Wolseley Hornet Special Club of Australia Inc

Hornet Special Newsletter

Issue 55 December 2013

WHS Club ContactsSecretary

Bill Russell, ph (03) 9349 2262

PresidentLyle Cooper

ph (07) 3312 2365Editor

Henry Hancock, ph (07) 3878 2850

3 Gilia Court Indooroopilly Qld 4068hlaevt@aanet.com.au

Merry Christmas

In 1921, Wolseley Motors Limited commissioned the architect, Wil-liam Curtis Green, to design the most prestegious car showroom in London.The Grand atmospheric interior with its towering pillars, arches and stairways was testament to the great ambitions of the Wolseley Car Company.The Wolseley opened as a restauant in 2003 and is today renouned for its breakfasts and is a favourite haunt of the rich and famous.

What a Merry Christmas we would all have at The WOLSELEY, 160 Piccadilly, London.

May you enjoy Safe Motoring and a very Merry Christmas

Page 2 Hornet Special Newsletter

Henry Hancock continues his investigations into Queensland distributors from Newsletter Issue 53, June 2013 with Part 2 of ....

When Hornets first came to Brisbane

FINE PERFORMERWOLSELEY HORNETNEW MODELS ARRIVE Modern traffic conditions require a car in which the gear change has been reduced to its simplest form, and Wolseley Motors Ltd., have kept that in mind when design-ing their products for 1934. The first of the 1934 models arrived in Brisbane a few days ago, and yesterday a Wolseley Hornet was made available for a test run. Despite the fact that the car had not been tuned, and had only covered 100 miles prior to the test, it gave a really fine

top-gear performance, taking quite step and rough pitches in its stride. In many cases it was impossible to get a run at the hill, but the 12 h.p. engine did not show any signs of distress, and climbed smoothly. It was not because of any difficulty in gear changing that the car was asked to hang on in top gear, but because of a desire to see what it really could do. The car is fitted with a synchromesh four-speed gearbox which ensures a silent change, and there is a silent third that is re-ally as quiet as the top gear. In traffic it is invaluable and enables exceptionally fast get-aways. With the free-wheeling device in operation it is possible to change into any gear while coasting without the use of the clutch. After first gear all changes can be effected without declutching. There are many attractive and unusual features about the Wolseley products.

For instance, there is automatic starting which prevents the engine from cutting out in traffic, but there is also a manual starter, the button of which is conve-niently placed on the dashboard. There is a master switch projecting through the floorboards directly under the steering wheel by means of which it is possible to isolate the whole of the electrical system from the battery in the case of a short cir-cuit. The hand brake can also be adjusted by the driver without leaving his seat. The car has armchair comfort and, although it looks low and compact, the body has been designed to give ample room for back-seat passengers as well as those in the front seat, and plenty of head room. The upholstery is recessed for armrests. Even on bumpy roads there is no bouncing about and it has to be a very deep bump before it is noticed. The hy-draulic shock absorbers and the efficient springing damp out all road shocks. Steering is delightfully easy and there is an absence of backlash, and the spring steering wheel minimises fatigue. There appears to be nothing that could make for convenience that has been overlooked by the designers. The spare wheel is concealed in a built-in luggage rack and is instantly accessible while the tools are mounted on spring clips in this compart-ment. Generally the new models, which are four-cylinder 9 h.p. and six-cylinder 12 h.p. products, bristle with special features, and are amongst the best as regards performance, appearance and comfort. The agents are Sneddon’s Motors Ltd., Adelaide Street.

1934New Models arrive:

Both advertisements, the Courier-Mail, Tuesday 6 February 1934

Two Hornet saloons and two chassis, possibly 9 hp to receive local bodywork, quite likely by Charles Hope Pty Ltd whose workshop was at WandooStreet, Fortitude Valley. The Courier-Mail Tuesday 6 March 1934.

Issue 55 Page 3

SMART SPORTS MODEL Sports Car enthusiasts will find much to interest them in the 1934 Wolseley Hornet Special Chassis which is now being displayed at the premises of Sneddon Motors Ltd., Adelaide Street, Brisbane. The appearance and finish of the engine is something for the mechanically-minded to go into raptures over. The valve cover and petrol pipes are plated, presenting a finish which is most attractive. It has two down-draught carburettors of automatic self-equalising type. Another outstanding feature is an oil cooler, which ensures that not only is the oil cleaned twice in circulation, but it is cooled to the right temperature before reaching the engine.

A review of the 1934 Wolseley Hornet Special chassis at Sneddons Motors, presumably also to receive local bodywork. The Courier-Mail Tuesday 27 March 1934.

Display at Brisbane City Hall: Wolseley Hornet Special, a most work-manlike job!

Sneddons Motors moving to new premises in Wick-ham Street, Valley, “next Baths”:

AT TOWN HALLWOLSELEY DISPLAYCommencing this morning and continu-ing until next Saturday night Wolseley 1934 models will be displayed in the vestibule of the Town Hall. Sports car en-thusiasts will find a lot to interest them in the chassis of the Wolseley Hornet Special which is a most workmanlike job, while the Wolseley Nine and Wolseley Hornet will be represented by attractive sedan, tourer, and roadster models. The Courier-Mail Tuesday 5 June 1934,

page 23.

SNEDDONS REDUCED PRICESIn an advertisement on this page, Sneddons Motors Ltd., Queensland distributors of Wolseley, Citroen and Armstrong-Siddeley cars and Albion trucks, announce special reductions in both new and used cars. Owning to the fact that the firm is moving all stocks to their Wickham Street premises, it has an excess of new and used cars, and, rather than pay storage for the vehicles that cannot be housed, it is prepared to make very substantial price reductions.

The Courier-Mail Tuesday 17 July 1934, page 10.

Sneddons Motors in their new premises “next Valley Baths”. The Courier-Mail Saturday 25 August 1934, page 4.

Continued next Issue

Wolseley Hornet Special

Page 4 Hornet Special Newsletter

A. Installing 3/8” Head Studs 1. With the engine still in the car, the head was removed and the cam assembly and valves were removed. 2. The head was checked for distortion with a light re-facing. 3. The head stud hole diameter was increased slightly to take 3/8” studs. 4. The tops of the head stud holes were counter-bored to take hardened steel washers and also to allow for the taller 3/8” UNF nuts. 5. The 5/16” head studs were removed from the block; all except Nos. 12, 2 and 13. 6. A head “gasket” less the cylinder holes and water jacket holes was cut out from artist’s card. This was placed over the remaining 3 studs and taped to the block to prevent swarf from entering the cylinders and water jacket. 7. Brass sleeves were placed over the three remaining 5/16” studs to increase their diameter to 3/8” so as to properly locate the head. Brass tube is available at most hobby shops. 8. The head was replaced and tightened on the three studs. 9. A short shank tapping drill for 3/8” BSF was welded to a 3/8” bar and the original 5/16” BSF thread holes of the block were enlarged for tapping. 10. A 3/8” BSF tap was welded to a 3/8” bar and the 11 holes of the block were tapped 3/8” BSF. 11. The head was removed and the top of the block cleaned. 12. The tops of the 3/8” tapped holes were slightly countersunk to remove any raised sections. Then compressed air was used to carefully blow out the tapped holes. 13. The 11 head studs were installed using Loctite 262 high strength thread-lock. 14. The remaining 5/16” head studs, Nos. 12, 2 and 13, were removed, the head was re-installed and the block drilled and tapped 3/8” BSF. 15. The head was removed, the block and head cleaned and the last 3 studs were installed to complete the modification.The head studs I used were 10 ton high tensile 3/8” UNF bolts and nuts. The heads were cut-off and 3/8” BSF threads were cut for the engine block in the lathe. The coarser BSF thread was used to bite better into cast iron than UNF. I also gave each stud a slight diameter reduction between threads to prevent binding when the head was fitted.

Peter Baker solves 1932-33 Head Gasket and other problems

Peter showing the stainless steel shim material adhered to the head gasket.

Issue 55 Page 5

B. Improving the Head GasketMy next job was to make up a solid copper head gasket using 1.6mm copper sheet and an old gasket as a pattern. I drilled, cut and filed the gasket into shape – this took about one day, but I was most satisfied with the result. The gasket was then cleaned and annealed. The head was assembled and bolted onto the block using Kopr-Kote on both sides of the gasket and head studs. The head was tensioned to 35 ft. lbs with a torque-wrench.I tested the car over several days and found that it was losing water from the radiator due to slight gas leaks from the engine into the water jackets. The head was removed again, cleaned and the copper head gasket re-annealed.I then cut out shims from 4 thou. annealed 316 stainless sheet as shown in the photograph using scissors. The shims were glued onto the block side of the gasket using Loctite 609 retaining compound. I used two pieces of glass plate to clamp each shim into position while the 609 fluid set. The glass allowed me to check the shim’s location on the gasket as tension was applied.The head gasket was re-fitted over the head studs using hylomar on the bottom face to ensure that the water jacket holes would seal with the 4 thou. shim over the cylinder bores. On top of the gasket and on the head studs I used Kopr-Kote so as to make removal of the head easier if it had to be carried out again.The head was re-tensioned as before and the car tested. It has been about 12 months since this modification was completed and I am pleased to report no problems. In hindsight I believe fitting a solid copper gasket with the shims attached onto the original 5/16” head studs may have solved the problem in the first place. That is worth a try before increasing head stud sizes.

C. Cam shaft and valve springsI purchased one of the new 1932-33 camshafts from the UK Club as my cam was in poor condition. I fitted the camshaft after making up new bearings to suit. After only a few miles running, I noticed the cam lobes showing signs of wear – there was no problem with lubrication. The head was removed and the double valve springs replaced with a single spring set. There has been no further wear showing on the cam lobes. The engine is running very smoothly and appears to have no valve bounce.

We spoke to Dave Phillips, Spares Secretary WHSC (UK) who advised “The only one I know who has had a problem was due to a couple on things. Firstly, he was using extra strong valve springs (standard single plus the old inner from the original set) and secondly the valve clearances were set too tight. A friend who runs a vintage restoration engineering machine shop did the work on this car. He found that when setting the valve clear-ances to 3 or 4 thou cold, the clearance completely disappeared when hot, Valve inserted in oil feed to head.

In Australia we were very pleased to have six Wolseley Hornet Specials at the AGM in Brisbane.

This is the WHSC AGM in the UK.

Count the Cars

Thanks to Lorna Mountford, Editor of the UK Magazine and Tony Duck who joined 4 images to get this panoramic shot.[Tony sent a 2 Mb file, so if anyone wants a good copy of this please email me]

Page 6 Hornet Special Newsletter

The usual way for Australian WHSC members to purchase spare parts from the club in the United Kingdom is to order from the Spares Secretary, Dave Phillips, at spares@whsc.co.uk and to pay the Australian Treasurer, John Ireland, at deeandjohn@ngvemail.com . John then pays in bulk once a year to minimise currency exchange charges.

The UK treasurer, Ron Barton, has now advised John Ireland of an alternative method of payment. John is happy to continue with the old system for those not PayPal literate.

Subject: Australian Spares

Hi Everyone

To make overseas payment an easier transaction I have set up a PayPal account in my name ron.barton@rbfcomms.com . Just make payments on PayPal to this e mail address. This has worked well for us with other overseas members although I require all payments in GBP. If you are under-taking a transaction please do this under friends and family (not for Goods) as this will be undertaken FOC with a minor payment this end?

Please advise Pay Pal payment to me on this e mail.

Many thanks

Ronwww.rbfcomms.comRon Barton M +44(0)7976407358 T +44 (0)1633 601081 F +44 (0)1633 619595

Purchase of spare parts from the UK

thus causing wear on cam and rockers due to lack of oil between the two. Setting the clearances to 7 or 8 thou overcame the problem so we would recommend using 7 or 8 thou clearance. He also said that a colleague of his who specialises in OHC MGs told him that cams always wear like b*****y no matter what! And that’s not with our camshafts!! After replac-ing the springs with standard strength and opening the clearances, using a stone to smooth the wear on the cam and rockers, he believes that there has been no further problem. The owner had set the clearances to 3 thou to quieten the top end, but this is something that we have to live with!”

D. Camshaft and valve lubricationOn my initial engine re-build I had problems with too much oil flow onto the cam gear because the engine had no restrictor fitted. I installed an adjustable valve into the copper feed line to the head and I drilled and tapped the ends of the rocker shafts and fitted two 1/8” copper take off pipes onto an adaptor utilizing the rear tappet cover securing screw. 1/8” copper pipe was fitted from this adaptor to a pressure gauge mounted under the dash. This has al-lowed me to adjust the oil pressure to the valve gear to 10psi.My engine maintains between 50-60psi oil pressure and the rocker gear end pressure of 10PSI remains stable between idle and normal motoring. To reduce oil flow loss on the rocker gear I made up Teflon washers and fitted them each side of the rocker arm bushes.Also, when the engine valve gear was re-fitted, I used a hydraulic silicon sealer on each valve stem top before fitting the two collet halves. This has stopped oil running down between the collets and into the combustion chambers.

HAPPY MOTORING

Peter BakerSpanner made up by Peter to allow ‘33 head stud tensioning with a torque wrench.

Oil pressure feed taken from the rear of each rocker shaft and through an adaptor “through” the rear rocker cover securing screw.

Issue 55 Page 7

The Automobile magazine in January 2000 featured a beautiful, professionally restored 1934 WHS Salmons Tickford Drophead Coupe, a Cornish barn find. John Summerfield has found that it has recently been sold for GBP 33,000. The Sales information says:-

“On the road this Hornet Special is a delight, with brisk accelera-tion and the smoothness that only a 6 cylinder engine can give – the exhaust note is particularly pleasing too!”, and

“The Salmons Tickford coachwork is especially luxurious, giving saloon car comfort when the hood is easily raised by a handle in-serted in the body side.”

UK Coupe Sold

The Ailments of Motorists and how to avoid themMotorists ailments are for the most part of so slight a degree that they may almost be classed as “discomforts”, still, cases repeatedly present themselves in which the stage of discomfort has been passed and a true ailment exists. Most of us after one or two years of driving, will appreciate the fact that there is nothing so efficient as motoring (in this erratic climate) to find out the unexpected weak spots in our anatomy, and the object of these notes is not so much to suggest the cures as to deal with the prevention of ailments which might be caused by motoring.

Taking first of all, the ailments due to exposure, it has been pointed out in hint No 327 that the important factors to consider in avoiding trouble (in winter driving especially) are attention to breathing and clothing. Breathing should be full, deep, and regular and through the nostrils; any obstruction of the nasal passage ought to be attended to at once for there is nothing more productive of a chill, and its sequel, than mouth breathing. As regards clothing, it must be

The Wolseley Hornet Special Club of Australia Inc. (Victoria, No. A0035489S) exists to encourage the preserva-tion and use of Wolseley Hornets, Sports and Specials. The Club and its Committee take no responsibility for the accuracy of this newsletter’s content nor for the consequences of acting upon any information published herein.

remembered that it is the garments next the body which count – these should be easy fitting, not tight; the external garments are, after all, mere accessories in keeping the body at a normal temperature.

The fallacy of the wind cuff has been commented on ere now; the idea of preventing cold air reaching the arm, at the expense of interfering with the blood circulation of the hand and wrist, is distinctly bad practice.

Extract from MOTOR circa 1927

Robert van de Coolwijk’s 1933 21-60 Wolseley Country Model in South Africa disguised as a Nazi staff car for the movie Jewel of the Gods which he directed.

Some years ago Robert entertained Bill Russell in South Africa.

To view Robb Stewart’s restora-tion progess on his web site:Several readers of WHSC (UK) Magazine No. 147 found they couldn’t view the excellent photographs on Robb’s web site using the link on page 8 of the magazine:-

Go to the web site robbstewart.comClick on the “About Me” icon on the left side of the pageClick on “Photos on Flickr. Car Stuff Only”It is well worth a visit.

Several readers have commented on the excellent report on the AGM weekend in Newsletter No 54 - it was written by our secretary, Bill Russell.

Parts WantedFor Robert van de Coolwijk’s 1933 21-60, see above:-

Camshaft (it was lost by the engine rebuilders).

Email: bobcool@netactive.co.za

For Henry Hancock’s 1933 Doctors Coupe:-

2 Luvax round 3” dia. front shock absorbers (Henry has the original rear shock absorbers).

Email: hlaevt@aanet.com.au