SPARKPLUG The newsletter of the Letchworth Garden City Classic & Vintage Car Club FEBRUARY 2018

Whitewebbs Museum run.

It was a crisp November Sunday morning and as agreed I arrived at Tesco Baldock at twenty past ten (ten minutes before the appointed departure time), and toured the car park three times in the search for the other participants.

After the three drive bys, and starting to look like a gangster in a MX5 (I did have sunglasses on), I decided that I would abandon the fool’s quest and wait at The Rising Sun which was the second meeting point.

A brief wait of ten minutes or so and the run arrived at the pub. We set off heading for Walkern as per John Scott’s route direction through the lovely and picturesque Hertfordshire countryside. It was obvious from the very start of the run that others in the county also had decided to make the most of this lovely day - cyclists, horses and riders, walkers with errant dogs, etc who also wanted their space on the highway (how selfish). Passing these little inconsistencies we arrived at Whitewebbs Museum of Transport and were instantly directed to park up in the museum’s central area where we formed a static display complimenting the museum’s vehicle and auto jumble area.

Paying our £5 entrance fee we staged a takeover of the cafe for a warming drink and chat about the drive.

We were then ‘released’ into the museum for a browse of the three floors of which the displays reduced in size and weight as the height above ground increased. Vehicles to the Ground floor, up through the warm and lovely cafe to the third floor consisting of displays of model vehicles, camera and photographic equipment, war time items and uniforms to typewriters.

We then descended to the shop and waited for a treat that John had organised.... a visit into the basement which was where the well for the pump station was located and still full of water, the well being 200 feet deep and hand dug.

Back up above ground I visited the model railway that was located within a railway carriage, this was complimented by a lovely and skilfully made scenery of British life including recently installed working street lighting, railway signals, vehicles (some with their own lights).

I had to depart early, just after 2:30pm for family duties (roast lamb at my mother in law’s, oh what a chore; not), I could have spent many more hours at the museum and will be returning to view the many items that I had just glanced at.

The museum is run by volunteers and is dependent on the visiting public to keep this fascinating, educational treasure running. The museum’s web site is a taster of what is there, and I would recommend anyone to visit. Their website is whitewebbsmuseum.co.uk

And if you are looking for a full day out I would recommend John’s route as it passes numerous places of interest and potential lunch or evening meal venues, and a lovely paced day.

Peter Saunders.

The Chairman’s Bit On Monday 9th April we shall be holding the club’s AGM - happily this usually involves only about half an hour of business followed by a longer period in the bar... The club officers met in early December to review the year to date and I am happy to report all is well with the finances and membership. If anyone would like to stand for any of the club officer roles - chairman, treasurer, secretary, and membership secretary, please let the current secretary Jim Bassett know by Monday 2nd April. It has been quite a long time since we had to actually hold an election because there was more than one candidate for a post...

Nick Salmon The Imptalian Job Simon Benoy A group of friends and I had been talking about driving the Stelvio Pass in the Alps for many years and thanks to circumstances changing a little, the talking became planning in early 2017.

The plans became a two week touring holiday with 4 cars and 7 people for the first two weeks of September. The cars were a 998cc Hillman Imp, a 1040cc Singer Chamois coupe, an 1120cc Sunbeam Stiletto and my 998cc Ginetta G15; perhaps not an obvious choice due to limited space but the only road legal classic that I had available. All the cars have beefed up cooling systems for their modified engines, a useful precaution when temperatures in central Europe are up to low thirties degrees C, fortunately cooler than it had been in August.

damp and there were many cars parked on the hard shoulder. But by the time we arrived at our hotel, the rain had stopped and after a quick late lunch we headed into the city to see as many of the sights as we could in the short time available.

We left one of our group behind when we left Rome, he has retired and was heading down to Sicily for an extended tour. The rest of us made the journey up We met up in Kent ahead of catching the Channel Tunnel and driving down to to the walled city of Lucca. We walked the walls, climbed up the clock tower for Luxembourg for our first night. Day 2 was a long journey to Davos in Switzerland superb views, and had a great meal in the amphitheatre. – we left in fog in the morning, stopped at one of the cheapest and hence busiest services for fuel before pushing on to finish in the Alps where it was much cooler. The next leg took us up to Antibes, via a short drive through Monaco, so this was Our hotel was very nice and provided a splendid evening meal and local beers. a longer day in the cars. After Antibes, we lost another of our party who was heading back a day earlier than us to attend the BTCC round at Silverstone. The remaining two cars took a more leisurely route via the outskirts of Lyon (avoiding the centre where old cars aren’t welcome) and Reims where champagne was enjoyed before the final run back to the Tunnel and home!

Our mileage was around 3,200 miles and all the cars got home without any outside assistance; we did have a few little issues but nothing serious. My only problem was that the engine is tired and uses oil, to the extent that it would foul the plug on number 3 cylinder in traffic jams, so I had to give it a quick wire brush and swap it with the plug from 2 or 4 a few times. We cruised at a fairly gentle pace most of the time, around 60-65 (remembering that the speed limit was often 130kph which is around 80 mph), fast enough to keep clear of the trucks and caravans and to make good progress without killing the cars which are all 45-50 years old. We got a lot of attention from other motorists, it was unnerving when a truck sounded its horn as we passed it, I nearly jumped out of my seat, but the driver was just giving For the drivers, Day 3 was the big one, driving though the Alps to Italy, in particular, us a friendly wave! taking on the Stelvio Pass. But we still had a few miles to cover to get to the start, which included the Fluela Pass. This was also quite a challenge and gave us a taste I don’t get as much time to drive or work on my classics as I would like, so this was of what was to follow. a real treat to enjoy a great trip around some fantastic places with great company. We might do a trip to Portugal in a couple of years, who knows? After a coffee break, we realised that the sat nav route was going to miss out part of our planned route and that we had further to go than we thought, but before we knew it we were into the first of the 48 hairpins that make up the climb. Many of the hairpins are so tight and steep that 1st gear is required and plenty of revs were used through the gears – my car runs an R20 cam and twin 150 stroms and this was working well. Towards the top of the climb, there was snow at the side of the road and it was a bit of a shock to meet a snow plough on its way down! There were a lot of cyclists and motor bikes on the pass as well as the odd coach or motorhome, some of which had to make a 3 point turn to get around the hairpins. We stopped at the summit (2760m) for lunch, before heading into Italy, past Lake Como to Milan.

The ‘holiday’ part of our trip was 4 nights in a village above Sorrento overlooking the Bay of Naples. We got there via a shortish trip to Rimini (very commercialised beach, but the old town is very nice) and then a longer drive following the east coast and across the country through a national park, past Napoli to the Amalfi coast. Here we were able to do more ‘touristy’ activities, sightseeing, lounging by the pool and visiting local attractions. There were various trips available from the hotel. Some of our party went to Pompeii but my wife, Karen, really wanted to visit Herculaneum and we got there via the local train – the journey was quite slow but excellent value at 2.90 euros. And it was well worth the effort – the site was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and has been excavated relatively recently – the preservation of the buildings and the site is remarkable and our guide was able to provide a fascinating insight into the remains.

It was soon time for the return leg of the trip, which started with a fairly short trip to Rome, but this was to prove to be a challenge due to roadworks followed by a rain storm of biblical proportions – Karen and I got very wet – G15s are not as watertight as a modern car and mine is probably worse than many, especially as I hadn’t managed to close the sun roof properly. Even those in the Imps got a bit You might imagine her to be a studious, academic blue stocking type of girl. A trifle Heroine - Beatrice Shilling, and her introverted maybe ? Slide ruling away behind the scenes ? Not racing motorbikes Orifice. at then ? Well actually yes. By ‘Plug Cap’ She got her first bike in 1923 when she was fourteen and whilst studying she Seven minutes after the scramble bell he was in the cockpit, his Spitfire MKIIA started to tune engines. In 1934 riding a self prepared overhead cam (helical gear) ripping across North Weald’s bumpy grass runway and then climbing eastward into Norton 500 she became only the second woman to win a Brookland’s Gold Star the rising sun. Now, twenty minutes later he was at 21,000 feet and after passing for lapping at over 100mph. unseen beneath the approaching Heinkel 111 bombers, he made a 180 deg. steep climbing turn to place the Spitfire behind an unsuspecting top cover Bf 109 fighter. So might this sometime oily young woman, a bike racing, Spitfire saving, engine Low sun behind him now, he couldn’t miss. His thumb slid onto the brass firing tuning academic, trained, unusually, by two activist, feminist, lesbian lovers, have button and bits flew of the Messerschmitt. been of similar persuasion? Evidently not, as in 1938, Tilly married a Mister George Naylor. Together they went on to race bikes and cars and to win cups post war. Encouraged by eight machine guns blasting him from behind, the German pilot Typically, she only agreed to marry George if he first won a Brookland’s Gold Star pushed the 109 into a vertical dive and threw open the throttle of his fuel injected for himself ! And he did. Daimler-Benz V12. Our man followed – but his Rolls Royce Merlin XII was not injected. It had a two stage supercharger fed by a huge SU carburettor that did Beatrice Shilling 1909 – 1990. WW2 Heroine. not behave well in negative G. First the negative G of the dive entry threw fuel and float to the top of the float chamber starving the engine feed. The Merlin gasped. * Footnote. Then as the float became horizontal in the dive it floundered hopelessly, the float Young Stan Hooker went on to become the most influential jet engine designer needle lifted in its jet, fuel became unrestricted, the carburettor flooded and the ever. Taking over from Sir Frank Whittle he led every significant jet creation of supercharger drowned. The Merlin choked. Prolonged, it would cut out altogether. both Roll Royce and Bristol. He rescued RR from the RB211 disaster and was The 109 escaped..... A wasted sortie. central to designing the RR Vectored Pegasus engine that made the VTOL Harrier possible. He died in 1984 as Sir , FRS. DPhil. BSc. FRAeS. MiMechE. To avoid this it soon became pilot practice to commence a dive inverted, from a FAAS. Another hero of engineering. half roll, thus maintaining positive G. Most old films show Spitfires doing so and it looks very stylish. But the manoeuvre lost valuable seconds and unsighted the pilot from his target. Many dog fights were lost in this way and a solution became critical. 2018 Events But - this was July 1940. The was on. Resources at Supermarine Club Meets are usually held at the Rising Sun unless otherwise stated. and Rolls Royce were stretched to the limit keeping the RAF supplied with planes 15th - 18th Feb. London Classic Car Show. Excel. and engines. Development of a proper ‘G negative’ carburettor was way down a long list of other essential work, and a hasty stop-gap developed by Rolls Royce Monday 5th March. Club Meet. Film Night. failed to work. Sunday 18th March. Run to a cruise on the Lee Navigation. 23rd-25th March. Practical Classics Restoration Car Show at the NEC. Monday 9th April. Club AGM. Members only. Sunday 22nd April. Classics at Bletchley Park. Saturday 2nd June. The annual Transport Picnic at Halls Green. Thursday 9th August from 4pm. RNLI fundraising. Classic cars at Pirton. Sunday 26th August. Little Gransden Air & Car Show. All information is given in good faith but no responsibility is accepted for errors.

Meanwhile, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, there toiled a young lady research engineer called Beatrice (Tilly) Shilling. Beatrice was an unusual girl for her time. Born in 1909 and educated in Surrey she took up an electrical engineering apprenticeship in about 1924 with Margaret Partridge, a well documented lesbian electrical engineer who was enraged by the government’s employment ban on woman engineers following their invaluable contribution during WW1. By way of revenge, Margaret and her partner, Marge Rowbotham, bought a power station in Exeter with a view to liberating the female Devonian population from domestic drudgery. How successful that was is not recorded. But young Tilly Shilling was sufficiently inspired to gain a BSc. Elec. Eng. and to follow it up with a Masters in Mech. Eng by 1933. Then, following a short employment with a Dr Mucklow, widely unknown for his work on supercharged single cylinder engines, she joined the RAE at Farnborough. Le Souris Mechanique And there she was one Wednesday morning in 1940 when a docket arrived on her bench. - ‘RR Merlin, SU Carburettors. Negative G.- Urgent, resolve.’ She set to work and in a very short time pitched up at Rolls Royce Derby carrying a It’s French and it’s blue - a tin basher’s art, small metal diaphragm with a hole in the middle. This, she explained to the Merlin A lawn mower dressed like a bit of a tart, development team, would fit in the SU’s float chamber and act as a very precise It’s engine is tiny, half litre and less, two way flow regulator. According to young Stan Hooker*, Head of Development, Just how it proceeds is anyone’s guess. ‘it was a very simple and remarkably effective idea’. Spitfires could now dive without problems. A philistine few see the mouse as a joke, The device was immediately adopted and became waggishly known everywhere But its pedigree’s clear, to right thinking folk, as ‘Miss Shilling’s Orifice’. Because it could be fitted without taking planes out of Designed by a genius - a plot really clever, service, Tilly with a couple of helpers toured RAF stations in 1941, fitting and training others to fit her Orifice. The impact of this simple device cannot be It quietly, comfortably, goes on for ever. overstated and Tilly became something of a celebrity. After the war she rightly received an OBE. But what sort of girl was Tilly ? Anon. Club Cars - Tony Warner’s 1962 Triumph TR4

Specification. Three bearing, four cylinder ohv. in-line. 2138cc. 100 bhp. Four speed manual. Rear wheel drive. 0 – 60mph 10.9secs. Max speed 103mph. Discs front, drums rear. Suspension - Front: Independent coils. Rear: Live axle, leaf springs.

Triumph produced the TR4 from 1961 to 1965 and 40,253 were made. It succeeded the TR3a and used virtually the same chassis and drive train including the famous wet liner, push rods in tubes, engine developed by the Standard Motor Company for the 1947 Ferguson TE-A20 tractor.

In 1948 following their acquisition of the defunct Triumph name, Standard launched a new range of cars, some, like the Vanguard, powered by the tractor engine , albeit with increased compression and a range of carburettors. Then in 1953 the engine appeared again, this time in the iconic TR2 at the London Motor Show. The Triumph TR sporting family had arrived! (And what an engine!)

Tony bought his TR from a pair of guys who ran a pub and although it was allegedly ‘restored’ eight years before, it seems that its main use since had been to pose before the pub to draw in customers. ‘It was a dog’ says Tony. The carbs and linkages were shot, front suspension and steering links needed a complete rebuild, ditto the brakes and rear dampers. The starter motor, battery, hood and its frame were replaced and a great deal of cosmetics improved. Apart from all that, it was a lovely car ! The TR is now used regularly on club runs and performs like the true thoroughbred it is. [Except when he puts diesel in it! N.S.]

Tony previousy restored an Aston DBS, so fixing up the TR was walk in the park for him – and that’s nearly what the TR left him doing !

First Wheels - Steve Amos Club Contacts Chairman: Nick Salmon 07831 805455 [email protected] Vice Chairman: David Davis Secretary: Jim Bassett [email protected] Treasurer: Tim Farr Membership: Andy Beavan [email protected] Press & Publicity: Nick Salmon Picnic Committee Chairman: David Davis Events: Les Jaworski This was the first powered vehicle that I drove when I was about 10 years old. 1950’s diesel powered T20 Fergie on my grandparent’s farm in www.lgccvcc.co.uk Chester. 20 odd years later I bought this down to Kimpton and rebuilt it, Past editions of Sparkplug may be viewed and downloaded then used it for a few years to cut and bail a 10 acre field. Now sadly sold on. from the club website.

Yours, Items for Sparkplug can be sent to ‘Farmer’ Amos! (Send in your contributions. N.S.) [email protected]