transverse - ford y and c model register€¦ · mike samuel “the willows” stoney road...

TransverseTorque

FORD Y&C MODELREGISTER

Issue 193November - December 2011

Page �

Transverse Torque November - December 2011

The Ford Model Y & C Register

Printed by CPS-Airedale/Thistle Print Ltd 0113 226 7497Specialist printers for classic car clubs.........

Register OfficersChairmanBrianGodfrey,57AldershotRoad,FLeet,HantsGU513NWTel:01252616296e.mail:[email protected]

Vice-ChairmanJohnArgent,35BrookmansAve.,BrookmansPark,Hatfield,HertsAL97QHTel:01707662049e.mail:[email protected]

SecretaryBobWilkinson,RoseHouse,9Brambleside,Thrapston,NorthantsNN144PYTel:01832734463e.mail:[email protected]

AssistantSecretaryPeterPurdy,ManorHouseFarm,Thoroton,NottinghamNG139DSTel:01949851293e.mail:[email protected]

TreasurerBruceAllan,37MeadowPark,Cabus,Garstang,LancsPR31TAe.mail:[email protected]

MembershipOfficerMikeMalyon,8BronHaul,Dyserth,DenbighshireLL186LETel:01745571423e.mail:[email protected]

SparesOfficerPeterKetchell,2ManorRoad,WestminsterPark,ChesterCH47QWTel:01244676856e.mail:[email protected]

SparesAdministratorColinRowe,4CroxdaleClose,BramptonPark,NorthantsNN28ULTel:07944825045e.mail:[email protected]

RegaliaOfficerJohnArgent,35BrookmansAve.,BrookmansPark,Hatfield,HertsAL97QHTel:01707662049e.mail:[email protected]

Editor&ArchivistSamRoberts,16CroyeClose,Andover,HantsSP103AF.Tel:01264365662e.mail:[email protected]

TechnicalAdvisorNigelStennett-Cox157MundesleyRoad,NorthWalsham,NorfolkNR280DDTel:01692406075email:[email protected]

WebsiteManagerRoyHocking-seeRegionalContact08fordetails

ForumMentor:RogerCorti,01895638198email:[email protected]

Co-optedmember:JimSharpe,Galleywood,Essex.Tel:01245351546e.mail:[email protected]

THE FORD Y & C MODEL REGISTER web site is at www.fordyandcmodelregister.co.uk

Annual Subscriptions:- UK £25.00 (S/order preferred); Overseas (incl. Eire) £30.00

01/02 Devon/Cornwall Somerset/Avon/Wilts/Glos IvorBryant TheCottage,TheStreet, Alveston,BristolBS353SX Tel:01454411028 [email protected]

03 Dorset/Hants/IofW/ ChannelIsles ColinWhite 49GrangeRoad St.Leonards,Ringwood HantBH242QE Tel:01202873620

04 Surrey/WestSussex DaveMinnett 20PrincesAve, CarshaltonBeeches SurreySM54NZ Tel:02086612480 [email protected]

05 EastSussex/Kent JohnKeenan 41GhyllsideAve,Hastings E.SussexTN342QB Tel:01424424323 [email protected]

06 SouthWales/Hereford MikeSamuel “TheWillows”StoneyRoad Garndiffaith,Pontypool GwentNP48PY Tel:01495772418

08 Oxon/Berks/Bucks RoyHocking 69AylelsburyRoad Bierton,Aylesbury, BucksHP225BT

[email protected]:01296427706

09 Beds/Herts JohnArgent 35BrookmansAvenue BrookmansPark,Hatfield HertsAL97QH Tel:01707662049

10 Essex DaveGustard 44ParkDale Danbury,Chelmsford EssexCM34EH Tel:01245222921

11 Worcs/Staffs/W.Mids/Warks GeoffSalminen 2NorthPathway,Carless Ave.Harborne, BirminghamB179EJ Tel:01214272189

e.mail:[email protected]

12 Leics/Northants/Cambs Vacant-canyouhelp?

13 Norfolk/Suffolk RogerHanslip 165HungateRoad, Emmeth NrWisbech,PE148EQ Tel:01945430325 [email protected]

14 N.Wales/Cheshire/Lancs Merseyside/Manchester PeterKetchell 2ManorRoad,Westminster Park,ChesterCH47QW Tel:0124467685615 Notts/Derby/Lincs/S.Yorks KenSleight TheForgeCottage Owston,Askern, DoncasterDN69JF Tel:01302337483 [email protected]

16 North,West&EastYorks BarryDiggle 16Croftlands,Idle Bradford BD108RW Tel:01274614729 [email protected] IoM/Cumbria/Durham/Tyne &Wear/N’umberlnd/Clvlnd AndrewBlack 66LindisfarneLane,Morpeth, NorthumberlandNE612UL Tel:01670511113 [email protected]

18 Scotland DrewBarr 30WeaversCrescent KirkcaldyKY25LN Tel:01592269266 [email protected]

19 Ireland Vacant

20 London/Middx JimMiles 11GordonRoad, Wanstead,LondonE112RA Tel:07901561866 (afternoonsonly)Overseas Australia BillBallard 24RowanAve,Boronia Victoria3155,Australia Tel:0061397629974 [email protected]

Denmark MichaelDeichmann By-Lyngen4 Blistrup,DK-3230Graested Denmark Tel:004522278651 [email protected] Norway&Sweden TerjeSaethre Eikelivn,3,2005Raelingen Norway.Tel:004763833020 [email protected]

U.S.A RobertP(Bob)Anderson 228WestRussellSt, Barrington, Illinois60010,USA Tel:(001)8473810052 [email protected] telephoning UK from overseas replace first 0 in UK number with +44

TRANSVERSETORQUEistheofficialmagazineoftheFordY&CModelRegisterLtd.RegisteredinEnglandNo.4445646.Reg.dOffice:PrioryClose,StMary’sGate,LancasterLA11XB

DISCLAIMER:TheEditor&ClubOfficersoftheFordY&CModelRegisterdonotnecessarilyagreewithalltheviewsandadviceexpressedwithinthisnewsletterandcannotacceptliabilityfromerroneousinformationprinted.

Regional Contacts

Page �The Ford Model Y & C Register

Transverse Torque Novrember - December 2011

Editorial

ThisisthepenultimateissueofTrans-verseTorquefor2011,thecentenaryyear of the Ford Motor Company

Ltd. As Transverse Torque’s contributionto the celebration, in addition to the arti-cleonFord’sowncentenary in issue190,coverageisbeinggiventothefoursurvivingfamilybusinesseswhosignedupwithFordduring its first year of operation. In issue186, thehistoryofPercyHendyLtd. (nowtheHendyGroup)wasreportedandinthelastissue,wecoveredHaynesofMaidstoneLtd.InthisissuewereportonthestoryofTheOldhamMotorCompany,Ltd. (OMC),whichleavesonlyGordonsofBoltontobecovered.Wearegratefultomember,ArthurRedfern, for introducingyourEditor to thepresentgenerationofownersoftheseveryprouddealerships.

The 10 Ford vehicles, spanning 100 years of Ford of Britain, cross Westminster

Bridge on the Ford Centenary Tour. The third car back in the left-hand column is

Ford’s heritage Model “Y”, DOA 244.”

Torecap,abriefCVofArthur’scareerisasfollows, “I left the Ford Motor Company after 25yrs in 1969 and joined Gordons of Stockport Ltd., as opposed to Gordons (Bolton) Ltd. Both were owned by Sam Gordon until the mid-1930s. To avoid confusion, as I started to expand the Stock-port dealership, I changed the trading ti-tle to Gordon Ford after permission was granted by the Ford Motor Company to add Ford to the actual trading name. This then started a trend and many other Ford Dealers added Ford to their trading name. When I retired after over 20 yrs running the company, we had become a Group of 5 Main Dealerships. Two years after I re-tired I bought a small Main Ford Dealer-ship in Leek, Staffordshire and traded as Redfern Ford.”SoArthuriswellknownamongstthe older Forddealers. ThestoryofhistimeattheFordMo-tor Companyappeared inlast years’ is-sues 182 and183.

Also,wemustnotforgetthatthisyearisthe80th since the opening of the Dagenhamand Cologne plants for production, so amentionoftheseisalsomade.

The two major events of the summer, theNorth Lancashire and Lakes tour and theNorth Norfolk Railway weekend both wentoff very successfully with glowing reportsfromthosewhoattended.Iwaspleasedtoreceive fromPeterKetchell for thearchive,anexcellentlyproducedandeditedDVDoftheNorthLancashireandLakestour

Ihappeneduponacoupleofphotographofmewithmy firstModel“Y”,a1934Tudor,OW4838,takenin1958whilstonmyde-greecourse. What Ihadn’t realisedor re-memberedwaswhatabatteredcar itwas.These were the pre-MoT days of emptycountryroads,drivingtestsandrallies.Ascanbeseen in thephotographs, theendsof the frontbumperhadbeensheeredoff,therewasnonearside runningboard, rustatthebottomofthedoorandadentinthebodyworkat the rear. In1960, fourofusdrove up to Fort William in it (pre-motor-ways) with two 2-man bivvies, and sleep-

ingparaphernalia,cookingequipmentandfood.Noteithadaroofrack!Iremember

theonlyproblemwehadwasapuncturedrivingoverShapFellontheA6.Thosewerethedays!

I’m delighted to report thatour two recent invalidsare recovering well. ChrisJarvis, in Worthing, has re-gainedmuchofhismobilityfollowing his major stroke,although his right leg has

not yet fullyrecovered.He is takingdriving les-sons with

a specially adapted ‘left foot’ automaticcarandhopestopassadrivingtestsoon.Regrettablyhewillnotbeable todrivehisModel “Y”, nor his split-screen Morris Mi-nor, so they will be going to homes thatwill enjoy their originality. Owen Baldockbounced back surprisingly quickly, findingthathisbreathingwassomucheasierafterhismajoroperation.Unfortunately,hisrightlegistakingitstimetoreturntofitness,soitwillbesometimebeforehewillbebackinthedrivingseatofChristine’sModel“Y”,“Fordy”.Inthemeantime,heissippingcoldbeersonaMediterraneancruise!

The two Geoffs, Dee and Salminen, onceagainflewtheY&CRegisterflagatthean-nual Stoneleigh Restoration Show. TheybothtooktheirModel“Y”saloonsandGeoffDeecarriedout someunnecessary repairson t’otherGeoff’scarasademonstrationto Jo Public – at least I believe they wereunnecessary!Welldoneguys.

Out of interest, I did a quick scan of themembershiptoseeinhowmanycountrieswehavemembers.Surprisingly,apartfromtheUKandIreland(Eire),wehavemembersin:Germany,Norway,Spain,Holland,NewZealand, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Aus-tralia,Malta,Denmark,Switzerland,Cyprus,France,U.S.A.,Finland,SeychellesIslands,SouthAfrica andSweden. I apologise if Ihaveleftanyoneout!

MichaelPalmerhascompletedhisbooken-titled“Morgan4/4TheFirst75Years’.Wecontributed some information and photo-

graphsontheFSeriesMorgans,whichwerepoweredbyour8h.p.andthe10h.p.sidevalveengines.Thebookwaslaunchedon7thNovemberandisavail-able through Amazon or direct fromthepublisher,www.crowood.com

IcontinuetobattleagainsttheoddsonthepublishingofthebookontheMod-el“Y”andthe“C”–ostensibly,thesec-ondeditionoftheModel“Y”book,but,becauseitaddsafurther25,000wordsandnearly70morephotographs,my

Posing in my Ford at the Royal Military College of Science in 1958.

Probably outside The Plough pub (no longer a pub) at Little Coxwell, Wiltshire.

Page �



publisheristreatingitasanewbook.Hope-fully, I will have some news on this in theNewYear.

We receive a shedful of spurious emailsfromfriends,mostofwhichcanbeignored.However, I received this piece of trivia theother day, “Woodward Avenue in Detroit,Michigan, carries the designation M-1 be-causeitwasthefirstpavedroadanywhere.”–seephotograph.

We are still looking for a volunteer on theEmerald Isle to come forward as the Re-gionalContactforallfourprovinces.Pleasegiveitsomethoughtastherearemanycarsstill tocomeoutof thewoodworkandweneedtotracethem.

Christmas is uponusonce again. I hopeyouandyourfamilieseachhasanenjoyablefestiveseason.Ifyouarestuckforpresents– when you hear that dreaded question,“WhatwouldyoulikeforChristmas,dear?”–takealookattheRegalialistatthecentreofthismagazine.TheServiceBulletinsarealwaysagoodbuy,ifyoudon’talreadyhavea set; or how about a Y&C Register grillemountedcarbadge?

Finally, if the threatened heavy snow ap-pears over the winter period, it would beverymuchappreciatedifyoucantakesomephotographsof our carsout andabout inthewhitestuff.Theyareremarkablynimbleandsure-footedinsnow.Unfortunately,myKerryiswhiteanyway,sodoesnottakegoodphotographs (sorry Wendy – that shouldread‘ivory’!)

Enjoytheread.

Sam Roberts.

Deadline for contributions to issue 194 is Saturday, 31st December 2011.

Geoff Dee, suitably attired, standing by his Model “Y”, taking a break from car-rying out repairs on Geoff Salminen’s car at the Stoneleigh Restoration Show in October.

Woodward Avenue, Detroit in 1931. The first paved road anywhere.

Cover photographs.

Front:- Dick Lankaster captures Robin Del Mar’s attractive tourer, a converted van, as it crests Ditchling Beacon on the London to Brighton Classic Car Run in 1991. Although this appeared in the last issue in black and white, our artistic publisher felt that the depth of the photograph was too good not to be given pride of place on the front cover.”

Back:- The new Y&C Register banners described by Peter Purdy in this issue, available to members for display at shows, presentations, talks, etc.

Secretary’s Ramblings.Here in the UK we had a good summer. Rainfall in my region was very low, bringingconsequentproblemsforfarmersandleavingreservoirsdesperatelyneedingrainduringautumnandwinter.Currently,westillhavesomelovelyautumndaysenticingustogetoutandabout,thoughitwillnotbelongbeforewehavetocheckthestrengthofthean-tifreezeintheradiator.Let’shopewedonothaveaseverewinterlikelastyear.Weareinto theseasonofRestorationShowsand themassiveClassicCarShowat theNEC inBirmingham.WearetakingpartinanoldForddisplay,alongwiththeFSOC,V8ClubandtheModelAClub,tocelebratetheFordUKCentenary.Ihopeyouwillcallinandvisitus.

OurNovemberCommitteemeeting(6th.Nov)willhavemetbythetimeyoureadthis,butmatterscoveredwillincludeSparesUpdate,Tours&Eventsfor2012,Website/Forumde-velopmentsandTechnicalReports.Wearefortunatetohavesuchanactiveandcommit-

In this issueEditorial...............................3Secretary’s.Ramblings.........4Photographic.finds..............6For.Sale...............................7from.Nigel.Stennett-Cox.....7North.Norfolk.’40s.weekend..8News.of.new.members........10Archive.news.......................11Regional.News.....................11Members.correspondence...1220.years.ago........................15Archive.nugget....................17Int’l.correspondence............18Events.2012.........................20Parts.Report........................20Raising.funds.for.charity.....21Ignition.timing.and.all.that!..21Ford.Dagenham...................23.The.Oldham.Motor.Co.Ltd..26



tedgroupofofficerslookingaftertheneedsof members. Your Committee is alwaysopentoideasandcommentswhichiswhycontactdetailsarelisted–don’tbeafraidtocontact them on specific issues – you willfindthemquitefriendly!

FBHVC.IattendedtherecentFBHVCAGMandConferencewherethefollowingwerediscussed:-DVLAIssues–outcomesawaited.(a)MoTExemptions.Youwillrecallthatthegovernmentismind-ed toallowexemptions to theMoTtestingregime for some older vehicles. Consul-tation with relevant bodies has now beencompletedandadecisionisexpectedinthenextfewmonths.WewillletyouknowtheoutcomeandimplicationsforY&Cowners.(b) Cherished Registration Safeguards.You will recall that, as a result of our on-going campaign to protect cherishedregistrations on historic vehicles, DVLAis considering some safeguards. Again,we await the outcome and will keepyou informed. Any step towards giv-ing owners some control will be a victory.NB. Various websites enable cherishednumbers to be identified to certain carmakes.Asaconsequencethisclubreceivesspurious,andpersistent,enquiriesseekingto be put in touch with the owner of par-ticularregistrations.Werefuse.Onlygenu-inepastownerswishingtobereunitedwiththeir familycarare followedup....andthisonly following close questioning to checkthevalidityoftheconnection.(c) Ethanol: Testing report delayed.Ethanol,addedtofueltomeetefficiencyand“green” levels, whilst beneficial to modernvehicles, is unfriendly toolder cars. Clas-sicmotoringpresshashighlightedthecon-cerns,sosufficeitheretoletyouknowthatFBHVCtestingofbrandedadditiveshasnotbeencompleted.Itishopedtohaveafullreport inDecemberatwhichstagewewillbeinabetterpositiontoadviseourmem-bersonoptionsavailable tosafeguardourcars.OurClubTechnicalOfficer,NigelSten-nett-Cox,writeselsewhereonthismatter.

All of the above have far reaching conse-quences for out hobby. Thankfully, theFBHVCexiststoensurethefreedomtocon-tinueclassicmotoringintothefuture.

Values.Youwillhavenoticedoverthepastfew months that values for well restoredcarshave increased. Thisdoesreflect thecostsof restorationand this situationmayincreasethewillingnessofmanyenthusiaststo tackle a restoration. Parts for our carsare of good value when you consider thatwehavetoobtainremanufacturedparts insmallbatches.Perhapsnowisthetimetoconsider doing more restoration on yourModel“Y”or“C”.

“CX” Tourer. Ihavesoldmy “CX”Tourer!Member Bob Brown from Towcester had

been looking for one for several years torevisit his youthful days. Any sadness atsellinghasbeenoffsetbyknowingthattheTourerwillbeusedandcherishedformanyyearsasBobtootlesaroundhisareatakingadvantageof the countrysideonhis door-step.Itdoesseemstrangetoseetheemptyspace.....BeassuredthatIwillnotbelongwithouta“Y”or“C”Model!

Old Ford Rally.Notethedate,Sunday,22ndJuly2012fornextyear’sOldFordRallyatGaydon.Thisshowhasgrownintopromi-nenceandnumbersareexpectedtobeevengreaternextyear.Fortunately,wehaveob-tainedsomehelpfromotherFordclubstoeasetheworkload.IamstillinnegotiationwithGaydonandtheFordclubsoverthede-tailsandadministration,butlookforsomegoodnewsforexhibitorsinournextissue.

This may be the last issue of 2011 ....inwhich case may I be the first to wish youahappyfestiveseasonandafulfillingNewYear!Longmaywebeabletoenjoyourcarsontheopenroad.

Go and sort out the antifreeze now, readyfor those winter fine day trips out....wellwrappedupofcourse!

Bob Wilkinson, Secretary.

Bob’s Joke Corner.

Adifferentsortofhumourthisissue........PARAPROSDOKIANS:“Figureofspeechinwhichthelatterpartofasentenceorphraseissurpris-ingorunexpected; frequentlyused inahumor-oussituation”(i.e.“Wherethere’sawill,there’sarelative,”isatypeofparaprosdokian......andoneofmine!).

1.Donotarguewithanidiot. Hewilldragyoudowntohislevelandbeatyouwithexperience.2.Adiplomatissomeonewhotellsyoutogotohell in suchaway that you look forward to thetrip.3. Light travels faster than sound. This is whysomepeopleappearbrightuntil youhear themspeak.4.IfIagreedwithyou,we’dbothbewrong.5.Hospitalityismakingyourguestsfeelathomeevenwhenyouwishtheywere.6.Goingtochurchdoesn’tmakeyouaChristian,anymore thanstanding inagaragemakesyouacar.7.Knowledgeisknowingatomatoisafruit.Wis-domisnotputtingitinafruitsalad.8.Ididn’tsayitwasyourfault,IsaidIwasblam-ingyou.9.Tosteal ideas fromoneperson isplagiarism.Tostealfrommanyisresearch.10. I askedGod foranewcar,but I knowGoddoesn’tworkthatway.SoIstoleacar,andaskedforforgiveness

And now the best one just for me!...11.You’renevertoooldtolearnsomethingstu-pid.

Ihopeyouhadachuckleatthese.Whynotsendmeyourfavouritechuckleforallofustoenjoy?

.Competition answers.

On page 24 in issue 191, there was an article titled ‘Landmark Cars – Ford Model Y’. Members were challenged to list the errors in the article; the winner who submitted the greatest number of mistakes receiving the prize of an Eric Dymock book ‘Ford in Britain Centenary’, kindly donated by John Neville, Friend of the Register and a Ford Motor Company manager. The deadline for entries was the end of September. I was disappointed and totally underwhelmed with the zero response! However, to keep up my end of the bargain, I list some of the more obvious errors:-

1.At the top of the second column, it states that the short rad was in production for two years before the introduction of the long rad. Wrong - it was only one year (22 September 1932 - October 1933). 2. The change to worm and nut steering was well before the introduction of the long rad, in fact, only two months after the introduction of the start of production - in November 1932.

3.The central instrument cluster on the dashboard was not introduced until April 1935 and the electric fuel gauge in June 1935 - well after the introduction of the long rad. The brakes were improved (double rods at rear) in November 1933 – the month after the introduction of the long rad. 4. The 10 h.p. was not called a C-type. Model “C” or the “De Luxe” maybe. It’s the same as calling the Model T a T-type! The C-type was a Jaguar! 5. The Model “C” was introduced as the De Luxe in September 1934. The name “Popular” was introduced at that stage for the 8 h.p. to distinguish it from the “De Luxe”. The price of the Model “Y” was dropped to £100 over a year later, in October 1935, after a number of cost-cutting measures, mainly instigated by Patrick Hennessy.

Page �



Photographic finds

A very new looking March 1936 London registered Tudor Ford “Popular” with a slight modification to the windscreen wiper, which has been bent such that it does not sit on the windscreen when not in use

Two chums on a tour in their Model “Y”. Note the bunch of heather tied to the nearside of the front bumper. Although registered Middle-sex in August/September 1934, the black-rimmed circular Magniflex barred headlamps indicate a pre-March 1934 model. Twin wind-screen wipers have also been retro-fitted

A funeral cortége moves slowly along star Lane, St. Mary’s Cray, with pall-bearers carrying the coffin of a 20 year old Pilot Officer, William Watling, who was killed on February 7th, 1941. Watling, who was with 92 Squadron for all of his eight months as a fighter pilot, was buried with full military honours in the Star Lane cemetery alongside Flying Officer James Paterson, Flight Sergeant Charles Sydney, Squadron Leader Joseph O’Brien and many of those killed in the bombing of Biggin Hill. The cortége is passing a May 1936 London registered Model “Y” complete with its blackout white paint on bumpers and running boards. Photograph from the book ‘Biggin on the Bump’ and courtesy Tony Etheridge.



For SaleDecember 1933 early long rad Tudor Model “Y” (Y46287): black with light blue lower body. Car extensively overhauled ten years ago and stored in dry store since then. Has 10 hp engine. £4400Gordon Lawrence:- Tel: 01379 890759 (Diss, Norfolk)

Illustrated right....

Wanted

A pair of sidelamps as fitted to some Model “Y”s and “C”s. These are the ones with a cover over the top and a front lens divided by a vertical bar.Nigel Stennett-Cox Tel:- 01692 406075 email:- [email protected]

An unrestored but complete 10 h.p. sidevalve engine.Bob Brown. Tel:- 01327 857514 (Towcester, Northamptonshire)

New Display Banners

Members might like to be aware that two display ban-ners have been produced to help publicise the Register. The banners will have their

first outing on the Y & C stand at the Classic Car Show at the NEC in November. The visible

graphic area of each banner is 2165mm by 1000mm. They are lightweight and have a retract-able internal roller that makes

setting up for presentation very quick and effective; they

each come with a shoulder bag which also makes them very

portable.As can be seen on the back cover of this issue, one illus-

trates the range of vehicles the Register represents and the

other outlines, through a series of bullet points, the benefits of membership. The banners will be available for use by members when giving talks,

presentations or displays. The November Committee Meeting will determine the method by which they may be obtained. Details are available from Pe-ter Purdy, Assistant Secretary.

Comments from Nigel Stennett-CoxOur Technical Advisor

Afollow-uptomyrecentsparkplugarticlemightbeinor-der,giventhattherewerenopicturesincludedatthetime.TheNGKsparkingplugontherightisofthecorrecttypeforallModel“Y”sand“C”sexceptthosefewremainingearlyModel“Y”swhichstillusethebigger18mmthreadtype.ThepicturedoneistypeB6HSandtheyarestillreadilyavailableforabout£3to£4each-lessifyoushopatautojumbles.TheChampionbrandequivalentistypeL86,orL86Cisfinewiththe‘C’justdenotingacoppercentreelectrode.AllNGKplugshavethisfeatureanywayandtheyareoffirst-classquality;anNGKisfurthermoreavailableforthe18mm“Y”sandistypeA6.Plugswithadifferentnumberinthedesignation,e.g.a7or8insteadofthe6fortheNGKs,willfitbutbeofthewrongheat-ratingforourengines.I’veputa“long-reach”sparkplugalongsidethecor-rectoneinthepicturetoshowthequarter-inchlongerthreadandtherebyillustratethesortofplugtoNOTfittoa“Y”,“C”,oranyothersmallside-valveFord.Theoneinthepicturefurthermorehasan“extended-nose”featurewiththeelectrodesandinsulatorprojectingoutofthemainbody.However,evenwithoutthisfeature,the3/4inch,orlong-reachplugcannotbeusedinanyModel“Y”or“C”.”

E93A engines

LasteveningamemberrangmetoaskwhetheralaterFord“E93A”enginewouldfithisrecently-ac-quiredModel“C”.Iwasabletotellhimwithconfidencethatitwould,andthatIassumedby“E93A”hemeantany10hpFordside-valveengineexceptingthe100Emodel.Hedid,anditremindedmeofhowthetermE93Afellintogenericusesomeyearsagotoapplytoanypost-Model“Y”or“C”smallFord,oritsengine,andwhichwasnotthe100Emodel.Idon’tkidmyselfthatI’mgoingtochangetheworld,havinggivenupthatidealongago,butitmightbehelpfultomentionthattheE93AmodelofFordwasspecificallythe10hp“Prefect”model,currentfromlate1938[1939modelyear]tolate1948.Itwasonlyoneofasuccessionofmodelstousethe1172cc10hpengine,replacingthemodel7W,alsowiththesamepowerunit,andbeingitselfreplacedbytheE493Amodel.The10hp,1172ccenginecarriedonbeingfittedtothe“upright”FordPopularduringitsproductionrunfrom1953to1959.Theenginewas,throughoutitswholeproductionrunfrom1934to1959,knownsimplyathemodel“C”engine,thischaracterprecedingtheenginenumberoneveryoneproduced.[Note:-The8hp[933cc]enginehasitsenginenumberprecededbyaletterY,anditwasputintocars,thelastofwhichwasthe1949-53E494AAnglia,upto1953.]

Page �



Even Noel Page has turned into a black-marketeer!

North Norfolk ’40s week-end.Onceagaintheweatherwaskindtouswithjustoneortwoshortshowers.WehadagoodselectionofourcarsondisplayatHoltonbothdays.Un-fortunately,FredaandDavid’sModel“Y”wouldnotbehaveitself,sotheyhadtoleaveitathomeandcomeintheireverydaycar.GaryWhittleandVickyEdwardsalsoabandonedtheircaronthesideoftheroadandgottheRACtobringthemtothehotel.Allthataside,everyonehadagreattime.

Thehotelhaschangedhandsandmanyimprovementshavebeenmade;theyareevenconsideringrunninga40sdoontheSaturdayeveningnextyear.Theownerisakeenvintagecarenthusiast,soevenbetter.Iamprovi-sionallybookingroomsfornextSeptember,sopleaseletmeknowifyouareremotelyinterested.Icanthenhaveanideaastohowmanywillbecoming.This is becoming a very popular event, and as you can see in the photo-graphs,theatmosphereisfantastic.Allagreedthatitwasa‘rightgooddo’sowedohopethatyouwillputthedatesinyourdiaryfornextyear-September14th/16th,andpleaseletmeknowifyouwouldliketobeincluded.

JoHanslip(Tel:01945430325oremail:[email protected])

AndanotherreportfromVickyEdwards:-“Hi. Gary and I are new (ish) members of the Ford Y & C Club. We re-ceived our Transverse Torque, last November and were taken by the article “ North Norfolk Tour” . It looked that good, as soon as I had an opportunity I contacted Jo Hanslip, booking our room with The Links Hotel, Hanslip Party. Well, not to go on, we went for the first time ever this year, I wanted to ask if you wouldn’t mind adding in the next edition if possible, the following message, “ Gary Whittle and Vicky Edwards, newbies, would like to extend a massive

thanks to everyone at the 2011 Tour. You all made us feel so welcome. Our special thanks must go to Jo and Roger Hanslip, as they took us under their wing, (given that we had broken down in a modern vehicle and were car-less). They showed us a really good time. We would also like to thanks Peter and Jean Ketchell, as they too are a god- send. I know it did help that we were all as mad as hatters. Here’s to seeing you all next year. Many thanks, Vicky.”

Atthehotelwere:-GaryWhittleandVickyEdwards,Ken and Brenda Waller, Pete and Jean Ketchell,David and Freda Kent, Jim and Joan Sharpe,WendyGraceandfamily,JimMiles,LynnandJohnD’Alessio,NoelandTerryPage,NickandMoniqueSmith,JoandRogerHanslip,TerryandDotMorti-boy, Carol and Brian Shipton (friends of Noel’s).Alsopresent:-TimBrandonandGlynis,DaveTan-nerandfriendLeon

So many people dress in 40’s gear. Here are Joan and Jim Sharpe strutting their stuff.

A furtive looking Gary Whittle and Roger Hanslip stand out side a suitably attired shop in Sheringham.



As always, we discovered some fantastic talent in our group; this time in the guise of Ken Waller, who managed to borrow the barman’s guitar and, with the help of a spoon to tune it and a tray to mark time, entertained us all on Sunday evening. Pete Ketchell, not content with one dancing partner, encouraged Vicky to join in

Some of the cast on the sea front at Sheringham.”



News of new members.Sincethelastissueof“TransverseTorque”wearepleasedtowelcometotheFordY&CModelRegisterthefollowing7newmembersplus4rejoiningmembers.

RobertBrown B1202 Sholebroke,NorthamptonshirePaulClarke C0901 Stevenage,HertfordshirePaulHejnowicz H1102 Blurton,StaffordshireTomKelsey K0220 Kingsholm,GloucestershireJackKirwan K1908 Ashtown,Co.Waterford,EireMalcolmMacleod M1802 IsleofLewis,ScotlandJohnNoke N0201 Hewish,SomersetEamonO’Donnell O1905 Meenigorman,Co.Cork,EireJosepPladellorens O-P106 Terrassa,SpainPatrickReddy R1902 Newbridge,Co.Kildare,EireRobinStearne S1303 Felixstowe,Suffolk

Wearedelightedtowelcomethesenewandrejoiningmembersandgivebelowbriefdetailsoftheirvehicles:-

Robert Brown hasrejoinedtheClub.BobusedhischarmandconsiderablenegotiatingskillstopersuadeBobWilkinsontopartwithEMF151(C46124),his1936,green“CX”tourer.Asweknow,thecarisontheroadandinsuperbcondition.WehopeyouenjoydrivingoutandaboutinNorthamptonshireBob.Welcomebackonboardandthanksforrejoining.

Paul Clarke. WearepleasedtowelcomePaultotheClub.Paulhasablack,Model“Y”Tudor,registrationisCER46andBriggsbodynumberis165/72432.Thecarisontheroadwithsomeattentionneededtothesteeringbox.Paulisthefifthmembertoownthecarsincethemid-1980s.Wehopeyouenjoymanyhoursofmotoringinit.

Paul Hejnowicz -weextendawarmwelcome toPaul. PaulhaspurchasedAWY462(Y189292),ablackTudor,which isnew to theClubandhasbeenadded to theListofKnownSurvivingVehicles.Thefirstregistrationdateisnotknownasthevehicle’sdocu-mentshavebeenmisplacedbythepreviousowner,whohadthecarfromJuly1969untilthisyear.Thecarneedsafullrestoration.Wewishyouwellwiththeproject.Please,keepusinformedofyourprogress.

Tom KelseyhasrejoinedtheClub.Hehasaverylate,July1937,blackModel“Y”Tudor(Y194429).The‘age-related’registrationisSSY981,replacingitsoriginal,JK6868.Thecariscurrentlyunderrestorationwithloadstodo.Wewishyouwellwiththerestoration,Tom,andwelcomeyoubacktoFordY&CModelRegister.

Jack Kirwan. WeextendawarmwelcometoJack.Hehasabrown1937TudorModel“Y”(Y177056)withaDublinregistrationZC1055.Thecarisunderrestoration.Goodluckwiththeprojectandplease,keepusinformedofyourprogress.

Malcolm Macleod. We extend a warm welcometoMalcolm,whohasjoinedtheClub,doublingourmembership in the Isle of Lewis! Malcolm has ablack,Model“Y”Tudor.Theregistration,XG4547,beingissuedinMiddlesboroughin1936tiesinwiththe November 1936 chassis number (Y163594)andhenceitsdateofproduction.Thecarisontheroad.WehopeyouenjoymanyhoursofmotoringaroundtheIsleofLewis.

John NokeownsDXP27,agreenandblackModel“Y”Tudor.ThechassisnumberisY180494.Itwasfirst registeredon the18thApril1937,when itbe-longedtoJohn’sfather.Itwashisfather’sfirstcar.Ithasbeeninthesamefamilysincenew.Thecarisnowunderrestoration,havingseendaylightforthefirsttimesince1966..Wewishyouluckwiththerestoration.Wehopeitisn’ttoolongbeforethecarisbacktoitsformerglory.Averywarmwelcomeis

extendedtoyou.

Eamon O’Donnell inCountyCork hasre-joinedtheClubandiscurrentlylookingforaModel“Y”.HehasownedaModel“Y”anda“CX”inthepast.Wehopeyoufindasuit-able“Y”soon.WelcomebacktotheClubandthanksforrejoining.

Josep Pladellorens is another rejoiningmember.Josephasared,1935Model“Y”(Y105553),whichcarriestheVizcaya,Spainregistration BI 12558. The car is on theroad. Thanks for rejoining and welcomebacktotheClub.Wehopeyoucontinuetoenjoydrivingyour“Y”.

Patrick Reddy.WearepleasedtowelcomePatricktotheClub.Patrick,whohailsfromNewbridge, Co. Kildare, has a black 1936Tudor Model “Y” (Y144362) with the localKildareregistrationIO4250.Thecariscur-rentlyunderrestoration. Wewishyouwellwith the restoration,Patrick. Let’shope itwon’tbe too longbeforeyouaredriving itoncemorealong the roadsofCountyKil-dare.

Robin Stearne. Welcome to the Club,Robin.Robinhasablack,4-door(Fordor)Model“CX”(C53318).ItwasfirstregisteredDVX 833 in Essex on 21st October 1936.Thecariscurrentlyundergoingrestoration,withworktobedoneontheroof,steeringandlighting.Goodluckwiththerestorationandwehopethatyousoonhavethevehi-clebackontheroad.RobinpurchasedthecarinJune2009.ThecarhadpreviouslybeenownedbySPearceandhisfamilyfor42years.

Hopefully, youwill find thiscontribution to“Transverse Torque” informative and, asalways, theClubextendsawarmwelcometoallthenewandrejoiningmembers.TheEditor will be pleased to receive any newsandphotographsofyourvehicles.

As this is the last issue of “Transverse

John Noke’s Model “Y” having just been hauled out of the shed in which it has resided since 1966.



Torque” before Christmas, I would like to wish all our members and their families a very happy and peaceful

Christmas.

Mike Malyon. Membership Officer

Robin Stearn’s Fordor Model “CX” requiring a little TLC to get it back on the road.”

Archive newsOneofthemainaimsoftheY&CRegisterarchiveistorecordfor posterity the known histories of our surviving vehicles,such that, in the distant future, once our driving days areover, subsequent owners of our cars can turn to the Y&CRegisterarchiveandlearnthehistoryoftheirvehicle.

Iamdelightedtosaythatthehoursofworkthathasbeenput in to recording individual vehiclehistorieshasalreadypaidoffforonenewowner.Inthelastissueof‘TransverseTorque’, Mike Malyon welcomed new member, Jim JebbfromNorthSomercotesinLincolnshire.Inthewrite-up,wewereabletogivethedateoffirstregistrationforhisModel“Y”,whichhehadpurchased fromadealer inPoole,Dor-set.Ialsoaddedfromthearchiveaphotographofthecarwhenwithitspreviousowner.Jimwasamazedwhenhereadthisinthepublishedmagazineashehadnotbeengivenanydocumentationwiththecarandknewnothingofitspast.HecontactedmeandIwasabletogivehimthehistoryofthecarbackto1937.

Inthearchivesofar, Ihavetext filesonapproximately575differentModel“Y”registrationnumbersand100Models“C”and“CX”.Ihave620Model“Y”and200Models“C”/”CX”/Eifelphotographicfolios.Iwouldaskowners,please,toletme have photocopies or scanned copies of their car’s logbooks and anyother historical documentation andphoto-graphs,sothatIcanopenatextfileandaphotographicfoliooneachcar.

Regional NewsRegion 5 – East Sussex and Kent

GoodwoodRevival2011-FordofGreatBritainCentenaryParade.JohnKeenanreports,“TheFordofGreatBritainCentenaryParadecelebrated the rich diversity of road and competition cars, lor-ries, vans,military vehiclesand ‘specials’ that left theFord facto-riesacrossGreatBritainfrom1911to1970.Inkeepingwiththe100-yearlandmark,100Fordstookpartinthedisplayandparaderound the circuit each day at the Goodwood Revival. These ve-hicleshavetransportedallmannerofpeopleandproducts,takenvictoryinmajorsportingeventsacrosstheworldandevenhelpedthewareffortathomeandabroad;leavingwhatisundoubtedlythemost profound impression of any manufacturer in the history oftheBritishcarindustry.MaryandIwereinvitedtobringalongourModel“C”fortheeventandaskedtodressinperiodcostume.TheygaveusagreathospitalitypackageinadditiontothedailyentranceticketsalongwithexclusiveGoodwoodRevivalmetalbadges,whichprovidedaccesstotheRichmondLawnenclosureandgrandstand.WealsoreceivedaninvitationfortwototheCocktailPartyatGood-woodHouseontheFridayandvehiclepassesintothecompetitorsSupportcarpark.Itwasamostenjoyableeventwithsomanywon-derfulvintagevehiclesondisplayandtakingpartintheraces.Eachdaytherewerestunninglow-levelairdisplaysand,onthelastday,alongwiththeBattleofBritainLancasterthereweretenSpitfires.”

A dapper, period-dressed Julian Janicki representing the Model “Y” owners at the Goodwood Ford Centenary Parade with his April 1936 Tudor.

John and Mary Keenan with their representative early Model “C”, C00647.

�



Region 16 – Most of Yorkshire‘Northern Sidelights’ submitted by Barry Diggle

Congratulations toPat Jenningswhoscooped the secondprize inthepre-1960’sclassattheOtleyVintageTransportExtravaganzawithhisFordModel “Y”. His trophyand rosettewerewell earnedandhewasupagainstsomeverystrongcompetition. Welldone,Pat!Thissplendideventattractsagreatvarietyoftransportexhibits,butpublicattendancesseemedtobewelldownthisyear,largelyduetoanappallingweatherforecastwhich, inreality,amountedonlytoastiffbreeze.

OtherlocaleventsattendedwereBoltonAbbey,whichattractedonlyafewcarsandseemedtolackanyorganisation,butabriefwordwashadwithKenSleightpriortohisearlydeparturefromthefield,andtheAireValleyVintageMachineryClub’scrank-upatIngrowRailwayStation.

Thatjustaboutmarkstheendoftheseasonforthisyear.MayImakemyusualpleaforanyrestorationstories,picturesetc.toincludeinthiscolumnoverthecomingdarkmonthsofwinter?

Pat Jennings’ December 1936 Tudor Model “Y”, complete with trophy and rosette awarded at the Otley Vintage Transport Extravaganza.

Members correspondenceRe-Spray of car not needed.

ThecommentsontheForumaboutdepthofshinepromptedSteveWaldenberg,ourmagazinepublisher,torelatehisexperienceswithhisAustinandJowettclas-sics:-“My1938AustinCambridgewasrestoredandrepaintedintheearly1970s.Obvi-ouslycellulosepaintwasusedanditwasdoneinitsoriginalcoloursoftwoshadesofbrown.CordobaandMalay.WhenIgotthecarin2008,thepaintwaslookingverytired.IusedsomeTcuttoremovesurfaceoxidation,thenusedagoodqualitycar-naubawaxpolishwhichIbuyintheUSAfromafirmcalled“DetailKing”Ihavefoundthiswax(calledExcitePastewax)excellent,especiallyonmyJowettJavelin,butthisispaintedwithamodern2-packpaint.

HavingusedthisontheAustin,initiallythepaint really shone. However, after a rainstorm,thecarbecamemarkedwithwhitespots.IhadthisproblemwithadarkredMk1CortinaIusedtoown.Furtherpolish-ingreallydidnotimprovetheAustin,nordiditimprovetheCortina,whichIeventu-allyhadre-paintedin2-pack.Afterafewweeks the Austin’s paint surface became“chalky”,asithaddoneontheFord.Iwasat thestagewhere Iconsidereda full re-sprayinmodernpaintswouldbeneeded.But have you enquired the cost of a joblikethis?Telephonenumberfigureswerequotedandquitehonestlythevalueofthecarwouldnotstandsuchaninvestment.

I had seen in various classic car maga-zines,advertsfor“Swissvax”,averyexpen-sivewaxpolish.Youaretalkingabout£80forthecheapest.DiscoveringtherewasanagentnotfarawayinKnaresborough(IliveinnorthLeeds),Imadeanappointmenttovisitthem.TheirMDwhowasintofinedetailingofveryexpensivecars(e.g.£700to“detail”anewishAudiCoupe)tookalookatthecar.Hesaidoldercellulosepaintsdryoutand

normal polishes do not feed it, merelyremainingonthesurfaceandshiningforawhilebeforede-grading. Hesaidus-ingabrasivepolishesisnotagoodideaaseventuallyyouwillpolishthroughthelayerofpaint.Soundslogical.Takingasmallblockofdetailingclay,heworkedononesideofthebonnet.Theclaybar,usedwithalubricant,removesallsurfacecontaminants, and he showed me thedirtonthesurfaceoftheclay.Nextheused twopre-waxsurfacepreparations,

amediumandafine.Thesefeedthepaintwith a very fine vegetable basedoil (cellu-losecomes fromwood,but Iamnotsure

ifcellulosepaintis,itmightbeaby-productofoilrefin-ing).Eachcoatbroughtthepainttoaniceshinyfinish.Thenthe‘coupdegrace’-thewaxmadeespeciallyforcellulosepaint.Thisheap-pliedwithapadandquicklybuffeditoff.Theresultwasoutstanding. Thepaintal-mostglowed!

I decided to purchase theclay, the two pre-wax pol-ishesandtheir“nitro”wax,togetherwithafewpadsforapplying it. The lot cameto£150.Yes,notacheapdo. The following week Igradually worked my wayaround the whole car, andthe end result was amaz-ing. Thecarwasasgoodasnew,apartfromablem-ish on a front wing which

willhavetobere-paintedsometime.Alsoithasbeenraineduponandhasnotwatermarked.SoIreckontohavesavedatleast

Steve Waldenberg’s shiny Austin Cambridge glistening in the sun in Bridlington earlier this year.

�The Ford Model Y & C Register


£1850 - thedifferencebetween a re-sprayandthecostofthepolish.

If youput “Swissvax” intoasearchenginesuchasGoogle,allwillberevealed.IwouldaddIhavenofinancialconnectionwiththedealerorthecompany!

Asapostscript;thecarwasgiventhetreat-mentinAugust2009.InSpringofthisyear(2011)itwasstillniceandshiny,but,asyoudo,Igaveitanotherpolishwiththewax,justforthe“hellofit”!

Steve Waldenberg

The ‘Flying Flea’ et al.

Nigel Stennett-Cox proffered the follow-ingfeedbackonissue192:-“AcoupleofmonthsagoIseemtorecallthatyoucoun-selled against “over-exposure” of certaincontributors toTransverseTorque, and it’stakenuntil thecurrent issueto fullyunder-standyourmeaning!Is the youthfulcommittee member in thepicture on page 4 showing his bare arseto the camera one who failed to heedyourwarning? Or,worsestill, isoureditorabouttoreceiveaknockonthedoorfromtheantichildpornmob?

Changing tack, what a lovely picture of aFlyingFleawhichJoHanslipsentin.Thesewere famouslybannedby thecivilaviationauthorityinperiod,onaccountofaninher-ent serious design fault to do with airflowovertheforemostwinginterferingwiththatoverthelowerplaneinsuchawayatcertainspeeds,thattheaircraftwouldgointoater-minaldive.Severalwerelostthatwaypriortotheban.

Reallythough,thepictureservedtoremindmeof the multitude of uses to which theengines of our cars, particularly the 10hpModel “C” unit, were put. Ford were andperhaps still are, alwayshappy to supplyengines to anyone who may want them,and may still have an “Industrial Engines”divisionforthispurpose.Alist,purelyfromthetopofmyhead,ofapplicationsinwhichtheModelCenginewasemployedwouldbeasfollows(andthisisfarfromexhaustive):-OTA, Singer, and Monarch tractors, Mer-curyfactorytrucks,andinnumerableothersimilar small haulers, Aveling Barfordroadrollers,forpavementuse,Beanmechanicalhoes,variousportableweldingandgenerat-ingsets,amechanicalelephant,theTBthree-wheeledaircraftre-fueller,oth-eraircraft,e.g.TheChilternmonoplane,thePattissonroller,lightlocomotivesforrailuse,innumerableboats-variousmarineconver-sions existed, such as those byParsons,BrooklandsMuseumhas a light aircraft intheir “Wellington Hangar” with a Carden-FordconvertedModel“C”enginefitted.[and don’t forget the Morgan three-wheeler F series – Ed.]

Finally, Nigel makes an observation onthe photograph of Great Yarmouth seafront submitted by Yvonne Mace, “I knowitdoesn’tcarry the typicalbodywork,but Ireckonthere’sagoodchancethatthevaninthe foregroundof theGreatYarmouthpic-ture,turningaroundintheroad,isaModelY? The little-known Hi-Cube modelmay-be?” [I go along with Nigel’s observation – the term Hi-Cube is a generic term for a body of Higher Cubic capacity than origi-nal. Many such bodies were added to the Model “Y” van. - Ed.]

Another “Y” back on the road.

RussellStorey, inCountyDurham,emails,“Sorry I haven’t had much input lately, I’ve been really busy (I just have too many projects. ) I now have JO 9437 my Elec-tric blue Fordor De-luxe on the road and nearly all done with just some minor jobs to carry out …well are they ever finished? She looks great even if I say so myself. I say minor jobs but the engine which was re-built by Ronnie Topping has de-veloped a slight knock/tap from the left side of the sump area. It doesn’t sound like a big end. It’s almost as if one of the jour-nals was just catching the sump. I’m go-ing to drop the sump and have a look. I have to say that Ron-nie has done a few engines for me and they all run like a dream.” [RonTopping’sdetailsareunderUsefulContacts–Ed.]

…….. and one off the road

MikeLinnette,fromRoystonwrites,“IhaveownedDPC428,a1935FordorModel“Y”,andmostmechanicalpartsfroma1937Tu-dor,forover30years.Usualstory–startedrestoration–divorce-lostthegarage/work-shop – car under tarps in the garden formanyyears.Nowwearebuildingahouseextensionanda LARGE GARAGE, so the car had to bemoved. Unfortunately the car is probablypastrestorationasis–butmywife,Lorna,likestopaintunusualsubjects,soshepaint-edthewatercolourherewith.Shesaid,“be-foreitfallstopiecesaltogether”.Whenthecarwasoriginallylaidup,itwasat

relativelylowmileage.IfIcouldfindasimi-larmodelwithausablebodyandchassis,Icouldre-thinktherestorationprocess.”

Afollowuptelephoneconversationsuggeststhatthebodyandchassisarebeyondresur-rectionandnowhaveplantsandshrubberygrowingthroughthem.Whatapity!

Memories.

Octogenarian Friend of the Register, TonyHolmes,was“intriguedbythearticlewrittenbyJamesWagner(issue192)ref.theMod-elC24hp engine. I too can categoricallystate that thereneverwas suchanengineas,recallingmywartimework,weneverhadany; all such being Model Bs. However, Iamconfusedbyhis reference toBsbeingfittedto7vupto1949.AllthesetrucksthatI subsequently worked on post 1948 werepoweredbytheV830hpengine.Notaverypopulartrucktoworkonastheenginewasinsidethecab,whichIthinkwasreferredtoasForwardControl,havinga ‘snub-nosed’

lookaboutthem,theradiatorbeingalmostflushwiththecabfront.Theseengineshadtoberemoved/refittedthroughthelefthandcab door (to avoid the steering column):a tricky 2-person operation, removing thepassengerseattofacilitatetheoperation.

According to James’ list, thereweremoreenginevariantsthanI,orindeedIsuspect,didanyofmycolleaguesknowabout.Wetended not to be too concerned aboutsuch technicalities. In his article, Jamesalsomentionsthe25cwttruckinwhichheseems to suggest that these models alsohad a ‘B’ engine. However, he does saythesewere1934/35.Fordmass-produced25cwttrucksinlargenumbersforthewareffortand thesewerealsopoweredby theV8.Incidentally,IfailedmyfirstRAFdrivingtestinoneofthese,asat18yearsofage,Ihadn’tperfectedtheartof‘double-declutch-ing’a‘crashbox’.Thiscamelater.

Russell Storey’s 1934 electric blue De Luxe Fordor Model “Y” (Y48352) back on the road.

�



Lorna Linnette’s excellent watercolour of husband Mike’s dilapidated 1935 Orient blue and black Fordor Model “Y”, originally with sliding roof – you can see one water outlet above the passenger door.

Stephen bond’s ‘hybrid’ Model “Y”, manufactured during the change-over period from short rad to long rad.

Norwich in 1963. St. Stephen’s Street is the street off to the left. St Stephen’s Road to the right and Queen’s Road straight ahead. The Model “Y” Ford is travelling along Chapelfield Road.

Talkingofenginemodelnumbersand thinkingaboutmywartimeexperience, Inowre-memberthetwo10hpvariantswerebuilt;onewasanE93AmodelandtheotherIthinkwasanE493A.Ican’trememberwhichwaswhich,butonehadageardrivencamshaft(anti-clockwise)andtheotherwaschaindriven(clockwise).WhenIwas,inlateryears,involvedinteachingapprentices,Iusedtoaskthem,“Whatdeterminesthefiringorderofthesparkplugs?”andall,withoutexception,saiditwasthedistributor.Ofcourse,itisthelayoutofthecamlobes,nomatterwhatthedirectionofrotationis.ToanswerthequestionIusedtobeaskedmanytimes,“WhatisTorque?”,Iformulatedasuitableanswerfortheirnotebooksthus:-“TorqueistheForcewhichcreates,ortendstocreate,rotarymotionandismeasuredatthecentreoftheturningmoment.

TransverseTorqueisreallygettingmymemoryworkingwithrecallingallsortsofdetailsIhadforgotten.Manythanks.

Norwich road works in 1963.

OurthankstoYvonneMaceinNorwich,whosentinaphotographofroadworksinNorwich,whichappearedinOctober’seditionof ‘LetsTalk’,anEastAnglianmaga-zine.IcontactedtheEditor,NeilHaverson,toaskpermissionforthephotographtobepublished in ‘TransverseTorque’. Wearegrateful tohim forgivinghisblessing

andforadding,“Thisisindeedmajorroadworks in Norwich in 1963. It transformednarrow streets into wide roads – you cansee thewidthof the street straight ahead;fourlanesnowoccupytheentirewidthfromthe old street to the new multi-storey carpark.I’msureitwasgroundbreakingatthetimebutwehavepictures inour libraryofthesenarrowoldstreetsandwelookbackthroughrosetintedspectaclesatthequaintoldbuildingsthatborderedthem,nowlonggone.”

Hybrid’ Model “Y”

StephenBondissellinghisSeptember1933Model “Y” Y34915). It was manufacturedonly twoor threeweeksbefore theofficiallaunchofthelongradinOctober1933.Asaresultthecarincorporatessomeshortradpartsandsomelongrad.Ascanbeseenfrom the photograph, the car has a shortradradiatorgrille,wingsandbumpers,buta long rad bonnet, door handles and, notseeninthephotograph,aninsertedinstru-ment panel on the long rad dashboard.Similar‘hybrid’featurescanbeseenonBobStay’sCairnCoupé,Y36143,ontheIsleofWight.



Asstated in issue72, thenext issuewastobethelastonetobeeditedbyJohnGuyandSiobhanO’Leary. JohnGuy’s heartfelt val-edictorycommentsinissue73read:-

“InthelastnewsletterIpromisedmyselfthefreedomofaramblethroughourmemoriesofallthosepleasureswhichhavesimplyde-rivedfromowningaFordModelY.

Myowncarwasperceivedasaratherdull,ifrobustlyworthy, formof transportwhich,at£5,wascheapenough toaffordbutstrongenoughtolastwithoutanyobviousdefects.Itcertainlylasted;mostofitnotyetrenovatedand,whilstinmyownership,Idon’tbelieveitwillbe.ThatisbecauseIamnotreallyacarenthusiastbuthavesimplyneverwanted topartwithanoldfriend.Notbeinganenthusi-asthashelpedmeretainanamusedobjectiv-itywhichcertainlyhelpsintheeditingofsuchadiversenewsletter.

I have now owned BPU784 for some twenty eightyearswhichIrealisetomyhorror is the same lengthof time as its first owner.Sothecircleturns. [John still owns BPU (Y82522), which brings his tally to 48 years! – Ed.]

Frommyfirstexperienceofitasanon-runnerclosetobeing carted off for scrap,I came to respect it assomethingwithmore thanenoughlifeinittogivemeameasureofindependencenotpreviouslyexperienced.An abundant supply ofcheap scrap parts meantthat a poverty stricken Ar-chitectural student couldmove around for very littlecash indeed. Justaswell,sinceabundantdiffsandgearswereneededtokeeppacewith themerciless flogging towhichitwassubjected.Bodywise,ithasnev-ersignificantlyaltered. Itstillhasthesamedentsandperforations ithadwhen I toweditawaytoapromiseofgreater longevityallthoseyearsago.

AcarwithabrightnewlifeintheThirties;acarofwhosewarhistory I knownothing; acar which provided family transport in Brit-ain’spost-warrecoveryperiodtoenterade-clineinwhichitwaspasseddownafamilytoprovideagrandson’sstudenttransport.Thefellowstudentwhopurchaseditthenusedittoprovidehispassagethroughtheswingingsixties,throughstudentlifetothebeginningofworkinglife.Thenelevenyearsofstorage

whilstwildoatsweresownviamoreexoticve-hicles:vehicleswhicharenow,intheirturn,soughtafterclassics.IstillhankerafterthesumptuouscomfortofmyRoverP5buthavenonostalgiaatallfortheprimitivehandlingandsuspensionofmyMGB.Ithadlooksanda lovely throatyenginebut littleelse! Theycame and went but theY, together with itssupply of scrap parts, was always waitingin the background ready for the resurrec-tion.ThisdidnotarriveuntilIhadlivedwithacertainladylongenoughtoknowthatwemighttakeachanceonmarriageandthen,ofcourse,whatbetterweddingcarthantheoldY.

TryingtoreviveaYinthelate70swasalonelybusiness.Youquicklyrealisetheoddswereagainstyouand the reconditioningofpartsonaone-offbasisisaveryexpensiveprocessindeed. Whata relief todiscover theexist-

enceofaClubsettinguptomaintainthosevenerable worthies. Up until that momentmyYhadbeenaperennialfriend,acontinu-ity,notjustformebutIwouldliketobelieveitgavethesamebenefitstoitspreviousownerwhom I never met. Over the years, I hadbuiltuparelationshipbetweenalmosteverypartof thecar andme, justme. I didnotknowanyonefoolishenoughtoownsuchastrangeold vehicle. Somehow I hadnevereventhoughtthatanyoneelsemightbedo-ingsuchathing.TheModelYwassuchaneverydaylowlyworkhorsethatIhadn’timag-inedawholepreservation ‘movement’ con-cernedfortheirwelfare,somycuriositywasarousedwhenIfirstheardofGrahammiles’heroiceffortstogettheClubintobeing.

Such a worthy cause deserved support, socontactwasmade.Mypreviousexperiencesofspecialistclubshadnotbeengoodones.Narrow hobby interests seemed to breednarrow minds, cliques tended to aboundandtherepetitionofin-jokesdidnotleadtocontinued membership. What a delight itwasthentoencounterandenjoythehappyatmosphere of the Y&C Club, personifiedintherelaxedapproachof itsprogenitor-in-chief.NotonlydidIgainanaccesstosparesandknow-how,probablythechiefreasonformostofusjoiningtheRegister,butalsointhepleasureofmeetingaveryrelaxedgroupofenthusiasts.NowthattheClubhasawholerangeofofficerslookingateravarietyofin-terests, it iswell to remember that in thoseearly days, Graham Miles took on almosteverytasksingle-handedly.Itishisdrive,en-thusiasmandcommitmentovermanyyearswhichhasenabledtheClubtobecomewellenoughestablishedtogain themomentumwhichcontinuestoday.Notwithstandingthescholarly care and hard work of our Chair-man, Membership Secretary and others, IstillbelieveitisthesparessupplywhichisthecoreactivityintheClub.IfGrahameverhas

tostanddownaswehavedone,wewillbehardpressed to findotherswiththeskill,knowledgeand commitment to keep thatservicegoing.

Siobhan and I both felt it wasnot good enough just to takethebenefitsofsucheffortswith-outputtingsomethingback in.Siobhan started to take oversomeofthetypingburdenfromGillMiles,Graham’ssister,whoat that time was doing all thetypingfortheClub,andIhadagoatwriting for themagazine.Whenthelasteditordecidedtoretire,Grahamasked if Iwouldlikeago,soIhadago.Ididn’tthinkthat‘go’wouldlast9years,butthereweare!AllthetypinghadbeentakenoverbySiobhanbymid-1984.

By far the bulk of the editorialeffort in those years has been

put in by Siobhan. We work as a team inmost things we do, even when the bulk ofone task is takenonbyoneofus, ithasabalanced return elsewhere, luckily quitenaturalandwithpleasureof trustand inde-pendencewithinacommonpurpose.Overtheyears,Siobhan’squietthoroughnesshassortedeachissuepagebypageandnowwithsuchanestablishedformatitiseasytoforgethowmuchbackgroundeffortgoesintosucha well running system. The graft is in thetypingandassemblyof themagazinepageby page, something entirely taken over bySiobhan. I wish her successor all the bestin taking on such a lot of hard work. [The chore of page-setting is now done by Steve Waldenberg, with guidance only from the Editor –Ed.]

20 years ago. Issue 73, October/November 1991

John Guy (in rather fetching shorts), Siobahn, the girls and BPU at Stan-ford Hall in 1988.

�



UnderSam’sChairmanship,thereproductionqualityoftheNewsletterhasimprovedenor-mously.Samhasbackedtheuseofnewertechnologies,goneforaslickercoveranduniquelygained the backing of Ford’s reproductive facilities to present you some splendid regularfeaturesinaveryprofessionalformat.Perhapsthissometimesleadsustoforgetthatthisisstillanamateurshow.Bob’stirelesseffortskeepaverycloseeyeonboththecarsandmem-bership,combiningapersonalenthusiasmwithathoroughmembership,registerandfinancesystem.TheClubisalsoveryfortunateindeedtohavetheoftenunseensupportofawholevarietyofofficers/memberswhoare,orhavebeen,beaveringawayinitsinterests:KevinandDeborah Brigginshaw,PeterKetchell,DaveCurtis,DavidGrace,DonMalin,BillWilliams,JimMiles,JeffCole,DaveTebb,tonameafew.Theircombinedeffortsaddenormouslytotheclub’sstrength..........”Johnthengoesontogiveexamplesofearlyralliesheattend-ed and ponders on the mentalityof “those who save several tonsofrustymetalforposterity–beittrains,tramsorcars....”

Heendedbythankingallfortheircontributionstothemagazinebut,“more than anything else, thankyou, Siobhan, for your hundredsofhoursofsheerhardwork.” [In those pre-computer days, it was sheer hard work and we all great-ly appreciated Siobhan’s contri-bution to the early successes of the Club! –Ed.]

Twelve new members had joinedthe Register since the previousissue. Ofthose, twoarestillwithusand larger than life, appearingfrequently in ‘Transverse Torque’.Congratulations on your 20th an-niversary of membership to StanBilousandtoTerryMortiboy.Bothhave completed superb restora-tions over the years, Stan on hismaroon Fordor Model “C” andTerryonhisModel“Y”Alpine;nottomentionthehoursofworkheputintoreplicatingthebodyworkonJohnGriffiths’Model“Y”Bezzant tourer. In issue73,anumberofvehicles,newtotheregister,cameonboard,includingBUR896,aTudorModel“Y”,thenownedbyIanFewtrell-remarkableforitspost-productionaddedboots.ThecarisnowownedbyBillPlevin.GeoffBigwell,fromNuneatoninWarwickshire,joinedwiththesecondoldestknownsurvivingModel“C”(C00616),AHP393.RegrettablyGeoffisnolongerinmembership,sowearenotawareofwhetherhemanagedtocompleteitsrestoration.Mr.&MrsFordhamjoinedtheClubattheAllFordRallythatyearandeventuallyboughttwoModel“Y”s,orrather,oneModel“Y”andtheremnantsofone.JohnHamptonrecentlyboughttheremnantstoconvertintoapick-up.Iwonderhowthatprojectisprogressing?

AnamusingextractfromtheSeptember12th1936‘PracticalMotorist’appearedinthisissue.‘AHullmotoristsentthispleadinglettertotheBench:-

“Having spent a glorious day at Malham, I took my youthful courage in both hands and told my fair companion of my greater love. Imagine the joy with which I learned that she, too, felt a greater love for me.This was not the time for recklessness. We travelled on , carefully watching the speedom-eter. We didn’t want any trouble on this day. It was a lovely night, and contentedly we journeyed on. Yes, still doing 30 .... Toot toot! ..... I looked in the mirror. It was a racing car. I waved him on and smiled. I wasn’t racing tonight. Speed on my friend.Alas it was a police car, and stopping. I looked at the speedometer. They were right. I was doing more than 30.”

ButtheBenchhadbeeninuredtothedartsofCupidandfinedtheman£1andendorsedhislicence.’

1991wasthefirstofthreeyearswhentheFordY&CModelRegisterrantheAllFordRallyatAbingdon(sowhat’snew–wearenowrunningtheOldFordRallyatGaydon!).Lifewasnotquiteasluxuriousasitistoday.Ontheweekendbefore,GrahamMilesandKevinBrig-ginshawhadinstalledatapinthefarmer’splasticcattletroughfeedpipetosupplycampersandcaravaners.Therallywasheldinacoupleoffarmer’sfields.OnboththeFridayandtheSaturdaybeforethebigday,therainlasheddown.“The weather front hit us with a venge-ance on the Saturday. As the day proceeded, so more members arrived to give assistance.

Kevin and Rod Evans were early arrivals and helped to mark out the exhibit area. David and Valerie Leach, Ron Smith and Owen and Christine Baldock also arrived in the morning. David and Ron took over the shovel duty and the girls looked after the trickle of autojumblies and traders as they started arriving. Throughout the day the Yorkshire contingent arrived, Bob Wilkin-son chauffeuring David Grace and Gordon Batchelor; the Lancashire and North West

group appeared in the guise of Ken and Kath Devine and John and Sue Griffiths and David and Cher Curtis took over the marking of the ten club display stands, assisted by Bill and Sa-rah Williams. No sooner was that completed when Dave Ball arrived with his two cream Model “Y” Fordor Brighton tax-is, which formed an attractive entrance to the Register display area. As the day progressed, so the rain increased in inten-sity. Graham Miles had set up his caravan and awning as Rally Control and as a refuge from the weather as tasks were completed. More trade stalls arrived and the first of the car entries. That evening, those Register members who were staying overnight had the un-enviable task of trying to con-trol an influx of local custom car enthusiasts who arrived for the disco in the marquee and

who, in better conditions, would have been properly marshalled and charged for entry. However, in the dark, the rain and the mud, control was not possible. Morale was at its lowest at this stage on the weekend!

On the Sunday morning I drove Kerry up to Abingdon from Andover with hood down and in dry weather. Paula and I were hor-rified on arrival to find that a new entrance had been prepared after the disco traffic of the evening before had churned up the planned entrance .....”

Suffice it to say, some500pre-1965FordswereondisplayandJoPublicturnedoutinforcetotramplethefieldsandmudandenjoythecars.Wesold£250worthofY&Cregaliaandoverallmade£1370forClubfunds.Notabadeffortforourfirstrally.Iconcludedthearticlebysaying, “Because we did not have sufficient volunteers from members, the first eleven were on duty all day without relief. I cannot praise that team highly enough, es-pecially the wives, without whom we could not have managed. They were super.”

Wasiteverthus!

SamRoberts

The ‘Editor Wanted’ advertisement that was distributed with issue 91. Until an Editor came forward, your present Editor carried out the task. He has been the Editor, on and off, ever since. This ad-vertisement applies today – someone please come forward!



Archive nuggetDependability Demonstration

AsIhavementionedbefore,oneofmyprojectsastheClubarchivist,istoidentifytheFordagents’carsthattookpartinthe72hourDependabilityDemonstrationinSeptember1933.Tothatend, Iaskedmemberstovisit their local librariesto lookthroughthemicroficherecordsoflocalnewspaperspublishedonoraboutFriday,15thSeptember1933,withaviewtofindingreportsandphotographsoftheirlocalFordagent’sinvolvementintheDepend-abilityDemonstration.Theresponsetomyrequestwaspoor.

Inexplanation,therapiddesign,development,settingupandproductionoftheModel“Y”(only9months) inevitably resulted ina few teethingproblemswith theearlyshort rads.Mostwereresolvedprettysimplyandrapidly,buttheunreliabilityoftherearaxledidcauseamajorheadachetotheCompany.ItwaseventuallysolvedwithouttoomuchdamagetothereputationofthecarortheFordMotorCompany.

InSeptember1933,itwasdecidedtoprovetothepublicandthemotoringpressthattheModel“Y”wasreliablebyaskingFordagentsacrossEngland,ScotlandWalesandIrelandtoruntheircarsfor72hoursnon-stopandtogainasmuchpublicityaspossiblefromthefeat.Theenginesweretobestartedat5.30p.m.onMonday,11thSeptember.Eachofsome250agentswasallocatedanumberanditwasuptoeachagenttodecidewhatrouteortypeofeventhiscarwouldperformtogainmaximumlocalpublicity.Todate,Ihaveonlymanagedtoidentifythecarsbelongingto26agents.

Ihavenowaddeda27ththankstoIanMoodie,wholivesinSelkirkintheBordersofScot-land.InSeptemberofthisyear,hislocalnewspaper,theSouthernReporter,publishedaphotographheaded‘FramedinTime’,whichhadbeenloanedtothembyMargaretDick

ofGalshiels. Margaret’s latehusbandhadworkedatFairgrieve&Sons,aFordagentin the1930s in thenearby villageofStowand had in his possession a photographof the garage’s Dependability Demonstra-tionModel“Y”,SY4813,apparently readyfor the ‘off’ on 11th September 1933. Itclearly has its demonstration number,119,displayedonitsfrontbumper.

IfanyreadercomesacrossaphotographofashortradModel“Y”withacircularnumberplateonthefrontbumper,“yearetodeclareit”!

Another Dependability Demonstration Model “Y” (no. 119) comes to light. It is the one from Fairgrieve & Sons in Stow on the Borders.”

�



AustraliaOrigin of Geelong

InthelatestissueoftheY&CRegisterAustralianSyndicatesmagazine‘WireWheels’,editedbyBillBallard,wastheoriginof thenameGeelong,whichBillcameacrossat theFordDiscovery Centre. A notice read, “The Aboriginal name Jilong means “Situated on a beautiful Bay”. This natural harbour plus the railway enticed Ford to establish their Australian headquarters here in 1925.”

Denmark.

MichaelDeichmanreports,“Iwasbrowsingthroughsomeoftheoldissuesof“BilhistoriskTidsskrift” (Automobile Historic Magazine) the club magazine for “Dansk VeteranbilKlub”(HistoricalMotorVehicleClubofDenmark)andfoundthispictureofaknownsurvivor-wehaveitintheregister.Thephotographshowsthe1977“AroundBornholm”annualrally.TheModel“CX”tourerisatoneofthetentestsontherallywherethecarisdriveninreverseupthehill.Ifyoufail,themysteriousapparatustotherightinthepicturemakesstrangenoises.”

Australia

That old van.This is a letter that non-member, Tony Harper,fromCaboolture, just north of Brisbane in Australia,recentlysenttohiscousinbackhereinUK.Tonyistryingtofindoutwhathappenedtothevan–hencehecontactedus.:-

“Talkingofoldvehicles,hereisaphotographofthe1936FordModel“Y”vanIrecoveredinearlyMarch‘54froma farmyard close toGatwickAirport,whereithadbeenabandonedthroughoutWW2.Thepoorthingdidlookinasorrystate,asmalltreehadforcedits way through the floor and out through the roofonthedriversside;thetyresofcoursewereflat,butoncehavingcutawaytheoffendingtree,inflatedthetyresabit,hookedupatowrope,withalittleeffortwemanagedtopullitoutontotheroad,thenslowlydragitbacktoourhousebehindmyfather-in-law’struck,adistanceofsomefiveorsixmiles.Ishouldaddthatthebrakeswereworsethanuseless.

Ithadevidenceofabird’snest insidebut,afteracleanup,achargetothebattery,anoilandwatercheck,refixingtheroof,gettingsome sot of braking,everything seemedto be OK. As you know,I’m trying totrace information onthis, our first vehicle;theone we had when we moved fromSmallfield, a small village in Surrey, downtoDevon(some220miles).Itwasthe10thof April1954 and it took us eleven hourstogetthere. Eventhoughwehadareallyearly start, around six am, it was gettingdarkbythetimewearrivedinTorquayandwe still had to find the flat we had rented(bytelephone).

Weweremetoutsidebythelandlord,a big woman welding a bunch ofkeys,who said in a thick Germanaccent, “ Ve ad better move zee old van off zee road. Be quick and make it smart, get unloaded, and move it off der front of my property “.Wehadall we possessed in the back of thevan,somuchsothatthemattresswehadforcedinthroughthebackdoors,was pushing down on mydarlingwife’shead andhad ‘popped ‘ theroof ‘where Ihadmaderepairs. Doyouthinkthepoorlittlebuggerwouldstart?-NO.(itturnedoutthevalveshadburnedout).Anyway,wehadtopushitaroundthebackoftheflattounload.Nowthatwasanepicjourney-wewereboth just20andtherearestillmanystoriestobetold

We eventually soldour trusty set ofwheelsforfifteenpoundsatanauctionin Brixham, (Devon)having paid five

poundsforitaonlycoupleofyearsbefore,sowewere,asalwayshappycampers.Mindyou,she served us well,we hadat leasttwotripsoncethevalveproblemhadbeen

sorted,drivingbackand forth toSmallfieldtoseemyMumand Dad,making atotalmileageof well over800 milesinthe firstfew weeks.I then useditas mywork van,plumbing

International correspondence.

The surviving “CX” tourer going through its paces on a rally in 1977 in Bornholm, Denmark.

Tony Harper’s van on the road in the late 1950s. Note that the windows appear to have been cut out of a standard van body. Also note the spare wheel on the near side door, dating the pro-duction to post-October 1936.



in and around Torbay, Devon for the nextcoupleof years.Shenevermissed abeat-wellinhindsightitseemsthatway.”

Tony, more recently explained, “We nowlive Sunny Queensland and have done sosince our arrival in Australia in 1979. WehavemadeafewtripsbacktotheUKovertheyears.ItisonlynowthatIseetheneedto ‘ record ‘ some of our experiences.Asyoucanimagine,leavingschoolatfourteentoworkinbomb-tornLondonasateaboy,and then to take upa trade in 1945 asplumbersmate, therearequitea fewtalestotell.”

Australia again.

Extracted from ‘The Ford Upwrite’, themagazineofthe8&10hpSidevalveClubofQueensland:-ThisstorycomesfromJohnCribbs inVictoriawhovisitedourwebsiteand contributed his sidevalve experiences.Memoriesofmy firstevercar,a1937FourDoor Model Y 8hp Ford with the sparewheelattachedtothebackarevivid.Whenpurchasedin1960for15pounds,thebodyandinteriorweregood,buttheenginewasworn and using oil. I purchased a worksreconditionedengineforthirtypoundsandhelped the engineer at the garage, wheremymotherwastheofficemanager,toinstallit. It went well after that, but still had itsquirks.The rod brakes were not reliable. Oneeveningaminibusinfrontofmestoppedquicklytoletdownapassenger.Althoughmyreactionwasswift,Icouldseedisaster,swung up a driveway on to the footpath,went along the side of the bus and backonto the road in front of it, missing thepassenger!Theheadlights(Lucas–Princeof Darkness) were not very good, butwith two fog lights mounted beneath thebumperbar,therewasenoughlighttoseeby.Inevergotthe“arm”indicatorstoworkbut, by 1960, “winking “indicators wereavailable.Ifittedanaftermarketsetwithabigblackdirectionalswitchmountedonthedashboard.Living in Peterborough (UK) there wasa lot of fog about. On more than a fewoccasions, arriving at my lock up garage(inacourtyardofgarages-formerlystables)there would be cars following me in, justlostandfollowingtheleader!Thecardidn’thaveaheater.Onecoldwinter,preparingfora200kmjourney,severalhotwaterbottleswereneededtoholdagainstthewindscreentopreventitfromicingup.

I’vegotalotofgoodmemoriesfromowningthatcarfor3years.Afterthata1955FordPopulardidn’thavethecharacter.Mynext2 cars were Fiat 850’s, which seemed tobe great until I drove a Triumph Herald.Migrating to Australia, I tried Holden, butfoundthemuncomfortable.NowI’mbacktoFord,my3rd,aFalcon(2006model)butnotasmuchfun!”

George Pierce watches the judge as he inspects AMG 448 (Y30298), the short rad he imported to California following

his service with the USAF in England.

A proud George with the trophy he was awarded at the rally in Santa Maria, California.”

Page �0



Events 20121January Breakfastandroadrun(seebelow) IvorBryant SharpnessDocks,Gloucestershire 01454411028

11/12Feb FootmanJamesshow&Gt.Western IvorBryant Autojumble.SheptonMallet,Somerset 01454411028

12February Y&CCommitteemeeting BobWilkinson WilloughbyVillageHallCV238BH 01832734463

22April NationalDrive-itDay

29 April 33rd Annual General Meeting Bob Wilkinson Willoughby Village Hall CV23 8BH 01832 734463

17 – 21 June Visit to Co. Durham Graham Miles See below

22 July Old Ford Rally Bob Wilkinson Gaydon Motor Heritage Centre 01832 734463

14/16Sept NorthNorfolkRailway’40sweekend JoHanslip Sheringham 01945430325

New years day, 2012:-SharpnessDocksontheSevernestuary,Gloucestershire.Informalgathering,£8entrytoincludeabreakfast(additionalbreakfasts£5),shortroadrunforthosewhowish,allmakes,carslorriesetc.takingpart.ContactIvorBryantforentryform.OrganisedbyHortonHistoricVehicleClub.

Shepton Mallet show,11th/12thFebruary.“Y”sand“C”saredesperatelyneededtodisplayatthis,thefirstmajorshowoftheyear.ThoseofyouintheWestCountryandSouthWalesinparticularareencouragedtogiveIvorsomesupport.

Visit to Co. Durham.5nightsSunday,17JunetoThursday,21Juneinclusive.GrahamMileshasarrangedwiththeThreeTunsHotelinDurhamCityforagroupbookingforourmembers.ThesightstobeseeninthispartoftheNorth-Eastareasvariedastheyarenumerous,rangingfromHadrian’sWallinthenorthtoDurhamCathedral,theBeamishOpenAirMuseum,theTanfieldRailway(theold-esttrackintheworld)toFrosterleyinthesouth(homeoftheBlackBull,memberDuncanDavis’pub, featuredonthecoverof issue191)andmuchmore. Fivedaysmaynotbeenoughforaworthwhilevisitsomakeyourstayaslongasyouwish.TheClub’s‘LastSupper’willbeontheThursdayeveningattheThreeTuns.Bookingdetailsare:-TheThreeTunsHotel(partoftheSwallowGroupofHotels),NewElvet,DurhamCity,DH13AQ.Groupemailwww.swallow-hotels.com.Hotel reception tel:- 0191 386 4326. General manager Mr. Michael Livington-Evans.Terms:-Dinner,B&B£42.50pernightperguest.Singleroomsupplement£10.Hence,foracouplefor5nights,thebasiccostwillbe£425.50.Forasingleper-son,itwillbe£262.50.Booking:-Youaretobookdirectwithhotelreception,statingthatyouarepartofthe‘FordY&CModelRegisterGroup’.Adebit/creditcardnumberwillbeneces-saryandfailuretoarriveonthefirstnightwillresultinyoubeingchargedforthatnight.Individualcancellationsmaybemadeupto48hoursbeforearrivaldate.Fullsettlementondeparture.

Twofreeon-sitecarparksareavailableforguests.Theonetothenorthisviaanarchandismoreprivate.However,bothcarparksareopentothepublic.Thehotelisconvenientlysituatedforawalkintotown.

Parts Report.Thesparesgroupsometimeshavediffi-cultyassessingwhatsparestheregistermembersrequire.Ourrequestforany-onehaving apoorly performing steer-ingboxontheircarandwhowouldliketo be involved in the evaluation to letmeknow, resulted inonepersoncon-tacting me. As part of this offer youcanhaveyoursteeringboxrefurbishedatcostprice,ontheunderstandingthatyougiveusfeedbackonthequalityandperformance. The offer still stands,but ifmembersprefertopayfullpriceandnot be involved in the evaluation,please letme know. Unless you con-tactme,wewillassumethatthereisnodemandforrefurbishedsteeringboxes.Thesteeringboxrefurbishingisacostlyprojectand,ifwehavetoorderonlyasmallquantityofsteeringnuts,theunitpricewillbeexcessive.

At this year’s AGM two sets of brakerodswereondisplayandthememberspresent expressed their preference.Sincethen,wehavebeenlookingatthemanufactureofbrakerods. Asamplewasmadeandsubjectedtoadestruc-tiveloadtest.Thiswasrepeatedforapair oforiginalbrake rodswhichwereinfairlygoodcondition,probablybetterthan thoseonmostofour cars. Thenewly manufactured ones failed at aloadwellinexcessoftheoriginalones,resultingin,onaverage,afactorofsafe-tyof1.5.Wewillbegoingaheadwithprocuringasmallbatch. Onceagain,if you are interested in replacing yourbrakerods,pleaseletusknow.

Wehavebeenbusyreplacingstockasitgetsnear torunningoutand,guesswhat?, every item purchased has in-creasedbya substantial amount. Wehave tried to absorb most of the in-creasesbut,whenitemshavenotbeenorderedforseveralyears,itisinevitablethatthepricehastoincrease.Thecostofmetalonthemetalmarketsisusuallyblamedfor the increases,whichmademethink,shouldIweighinmycars?

If you are interested in a refurbishedsteering box or remanufactured brakerodspleaseemailme:[email protected] Ketchell, Spares Officer.

Page �1The Ford Model Y & C Register


Raising funds for charityJohnJilbert, in thedepthsofCornwall, joinedtheClubasrecentlyasDecemberlastyearwithaviewtobuyingaModel“Y”.InFebruary,hepurchasedtheDecember1936TudorbelongingtoRoyCleevesinNail-sea,Somersetandwasoverthemoonwithdelight!

Johndoesn’tbelieveinhangingabout.Shortlyafterhehadsussedthevagariesof theModel “Y”,hesetoffonacharity run round theWestCountry.IwillleaveLinJilbert,John’swife,totellyouthestory,“ItwasFebruaryofthisyearthatwedecidedtodothisrun.Cath,John’sdaugh-ter,worksatLittleBridgeHouse,thechildren’shospiceatFremington,NorthDevon,andwewere luckyenoughtobethereonanopenday.Whatanamazingplace;asenseofpeaceandtranquillitypervadeseveryroomandcorridor.

AlongwithJohn’stwinsister,Esme,andherhusband,Den,wedecidedto try to raise some funds for this deserving cause, especially as thecharitywasbuildinganotherhospice,LittleHarbour,nearSt.Austell.WechosetorunthroughCornwallandDevoninour1937registeredFordModel“Y”carstartingandfinishingatLandsEnd.

OnTuesday,20thSeptember,we left LandsEndonamurkymorningat8.15am,wavedoffbyWendyLeach,agreatworkerforthecharity,aswellasotherfriends.WetravelledviaLiskeard,CallingtonandGun-nislake, throughTavistockandoverDartmoor toSourtonCross,nearOakhampton.EsmeandDenwereour‘back-up’teamandwestoppedhereforthenightintheircaravan.Thecarwasperformingreallywell,despitethedampweather.

Nextday,Wednesday21stSeptember,webrokecampand,withimprov-ingweather,wentonviaHatherleightoFremingtonandtothehospiceatLittleBridgeHouse.Thestaffwelcomeduslikeheroesandwewere

refreshedwithcoffeeandcake.AfterrestingthecaratBid-efordQuay,wejourneyedontoanothercampsiteatBush,nearBude,ontheA39AtlanticHighway.

Thursday22ndSeptember;alldownhill-astheysay!TheA39wasour routehomeandwe finishedatLandsEndat5.00pm,whereweweregreetedbyWendyandfriends.Wehadtravelled360milesandraisedapproximately£2500.Thecarwasbrilliantandnevermissedabeat.

Abig“thankyou”toEsmeandDenforbeingwithus.With-outthem,itwouldneverhavehappened,andalsotoevery-onewhohasdonatedmoniessogenerously.

John and Lin Jilbert at Lands end, with Wendy Leach (right), of the Children’s Hospice South West. A report on the charity run and this photograph appeared in the St. Ives Times & Echo and Hayle Times on 30th September.

Ignition timing and all that!SinceNikolausOtto,aGermanengineer,patentedthe4strokecyclein1876,namedafterhim,i.e.theOttocycle,itsapplicationhasremainedthe standard in the motor industry. Other versions of the petrol(gasoline)enginehavebeendevelopedsuchasthe2stroke(Clerk,Day&Cock)androtary(Wankel)buthavenotbeenwidelyapplied.

The4strokecyclestartswiththepistonmovingoutwardstobottomdeadcentre (1ststroke),drawing in the inflammablemixture throughtheopeninletvalve.Theinletvalvethenclosesandthepistonmovesinward compressing (2nd stroke) the mixture into the cylinder head(combustion chamber). The mixture is ignited by the spark, whichoccursataprecisemomentduringthecompression(2nd)stroke.Thepiston is forcedoutwardagainas theburningmixtureheatsupandexpands (3rd stroke). Finally, theexhaust valveopensand theburntmixtureispushedoutofthecylinderintotheexhaustpipeasthepistonreturnstoinner(top)deadcentre(4thstroke).

“The four-stroke Otto cycle.”

TherearetwosetsoftimingstoconsiderintheOttocycle.Thetimingoftheopeningandclosingofthevalvesduringeachofthe4strokesandthetimingofthesparkrelativetothepositionofthepistonduringthecompressionstroke.ValvetimingwasfixedbythedesignerinthecaseoftheearlyFordengineandonlyreliesontherelativepositionofcamshaftandcrankshaftbeingassembledcorrectly: i.e.byliningupmarksonthetiminggearwheelsattachedtothecrankshaftandcamshaft.Thisrelationshipcanoftenbevariedonmodernengines.Thetimingoftheignitionsparkhowever(during2ndstroke/compression)is adjustable–alsoitisrequiredtochangewhentheengineisrunning.

Page ��



Ignition circuit diagram.

The spark ignition system of the FordModels“Y”and“C”consistsofacoil(step-upauto-transformer),whichstoresenergyinitsmagneticfield;asetofcontacts(points),whichactasaswitch,andacondenser tostoreelectricalcharge.Thecoilhasprimaryandsecondarywindingsconnectedinseriesbeingwoundconcentricallyaroundanironcore.Thecoilprimarywinding,ofrelativelythick wire and few turns, carries batterycurrent(3to5ampswiththeignitionswitchon)atbatteryvoltageandisshortedtoearthwhenthecontactpointsclose.Thecasingof the coil is not earthed, as sometimesbelieved, but should have a good “bond”with the bulkhead through its wide bandfixingstrap,sothattheheatbuild-upinthecoilcanbedissipated,whichcanotherwiseaffectitsinternalresistanceandalsoleadtoprematurefailure.

Several factors affect the static setting ofthe spark timing in a particular engineandwillvarywithfuelgrade(Octane/RON/MON), plug gap, compression ratio andhoweffectively the fuelandair ismixed inthecombustionchamber.Onthe“Y”and“C”Models, thegapbetween thecontacts(points) is adjustable. The rotationalpositionofthedistributor,whichisdrivenbythecamshaft i.e. athalf crankshaft speed,canbeadjustedtomovethepositionwherethesparkoccursduringcompression.Theadjustablegapbetweenthecontacts(points)whenfullyopenwilldeterminethedwelli.e.thelengthoftimethepointsremainclosed.This determines the amount of charge inthe condenser and ultimately the strengthof magnetic field raised in the coil andhence the power of the spark available atthesparkingplugelectrode.Onthe“Y”and“C”Modelsthecaminthedistributor,whichopens and closes the contact points, has4 lobes–one foreachcylinder. Thecamrotates at half engine speed so, at 2000crankshaftr.p.m.,thepointsopenandclose4000timesperminute!Onceset,thedwellwill only change if the point gap changesduringuse;themainreasonforthiswouldbewearonthecamlobefollowerorarcingandpittingofthecontacts.Regularcheckingisthereforenecessarytoensurethepointsarecorrectlyalignedandthegapsetaccordingly(usually on early engines .018” and .012”on later models). Too great a point gapwill givea smallerdwell angleandaweakspark. Reducedpointgapresults in late opening ofthe contact points, whichwill retard the spark,increase fuel consumptionand overheat the exhaustvalves. Points can besmoothed and re-alignedusing a fine carborundumstone, but are cheap andreadily available so shouldbereplaced.

The air-fuel mixture drawnintothecylinders(stroke1)needstimetoburnandtheadjustable static ignition

settingisdesignedtogivethisforstarting.OnlaterFord“Y”and“C”engines,aremovablepegislocatedinthetimingchestcoveratthefrontnearsideoftheengine.Thepegcanbeunscrewed,turnedround,theplainendinsertedintothethreadedholeandpushedagainstthecamshaftgearwheel. Rotating theengineslowlywith thestartinghandle (sparkingplugsremoved)willfindthefiringpointfornumberonecylinderi.e.whenthepegisfelttodropintoarecessinthegearwheel.Thedistributorbodyclampattachedtothecylinderhead should be slackened and the distributor rotated by hand until the contact points

justopen.Thiscanbecheckedbyattachinga6voltbulboratestmeterbetweenthepointsterminalonthesideofthedistributorandearth.Withtheignitionswitchedonthelampwilllightasthepointsopen.Aftermovingthedistributor,takecarethatitispushedrightdownandtheclampfullylocatedaroundthebodyofthedistributoranditistight.Thereisanupwardforceonthedistributorshaftwhentheengineisrunningwhich,ifnotrestrained,cancausethetimingtogooutofadjustmentwithconsequentmisfiring,particularlyontheover-run.

Astheenginespeedincreases,thepointofignitiontoreleasethefullenergyoftheburningfuelontothepiston(stroke3)willberequiredsooner.Theadvancemechanism,attachedtothedistributorshaft (locatedbelowthecontactpointsplate),willadvancethesparkaheadofthestaticsettingastheenginerevolutionsincreasetoallowalongertimeforthefuelairmixtureto burn. The mechanism which provides the dynamic advance is non-

The distributor fitted in production post-January 1935 and retro-fitted to most surviving “Y” and “C” vehicles.

“The timing peg, having been unscrewed, is reversed and inserted into the screw hole, to engage with the recess in the cam gear wheel.

Page ��The Ford Model Y & C Register


adjustableand reliesona systemofcarefullydesignedbob-weightsandsprings,whichmoveundercentrifugalforceastherotationalspeedofthedistributorshaftincreases.Thepointsopeningcamisconnectedto theweightsbysprings. As theweightsare thrownoutwards,thecammovesthroughasmallanglesothatthepointsopensooner.Thetwospringsattachedtotheweightsareofdifferingrateandslacknessoffittingtothepivots.Thisdelays take-upgivingdifferentstagesofadvanceas theenginerevs increase. Thespringscanbreakand/orlosetheirtemperovertime,causingtheadvancingandretardingofthesparktochangewithconsequentlossofengineperformance.Thespringsshouldbecheckedperiodicallyandthebobweightscleaned,withsomelightoilbeingappliedtothenumerouspivotpoints.Stickingweightswillcausemis-firing,erraticperformanceand,inextremecircumstancesasIrecallonce,canencouragetheenginetorotatethewrongwayonstart-up.Thebestwaytocheckthattheyareworkingisbyusingatiminglight(stroboscope)connectedtocylinderNo.1plug lead(frontofengine),aftermarkingthecrankshaftpulleyandanearbyenginecasingwithwhitepaint,andthenobservingthewhitemarksmovingapartastherevsareincreased.

Now,what about this condenser (theBSImodern term is ‘capacitor’)? It is connectedinparallelto,i.e.across,thepoints.Whenthepointsclose,theyconnectthebatterytotheprimarycoilwinding(shortingoutthecondenser).Amagneticfieldiscreatedwithinandaroundthecoilwindings.Asthepointsareopenedbythedistributorcamlobe,themagnetic fieldcollapses, inducingahighvoltage in thesecondarycoil,with thecurrentcontinuingtoflowintheprimarycircuitandintothecondenser,whichisnowinserieswiththeprimarywinding.Theresidualcurrentintheprimarywindingchargesthecondenserto a veryhigh voltage (300+). As the voltage andcurrent flow in theprimarywindingdiminishes,thecondenserdischarges,returningitsstoredchargeasacurrentintothecoilprimarywinding,intheopposite direction,boostingthespeedofcollapseofthemagneticfield(itisthespeedofcollapsewhichisimportant),sogivingahigherinducedvoltageinthesecondarywindingandhenceamorepowerfulsparkattheplugelectrode.Thebetterthespark,themorechancethereisofthefuelandairmixtureignitingatthecorrecttimeinthecycletogivebestperformance.Itisthesuddenswitchingoffoftheprimarycircuitcurrentandtherapidcollapserateofthemagneticfieldasthecontactpointsareopenedbythecam,whichinducesthehighvoltage(5000volts+)inthecoilsecondarywindingofthinwiresandmanyturns,tobedeliveredtothesparkingpluggap,viathehightension(HT)leads.

Alwayscheckthatthereisa good bond(earth)betweenthecondensercaseandthebodyofthedistributor,orrunaseparateearthorevenmountthecondenseronthebulkhead–believeitornotthisisoneofthemostcommonproblemswiththistypeofdistributor.Alwaysuseagoodqualitycondenser;thisisamostvitalpartoftheignitionsystem.Itgivesthatvitalboosttothesparkandcheapversionsbreak-downatquitelowvoltages.Pleaserememberthecondenserisnotjusttheretoabsorbarcingandtoprotectthepoints,aswidelybelieved:althoughofcourseitdoesthisalso.

So,nowthecoilsecondarywindingoutput,whichhasbeentransformedfromourmeagre6voltbatterytoashortlivedspikeofseveralthousandvolts,mustbetransmittedtothetipofthesparkingplugtoignitethecompressedfuelairmixture,withminimalloss.Thethickhightensioncablefromthecentreofthecoilgoestothecentreterminalonthedistributorcap.Thisterminalisconnectedtotherotorarmbyaspringloadedcarbonbrush.Therotor arm transfers the electrical pulses to each of the segments in the distributor capin turn (note1-2-4-3on the“Y”and“C”Models). Thesegmentsareconnected to thefourplugleadsinthetopofthedistributorcap.Thehightensionsideoftheignitionispronetofailureduetothehighvoltagetakingashorterroutetoearththrougheitherpoorconnectionsinthecoil,crackedordirtydistributorcap,ortheleadsthemselves.Tracking(leakage)acrossthedistributorcapandcoilcapisbestobservedinlowlightconditions.

ThehightensioncablesuppliedbytheFordY&CModelRegistercontainsacontinuouscopper conductor. This rarely fails, other than at the ends where a good contact withtheterminalcomponentsshouldbemaintained.Thehypalonterminalcoversforplugs,coil terminal anddistributor terminals are recommended (as supplied in thedeluxeHTleadkit-itemEL19ontheSparesList)topreventmoistureingress.Finally,anoteaboutsuppression:neitherthestandardordeluxeHTleadkitshaveprovisionforradio/TV“noise”suppression. Therefore when the engine is running, the high frequency switching andtheassociatedelectricalandmagneticfieldscreatedwillinterferewithTV/Radioreceptionnearby.Inaddition,remotecontroldevicessuchasdoorcontrolsonmoderncarscanhavetheirsignalscompletelyblocked,Ihaveobserved.

Colin Rowe.

Your Spares Administrator.

Extracted from various Ford promotional articles .

On May 17, 1929, company founderHenryFord’sson,Edsel,wasthefirsttodigintothelow-lyingmarsh,whichthecompanyhadboughtfiveyearsearlierfor £167,700. Around 20,000 pileshadtobesunk80feetintothegroundtosupport theengineandcar factory. From Edsel digging the first turf witha silver spade to its first vehicle, FordDagenham took only 28 months tobuilditsfirstvehicle,aModelAAtruck,which rolled off the production linein October 1931. Special trains hadmoved 2,000 Ford employees andtheir families to their new DagenhamhomesfromTraffordPark,Manchester– the company’s first plant in Britain.Both the Model AA and another pre-World War II star, the Model “Y”, arein Ford’s Dagenham-based heritagecollectionandwillbedriventocelebrateits80thlandmark.TheFordModel“Y”wasthelowestpricedsaloonevermade,withthe“Popular”model,thefirstandonly£100car,beingintroducedin1935.After the war, Dagenham reverted tovehicleandengineproductionfromthe4x4trucksandguncarriersrequiredbythemilitary.AdvancedDagenham-builtFord Consul and Zephyr ranges wereshownatthe1950motorshow,leadingtotheexpansionoftheplantby50percenttoaccommodateresultingdemand.By1966 theoriginal riversidebuildingwasdedicatedtoenginemanufacturing,covering a 1.1 to 2.4-litre range.Within 20 years, Ford Dagenham had

Ford Dagenham 80 years on from

the start of production.

Page ��



secured its position as the company’sonly dedicated diesel engine facilityglobally. This was reinforced at theturnofthemillenniumwhenasecondFord Dagenham engine plant wascommissioned, opened by PrimeMinisterTonyBlairin2003.CalledtheDagenham Diesel Centre, the £325millioninvestmentincludesthe“Tiger”line,making1.6-litreenginesforFord’slow CO2 ECOnetic range, which isenjoyingincreaseddemandasaresultofvehiclescrappageschemesannouncedacrossEurope.The475-acrecomplexon the Thames, which now majors indieselenginedesignandmanufacture,produced 1,050,000 units in 2008,ranging from 1.4-litre four-cylinderengines to 3.6-litre V8s for delivery tovehicleassemblyplantsacrossEurope.Rising demand for diesel engines hadpushedDagenhamoutputupbyover16percentonthepreviousyear.Following£800millionofinvestmentthisdecade,Ford Dagenham has the capacity toassemble 1.4 million engines a year.

Today the site employs a total of4,000people inengine,stampingandtransport operations. Ford engineersandproductionspecialistsatDagenhamareresponsibleforthedevelopmentandassemblyofdieselenginesfittedto28differentFord,Jaguar,LandRoverandPeugeotCitroënmodels.Four-cylinder1.4-,1.6-,1.8-,2.0-,2.2-and2.4-litreunitsareproducedalongside2.7-and3.0-litreV6enginesanda3.6-litreV8.Enginesaretakenfromtheproductionlinesbyon-sitetransportoperationsforonward delivery by road, rail and sea.Railway lines service the site, whichboastsadeepwater jettyusedto loadand unload vessels travelling betweenFord plants. Dagenham’s transportoperations importandexport300,000vehicles a year. They alsohandle the15,000,000stampings,suchasvehiclebody panels, bonnets and boot-lidsand 1,800,000 wheels produced bythe stamping and tooling operations.Dagenham plant manager, DaveParker, said: “Ford Dagenham isideally positioned to give quick andeasy access to our markets, whichcontinue to sustain operations hereafter 80 years. Today, we’re at thecentreofFord’sfuelefficiencydriveasexemplifiedbythe76mpgdieselenginesuppliedforthenewFordFiesta.Ford

Dagenham has a rich manufacturing,economic and social heritage,which has provided the foundationfor its competitive position today.”

Dagenham facts:-

1.Thereare10milesofrailwaytracksacrosstheDagenhamestate.2. The estate covers 475 acres, upfrom its initial size of 295 acres whenitopened.3.IfyoutravelonEurostar,partofyourjourneywillbeunderneaththeDagen-hamestate.4.FrogIslandwasnamedafteritsuseasaprisoncampduringtheNapoleon-icwars.5.In1953,employmentatDagenhampeakedat40,000workers.6. Car bodies were ‘stroked’ with os-trichfeatherstoremovestaticelectricitybeforepainting.7. From 1933 to 2003, a Ford ferrytransportedworkersacrosstheThamesestuary fromsouthLondon toDagen-hamtosavetimeandcostofusingtheDartfordCrossingortheBlackwallTun-nel.8. Eurovision Song Contest winner,Sandy Shaw and Billy Ocean bothworkedatDagenhambeforetheirsing-ingcareerstookoff.9.BeforetheintroductionoftheNHS,Dagenham employees benefited froman on-site doctor, trained nurses, anoperatingtheatreandX-rayequipmentandadispensary.

Ford Cologne’s 80th anniversary

ThiloMoerkeoftheFordOldtimerundMotorsportClubColognee.V.imADACreports,“On 1st October, Ford’s Cologne

– Niehlplant celebrated its 80th anni-versarywitha familyday. 70,000visi-tors (employeesaccompaniedby theirfamilies and friends) toured all facili-tiesincludingtoolanddie,press,bodyandpaintshop,finalassembly,vehicleworkshops,engineplant (homeof theCologneV6,Aston-MartinV8andV12as well as the latest Ford three-cylin-derEcoBoostengines).Thejointven-turecompaniesoperatingontheNiehlpremisesopenedtheirproductionlinesas well: Getrag-Ford transmission,VisteonchassisandCotarkoforgeandcastingplant.

Peoplequeuedforupto2.5hoursjusttogetaglimpseofthestate-of-the-artrobotized final assembly line, whereFiestaandFusionareassembled.Lo-calbandsperformedontwostagesallday long. Our kids were entertainedina specialplayarea forchildrenandawardedwithmanyFordgoodies.

Over250classiccarswereondisplay:The Ford Classic Car collection wasopenedtothevisitorsandhadtwoFordKölnsondisplay,togetherwithanEifelRoadsterunderrestorations.OurClubshowedanotherEifelRoadsteramongthirtyFordclassicsintotal.Luckilytheweather conditions were perfect - wecouldparkoutsideonthequaynexttotheoldHall-Abuilding,whereproduc-tion started in 1931. The Capri, Mus-tang,ThunderbirdandotherFordclubspresented their vehicles inotherareasofthehugeCologneplant.

A new movie with old foot-age from the beginnings oftheNiehlplantwasshownintheon-siteCinemaandavail-ableforpurchaseonDVD.Itfeaturesalotofneverbeforepublished material togetherwithinterviewsofformerFordemployeesformthe30s,50sand60s:http://www.rheindvd.de/Fordchronik.html”



A Köln limousine sits alongside a Köln cabriolet at Ford Cologne’s 80th anniversary Families’ Day. Note the lack of running boards and the smooth front bumper – hall-marks of the German manufactured Model “Y” Köln.

An Eifel roadster under restoration in the Ford Cologne workshop.

Page ��



A Century of Partnership– The Oldham Motor Company Ltd. (OMC)

The story of OMCFord, originallyTheOldhamMotorCompanyLimited, thetown’soldest cardealership,goesback to1907.Themanwiththeoriginal ideawasRalphRothwellEglin,whoownedabicycleshop in Yorkshire Street. He specialisedin retailing locallymadebicycles,amongstwhichwere theRothwellmarque,made inOldhambytheEclipseMachineCompany.At about this time, the Eclipse MachineCompanybeganmanufacturingmotorcars,which interested Ralph Elgin to the extentthatheenticedsevenlocalfriendsandbusi-ness acquaintances to invest in and formanewcompany,TheOldhamMotorCom-panyLtd.,tosellnewmotorcars.Thebusi-ness tookoffand, in1908,signedagencyagreementswithArgyle,RoverandSiddleycarsaswellasShellSpirit,whichwassoldintwo-galloncans.In1909,theCompanyalso launched its own motor-taxi businessstartingwithtwoFiats.

TheoriginalhomeofthefledglingOldhamMotorCompanywastheHardingsCarriageWorksatthecornerofManchesterRoadandOxfordStreet.Thiswasretaineduntil1927whentheleaseexpired.In1911,theDirec-torsagreedtoalso leaseaplotof landonthecornerofManchesterRoadandPorterStreet,onwhichtheybuiltfiveshopsandagarage.Interestingly,theconstructioncostsincludedthecappingofanoldpitshaft.

Ralphandhiswife,Ada,hadason,Ralph(Junior)in1912.Itwasaneventfulperiodinotherwaystoo.Thepreviousyear,1911,the move was made to the additional siteonManchesterRoad,thesameyearastheCompany took on its Ford agency in theOctober.TheOldhamMotorCompanybe-cametheluckythirteenthFordagenttobeappointedinthewholeofGreatBritain. Itisnow(2011)thesecondoldestdealershipstillinoriginalfamilyhands.OntakingtheFord franchise, the Company’s other fran-chisesweretransferredtotheParagonMo-torCompanyinOldham.

BecomingassociatedwithFordhadmuch

to do with the fact that the Ford MotorCompanywasabout tobeginassemblyofthe Model T at its factory in Old Trafford,not eight miles away on the other side ofManchester.

The new premises of the Oldham Motorcompany were brighter and much moremodern than anything previously seen.Hugewindowsallowedforbetterandlargerdisplays.However,duetoaroadwideningscheme in 1992/93, these premises weredemolishedandtheoperationmovedtotheoppositesideoftheManchesterRoad.Backin1912,businessduringthefirstyearwastough, theCompany sellingonly ten cars.ThesewerehardtimeswhenaFordModelTvancost£120andwhentheaverageweeklywagewasjust£14shillings–onehundredthofthecostofavehicle.

The following decades would not howeverbetroublefreeforthebusiness. AlthoughtheoutbreakoftheFirstWorldWarin1914would provide an enormous boost to thedemandforpetroldrivenvehiclesforuseinthe armed forces, sales of cars for civilianusewasinevitablyrestricted.Indeed,evenfollowing theendof thewar in1918,carswerestillsomethingfortheaffluentfew,notthemanypoor. Doctors,mill owners andother wealthy folk may have run cars but,for the rest, walking, tramcars and horseswerestilltheusualmeansoftravellingalongroads, still more likely to be paved withhorse-friendly sets than car-friendly tarma-cadam.

Even so, a short lived post war economicboom promised to bring cars into morepeople’slives.Alas,theWallStreetCrashof1929andthesubsequentGreatDepressionon the 1930s did little to boost car sales.Althoughthelaunchofthemuchmoreaf-fordableModel“Y”in1932didimprovethefortunesoftheFordagentscountrywide,themoveoftheFordMotorCompanymanufac-turingbasefromTraffordParktoDagenhamin1931,wouldhaveaffectedtheday-to-day

operationsofthebusi-ness.Insteadoftaking

deliveryofanewvehiclefrom8milesaway,drivers now had to travel 450 miles on aroundtriptoandfromDagenham.

WorsewastocomewiththeoutbreakoftheSecond World War in 1939. Car produc-tion virtually ceased whilst manufacturingfacilitieswereconvertedtowarwork.Petrolrationing,too,sawmanycarsconsignedtotheirgaragesforthedurationofthewar.Itdid little for car sales, not that there weremany cars to sell. Waiting lists were im-mensely long, not helped by accumulatednationalwardebts,whichmadeitnecessarytoexportmostofthevehiclesmanufacturedinBritainatthetime.

Despite these miseries, things really weregetting better as a golden age of motor-ingwasjustaroundthecorner.Beforeverylong, with an improving economy, manymorepeoplewouldbeabletobuyacarforthe first time. In the following fifty years,names such as Escort, Cortina, Sierra,Capri,Focus,Fiesta,KiaandMondeohavebeenetchedinthemindsofsuccessivegen-erations.

Intheinterveningyears,theOldhamMotorCompany passed down through the Elginfamilyfromfathertoson.RalphandAda’sson, Ralph Jnr., took over on his father’sdeath.Histwosons,TonyandRobin,joinedthebusinessinthelatesixtiesandnow,thefourthgenerationofthefamily,Robin’sson,Jonathan,hasalsojoinedthefamilyfirm.

We wish the OMC Ford Group continuedsuccess, now with their additional dealer-shipsinMacclesfieldandChorley.

OurthanksgotomemberArthurRefernforcontactingOMConourbehalfandtoRobinElginforsendingthebrochureoutliningtheCompany’shistory,fromwhichmostofthetextforthisarticleistaken.



The Oldham Motor Company’s Manchester road showrooms and garage in the 1950s. Note the Model “CX” Fordor driving past.

Robin Elgin and son, Jonathan, who are the third and fourth generation members of the Elgin family to run the business.

www.fordyandcmodelregister.co.uk

HENRY’S CARFOR EUROPE

Benefits of Membership

1700 Vehicles Registered

Technical Advice

Help with registration matters

Advice on buying

New and used parts list

Service Bulletins & Handbooks

Car Tracing Service

Transverse Torque Magazine

Regional & National Events

Programme

Members’ Internet Forum

A friendly, sociable group

1932 - 1937

transverse - ford y and c model register€¦ · mike samuel “the willows” stoney road...

Documents