Wolseley Spl Winter Work 2022 / 2023

Here is s short compilation of some of our work on the Wolseley Hornet over the winter months. We had hoped to have driven and tested the car in the autumn, but unfortunately when we came to put oil in the replacement gearbox, it poured out via the bell housing. At the same time a new crank and cam that had been on back order became available. This package will allow us to run a different firing order that seems to be more suitable for racing. And so it seemed to make sense to change the crank and cam whilst we attended to the gearbox problem instead of running the car with the standard firing order for the coming season and then changing over next year (as always planned). It is a bit trickier to change the crank without everything stripped off of the block, but it is still possible. Of course another new crank and cam is bound to raise some anomalies, we did have to make some cam bearings and readjust followers and make new securing dowels. The cam drive will be different which will require some alteration. At the same time we took the opportunity to complete some things off the "to do" list, including king pins and the making of two special oversize shackle pins...

Old Blog posts from many years ago when we restored or recommissioned this Delage DISS from tea chests, boxes and shopping bags dating 40 years earlier. I will continue to try and recover more of these archive posts:

 

Wednesday, 4 April 2018

Delage DISS

Almost two years ago I posted some last pictures of a Delage project that I had been involved with. Our mechanical side had been almost completed and we stood back to allow the body, paint and trim work and to get the Avenue Garage underway.
Here is the result after paint, wood and trim:

It is now time to go back and attend to the last mechanical details before some extensive road tests!

Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Delage DISS Progress

Sunday, 7 December 2014

Delage DISS

Cotter pins are such fiddly little devils to make as a one off.

 Time just rushes away, taking dimensions, finding and base machining a suitable steel bar then swap to four jaw chuck. Dial clock to index from the pin centre line for the offset thread, cut a thread and trim and de burr every thing. That's just the first stage. Now the next part of filing and fitting to get that "just so" snug and mechanically secure fit into the pins own unique location....phew and look at that time!

Now it is time to fit the pins to the brake "through" shaft in the gearbox bell housing and to prepare the historically bruised clutch fork faces to true.The shaft had been removed to clean and "free".

Generally the gearbox assembly has been checked visually but little work has been required, many items had already been recovered in the 70's before being stored. As mentioned before the clutch withdrawal mechanism has been created and modified from boxes of similar parts from other Delage models..

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Saturday Night Workdesk

I  should have been doing paperwork!

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Delage DISS

Here are some sample Delage photos, more to follow:

Delage DISS.......Stunning!

I have been back working through the finishing list of  the Delage (featured in older posts in this blog). Every time I (and everyone else it seems) walk through the door, this car gives me great pleasure to see, it is so stunning, in a very understated way.

As you can see the colour combination and the amazing woodwork along with those big narrow wheels, make this stylish and dignified car.

Her first roadtest was to the MOT station where she passed with a clean bill of health,

after all of those years in boxes, that was quite a moment.

She is back into the workshop now to have some last details and further brake adjustment as the brakes bed in. We are also doing a precautionary check of the engine bearings because, as mentioned in older posts, the engine was white metalled and machined and built before storage in the early seventies, it does seem to have had a brief run after the build but we feel that was very little. The tolerance of the bearings was quite tight and so we have been checking them at intervals to ensure that they are not overheating or showing any sign of distress as they bed in.

The carpenter / cabinet maker has been applying some further coats of oil to the absolutely beautiful woodwork, you can't see in the photos, but the rear seat also has a decking hatch when not in use.

The coachwork has been built by Hugh Murray using the original photos and some original items, Mark has painted her just as the factory, to a wonderful deep, rich, brush coated finish, even though brushmarks are barely perceptible, this gives to the period effect so subtly.