Freewheeling The magazine of the Rover Owners’ Club NSW and ACT. February 2018. Page 4 Page 10 Page 6 1 Dennis specializes in : ~ Rover classics ~ Land Rover ~ Discovery ~ Range Rover * Modifications * General repairs * Trip preparation * RTA registration inspections * CAMS rally registration inspections Triggs Motors 88 Excelsior Parade, Toronto ABN:45413062141 Phone (02) 4959 2122 MVRL:27049. Fax (02) 4959 5061 Email [email protected]. 2 ISSN 2206– 2963 President President’s Comments Ian Shearman president @roverownersclub.com.au Since our last Freewheeling there have Vice President been only three events: Richard Dalziel vicepresident @roverownersclub.com.au Our January general meeting, when our Club Captain member, Peter Scott with help from Andrew Holland clubcaptain @roverownersclub.com.au Gail, showed some photos of some mo- tor cycle trips and other motoring activ- Secretary Warren McEwen secretary ities. @roverownersclub.com.au Prior to that meeting there was an Oa- Treasurer Richard Dalziel treasurer sis Run, to Auburn Gardens and lunch @roverownersclub.com.au at the nearby Auburn Tennis Club. Registrar And on Australia Day the Carnivale at Robert Walker registrar @roverownersclub.com.au Parramatta Park was held where classic cars were on show. Editor editor Ken Dunkley @roverownersclub.com.au Forthcoming events are the Oasis Run Web master webmaster Rob Turner on Tuesday 6nd February 2018 to Bur- @roverownersclub.com.au rawang General Store, For a full list of all positions including phone num- and bers, see the back pages of this magazine. Sunday 11 February 2018, Picnic at The Rover Owners’ Club welcomes new member Hanging Rock Display Day in the Mac- edon Ranges, Victoria Stephen Della Franca who has a P6B James Kali who has a P4 105R One subject which is always in the background is that relating to spare parts. Our Parts Manager, Paul Anley has reported that we have sold a 9 HP head which we have had for many years. Yippee!!! Cover Photos Front Cover: Enjoy your Rovers. A line of P6 at the 2017 Rover Owners Dis- play Day. Ian Back Cover UK Rover owner, James Paling’s 14 HP Sports Sedan in front of the Walthamstow Town Hall early on a Sunday morning (that explains the lack of other traffic) Ian 3 Finally, it happened, after 42 years of waiting apprehensively, I experi- enced what every pre-1937 Rover owner dreads. Luckily, the damage was less than it might have been. The Bluebird had not had a decent run for a couple of months, due to The Cyclops getting lots of attention. I have thought, in the past, that if one car is getting attention, another car in the same garage will get jealous and demand sim- ilar attention. It was late July. I had driven through Oatley shopping centre, past the railway station and up the slight hill towards Hurstville Road. I turned left on to Hurstville Road and changed into 3rd gear. The engine revved but the car did not accelerate. I came to a halt and changed into 1st gear. I let in / out the clutch but the engine was not transmitting power to the back wheels. Completely at a loss, I let the car roll back and parked. “The clutch”, I thought. The clutch is rela- tively new. I decided to walk to my friendly mechanic, Wes, and pick his brains. Wes collects and restores old Holdens but otherwise, he is a nice bloke. He thought for a little while and said, “I think you have broken an axle.” Immediately, I saw that he was probably right. On returning to the car, I started the engine, selected 1st gear and looked underneath to see the propeller shaft turning and the car standing still. Up until 1937, Rover cars were fitted with semi-floating rear axles with the hub secured to the shaft by a taper, key and nut system. From 1937, most models were fitted with half shafts permanently fixed to the wheel hubs. Pre-War Rovers and many other English cars were renown for breaking half shafts. Looking at the thickness and design of the shaft of my '14', it seems very robust, much the same size as the P4 axle, yet stories abound of broken shafts. I had become re- signed to experiencing a break at some stage. I expect that it is poor quality steel that causes the problem. Modern ax- les are made of chrome-molybdenum steel. I located a firm in Mildura, Titan Axles, with a branch in Sydney at East- ern Creek, that could have made a new one for me, if necessary. On the other hand, P4s hardly ever break an axle. A former vice-president of our Club, Vic Lewin, used to tell the sto- ry about the parts manufacturer, Duly & Hansford, for whom he worked. When the P4 was first sold here in 1950, they made a large batch of axles, relying on Rover's previous record. Ten years later, they melted down the whole lot. The only thing that goes wrong with P4 axles is worn splines, leading to play in the drive train but this only occurs after a very high mileage. When an axle breaks, anything can happen. Drivers reported being overtaken by a rear wheel when an axle broke while descending a steep hill. In other cases, significant body damage can result. Some cars were so prone to breaking axles pre-War that owners carried a spare in the boot and were able to do the repair on the side of the road. Fortunately in my case, I was travelling at a low speed and the wheel remained on the car. It depends on where, along the shaft, the break occurs. Wes called a tow truck for me and we brought the car to his workshop. This was a job that I could have done at home but I would not have been able to get the car up my driveway and into the garage. When Bluebird was placed on jack- ing stands, Wes determined that it was the right-hand shaft that had broken. The Gibson Book of the Rover regards the replacement process as so simple that it dismisses the job as beneath their dignity to describe. Over the years, I had accumulated three spare axles. As both sides are the same, unlike the P4, all three were suitable as replacements. Unfortunately, Wes was inundated with modern car work that week and I was happy enough for Bluebird to get low priority. Two weeks after the breakdown, I called at the workshop again to see how things were going. The broken axle had been removed, showing the worst possible breaking point: at the splines going into the diff. The next step was to re- move the other axle and see if the broken piece could be poked out through the other side. Otherwise, the diff would have to come out. This proved fruitless as the plate holding the crown wheel blocks the hole where the shafts pass through the diff centre. A week later, having had no further news from the workshop, I called in to see what progress had been made. Bad news – as they couldn't poke the broken bit of axle out, the differential would have to be removed. This was probably necessary anyway as it was likely that bits of metal would be floating around inside the housing. While the axles and diff were out, the housing would be cleaned thoroughly. 4 Diff housing with the diff centre removed for cleaning and removal of piece of half shaft. Two months after the initial breakdown, The Bluebird was still in the workshop with both half shafts and the diff centre on the floor. The mechanics had been unable to remove the piece of half shaft so they were going to send the diff centre to a diff specialist who would probably take the planetary gears apart and set up the diff from scratch After a couple more weeks, the diff centre returned. By this time, Wes was due for his annual holiday (to the Mount Panorama car races). Bluebird remained untouched throughout October. By the end of October, the workshop had found enough time to fit the diff and insert the half shafts. All that remained to do was to bleed the brakes. (Yes, Bluebird has hydraulic brakes on all four wheels. Apparently, car owners put all sorts of fluids in the system and then complained when the brakes failed so Rover went back to mechanical brakes un- til the 1948 season.) While bleeding the brakes, the mechanic noticed brake fluid seeping from the jump hose to the axle housing. The old hose was sent away to a local brake specialist to be reconditioned. It was then November and I was planning to move to another house. The car was finally finished on 10th November. I primed the fuel pump, retarded the ignition, turned the key and, after more than three months sitting in the workshop, away she went. The mechanics were impressed. I drove it home. The long wait for the repair covered the entire “display season”. True, I had The Cyclops and The Pushbike to take to displays but Bluebird is my favourite toy. The total amount charged by the mechanic was $1240, including dismantling and assembling the differential and in- cluding having a new brake hose made. Over three months of garaging was included free. Jim Moule (241) 5 The Katoomba Rovers that found new homes in 2016 – update report. Text and Photos by Chris Forsey. In 2016 the estate of David Smith (former ROC member) was being dispersed by his family.