Tumeke

Started to tidy things up. 2 smokes oil mixer - fancy. Also crutch adjustment wound right out. Hmmmm Roundy spinny electrimical stuff. No gear switch. Also changed the gearbox oil.

I have the same problem it appears. Ebay I assume?

Saw your beast parked up on Galatos Street today. *Swooon*

Did you know that Stirling Moss raced a Super Snipe in a rally across 15 countries in 5 days in December 1952? I accidentally went for a long drive on the weekend, from Auckland down to Kaiawa through the back roads, then turned left back up the coast road. This road has a few twists & turns including a hairpin or three, some hill climbs and sweepers. Rally country. I wasn't in a hurry. I never am. But then, from nowhere, I noticed some of BMC's finest front wheel drive wizardry looming large in my mirror. I thought I'd slow a bit further and let him pass, after all, 'said Barry was right up my bumper with lights on. Barry won't pass. Hmmm. Nailed it. First, Whooooorp! Second, Whoooorp! Third, Cough Whooorp! Speedo bouncing around 30ish. Whoosh! Strangely (probably gasping from the blue exhaust smoke?) I left him behind. However, the first set of twisties were coming.... Slowed down hard. Bow thrusters full to port. Tyres protesting. HARD into a left hander. Mid corner bump in the road..... SHIT..... That's right - the rear shocks are stuffed..... Entertaining I'll tell you. Said hydrolastic car passed while I changed my pants, however, not to be outdone I thought I'd give chase. Surprisingly, I kept up - no substitute for cubes in the hill-climb section I suppose. Anyway, I knew the rear shocks were poked after some hairy corners on the way back from Hawkes Boes so promptly did some research and found that a Toymota Cressida (circa 1978-80) should do the trick. I ordered a set of Gabriels (because they are red) from Rock Auto. Yes, they cost $14 each + $20 shipping. Ordered them on the 9th. Arrived today. Makes me wonder how Repco stays in business. Old vs new. GABRIEL 81340 [shock Absorber] Guardian Shock for those playing at home Old shocks came out easily. There doesn't seem to be any oil in them at all. Compressed with a finger and no chance of bouncing back. New shocks near perfect fit. Bushes are a little smaller, however some dish-washing liquid and a rubber mallet sorted fitment. Red for Racing. Look out Alec Issigonis. We shall meet again...... All in all a trouble-free hour long Monday night job. Quick jaunt around the block yielded much nicer dampening. Might have to look at a sway-bar next.....

Hmmm. If the original owner was called Len I remember this being built. If not, I remember another one the same colour being built!

Seems like ebay has all the goodies available including old style tanks. Some are a bit pricey of course, but keep and eye out I reckon. Wonder if I can just put one of my 50cc rego and plates on it..... Hmmmmm

Ring-a-ding-ding.... Holy 2 Smokes! 196* Suzuki B100p - which is actually a 120cc two-smoke four speed with self-mixing oil - which is what the 'P' is for, Last ridden in 1980 (legally) and ready for a refresh when time permits. Poured in some fuel, watched the fuel hose & tap leak and ignored it. Three kicks and she started. LOTS of beautiful smoke. Pumped up the tires and gingerly took her for a spin. Seems OK - shocks are softish (to be expected) and the brakes could probably do with some attention. Gearbox seal is weeping so a new seal (tube of silicone) and some 20W/40 will also be on the shopping list. Otherwise moth-ridden surface rusted originality. Long term would like to get her registered for Oldschool scooter / bike runs. Good times.

My bach compressor (1960s probably and certainly not industrial) automatically turns off the mighty Briggs and Scrap-Iron at a pre-set PSI. It then automatically re-starts (air starter) when drops below a second pre-set PSI. Hope this helps? I'd have to pay more attention to it when I'm at the bach next time if you need more info.

Chur'bo. Hoping to find a set of 15 5x5" Buick Riviera wheels and then do the whitewall / redwall thing. Slight slam may ensue. Wheels first though!

Small update: Hawkes Boes. Big trip from Auckland. So, did the usual check the car before a long trip. Oil change, diff / gearbox check, coolant etc. All good. Went to grab some cable-ties and gaffa tape and the radiator let go. Fluid into the fan, across the engine, up the windscreen etc. Thank goodness for good wiper blades. Anyway, pulled the rad out and it was obvious that it was poked in more than one place. The poked radiator. With only 4 days till departure I had no choice but to get it re-cored, rather than scavenge something else and make it work (which would be normal procedure) 1 Million dollars later I have a new radiator. Anyway, all fixed I followed threeonthetree in convoy to Hawkes Boes AND kept up with his younger car comfortably. Which made me think, The car is 54 years old. It has three gears. It weighs a ton and a half. It has a 3 litre straight six. This isn't going to go well. But then .... It comfortably does a 697 MILE trip - that's 1121kms over three days. (note - without exploding/ breaking / other such stuff) It averaged between 11 & 12 litres per 100km. (23ish MPG) I did worse than that in my turbo Subaru. Wat? I'm impressed. Guess I'll keep her for a bit. Photocred: Roman. Humber at Hawkes Boes camping setup. (It's a BIG tent, not a small car)

Actual transcript from Rootes group meeting circa 1962: "Good job there Jenkins on the Snipe engine! It's a beauty! That generator for the electric pixies is grand! Easy to get off is it?" "Of course sir. We've used three different bolt sizes and made sure that you can only turn each one 1/8 of a turn at a time." "Excellent. So, who will know which size each one is?" "Um, well, erm, not many. Our head mechanic Barry says not to worry though" I appreciate working on Japanese cars sometimes. Decided to update the electrics with an alternator instead of the 'ol generator. What for making the pixies run faster at idle and stuff. The generator and voltage regulator were both a bit dodgy and fequently decided it needed 30 amps into the battery which was a bit silly. I'd tweaked it and got it normal only to have it change itself or do something else stupid. The size difference is reasonably substantial and the weight difference was even more so. I'd used the ACR type alternators before on my Super Minx so thought I'd go with what I know. They're only about $120 trade which isn't too bad. First hurdle was the bracket was quite different so a little fabrication was required. I'm a video editor, not a welder, but it'll do for me. Painted it black to blend in with the oil leaks. Next I changed over the pulley so that i could use the original 1962 Rootes group belt. Still mint. Fabricated another tension bar for the slightly updated position and found a belt in my collection. At this point I threw away the voltage regulator as it wasn't needed and re-wired things to make them tidy. Big wire is for the big pixies, and goes to the starter solenoid and therefor batter and little wire goes to the warning light and amperage gauge. Voltage regulator goes to the bin. Success. 14 Pixies.

There's always some trepidation about the first time you get a WOF check on a car, however my local is pretty sympathetic to older tin and always show me why somethings failed/broke/smells. They know I'm going to do the work myself so it's not about money making and they always let me know what I should keep an eye on before next time before it turns into an issue which is nice. This time, I could clearly see the front left shock was rooted though and I really needed to sort this for a WOF. Funnily enough, Super snipe shocks aren't off the shelf anymore. Repco hasn't heard of a Humber (or a shock probably) Speedy Spares in the UK has them, but I wanted them now and cheap and stuff. Anyway, after a bit of asking (Thanks Mr Pog etc) and a bit cross referencing I discovered that Mitsubishi L300 front shocks should fit the holes. Old vs new Part number for those playing alone at home is Monroe 15-0251 GT Gas W/- Reflex. Reasonably painless job to pop them in, WOF passed and life is good. Shit got a birthday and did them both (or cause they come in a pack of two?) Although not easily noted there is a Kamahl LP on the back parcel shelf for next time I see Threeonthetree. Notes before next WOF are: Prep and paint surface rust underneath, clean up the brake lines and find some newer looking seat belts - all pretty achievable I reckon.

Keen if it happens.

Winter is cold and stuff but luckily I have a heater that works - however warm air only comes into the cabin at over 60k's as the fan ducting was half missing and what was left was full of holes. Original ducting (only 1/4 of what was needed) Humber - in their wisdom - decided the best place for the fan is in the right front guard. Um. Anyway, if it was good enough for the Rootes group I guess i'll keep that for now. Ducting therefore from factory came up into the firewall distributor box and into the cabin from there. Thanks Bunnings. $20 AND It's a proven reliable solution that will last at least three years. (cause it says so on the box eh?) Looked a bit shiny and there's no need for that So a can of matte black, couple of cable ties and close enough. (end to be tidied) Turned it on and it sucked. Literally. Then remembered to reverse the polarity of the fan motor... Ahem. Negative earth now eh... Boom. As good as factory (i.e. pretty average) but job done.

Made the pixies go electronic today with some electronic points. Lesson 1 - don't always trust the manual. Humber workshop manual suggests that I have a DM6 distributor, however it's a 25D6. This is a good thing as it means I can also update the cap to a push-in type rather than the old acorn screw in type in the future meaning hopefully I can find some new leads that will fit down the deep holes. I'll need to scope out something like DOHC sockets as the current system relies on lead lead holders as seen here. Excuse the timing light lead running across the bottom right. http://www.classiccarparts.co.nz/ seem to have a good range of stuff for British cars so I grabbed a Powerspark electronic ignition system from them. No distructions came with it, however, i pulled down the old one, cleaned it, ripped out the points and condenser and put in a plastic bag that lives in the boot (just in case) Then slapped the unit with some heat-sync paste and using the existing screws into place, dropped in the blue trigger and put the rotor back on. Wiring is pretty simple - black to negative / red to positive on the coil. I also put a new earth into the dizzy as the other one was a bit sick. Took it for a drive. Ran like a pig. Found timing was out by about 3 weeks. Re-timed and runs pretty well. Seems to be a bit of hesitation up high, but them pulls through it. I'm not blaming the kit for that yet - the leads and plugs are pretty old, as is the coil, so i'll have another play when I find more toys.

Granddad spec 1962 Super snipe purchased a few months ago. The 'ol Slumber is reasonably advanced for '62 with power assisted front discs, a hemi'ish head that makes casual observers by think there is more than one cam going on. Drive is through 3 on the tree. Plenty of torque - she can be left in top gear most of the time and pulls from pretty much standstill to motorway speeds. She's no lightweight track car though. 15ft 8" long, 1544 kgs and an oil change will take 15 pints or 8.5 litres. The paint looks like it's possibly house enamel, so I expect 40 seasons out of it, which is good as it has the usual 'nice from afar, far from nice' thing going on. There's minimal rust as the old boy I purchased it off seems to have sorted most of that out. Interior is glorious red stuff. Possibly leather but unlikely and lashings of walnut veneer. Picnic tables in the back for tea parties / lines of Raro etc. Since I've picked her up I've done a few things which I'll blog about with photos in the near future. So far : - Changed to negative earth so the pixies run the right way for radios and stuff. - Given her indicators on a stalk rather than the toggle switch that was cable tied under the dash - Found the horn relay (this took a lot of time...) and made it all horny - Re-upholstered the front seat to stop all the foam falling out from underneath and my ass sitting on the frame - Fitted a stereo, speakers and a sub - Made head and air come inside the cabin other than from that of the engine - Made it run on 6 cylinders - rebuilt the fuel pump Few other items on the agenda. Probably won't be slammed as it's quite nice to full her with 6 people and go for a cruise without loosing the exhaust. So, watch this space.

A wristie will be fine. Document scanner-feeder at work so not too much drama. You've inspired me to do a blog of my tank so I'll start one this weekend after i put electronic points in it or something - weather/beer dependent.

I'm going to try to cruise in. First time newbie and stuff too. Just gotta put some seats in the old girl when I get home and find a can of engine start.

This is what I've got in case you're trying to track one down. They don't seem to come up that often. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Humber-Super-Snipe-W-/142046982440?hash=item2112a8f128:g:0IkAAOSwZ1BXfPzY

Haven't got that far yet. Just been doing the basics so far - converted to negative earth, given her a horn and indicators, stereo etc. I'll keep in touch though. Would be kinda cool to see the old unit working.

Workshop manual is a genuine Rootes Humber one. About a million pages. Pretty comprehensive so happy to scan off whatever you need for whatever but copying the whole thing will require slave labor. I've acquired an overdrive unit for mine (3 speed manual) and am after a front drive shaft to put it together rather than butchering mine if it all turns to shit. Apparently there are three different lengths - Manual, auto & manual with O/D... So looking for either an O/D one or something I can shorten. I'll keep an eye out for another workshop manual in my searches too. Bloody handy. I'll take some pictures when it's not so dark and then figure out how i'm meant to put them on here...

For all sorts of Rootes Group shit I have had much joy at Speedy Spares. All mail order stuff at pretty good prices. Saved me a few times. Check them out here http://www.speedyspares.co.uk/ They answer emails pretty quick too, and stuff seems to arrive in a week or two without any drama. I've got a series IV. Also got a workshop manual if you need anything scanned your way.