For the Dauphine fans...

Morn'n MG. Top of the world to you👍
There's no shortage of mods and bling here! It even has a switch to toggle between ignition coils, should one let you down on your Sunday drive 😳
 
Yes it is a real work of art. I note the air conditioner in the back seat and the lack of roll-bar or airbag as one would expect for a chop-top.
Points off for the white zip ties in the engine bay, black would be more tasteful.
 
Spare set of plugs is a blast from the past - plug failure/need for cleaning was a regular event and such mountings were a common accessory ( clean the bloody things when we get home). I still have a few of the plugs which could be taken apart for a proper clean.

I can still remember as a child in late 50’s - early 60’s when servos would advertise “plug clean with every full tank of fuel”. At the time the family runabout had a 38 gallon tank, 12 cylinders and dual ignition, each with its own plug. When dad was feeling mischievous and had spare time this deal caused a degree of confusion. But at least they got to sell lotsa petrol

Andrew
 
COL said:
Thats a very nice Dauphine lots of time and money have obviously been spent on it.

I noticed in the engine bay the extra ignition coil and what looks like a switch to switch between coils, also noticed the spare spark plugs on the left side of the engine bay.
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Wow. And a temperature gauge on the top hose. All the fruit you might say..... Pretty much the right colour, I'd say with no bias. :)
 
Andrew Watkins said:
Spare set of plugs is a blast from the past - plug failure/need for cleaning was a regular event and such mountings were a common accessory ( clean the bloody things when we get home). I still have a few of the plugs which could be taken apart for a proper clean.

I can still remember as a child in late 50’s - early 60’s when servos would advertise “plug clean with every full tank of fuel”. At the time the family runabout had a 38 gallon tank, 12 cylinders and dual ignition, each with its own plug. When dad was feeling mischievous and had spare time this deal caused a degree of confusion. But at least they got to sell lotsa petrol

Andrew
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And a decoke every 30,000-40,000 miles I suppose. It's not often I look at plugs these days.
 
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COL said:
I think with unleaded fuels plugs don't foul up as easily as they did in leaded fuel days, that is my experience anyway.
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And oils get better and better too I suspect. I reckon that underlying some issues is the period when cars were quite old at 15 (our Scenics are quite NEW at 15) and, as cheap second cars, didn't get the maintenance they deserved, not least oil changes.
 
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COL said:
I think with unleaded fuels plugs don't foul up as easily as they did in leaded fuel days, that is my experience anyway.
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Yes I was amused at those spare plugs lined up ready for action. :oops: Even when my old R750 had run one of the big ends and I keept driving it, I do not recall needing 4 spare plugs to change on the run ??
Actually I think the improvement in plug cleanliness would be due to the better control of the mixture at the optimum so the combustion is more complete and any oil is burnt off too. Better oil control too. Gees new engines are great ar'nt they, they just start and go for years.:cool:
Jaahn
 
I remember my father in the 60's and 70's used to stop at the bottom of razorback to change to colder Golden Lodge sparks plugs that normally lived in the glove box.

The hotter plugs used for around town would cause pinging climbing the ranges.
 
I am just doing a "tune up" on a VW UP 3 cyl 1 ltr with 180000 KM on it, The family member owner has never serviced it, only topped up the oil and just drove it. I remember doing one oil change once and topped up the coolant. The plugs had about 1.7 mm gap and might be original as they only have NGK and VW AG branded on them. The car was going OK :giggle: I drove it down from Brisbane and it was going perfect on the freeway. Possibly new plugs and filter and oil change and filter might upset the little tacker after 9 years ??? :oops:
Jaahn
PS It never got better fuel that the cheapest stuff either, he never paid more for 95. He had such a good run he bought a second hand low ks identical one, same colour too :rolleyes:
 

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jaahn said:
Yes I was amused at those spare plugs lined up ready for action. :oops: Even when my old R750 had run one of the big ends and I keept driving it, I do not recall needing 4 spare plugs to change on the run ??
Actually I think the improvement in plug cleanliness would be due to the better control of the mixture at the optimum so the combustion is more complete and any oil is burnt off too. Better oil control too. Gees new engines are great ar'nt they, they just start and go for years.:cool:
Jaahn
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I suspect many, if not most engines of the last 2-3 decades have been lasting the life of the car if serviced.
 
I think engines lasting the life of the car is because the life of the engine or transmission (whichever comes first) is the life of the car.

Cars were much older in the 50s and 60s than now. There were lots of pre-war cars about then often 40 years old and doing regular service, I knew two people who drove A model Fords daily. One of my father's mates had a pre-war and a post-war Armstrong Siddeley with a preselector box.

The curse of those days was the regular decoke and valve grind, not to mention changing engine bearings. I have a box put away with all the gear and tools for these jobs, unused for years.
 
56 Fregate said:
...probably from hitting a few too many kerbs.

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Well I have seen the dual control learner cars we had here, but never seen one with two steering wheels. :rolleyes: Good idea for some learners that is for sure !! I taught one a few years back that had been to a driving school and they gave up. I was asked to help so she could get a job that needed driving. Nice young woman, mid 20s, inteligent, but after a couple of trial lessons I was puzzled by the obvious problem.
Then after she went the opposite way to instruction, I asked her "are you dislexic" YES !! she was just hiding it but actually had left and right tattooed on her wrists. Things improved a lot after that and we agreed to disclose all problems as they came up. Went on to get her licence after quite a bit of practice and became a good driver.
Jaahn
 
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