these nect with the engine. The front bumper was moved a ended up as estate vehicles. Judging from photos, 2 little lower and had different mountings cars looked very ungainly, while the other (more attractive) was like an enlarged Morris Traveller. A short way into production, the rear wheel spats were dropped. During 1948, a drop-head body style was in- Inside the car, the dials and switches followed fashion and changed to a cream colour (from black) around

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 6 1950/51. Rear ash-trays moved from the seat backrests to the side trim panels. The gear-knob and stick also varied in style. The seat styling changed around 1953/54 to horizontal ribbing.

(Geoff Crabtree photo)

The AC 2-Litre was outlived by its engine, which continued to be offered in other AC models until 1963.

A two-door example was tested by The Motor magazine Ian Strange photo in 1948 and, at 2,912 lb it reached a top speed of 80 mph and could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in (a heart- The first AC 2-Litre models were successful enough to stopping) 19.9 seconds! The test returned a fuel con- firmly re-establish the AC name. Surprisingly, consid- sumption of 23 mpg (Imperial gallons) or 12L/100km. ering the car’s aging components, several were raced The test car cost £1,277, including taxes. and rallied at Silverstone and in the RAC and Monte Carlo events.

As can be seen from the photo to the right, the sleek- looking radiator grille of the AC 2-Litre was an impres- sive styling feature. Even so, some critics suggest that the roof was too high in proportion to the rest of the body, even by the saloon standards of the day.

From 1952, the AC 2-Litre was also produced in a four- door version which had larger rear-side windows.

Quarter-view( Anthony Waites photo)

The Decline: By 1952, the inevitable happened and the basic price for the 2 Litre Saloon topped the £1000 mark, and this meant a very large rise in purchase tax. Total price for the 2 door saloon then became £1600. The newly launched 4 door saloon cost £1725; 2 Litre Sports Tourer £1796; Drop-head Coupé (new version) £1750. It was still cheaper than the Alvis 3 Litre, the Dashboard (Ian Strange photo) new Armstrong Siddeley models, Jaguar Mark VII and Lea Francis. But it was more expensive than the Rover P4 and the larger offerings from Citroen, Ford and

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 7 Wolseley. Production declined in 1952 to about 140 The project got shelved in the late '90s and resumed in cars, against the preceding 3 years which saw about 2009. I'm currently completing the wood frame ready to 270 per year. By 1954, the Ace was in production, move onto the alloy paneling. quickly followed by the Aceca, and production of the Saloons tapered off. It became available only to order, You can read more details of me and my own AC in this and very few were made after 1955. Most of the final section of my site: cars were 4 door saloons, except for the last two, regis- http://www.ac2litre.com/mycar.html tered in 1958, which were 2 door cars. The final chassis was number EH2095, making a production run of 1296 For other information on the AC 2-Litre, go to my site’s chassis. main page, www.ac2litre.com and click on the links. Increasing competition came in the form of mass pro- Kind regards, duced cars featuring stressed body panels. That is, thin steel panels contributed to the stiffness of the car's Ian Strange structure, allowing the traditional chassis under-frame March 20, 2013 to be progressively dispensed with. Although early development had a firm eye upon light weight and high stiffness, the same could be achieved by more modern designs of separate chassis. The over-riding reason for stressed panel cars was, and is, cost-effectiveness for volume production. The volume of car sales in the UK Anthony Waites increased 10 fold over the following 30 years. Custom- photos. ers could now get medium to large saloon cars for much less money, and the days of hand-built quality saloons was largely over. In many respects, the coach-built car is a superior product, but the price could never get near enough to the competition. The only prospect for small specialists like AC, was to concentrate on niche markets for high quality sports cars. Conclusion: The AC 2-Litre helped to make AC much more widely known, particularly in the UK and Aus- tralia. It wasn't the Cobra that put AC on the map! The 2 Litre showed off what AC did best: Making fine quality, luxurious cars that are enjoyed both by those who simply like cars, and those with an eye for high quality and attention to detail. All this was achieved in a very elegant and attractive 'package' that managed to be distinctive at the same time. It looks good, sounds good and feels good (either to touch, or to drive!).

Post script from Ian Strange: Hi Walter.

It is interesting to hear from enthusiasts so far away. As long as my name and website get a mention, then you are welcome to use any info' from my website to help with your article.

My AC has been in the family since 1962 (I was born in Ian’s AC 2-Litre at speed (Ian Strange photo) '66) so I dreamed about driving it from very early child- hood. My Dad laid the car up in1974, but later an- nounced he was going to keep it for me. I did a partial Sources: restoration in the 1980s before running it for 5 years.  The Encyclopedia of Classic Cars After blowing a head gasket, I decided to tackle a full body restoration myself. I also decided to produce tech-  Ian Strange’s AC 2-Litre web site nical drawings for the wood frame to replace the factory ones lost in a fire, making this a double project.  Wikipedia

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 8 A ROLLS FOR TWO GOVERNORS GENERAL OF CANADA By John Peirson

A correspondent in Ottawa sends me neat photos of old Rolls-Royce cars from time to time. Here is one, 1909 chassis 60990, with a Barker body, sold to the Duke of Devonshire in May 1909. The Duke became Governor of Canada in 1916, and presumably took his Rolls with him. He was succeeded in 1921 by Lord Byng of Vimy. The second photo shows the car with Byng's chauffeur Arthur Hardy at the wheel. Presumably the Duke of Devon- shire left his car behind when he retired from being Governor General. My correspondent says: The Canadian government did not provide limousines for the Governors General until 1940. They had to provide their own cars and the cars were expected to meet certain specifications - they were to have large windows so the Governor Gen- eral could be seen by the public and the roof had to be high enough to accommodate a top hat.

60990 when new Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire: Governor General of

Canada from 1916 to 1921

Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy: Governor General 60990 in Canada with Chauffeur Arthur Hardy driving. 2 August 1921—5 August 1926

In August 1929 the Ottawa Citizen newspaper carried a short article entitled "King George Donates to Ottawa Charities" about a small sum donated by King George V. The article continues: "Mayor Balharrie proposes that the money be held for disposition at the same time as use is made of the Rolls-Royce automobile and the two car- riages received by him for charity from Baron Byng, former Governor General".

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 9 Hearts and Tarts 2013 The drive set out along Marine Drive crossing South- ridge to the continuation of the old Marine Drive. We By Steve Blake drove through the bus exchange and down the hill to Marine Way where we followed 6th Avenue past the site of the old Woodward’s store and Queen’s Park. On Sunday, February 10th, we held the 2013 version Turning right on McBride Avenue, the cavalcade drove of the Hearts and Tarts Drive. This drive is also known over the Patullo Road and merged onto Scott Road. We as the Liz Blake Memorial Drive in memory of Steve’s turned off following the detours leading us to River late wife. Liz use to organize the food or arrange the Road. All along this section we were able to view the restaurant or pub and she particularly enjoyed giving construction work of the new South Fraser Perimeter out Purdy’s chocolate hearts to all the participants. For Road that will join Tsawwassen and Delta Port to the last several years this drive has been a joint Highway 1 in Surrey. We turned left onto Nordel Way th MOGNW/OECC affair. following it up the hill and drove along 84 Avenue, 112th Street, and Westview Drive before dropping back down the hill to the flats by Burns Bog. From here it was a short hop along 104th Street and Ladner Trunk Road to the Boundary Bay Airport 38.3 km later (or 23.94 miles.) For the bird watchers, we were very lucky to see Great Blue Herons, red-tailed hawks and many bald-headed eagles along the drive. One particu- lar nice sighting was seeing two bald-headed eagles sitting side-by-side next to a large nest. It looks like we will have some new eaglets this summer.

We had reservations at the Skyhawk Restaurant in the terminal building. Miles and Hutchens continued past going to an OECC executive meeting in Tsawwas- sen. Laurie and Verna were waiting at the restaurant to join us. The restaurant was quite busy which shows Steve and Susan Blake led the drive in their blue 1962 the quality of the food. I didn’t hear any complaints Morgan +4 four-seater, followed by Win and Christine from our group so may use this as a future stop for an- Muehling (1986 green Morgan +8), Ken and Pat Miles other drive. Terry Sadler was the lucky one to win the (blue and silver Morgan +4 DHC), and Malcolm Spar- pot for having his meal served last. Of course he or- row and Laverne Barnes sporting an antique raccoon dered slow-braised duck or some other such meal that coat (red 1994 Morgan +4.) The rest of the group fol- had the chef working double time in the back. With lowing in assorted vehicles were Terry Sadler and Val Win upping the ante to $1 a head instead of the cus- Smith, Steve Hutchens and Celia Obrecht, Bart and tomary quarter, Terry was able to pay for his meal! Audrey Shaw, Barry Ryley, and Bernie and Pat Miles. There were no break-downs, nobody earned the cov- Laurie and Verna Fraser met the group at Boundary eted blinking light award, and the sun was shining! Bay Airport for lunch. With the great camaraderie of the group, the day The drivers and navigators met at Mandeville Garden- couldn’t have been more perfect! works for coffee prior to the 11:00am start. We were blessed with sunny weather which made for great open-top driving. It was a bit cool but the sun and fresh air were a welcome break from the low cloud and drizzle that had been hanging around the last several days. Steve handed out a route plan to all the navigators to try to minimize the loss of cars along the way. The distances were given in kilometres and miles for those in older British cars. One navigator panicked that the paper being handed her was a set of questions to be answered along the way and she said she was going to go home if it were! She (who shall remain nameless to save embarrassment to Ken) said they have too many fights when given a set of questions to answer on route.

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 10 St Patrick's Day Parade By David (Irish for a DAY) Ballantine

After all of the wet days that we have had here in the Lower Mainland, Sunday March 17th turned out to be a glorious sunny day. The assembly time was to be by 10 am. on Drake Street between Granville and Howe. I was the last to arrive, getting there at 9.50 am or so with my 13 year old Grandson Paul and 9 year old Granddaughter Sloan, who were appro- priately dressed with garlands of green. They even gave me a green golf hat complete with green hair !!

We also had green feathered streamers which Paul attached to the car. Unfortunately the prevailing winds were blowing feathers all along the parade route :-).

Bill Grant was there with Suzanne in his trusty blue Morris Minor ,Gil and Joy Yarrow in their very regal looking 1989 Rolls Royce Silver Spur and me with my Jensen Interceptor.

The parade was to start at 11am, and unlike many other parades that I have been in, we must have been fairly near the beginning, as we were on our way behind the very LARGE backend of a fire department ladder truck by 11.15 or so.

The last thing that the parade volunteer said to me as he waived me on my way was "Have fun and make lots of NOISE !! So the three of us obliged with horn honking without a worry of the noise patrol police !!

The kids had lots of fun leaning out of the windows and shouting Happy St Patrick's Day.

The parade crowds seem to get bigger every year as I have heard figures of 350,000 lined along the route. Everybody loves a parade for sure.

By 12.00 pm we arrived at our finishing point at Granville and Georgia and then we 3 cars dispersed on our separate ways.

I asked my Grandkids if they had fun and they answered with a resounding yes.

Maybe this might be another way to get our younger generation involved in our hobby.

Hopefully next year we can get more cars in the parade providing that we get more no- tice.

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 11 CB Monthly Event - March 5th 2013 Hugo Ray Park, West Vancouver

Reported by John Chapman V

The March gathering was held at Hugo Ray Park in North Vancouver. There were 26 members turn up for what turned out to be a very informative evening. On the agenda for the night was a very interesting presentation on fuel injection modifications to English classic cars. Then after was a summary/discussion of the results of the recent survey that was sent out to the membership by the new stirring committee.

The evening’s activities started at 7:05 in a very cold room at Hugo Ray Park. Gerry Parkinson kicked off the proceedings by introducing a new member, Dave Pledger. Dave has several English cars, one being a 1959 Mini, the first year that they were built. Gerry quickly ran through the calendar of upcoming events, a list of which can be found on the recently updated website of our branch or somewhere in the pages of this issue. Gerry then stated that we were going to re-enforce the name tag ruling which had elapsed over the last several years. So, people, wear your name tags at all events please. This makes it easier to talk to someone you have never spoken to before when you know who they are and what car they own. The penalty for not wearing your name tag at a monthly meeting is a Loonie. So, bring your name tag or money. If you haven’t got a name tag for any reason drop me a line via email and I’ll organize one for you.

The fuel injection presentation started at 7:15. Gerry described, with the aid of a projector, in some detail, how he converted his 1967 MGB GT to fuel injection. He explained why he did it, the benefits achieved and the draw backs. He went through the problems that he encountered first off and itemized the costs involved along with alternatives of the equipment that he used. He is still experimenting with the set up to achieve optimum performance and, who knows, we may eventually see a fuel injection system on Gerry’s pre-war Raleigh three wheeled utility van. (For those without a sense of humour, that was a joke.) The presentation created a lot of interest amongst the members which was apparent due to the amount of questions that was asked at the end.

We had a 5 minute break before Gil Mervyn (vice Chair) with the aid of a slide show, gave a 30 min. summary of the results of the recent survey that was sent out to all members and some past members. A discussion amongst the members present took place on which direction the branch should follow. The emphasis of the monthly meetings being event oriented rather than business oriented and that interest in other events should be gathered from members before the event is finalised. All business matters being handled by the branch executive at separate executive meetings.

When this discussion was finished, the meeting was brought to a close at 8:45. Some members left while others stayed and socialized. Obviously, all discussions involved the subject of our cars. The heating in the room actually came on at around 9:10, just as the last members were leaving. (That’s a fact, not a joke. Although, it was funny at the time.)

Apart from the presentations, the two highlights of the evening for me were having a chat with recent-ish new member, John Titman. John has spent the last couple of years or so on restoring and modifying a MK2 Ford Zephyr four door sedan to a 2 door coupe. I’ve seen this car from a distance as it passed on the #1 highway. An amazing achievement. It’s a car that Ford should have made. I can’t wait to see this car up close and check out all the obstacles that John had to overcome in detail to achieve this work of art. The second highlight was, at the end of the evening as we were leaving. I asked David Pledger, our latest new member if his 59 Mini was a run- ner. “Yes” he replied.”It’s right outside”. So, the last of the members trooped outside to have a look. What a sur- prise! David has spent many years modifying this car to rally spec. and has competed in the Newfoundland Targa. The ironic thing is, amongst the many modifications to the 1300 engine (or 1380. I can’t remember), such as a cross flow head and an electronic distributor, he has converted it to fuel injection. So, with the aid of flash lights, we had the detachable bonnet off and spent about 5 minutes scrutinizing this amazing little racer. Can’t wait to see this car in daylight. Maybe, I should do something like that to my Imp. Oh. What am I thinking?

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 12 Upcoming Special Events The executive of the Vancouver Coast Branch recently circulated a survey by e-mail asking participants if they would be interested in certain special events (in addition to our regular monthly events.) Response was positive for the events listed below so it was decided that we would make a special effort to promote them to the membership. Please mark these dates on your calendars if you’ve indicated a desire to attend. Let’s make 2013 a great year for getting our cars out on the road where they belong while enjoying the fellowship of our fellow VCB members!

Saturday, June 15, 2013 at 12 noon - Ian Newby Military Vehicle Collec- tion - 3428 262 Ave., Langley, B.C. (Hundreds of military and civilian vehicles, some British - vehicles for movies - pub on site)

July 12 - 14, 2013 - OECC AGM run to Nanaimo, organized by Ken Miles. More details to come.

Saturday, August 17, 2013 - Run to Squamish Railway Museum . Lorna Hoare organizing, more details to come

September 20-22, 2013 - 3rd annual Run to the Sun weekend car show at Sun Peaks Resort, Kamloops. Cars must be pre registered to attend. Registration form on line at http://www.sunpeaksresort.com/classic-car . OECC VCB has arranged a group rate at Nancy Greene's Cahilty Lodge 3220 Village Way, Sun Peaks, BC V0E 5N0 www.cahiltylodge.com. They are not holding any rooms per se so it is advised that you book as soon as possible to ensure that you get a room at the discounted price. Go to their website or call 1-800-244-8424 and quote group code OEO920. Prices start at $77.00 per night. Full details on rates and terms will be sent out by e-mail.

Saturday, October 5, 2013 - Run to Fraser Valley - lunch at Dicken's Sweets British Museum. Lorna Hoare organizing, more details to come.

Sunday, November 3, 2013 - London to Brighton Commemorative Run, details to come.

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 13

WELCOME TO THE OECC !

Randy Sandhu—Richmond, B.C.—1969 Jaguar E Type Edmund Jordan and Yvonne Bachmann—Delta, B.C.—1961 Morris Oxford, 1981 MGB Roadster David Pledger and Sunni Westbrook—North Vancouver, B.C.—1959 Austin Mini, 1971 Ford Escort, 1955 Triumph TR2, 1964 Morris Traveller

THE BOOT

Spanner Editor, Les Foster, sends in the following item:

While Calla and I were out for a walk in our New Westminster neighbourhood recently, we discovered this mystery motor sitting at the end of a heritage home's driveway. The cylinder head is missing but it is a four cylinder, long-stroke, sidevalve British product. It's probably at least 2 liters. The oil filter reads "AC Made in England" and it has the typical small British fuel pump. We could not find any maker's name on it. Perhaps the Roundabout readers can identify it. - Les Foster

AT THE WHEEL New memberships and correspondence: Roundabout Editor : Alan Miles Chairperson: Gerry Parkinson 7923 144A St., Surrey, B.C. V3S 8C1 [email protected] - 604-272 -2145 [email protected] 604-943-3824 Immediate Past Chairperson: Good & Welfare: David Ballantine Vice-Chairperson: Gil Mervyn Steve Diggins 604-294-6031 2 [email protected] - 604-980-4120 [email protected] 604-596-4226 Event and Meeting Coordinator: Website Editor: Alan Miles Treasurer: Colin Crabbe Lorna Hoare [email protected] 604-272-2145 [email protected] - 604-590-621 [email protected] - 604-584-2564 Membership renewals: 56-9088 Holt Road, Communications Coordinator: Alan Miles Surrey, B.C. V3V 4H3 [email protected] —604-272-2145 Membership Secretary: John Chapman [email protected] 604-590-3749

VOLUME 17, NUMBER 5 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 14