Hornet Special Newsletter
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Wolseley Hornet Special Club of Australia Inc Hornet Special Newsletter Special coupe believed extinct The sad fate of a delightful Australian Hornet Special coupe has finally been confirmed (we think) and the pieces of the puzzle were right under our noses. July 2005 Issue 22 Highlights The Red Special Coupe .....1 National News .....2 2005 AGM Plans ....3 Bathurst Hornet Hero .....3 Wonderful Winton or several years Michael Santin had been following leads trying to determine .....4 the fate of a red Sanction 127 Hornet Special coupe that lived in Melbourne in Hornet Hunting Fthe mid 1950s. .....6 In edition 21, we reported on the car’s likely fate; the Special’s bodywork ap- Wolseley Publications peared to have been transferred onto a Wolseley Wasp chassis that eventually found .....8 its way to be now hanging on the side of John Clucas’s house. Now John Davis, who owned the car in the late 1950s, has come up with photos from his ownership. And yes they are colour photos, confirming that the car was red. WHS Club Contacts The shorter Wasp chassis may Secretary go some way to explaining the Bill Russell, non-fitment of the headlight ph (03) 9349 2262 staunchons (bedstead) and the odd Qld Contact forward position of the radiator. Howard Kenward, A recent visit to the car’s last ph (07) 3267 6046 home (in Warrandyte) prior to its Editor dismantling around 1960 failed John Clucas, to locate the missing bodywork ph (03) 9872 3330 and engine. None of the neigh- PO Box 475 Vermont Vic 3133 bours had any recollection of the [email protected] car either. VIC NEWS QLD NEWS lec Sturgess has wasted no time starting on his onty Schofield continues to make good progress 14hp two-seater. The chassis has undergone some Mwith his car and should be putting the last bolt in A“improvements”, Land Rover brake wheel cylin- the engine as you read this. ders are now in place, in lieu of the hard to find orignals, Lyle and Margaret Cooper are on the road again, this and TC rear shocks (fitted snugly inside the chassis rails time heading across the north to the west and so around. at the rear) should give better service than the originals. Howard and Alison Kenward (in the black Hornet), Progress continues on John Clucas’s 14hp WHS. The together with Chris Pike and Monty joined the VCCQ’s car’s new timber frame is very close to finished, so 50th Anniversary tour up the coast to Gladstone and re- panelwork should be underway before the next newsletter. turn through the inland The 14hp block is cracked in the usual places for a Howard’s car received some attention before they left. 14hp unit – between the corner head studs and the water He reports: “One issue was the two flanges on the tailpipe, jacket at the rear, and between the corner head studs and where they meet the exhaust manifold. Over the years the timing chain case at the front. The theory is that the these had thinned out to the stage where they would blow block cracks when head studs are screwed in too tightly, the gaskets far too regularly. For some years I would just so stepped studs on the corners should help prevent the say a few well chosen words, loosen the nuts, pack in cracks from growing. some more exhaust silastic and do the nuts up again. This John found that despite an MGB diaphragm clutch time I cut out two 6mm flange plates and welded them to fitting very nicely, the pedal action suffers, so the coil the weakened existing plates to maintain the correct an- sprung Hornet style clutch is going back in again. The gles. This was totally successful. hydraulic clutch operation on the MG might be the rea- I also replaced the flexible brake hose to the rear axle son. An MGA clutch plate fits straight in. and took the opportunity to renew the brake fluid. For many years I have used silicon brake fluid with total suc- cess and would highly recommend it in the old Lockheed NSW NEWS system which simply doesn’t seal as tightly as modern he good news from NSW is that David Francis ex- systems. Tpects to have his Swallow bodied WHS back from Of course there has to be some rationalisation of lug- the body builders before Christmas. All it then needs is gage when two people travel for eight days in a Hornet paint, upholstery and wiring. Special. To Alison’s concern, I insisted on us adopting the “jock principle” – one pair of knickers on, one clean pair and one in the wash. With my stern overview we ACT NEWS managed. he big news from the ACT is that John Prentice has However on the third day, as we were turning into the Tjust driven his Hornet Special for the first time since main street of Maryborough, a rear axle half shaft broke. 1971. After almost 34 years of being “under restoration” It just went “click” and we failed to proceed. I knew in- the car will make its reappearance at the 2005 AGM in stantly it was the left one because I had replaced the right NSW. No doubt a few champagne corks will be popped. one in 1960. The old wives tale of axles braking in pairs is absolutely true; you only have to wait long enough. We proceeded on the tour in a hire car and later took my 4WD and trailer back to Maryborough to bring the Hornet home. Sure enough it was the left axle; it had broken of course at the diff end. This meant removing the diff centre to ensure no shards of metal were left behind. After assembling all my spare axles I decided against using any of them. Research and some luck revealed that the 1934 Hornet axle is identical to the MG TC axle. The local MG house had re-manufactured axles at a reason- able price, so the Hornet now has two new axles. I must say that this is the first time in 46 years that the The beautifully restored engine bay in John Prentice’s Hornet old girl has failed to get home again under her own power Special. The rest of the car looks just as good. – try that in your modern machine.” Page 2 Hornet Special Newsletter Announcing the WHS event of the year The Wonderous WHS Weekend & 2005 AGM Where: somewhere west of Sydney When: November 4, 5 & 6 What: Horneteering John Prentice and David Francis are arranging a meeting of NSW Horneteers to polish details for a great weekend. More details to follow shortly. Don’t miss it. WHICH CAR IS THIS? n New Years Day 1946 probably the first post-war race meet- bouts of Cyril’s car remains a mys- George McSpedden sallied ing in Australia, and the temperature tery between 1945 (when J.N.Taylor Oforth in his Hornet at the was over 100ºF. More research is re- sold it) and 1954 (when Richardson’s VSSC’s hillclimb event on Mt Pano- quired before the question above the Used Cars at Kedron sold it to Reg rama. The sprint started about half photograph can be answered with any Broom at Albany Creek) - both these way along Conrod Straight and ran certainty, but car no. 121153 (which owners were in Queensland. Photo in a clockwise direction up through Cyril Davis now owns in Queesnland) and race day details kindly provided the esses to the top. The event was is so far the best guess. The wherea- by John Phillips via John Prentice. Issue 22 Page 3 WINTON WENT If you are a Melbournian, the Winton historic moto northeast Victoria each year is one of those “not-to- And for the Melbournian Horneteer, the May 28/29 e especially memorable - it featured two histori THE BETTY CORBIN RACER he Jones boys brought along the ex Betty Corbin racer (for display purposes Tonly) to Winton this year. With a display board alongside they described (in photographs and text) all the car’s history from when Betty raced it in the 1930s, through Norm Jones racing exploits in the ‘50s and ‘60s, to the car’s recent restoration. Interestingly they have endeavoured to re- build the car to its Betty Corbin configuration, down to the odd-sized numbers on the doors and a Sporting Car Club of South Australia badge on the grille. Paintwork on the scuttle has been rubbed back so observers can see every colour the car has worn since Betty’s ownership. The rear of the car had very little bodywork when Betty raced, so the Jones have rebuilt the rear with bodywork replicating what was on the car when they bought it. Intriguing was the word that summed it all up. Crowds buzzed around the car all weekend, enquiring about the history and the mechanical intricacies. The Jones’s rebuild included a new fire wall, with holes drilled Hidden in those shadows is the vital engine number 847 78A. as close as possible to where the factory had put them. Note the period fuel filter. Page 4 Hornet Special Newsletter WONDERFULLY rsport weekend in be-missed” events. event this year was ic Hornets. Right and Left: Betty Corbin’s Hornet Special back at the race track after many years’ absence. The overalls on the trunk still show the holes that resulted from battery acid spilling on Norm’s lap when he inverted the car at Wahgunyah in 1958.