August 2017.Pub

The magazine of the Rover Owners' Club NSW and ACT.

August 2017

New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory. Proudly associated with: Council of Motor Clubs. Association of British Car Clubs. Council of ACT Motor Clubs Registered by Australia Post as Print Post Publication No. PP 255003/0141 Registered with the National Library of Australia. ISSN 2206-2963. 1 ' ඍඖඖඑඛඛ඘ඍඋඑඉඔඑජඍඛඑඖ ~5 ඗ඞඍකඋඔඉඛඛඑඋඛ ~/ ඉඖඌ5඗ඞඍක ~' එඛඋ඗ඞඍකඡ ~5 ඉඖඏඍ5඗ඞඍක * 0 ඗ඌඑඎඑඋඉගඑ඗ඖඛ * * ඍඖඍකඉඔකඍ඘ඉඑකඛ * 7කඑ඘඘කඍ඘ඉකඉගඑ඗ඖ * 5 7$කඍඏඑඛගකඉගඑ඗ඖඑඖඛ඘ඍඋගඑ඗ඖඛ * &$ 0 6කඉඔඔඡකඍඏඑඛගකඉගඑ඗ඖඑඖඛ඘ඍඋගඑ඗ඖඛ 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 Freewheeling.

President President’s Comments Ian Shearman president @roverownersclub.com.au During the past month I have been busy catching up with what is planned for the Club. There are several major activities in the Vice President pipeline, particularly the 50th Anniversary of the Rover V8 en- Richard Dalziel vice-president gine, the Display Day and a visit to the Hunter Valley, including @roverownersclub.com.au Luskintyre Aerodrome to see light aircraft. Club Captain The 50th Anniversary for the engine was planned by our Nick Andrew Holland Club captain for the Southern Highlands, over the first full weekend in Octo- @roverownersclub.com.au ber, but he had had difficulty in getting a suitable location. By Secretary chance, I was speaking with Wendy Muddell, who runs the Warren McEwen secretary Australian Motorlife Museum in the Illawarra area and she sug- @roverownersclub.com.au gested that the Club be featured in their annual day on 1st Octo- ber. This opened up a wonderful opportunity as we could then Treasurer have our engine anniversary celebrations there as well. She was Richard Dalziel treasurer very enthusiastic about this. Accordingly, the committee agreed @roverownersclub.com.au that we should target our efforts on this weekend. Plans have Registrar progressed, including a drive developed by Stuart Rigby from Robert Walker registrar the southern outskirts of Sydney on Saturday, dinner and ac- @roverownersclub.com.au commodation in the evening, also arranged by Stuart Rigby and the V8 celebrations at the Motorlife Museum on Sunday. Editor editor A second event which had been proposed for the same weekend Ken Dunkley @roverownersclub.com.au was the Club’s Annual Display Day. We have transferred this from the V8 celebrations and organised it for Sunday 29th Octo- Web master webmaster ber at the Museum of Fire in Penrith. That weekend will also Rob Turner have art and craft on display at the Museum, so providing at- @roverownersclub.com.au tractions other than cars and fire fighting appliances. Andrew Holland is doing a great job in gathering up all the loose threads For a full list of all positions including phone num- for all events. bers, see the back pages of this magazine. A third activity which we have had to defer is the Hunter Valley visit. At the moment we are hoping to get it back into the pro- The ROC welcomes, gramme during the first half of 2018. No further work has been James Hutchinson with a 1985 SD1. done, but as soon as we have more planning effort it will be re- vitalised. Ian & Ruth Muldreary with a R/ Rover Sport For the immediate future, many of us will be attending the Shannon’s Sydney Classic at Sydney Motorsport Park and the David Sellini with a 1966 P5, 1976 P6B, All British Day at The Kings School during August. 1970 P5B, 1983 SD1 3500SE, 1984 SD1 3500SE. Now to the immediate past. Several of us from Sydney visited the Hunter All British Day in Raymond Terrace where we were David Tucker with a 1980 SD1 3500 able to see some of our members who live in that region. Our new Hunter Region Convenor, Barry Murdoch, was there with his motor cycle and three cars. Others whom we see Cover Photos rarely were Nick Cope, (with Front Cover; Flavia) and Dennis and Ali- Land Rover Fire Engine at son Trigg. Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth in So, onward and upward to West Australia. great things! Back Cover Ian Richard Dalziel presents Nigel Rock with the award for the best P3 at the 2016 Dis- play Day.

3 A Sensational P5B Photos by Bruce Duncan.

These are the very first photos of Warwick Ravell’s latest sensational restoration. Warwick used parts from 4 different cars and took 6 1/2 years of painstaking work to create this masterpiece.

It rightly won a prize in 2017 at the Rover Owners’ Club Annual General Meeting..

4 2 ඉඛඑඛ5ඝඖ7ඐ-ඝඔඡ OR + ඗ඟ6ඟඍඍග,ග,ඛ Text by Ian Shearman Photos by Andrew Yeend.

Another first Tuesday of the month, time for another Oasis Run. This time we gathered at the Macas in Kings Park, for a trip to the Lindt Chocolate Factory Outlet not far away. As usual there was a very friendly meeting of old friends, of course with some new faces. Coffees and some eats were consumed most, if not all, before we left for the Lindt Factory.

As usual, the convenor of the outing, Les Watton had provided us all with a slip of paper containing the directions This made the relatively short journey easy and we all arrived in the designated parking area within a few minutes of each other. The eighty odd members of the club were ushered into the shop, where we were given a couple of samples of a new product, mango balls. We were then free to wander through the shop to choose whatever took our fancy. The costs of everything was at least 25% off recommended retail price, and one range was 75% off! Of course, we made much use of these prices and left with a great amount of booty. Les had previously warned us to take a cooler bag so that the chocolates did not come to harm in our hot cars while we were travelling or having lunch.

From the shop we retraced some of the road along which we had travelled an hour or so earlier, to the Plumpton Hotel for lunch. Les had made a booking for 40 or so people, and 81 actually turned up! This large number had the staff working hard to cope, especially as there was at least one person off sick. But nevertheless, we did enjoy ourselves. As usual, when we had finished our meals, the party slowly broke up and we went on our own way, home.

We are indebted to another Oasis participant, Andrew Yeend, who took the photos. Our camera’s battery was flat as soon as I tried to use it.

Members of the ROC who attended are: Tony and Marion Groom (Modern) Jim Moule (Cyclops) Thea and Ian Shearman (R40 75) Peter and Wendy van Raalt (Land Rover)

5 More photos from the OASIS run.

Top. A very nice MG Magnette and a Cadillac

Below. It is not all about cars. Health giving burgers and chocolates.

All photos by Andrew Yeend

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, more commonly known as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for their chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. The origins of the company date back to 1836, when David Sprüngli-Schwarz and his son Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann bought a small confectionery shop in the old town of Zürich, producing chocolates under the name David Sprüngli & Son. Two years later, a small factory was added that produced chocolate in solid form. In 1845 they moved to the Pa- radeplatz. With the retirement of Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann in 1892, the business was divided between his two sons. The younger brother David Robert received two confectionery stores that became known under the name Confiserie Sprüngli. The elder brother Johann Rudolf received the chocolate factory. To raise the necessary finance for his expansion plans, Jo- hann Rudolf converted in 1899 his private company into "Chocolat Sprüngli AG". In that same year, he acquired the chocolate factory of Rodolphe Lindt in Bern and the company changed its name to Aktiengesellschaft Vereinigte Berner und Züricher Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli (United Bern and Zurich Lindt & Sprungli Chocolate Factory Ltd.). In 1994, Lindt & Sprüngli acquired the Austrian chocolatier, Hofbauer Österreich, and integrated it, along with its Küfferle brand, into the company. In 1997 and 1998, respectively, the company acquired the Italian chocolatier Caf- farel and the American chocolatier Ghirardelli and integrated both of them into the company as wholly owned subsidi- aries. Since then, Lindt & Sprüngli has expanded the once-regional Ghirardelli to the international market. On 17 March 2009 Lindt announced the closure of 50 of its 80 retail boutiques in the United States because of weaker demand in the wake of the late-2000s recession After Lindt recorded net profits of 4.7 million in the 2011 calendar year, the marketing team stated that its market share amounted to 29%, surpassing its previous years. On 14 July 2014, Lindt bought Russell Stover Candies, maker of Whit- man's Chocolate, for about $1.5 billion, the company's largest acquisition to date. Lindt & Sprüngli has six factories in the following locations: Kilchberg, Switzerland; Aachen, Germany; Oloron-Sainte- Marie, France; Induno Olona, Italy; Gloggnitz, Austria; and Stratham, New Hampshire in the United States. The factory in Gloggnitz, Austria manufactures products under the Hofbauer and Küfferle brand in addition to the Lindt brand. Caffarel's factory is located in Luserna San Giovanni, Italy and Ghirardelli's factory is located in San Leandro, Califor- nia in the United States.Lindt has opened eight chocolate cafés in Australia, four in Sydney and four in Melbourne. The café’s menu offers breakfast and lunch, but mostly focuses on chocolate and desserts. They also sell handmade chocolates, macaroons, cakes, and ice cream. Sydney: The first café opened at Martin Place in 2004. The second store opened in Cockle Bay Wharf in Darling Har- bour in 2006. The third store is located in George Street and opened in 2007. A fourth store opened in Westfield Miran- da in 2008. In December 2014, employees and customers in the Martin Place cafe were held hostage by a gunman, resulting in the deaths of two hostages and the perpetrator. Melbourne: Lindt opened a flagship chocolate café at 271 Collins Street July 2009 and a second store at Chadstone Shopping Centre in August 2009. In June 2011, Lindt opened up their third café on Chapel Street in South Yarra and their fourth6 in November on Southbank. ct defun VELOREX n or now rs ittle k cture L anufa Velorex was a manufacturing cooperative in Solnice, Czechoslovakia. Notable car m products included a small three-wheeled car, produced from the 1950s until 1971, and the Type 562 sidecar. The sidecar is still manufactured in the Czech Republic by Velorexport, the successor to Velorex

Beginning in 1936, two brothers František (1914 - 1954) and Mojmír (1924-2011) Stránský, the owners of a bicycle repair shop in the village of Parník near Česká Třebová, began the design of a small, cheap three-wheeled car, inspired by three- wheelers from Morgan Motor Company. In 1943, they built their first prototype using steel tubing wrapped by dural sheet metal and some bicycle parts (later these would be replaced by parts from motorcycles). They named the vehicle Oskar ("kára na ose," or "car on axle").

In 1945, the brothers built their first batch of cars, using leath- er cloth instead of sheet metal as the bodywork. Three vehicles were powered by 150 cc (9 cu in) ČZ motorcycle engines, three with 6 bhp (4 kW; 6 PS), 300 cc (18 cu in) PAL engines and six with 250 cc (15 cu in) Jawa units. The price was about a quarter of the cost of a typical car.

The post-war Czechoslovakian auto industry was unable to meet popular demand for vehicles, resulting in long waiting periods and quotas. Several models of small cars had been built either by amateurs or in small runs (e.g., Kreibich, TRIGA Tripolino, JAB).

In 1950, the Stránský's workshop was transferred to Velo, a small manufacturing company in Hradec Králové, later renamed to Velorex. In 1951, the machinery and six workers were moved into a new plant in Solnice. During that year, 120 Oskar 54 vehicles were produced; a year later, 180; and in 1954, eighty workers produced 40 vehicles per month. On January 21, 1954, František Stránský died when a test prototype crashed. His brother, Mojmír, refused membership in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and was fired. In 1956, the vehicle's name was changed to Velorex - Oskar and then just to Velorex. In 1959 the company produced 120 vehicles per month. In 1961 part of the production moved into a new plant in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. The maximum speed of the car was 30 km/h. In 1963, production of the newly designed "Model 16" started (fitted with either ČZ 175 or Jawa 350 type 572 engines); and the model was modernized again in 1968. In 1971, production of three-wheeled cars stopped, and the company switched to production of a four-wheeler, the "Model 435-0", which featured the Jawa 350 type 572 - 04 engine. Problems in design and manufacturing, as well as the inability to compete with higher- category cars (including the cheap Trabants), made the four-wheeler a commercial failure, and its production was stopped in 1973. Plans to produce a small car similar to Fiat 500 or a rickshaw-like truck did not material- ize.

Spare parts for Velorex vehicles were first produced in the Solnice plant, and then in Rychnov nad Kněžnou after 1975. In the mid-1980s, India tried to obtain a license to produce the three-wheelers; the deal failed because the original tooling no longer existed About half of the production was exported to Eastern Bloc countries (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, East Germa- ny) - 7,540 vehicles in total. In Czechoslovakia, the demand exceeded the supply and the new cars were sold only to the disabled after thorough examination by an official commission. Part of the production was allocat- ed to companies and organizations.

As of 1996, 62.5% of the three-wheelers sold in Czechoslovakia were still registered. As of 2006 the vehicle can be still seen occasionally and it has obtained cult-like status among its owners. Several Velorex clubs exist in the Czech Republic. Rallies are regularly organized in Boskovice (last in 2007) and in Lipnice nad Sázavou, inside the Lipnice Castle. Until 2000 only the motorcycle driving license (A) was required, afterwards the B1 license (car from age of 17).

Source for above: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velorex 7 October Outing! The Rover Owners Club has been invited to be the feature club at the 8th Annual Motoring Expo

Australian Motorlife Museum Kembla Grange , on Sunday 1 October 2017.

Artwork above by Mark Nelson. 8 Proposed itinerary for Outing to Motorlife Museum.

Contact Club Captain Andrew Holland at [email protected] to confirm your attendance and to arrange accommodation. Or talk to Andrew at a monthly meeting.

Saturday 30 September.

9:15 meet at Loftus Oval car park. 9:30 depart in convoys of 4 cars heading south on Farnell Avenue/Audley Road 9:45 Stop at Audley Weir Tearooms for morning tea. 10:15 Depart Audley Tea Rooms on Bertram Stevens Drive/ Lady Wakehurst Drive heading south Pause at Stanwell Tops to watch hang gliders and then travel south over the SeaCliff Bridge 12:30 Arrive at Wollongong and proceed to Master Builders Club carpark on Smith Street.

We have arranged a table for 20 in Juiliana’s Restaurant at the club.

2:00 Depart for accommodation at Figtree 6 couples at Sovereign Inn. Albion Park 1 couple at Park meadows B&B. At Airbnb Kiama 1 Couple At Stuart and Beatrice’s home at Kiama 2 Couples and 1 single

Afternoon free to enjoy/ relax

5:30 Meet a Kiama for diner at Olive and Vine Restaurant table for 20 booked.

Sunday 1 October Breakfast at your accommodation. Travel to Motor life Museum in Darkes Road Access from Old Princes Highway at Brownsville. (see map next page.) 9;30 Arrive at Motor Museum 12:15 For those that would like to join each other for a sit down lunch, depart for Passionate Palate Restaurant at a gated village at Kanahooka. (Table booked for 20) 2:00 Depart for home.

Costs 30 September Morning Tea Your choice Lunch $14.40 each for seniors Otherwise $16 each Accommodation Figtree $135 for couple Albion Park $130 for couple Airbnb $ 120 for couple Rigbys Nil Dinner $25 to $40 Each

1 October Motor Life Museum Admission (see ROC) Lunch at Kanahooka $20 to $40 each.

9 From Sydney down Motorway Motorlife museum

Kanahooka Road.

10 The Advertisement above was supplied by Igor Spagic who found it in a 1967 issue of American Road and Track magazine.

It is bit unfair I know, but the price converts to about $6000 using current exchange rates. By comparison a good P6 would cost you more than that today. 11 Battle of Waterloo Queanbeyan 2017

Last month Freewheeling brought you some photos of the 2017 Battle of Waterloo in Queanbeyan. Here are some more photos from that day. All these photos are by Chris Forsey.

Left . A really smart looking Citroen.

Below. A new production Morgan Three wheeler.

Left Armstrong Siddeley cars

Below. Neither French nor British but a Chrysler Voyager modified to take a wheel chair in the lifting section at the rear.

12 7ඐඍ%ඍඏඑඖඖඑඖඏ2ඎ7ඐඍ(ඖඌ"

In case you missed it:

 All new models introduced by Volvo from 2019 will either be hybrid or powered only by batteries

 Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks, said recently that it would invest 5 billion renminbi, or $735 million, in a new battery factory it will build in Beijing with its Chinese partner, BAIC Motor

 Meanwhile France and the United Kingdom will ban sale of all new petrol and diesel cars from 2040.

Just think about that for a minute. 2040 is only 23years from now. Projecting that backwards, 23 years ago was 1994. Doesn’t seem all that long ago does it? If you are driving a car on Conditional Registration, it is older than 1994. So in that same interval, we are likely to see only electric vehicles in the show rooms. Presumably the huge number of internal combustion engine cars that remain on the road will keep fuel places open but the number must decrease and petrol (or diesel) will get harder to find and be more expensive.

Later in this issue of Freewheeling is the club outing agenda. These are outings to which you can take your noisy, polluting , environmentally unfriendly car. Enjoy your car while you can. It may become a museum piece.

Electric cars and hybrids feature lithium batteries. Lithium Ion Batteries have been in the news a lot recently. So what is Lithium and what is an Ion? Read on:

Lithium Lithium (from Greek: λίθος lithos, "stone") is a chemical element with symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and is stored in mineral oil. When cut open, it exhibits a metallic lus- ter, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery grey, then black tarnish. It never occurs freely in nature, but only in (usually ionic) compounds, such as pegmatitic minerals which were once the main source of lithium. Due to its solubili- ty as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines. Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

The above came from this reference. For a considerably more, refer to . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

Ion. An ion (/ˈaɪən, -ɒn/) is an atom, or a molecule, in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving the atom or molecule a net positive or negative electrical charge. An atom, or molecule, with a net positive charge is a cation. An atom, or molecule, with a net negative charge is an anion. Because of their opposite electric charges, cations and anions attract each other and readily form ionic compounds, such as salts. Ions can be created by chemical means, such as the dissolution of a salt into water, or by physical means, such as pass- ing a direct current through a conducting solution, which will dissolve the anode via ionization . Ions consisting of only a single atom are atomic or monatomic ions. If they consist of two or more atoms, then they are called either molecular ions, or polyatomic ions. In the case of physical ionization of a medium, such as a gas, what are known as "ion pairs" are created by ion impact, and each pair consists of a free electron and a positive ion

The above came from this reference. For a considerably more, refer to. .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion

13 I know that I said in the June Freewheeling that it would be the last part of the report of the engine rebuild on my 1951 Rover 75 but, since putting the car back on the road, I have researched a few things that I thought might be of some interest to other P4 owners.

Anyone who has undertaken major work on a car knows that there is a period of “sorting out” that follows. While the overall job can be considered a success, there are always niggling problems that arise. First, recall that I had thought at first that I would be simply replacing a head gasket. Had I known that the car would be off the road for six months, I would have taken more care with storage of parts, particularly the car- burettors and the distributor.

Before “The Troubles”, I had replaced distributor contact points and spark plugs. This, of course, had not cured the misfiring and water loss. Upon getting the car on the road again, I found that · the exhaust was very noisy · there was some misfiring on acceleration · the oil light came on every now and then · there were a lot of water leaks.

During the six months, acidic water from the blown head gasket had lain in the mufflers. They were both badly damaged. The tail pipe also had some holes. I had a new system fitted by a local muffler shop. The $550 cost was lower than I had expected because they fitted mild steel cans instead of the stainless that I had requested. The misfiring could have been caused by any number of things. The plugs were showing a sooty deposit. I checked ignition timing several times and adjusted the points several times without any benefit. I have always used Champion N5 or N8 plugs. They were superseded by N5C / N8C some years ago. These have spark sup- pressing cores that limit radio interference but they seem to be difficult to find these days. I was told that the equivalent in NGK is BE6S and I had fitted them earlier last year. With the rebuilt engine, they kept getting fouled, leading to severe misfiring. I changed back to a set of old Champion plugs that I had kept. The car ran better but, as the plugs were old, there was still some misfiring.

I did not have a suitable oil gauge fitting to check the oil pressure so I asked a local mechanic to do it. As I thought, oil pressure was fine. I think that some grit might have entered the pressure switch while off the car, causing it to stick occasionally. The mechanic also was able to find some of the places from where water was leaking. The bottom radiator hose was not sealing on the iron pipe to the water pump and one of the water pump bolts was not sealed properly. Fixing this required removing the radiator (“Not again!”). Before the rebuild, the bottom radiator hose had not been off that pipe for many years. It had rusted onto the pipe. I re- moved the hose and found that rust deposits were embedded in the inside of the hose. I filed and sanded the pipe to get a smooth surface. I smeared Silastic on the pipe before refitting. It leaked worse for a while but eventually stopped.

Water also leaked from the bottom drain tap. I pulled it apart and lapped in the taper. It still leaked. On further inspection, I found that there was a crack in the threaded tube that joins the tap to the body of the radiator. This is a poor design. There is no way of getting a spanner onto the tap to remove it so pliers or multigrips have to be used. The resultant flexing of this four-inch assembly had clearly caused it to crack. Not having collected another tap assembly, I resolved to put a plug with a hexagonal head in the bottom of the radiator. This is easy to remove. I don't like drain taps in that position anyway. The one on the Bluebird once vibrated open and al- lowed all the radiator contents to spill onto the road.

Continued next page

14 The capacity of the P4 cooling system is 12.5 litres. I bought three 5L bottles of inhibitor but I couldn't use it until I was satisfied that all the leaks had been plugged. That was well into July.

Having celebrated the discovery of the “lost” radiator cap (in the chassis cross member), I then lost it properly in the very same manner. I was in a hurry one night and topped up the water before leaving a car park, then closed the bonnet without checking that I had replaced the cap.

Even before the engine was “run in”, I could notice that it had more power than before the rebuild. I am planning to take it to Apollo Bay, Victoria in March to walk the Great Ocean Walk, all 104 km. By then I hope that all the glitches will have been corrected.

Jim Moule (241) Email: [email protected]

For all your bits and pieces for Rover P4, P5 and P6 contact Jon Wadhams ltd. whose advertisement appears below.

15 Club News.

How many are there?

Ever wondered how many cars there are in the Rover Owners’ Club and what sort are they? Well here are some recent statistics provided by the Registrar.

Vehicle categories P1 6 P2 8 P3 16 The membership of the ROC is P4 52 P5 22 Members 203 P5B 19 Family members 32 P6 27 P6B 67 In July 2017 we had 4 new members and 8 additional R40 34 vehicles to give a total vehicle count of 347. 400/800 7 Land Rovers 27 Rover mini 2 SD1 30 Range Rovers 20 R8 1 Roadster 1 Bicycles 3 Non Rovers 7

Positions Vacant

Club Shop. Rover Owners’ Club is looking for someone to take on the role of club shop co-ordinator. Ideally this will be a member who is able to attend meetings on a regular basis, and bring the bag of merchandise to display for members to purchase.

Please contact Ian Shearman if you can assist.

Black Pictures. Some ROC members have reported finding black pictures in Rovernet and/or Freewheeling where clearly there should be a photograph. Sometime a publication will be part black pictures and part photos. Sometimes accessing the same publication at a different time will fix the problem. The collective wisdom seems to be that this problem is caused by download speed and to ex- cessive downloads on the system at the same time (this is why trying at a different time might fix the problem) The solution seems to be to download the publication to your hard drive and then open it from there.

16 $1඗ගඍ$ඊ඗ඝග$එකඊඉඏඛ A Note by Ian Shearman, with major input from Bruce Sanderson (RCCA) There has been some discussion in the Australian press about the safety of airbags in some cars, especially since there has been one person in Australia dying in a car crash attributed to a faulty airbag. The Japanese manufacturer, Takata, has been the subject of considerable scrutiny throughout the world, as it has supplied reputedly about 70% of all airbags. The Rover R40 75 model does have six airbags within its very comprehensive Supplementary Restraint System. I became quite concerned about this and searched the documents included in the MG Rover CD manuals. I could find nothing in there which identifies the manufacturer or supplier of the airbags. An email to Bruce Sanderson has revealed some quite comforting information. I am documenting what he has reported back to me:

Up until the end of year 2012, the Rover 75 used airbags supplied by Airbags International Ltd., a U.K. subsidiary of Autoliv, which is a Scandinavian company. Since 2003, the parent company Autoliv Inc supplied the airbags for our cars - until the cessation of the 75 / ZTs production. To add more comfort to us, the former Melbourne MG Rover agent received a confirmation message from the UK Group (some months ago) verifying that the R40 was NOT fitted with airbags sourced from Takata, and there are no safety concerns for us. The only “problem” that I am aware of (apart from under seat connectors becoming dislodged) is corroded side impact sensors (caused by water in the footwell) – the driver will receive a warning message on the instrument panel.. Interestingly, whilst the side impact sensor had been adversely affected, the floor was still as new – thanks to the galvanising prior to painting. Airbags International Ltd. designs, develops, and manufactures airbags for automotive personnel safety systems. This Company only provides services in the United Kingdom – based in Viking Way, Congleton, Cheshire. The SRS also controls the seatbelt pretensioners, providing the best protection for the vehicle’s occupants. Driver and front passenger head and side airbags are fitted as standard, with side head "windowbags" available as an option until 2005 when they became standard equipment. If the window airbags had been standard equipment at the time of its Euro NCAP crash test in 2001, it would have scored the full five stars for the adult occupant impact rating. Following a look at some comments in the MG-Rover forum. some owners that have checked their early broken cars (dismantled) the Pre 2003 cars were fitted with Airbags International airbags, a division of Autoliv. The cars from 2003 onwards were fitted with Au- toliv branded airbags. As the members posting the comments on the MG-Rover forum said, we shouldn't have any problems. Autoliv, a Scandinavian company, is understood to have supplied airbags to the military and airforce. There appear to have been no reported problems with our car’s airbags. Therefore, we can be happy that the Rover 75 is safe from airbag problems, until proven otherwise.

The following is an extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag. This reference is a MUCH longer article and you are encour- aged to read it to learn more about airbags.

An airbag is a type of vehicle safety device and is an occupant restraint system. The airbag module is designed to inflate extremely rapidly then quickly deflate during a collision or impact with a surface or a rapid sudden deceleration. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, inflation module and impact sensor. The purpose of the airbag is to provide the occupants a soft cushion- ing and restraint during a crash event to prevent any impact or impact-caused injuries between the flailing occupant and the interior of the vehicle. The airbag provides an energy absorbing surface between the vehicle's occupant and a steering wheel, instrumental panel, A-B-C- structural body frame pillars, headliner and windshield/windscreen. During a crash event, the vehicle's crash sensor(s) provide crucial information to the airbag electronic controller unit (ECU), including collision type, angle and severity of impact. Using this information, the airbag electronic controller unit's crash algorithm deter- mines if the crash event meets the criteria for deployment and triggers various firing circuits to deploy one or more airbag modules within the vehicle. Working as a supplemental restraint system to the vehicle's seat-belt systems, airbag module deployments are triggered through a pyrotechnic process that is designed to be used once. Newer side-impact airbag modules consist of compressed air cylinders that are triggered in the event of a side impact vehicle impact. The first commercial designs were introduced in passenger automobiles during the 1970s with limited success. Broad commercial adoption of airbags occurred in many markets during the late 1980s and early 1990s with a driver airbag, and a front passenger airbag as well on some cars; and many modern vehicles now include six or more units The airbag specified for automobile use traces its origins to air-filled bladders as early as 1941.The invention is also credited inde- pendently to the German engineer Walter Linderer, and to the American John W. Hetrick who in 1951 registered for the first of his airbag patents. Linderer filed German patent #896,312 on 6 October 1951, which was issued on 12 November 1953, approximately three months after American John Hetrick was issued United States patent #2,649,311 on 18 August 1953. Linderer's airbag was based on a compressed air system, either released by bumper contact or by the driver. Later research during the 1960s showed that compressed air could not inflate Linderer's airbag fast enough for maximum safety, thus making it an impractical system. Hetrick was an industrial engineer and member of the United States Navy. His airbag was designed based on his experiences with compressed air from torpedoes during his service in the Navy, combined with a desire to provide protection for his family in their automobile during accidents. Hetrick worked with the major American automobile corporations at the time, but they chose not to invest in it. Although airbags are now required in every automobile sold in the United States, Hetrick's 1951 patent filing serves as an example of a "valuable" invention with little economic value to its inventor because its first commercial use did not occur until after the patent expired when in 1971, it was installed as an experiment in a few Ford cars. In Japan, Yasuzaburou Kobori started developing an airbag "safety net" system in 1964, for which he was later awarded patents in 14 countries. He died in 1975 without seeing widespread adoption of airbag systems. 17 &ඔඝඊ&ඉඔඍඖඌඉක

Please remember it is necessary to reserve your place on any event, except Club meetings, by telephoning the person organising the event. If you decide later not to attend something for which you have booked, please let the person organising the event know so others will not be inconven- ienced by waiting for you unnecessarily. If you can’t get to the event – get to a phone! It should be recognised that whilst the Rover Owners Club takes every care and precaution, members and their guests participate in all activities by their own choice, and act on their own behalf, thus at their own risk.

If the words Invitation Event precede the details in an item, it means the club has been invited but will not be attending as a group. You should contact the person indicated, or visit the club web site and obtain details, followed by making your own arrangements to attend.

If the words Invitation Event do not precede the details in an item it means the club will be attending as a group and you should contact the ROC club person indicated to arrange attendance., or visit the club web site and follow the detailed instructions. Sunday 13 August 2017 | Shannon's Sydney Classic Display Day • Venue | Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek • Please contact Vice-President Richard Dalziel to purchase your entry ticket. • Gen Admission per veh $20 • Payt by EFT to Rover Owners Club Inc. Bendigo Bank BSB: 633 000 A/N: 126 077 999 • Only 7 tickets remain. Tickets will be mailed out on receipt of payment. • Contact | Richard Dalziel | Phone | 9489 3553 Mobile | 0412 709 228 Email | [email protected] • Download | Shannon's Sydney Classic 2017 Flyer PDF

Wednesday 23 August 2017 | General Meeting • Venue | Veteran Car Club Hall, 134 Queens Road, Five Dock | 8:00 pm • After meeting highlight | Rover P6/P6B evening, led by Bruce Duncan & Robert Walker

August Sunday 27 August 2017 | All British Day • Venue | The Kings School, North Parramatta • Entry tickets $10 per car. • Pay EFT to Rover Owners Club Inc Bendigo Bank BSB: 633 000 A/N: 126 077 999 • Please contact Vice-President Richard Dalziel to purchase your entry ticket. • Only 15 tickets remain. Tickets will be mailed out on receipt of payment. • Contact | Richard Dalziel | Phone | 9489 3553 Mobile | 0412 709 228 Email | [email protected] • Download Vehicle Entry Plan | 2017 All British Day Vehicle Entry Plan PDF • Visit Website | All British Day Sydney

Wednesday 27 September 2017 | General Meeting

September • Venue | Veteran Car Club Hall, 134 Queens Road, Five Dock | 8:00 pm

Sunday 1 October 2017 | Motorlife Annual Motor Expo • Incorporating the Rover Owners Club 50th Anniversary of the Rover V8 Engine • Venue | The Australian Motorlife Museum, Integral Energy Recreation Park, Darkes Road, Kembla Grange • Time |9.30 amto 2.30 pm • Entry fee | $10 per car • PLANNED WEEKEND ACTIVITIES: Saturday 30 September: Optional Run from Sydney to Wollongong/Port Kembla area, with dinner & overnight stay Sunday 1 October: Motorlife Expo & 50th Anniversary of the Rover V8 Engine. • Download Full Weekend Details: Rover V8 50th Anniversary Weekend 2017 PDF • Contact | Andrew Holland | Mobile | 0414 625 236 Email | [email protected]

Wednesday 25 October 2017 | General Meeting • Venue | Veteran Car Club Hall, 134 Queens Road, Five Dock | 8:00 pm

Following the Rove and as part of it, there has been an added Tasmanian Tour. The Time Tables and Fares for the Spirit of Tasmania will be available soon at www.spiritoftasmania.com.au or contact 1800 634 906 The Schedule IS:

Monday 30th April: Melbourne - Evening Spirit of Tasmania to Devonport – Departing 7:30 pm Check-in commences 2.5 hours prior to departure and closes 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure time.

Tuesday 1st May - Day 1: Devonport to Bicheno Total Distance 254 kms; 3 hrs 25 min. Devonport to Eliza- beth Town -– Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for Breakfast: http://raspberryfarmcafe.com/ Distance 40 kms; approx 30 minutes. Christmas Hills to St Marys - Travel through Deloraine, Westbury, Conara, Avoca, Fingall to St Marys. Visit Old Cranks History Museum, St Marys. Distance 171 kms; 2 hrs St Marys to Bicheno - Overnight Bicheno Distance 41 kms; 50 Minutes

Wednesday 2nd May - Day 2: Bicheno to Hobart Total Distance 199 kms; 2 hrs 50 min. Bicheno to Little Swanport,via East Coast Wineries, Swansea and visit to East Coast Heritage Museum Distance 78 kms; 1 hr 10 min. Lunch Muirland Homestead Little Swanport Little Swanport to Hobart, via Triabunna, Orford, Buckland, Sorell Distance 121 kms; 1 hr 30 Overnight Hobart – two nights

Thursday 3rd May - Day 3: Explore from Hobart – At your leisure. Suggestions include Port Arthur, Huon Valley, New Norfolk, Museum of Old & New Art Etc (Mona) – Mona Entrance Fee between $20-28 – Trip to Mona on the river (Highly recommended!) is $22-00 each way.

Friday 4th May - Day 4: Hobart to Launceston Total Distance 205 kms; 2 hrs 45 min Hobart to Oatlands via Richmond, Coal River Valley Wineries/Richmond Cheese. Distance 85 kms; 1 hr 20 min - Lunch and explore Oatlands. Oatlands to Launceston, via Historic towns of Ross/ Campbell Town. Distance 120 kms; 1 hr 30 min - Overnight Launceston

Saturday 5th May - Day 5: Launceston to Devonport Ferry Total Distance 99 kms; 1 hour 20 minutes At your leisure explore around Launceston, possibility of visiting National Motoring Museum – Cost $11 - $14 per head, or historic Towns of Deloraine or Latrobe, or visit Cataract Gorge. Ferry sailing time 7.30pm, Check-in commences 2.5 hours prior to departure and closes 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure time.

22 Rover Owners’ Club General Meeting . ( General Meeting 26 July 2017.) Meeting opened at 8:00 pm with 19 members and guests attending. Apologies: Rob Turner, Chris Forsey, Keith Beale, Peter & Gail Scott, David Woodward, Thea Shearman and Michael Coombs. Previous minutes. Proposed. Paul Anley. Seconded. Ashley Lynn. President: Ian Shearman welcomed Members and guests and asked all members to sign the attendance book. He then thanked Andrew Holland for stepping up and taking on the position of Club Captain and also mentioned that there is an amount of unpresented Pride of ownership Certificates that he would post them the various recipients. Committee reports Editor: Ken Dunkley reported that the July magazine, Freewheeling had gone out and the August issue was on the way to be ready for distribution. Webmaster’s Report for July 2017 General Meeting. Rob Turner reported. • Website: running well, receiving good, consistent daily visitor browsing. • Events web page: updated regularly; contains the latest available Coming Events information, including the latest downloadable Rove 2018 booking form and related information. Secretary: Warren McEwen had nothing to report. Vice President / Treasurer / Public Officer: Richard Dalziel presented members with the current financial status of the club and the statement of finances. ANZ Term Deposit #1 $14,000.00 ANZ Term Deposit #2 $10,000.00 Total Reserves $24,000.00 NSW Bendigo cheque account Opening balance $ 8,577.27 Plus, deposits due $ 2,205.00 Less unpresented $ 2,966.72 Closing NSW balance $ 7,815.55 ACT Westpac cheque account Current ACT balance 1,094.42 Consolidated NSW & ACT total $32,909.47 End of financial year figures are prepared, and these just need to be checked, and then the tax return can be prepared. CMC representative’s report Ian Shearman reported on the CMC General meeting held on the 25th July 2017. I attended the general meeting of the CMC on 25th July 2017 and the following are points of interest to the ROC: 1. A method of assessing and accepting new clubs for affiliation with the CMC is being considered as the current method is unreasonably long. This will need a change to the CMC’s constitution. 2. Asbestos in imported vehicles is being monitored very strictly by Customs and Border Force. It seems that trying to import an old, classic car may end up being expensive and result in it being destroyed. 3. Roads Minister is expected to be at the SSC and perhaps make the awards. 4. We should submit our response to the questionnaire about the 60-day logbook trial by the due date. 5. I have made a verbal application for our Display Day. This should be followed up by the written application. 6. Maps are available for the parking areas for the SSC. We are in Area C, near where we have been in previous years. 7. I have spoken with the Buick representative and he said that they have in the club one Buick which has an engine of the design which Rover bought in the 1960s. I will be following up this contact to see if we can get it to our V8 celebrations. Registrar: Robert Walker reported - Total membership 235 Comprising of 8 honorary and life/founding members. 203 Members and 32 family members. Current new members for July 4new members and 1 Family member. In July86 additional vehicles. Total number of vehicles registered 339 Club Plates: No report. Spare Parts: Paul Anley reported that Dennis Trigg was looking at the possibility of rebuilding P6 Idler arms to be sold on an exchange purchase. Also, Michael Coombs had a large quantity of P4 parts he wished to part with. Paul also mentioned that he had many P4 & P5 brake drums. Club Captain: Andrew Holland reminded members of all the listed coming events and that they needed to put their name down for them in the correct list He told members that the club Display day would be held at the Museum of Fire at Penrith on the 29th October 2017. Ian Shearman spoke on the day being held at the Motorlife Museum on the1st October commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Rover V8 The tickets for the Shannon’s Classic and the All British Day can are available and can be purchased from Richard Dalziel. Note: All events are listed on the club web site and in RoverNET every week. Please contact the club captain for any further information. ROC Shop: The committee is looking for an interested member to take on the position of Club Shopkeeper. General Business: Richard Dalziel informed members that he visited Alison Munting and checked through the Rover items in Nick’s garage. He collected some R40 75 cam belt change parts that had been ordered by Nick for himself & Stuart Rigby. We have paid Ali for some of these parts – a stock list is to be prepared. We also collected the VIS motor tester plus some new & used VIS motors – value to be determined and items to be purchased from Ali Munting. Both of Nick’s P6B/P6BS will need to be sold – however, there is a collection of parts which needs to be sorted first, to determine what parts go with which car. The P6 sway bars have been collected from Dennis Trigg, and are now in the process of being distributed. He also mentioned that he observed a SAIC vehicle on the road the other day. Paul Anley mentioned that Wadham’s were closed for a few weeks for the British summer break. Rex Mickan informed members that been looking at Austin / Rover online and it had a lot of interesting articles. Ian Shearman let members know that the Airbags installed in the Rover R40/75 were not of the brand that was on recall and were manufactured in Britain. He also thanked Rex Mickan for taking on the role of the Rover 200/800 specialist. The raffle was then drawn and the meeting closed at 9:40 pm for refreshments when Paul Anley gave an entertaining presentation of many various classic cars including a number of classic fire trucks and utility vehicles from many parts of the world. The next Meeting to be held on Wednesday 23rd August 2017 23 ROVER OWNERS’ CLUB REGALIA. Club Shop.

The ROC Club Shop does not appear this month. There are small amounts of items shown in previous Freewheeling that are available at bargain prices. Nic Munting was actively sourcing new items. The final details are not available at this time. If you need any of the items previously available, please contact Richard Dalziel. Items for the club shop will be re- established in due course.

Position vacant. Club Shop Co-ordinator – the club is looking for a member to take on the role of club shop co-ordinator.

Ideally this will be a member who is able to attend meetings on a regular basis, and bring the bag of merchandise to display for members to purchase.

Please contact Ian Shearman if you can assist.

24 Rover Owners’ Club Inc. Honour Roll. Presidents Founding and

1965 –1968 Keith Beale Life members 1969-July 1970 John Allcock July 1970—1972 Neville Lowe Keith Beale 1973—1976 James MOule Grahame Jones 1977—1980 David Arnold 1981—1984 Robert Merrick 1985—May 1987 Ray Quigley May 1987—1991 Tony Cope 1991—1994 Theo Lyras Life members 1994—1998 Michael Douglas Jessie Tester 1998—2003 Bruce Duncan Anne Lloyd-Owen 2003—2005 Derek Scott Bill Campton 2005 –2009 Richard Dalziel Bob Campbell 2009—2010 Jim Nicholson Tim Crick 2010-2016 Janet Legge 2016-2017 Warwick Ravell May 2017 Nicholas Munting. June 2017- Ian Shearman Present Honorary Members James Taylor

The Rover Owners Club meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month (except December when it meets on the Thursday immediately after the second Wednesday) at the Veteran Car Club of Australia, 134 Queens Road, Five Dock. Meetings commence at 8pm sharp and usually consist of a general business meeting followed by a guest speaker or other appropriate entertainment. A light supper is usually served after each meeting. People with an interest in the marque, owners or principal drivers OF ANY ROVER vehicle (including 4wd) are welcome to join. Currently the joining fee is A$25.00 plus annual subscription A$40.00 including GST. Membership includes a year’s subscription of “Freewheeling”, the Club’s magazine. A members partner or relative can apply to be an Addi- tional Family Member if they wish to participate on committee or vote at club elections, but "Freewheeling" is not included. There is an annual fee of $10 per additional family member wishing to take up this option. Electronic Banking details are:- Account Name. Rover Owners Club Inc. Bank . Bendigo BSB 633 000 Account number 126 077 999 Club postal address is: - Rover Owners’ Club, PO Box 503, Pennant Hills. 1715 The Club e-mail address is: - [email protected] The club website is: - www.roverownersclub.com.au Overseas subscriptions are warmly welcomed. Visitors are welcome at any time. The Club conducts a number of events during the year usually incorporating a drive to a particular venue. There are also social events that members may participate in, such as the Mother’s Day breakfast, annual dinner, picnics and the Club’s Annual Display Day. An elected Management Committee supported by a number of appointed sub-committee roles manages the Rover Owners Club. The Management Committee meets monthly on the second Wednesday night. The President usually chairs this meeting and minutes are kept. Contributions to “Freewheeling” close on the first day of the month of publication. If you want to publish an article, news about an event or something in the Market Place section it needs to be with the Editor by the first of the month. Preference is to receive articles by email, but typed or even hand written will be acceptable, as long your writing is legible. Make certain your name is on the article and your phone number in case we need to contact you. Do make certain we do not infringe copyright. If the article has come from another publication please let us know and also let us know if you already hold permission to reproduce the material. Don’t try to set out the article, we will do that to fit the space we have available. Photographs need to be clear positives. Please write on the back

‘Freewheeling’ is the official journal of the Rover Owners Club Inc. (under the NSW Associations Incorporations Act 1984) registered number Y2302602. On 23 September 1964 it was recognised as the first in the world by the Rover Company Ltd. The opinions expressed in Freewheel- ing are not necessarily those of the Rover Owners Club, its officers or members. Whilst all care is taken, this Club and its officers do not accept responsibility for opinions expressed or the availability or quality or fitness for use of any services, goods or vehicles notified for sale or hire or the genuineness of any advertiser or author. Other clubs may reproduce articles originating from members with acknowledgement to this publication. 25 President Ian Shearman [email protected] 9876 5999 0412 039 824

Vice President Richard Dalziel [email protected] 9489 3553 0412 709 228

Club Captain Andrew Holland [email protected] 0414 625 236

Secretary Warren McEwen [email protected] 9980 2653 0418 695 503

Treasurer & Public Officer Richard Dalziel [email protected] 9489 3553 0412 709 228 COMMITTEE.

MANAGEMENT Registrar Robert Walker [email protected] 0419 220 357

ACT Representative Chris Forsey [email protected] 6297 1080 0413 996 481

All British Rep Andrew Holland [email protected] 0414 625 236

Archivist Rob Turner [email protected] 0404 463 489

Club Parts Manuals Paul Anley [email protected] 9684 1795

Club Plates ACT Hugh Boulter [email protected] 6258 8221 0407 215 008

Club Plates NSW Steven Williams [email protected] 9896 5650 0450 706 519

Club Shop T.B.A. [email protected]

Club Spares Paul Anley [email protected] 9684 1795

CMC rep/committee member Ian Shearman [email protected] 9876 5999

Council of ACT Motor Clubs Chris Forsey [email protected] 6297 1080

Editor Ken Dunkley [email protected] 9533 3326 0400 463 322 OFFICE BEARERS Librarian Andrew Holland [email protected] 0414 625 236

Postage Warwick Moriarty [email protected] 9773 4734 0411 739 132

RoverNET Editor Rob Turner [email protected] 0404 463 489

Technical Coordinator Warren McEwen [email protected] 9980 2653 0418 695 503

Web master Rob Turner [email protected] 0404 463 489

Workshop Manuals Andrew Holland [email protected] 0414 625 236

Hunter Barry Murdoch [email protected] 0412 998 192 Illawarra Stuart Rigby [email protected] 4232 3148 0413 473 825 North Eric Davison [email protected] 6624 4537

Western Peter Colwell [email protected] 6888 5310 0409 927 185

Southern Highlands Rob Turner [email protected] 0404 463 489

Southern NSW/ACT Chris Forsey [email protected] 6297 1080 0413 996 481 AREA CONVENORS

Pre-War James Moule [email protected] 9580 1433

P2/P3 Greg Alexander roverp2p3@ roverownersclub.com.au 9569 5159

P4 Nicholas Cope [email protected] 0487 474 695

P5/P5B Warwick Ravell [email protected] 9872 7860

P6/P6B Andrew Holland [email protected] 0414 625 236

SD1 Adrian Rowland [email protected] 4787 8591

Rover 400/800 series Rex Mickan rover800 [email protected] 0409 787 541

CO-ORDINATORS Land Rover Graham Dawson [email protected] 9982 8828 MODEL TECHNICAL R.Rover/Discovery Jim Nicholson [email protected] 9624 2247

R40 75 Dudley Bennett [email protected] 9997 3493

26 27