SWTVC BULLETIN NUMBER 8/20 AUGUST 2020
The SWTVC Website can be found at www.swtvc.org.uk
Registered address of the SWTVC: 31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
Committee:
Alan Brown (Chair) san.soubeyran@hotmail.co.uk
Sandra Brown (Secretary) 07951 732611 80 Barfillan Drive, Glasgow G52
John Stewart (Treasurer) 44 Harbourside, Kip Village, Inverkip Greenock
PA16 0BF
Harry Sherry : (Webmaster)
1 Corsebar Avenue, Paisley PA2 9QE
John Young: (Membership Secretary)
139 Terregles Avenue, Pollokshields, Glasgow G41 4DG
Ronnie Johnston: (Editor)
8 Saibai Park Blackwood, Lanark ML11
Dave Stewart: (Webmaster)
Monthly meetings: These normally take place on the 3rd Tuesday of the month in the Kirkhouse Inn at 08.00PM but are suspended meantime.
EDITORIAL:
Let me begin by printing some extracts from communications received from The FBHVC.
There is increasing concern that the focus on environmental issues may have a disproportionate impact on our hobby.
I must make it clear that I am not against actions to mitigate the damage mankind is causing to the planet but I would oppose draconian measures against minnows like the Historic Vehicle community while major polluters remain largely unaffected
The FBHVC have created a new post of Environmental Director to address this issue and details of the appointment are set out in the press release below.
Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs appoint new Environmental Director
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) has announced the appointment of Peter Spours to the newly created position of Environmental Director, with immediate effect.
Peter Spours joins the Federation to take up what will be a critical new role in the coming months and years. The Federation takes the need to assess, study and mitigate the impact from the historic vehicle community on the environment very seriously. As the world progresses towards a future of net zero emissions, the Federation must ensure that we have the expertise and leadership within the team to ensure that the historic vehicle community is doing all it can to demonstrate our responsibilities towards ensuring and maintaining a minimal impact on the environment.
I would like to take the opportunity to emphasise the message put out by John Young last month about the importance of the FBHVC survey.
The historic vehicle community, our events, our freedoms to use the roads and even the fuel we use, are increasingly under threat amidst a changing landscape of political and environmental influences.
There are two surveys, one is intended for completion by the clubs themselves and this will be attended to by your Committee, the other is for individual members to complete and can be accessed here: Please take the time to complete it.
https://www.fbhvc.co.uk/2020-enthusiast-survey
FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
OK, I will get off the soapbox now and report a little positive news.
Note: None of these events have been sponsored or organised by our club. I have mentioned them simply to make you aware that they are taking place. Participants will be expected to comply with any precautions required by the stewards.
You will have seen the message from John Young regarding the suggested trip on Saturday 8thAugust. This is still scheduled to go ahead and we are grateful to David Morgan for letting us know of it.
I understand the local council have arranged a gala day and have said they would like some classic cars as part of the attractions. First, for simplicity I will repeat the message from John Young about Saturday 8th August.
Dave will be at the Helensburgh car park to be on hand to get the ‘run’ under way and answer any questions.
In the meantime please don’t hesitate to contact SWTVC Committee in the usual way should there be any questions beforehand.
SUNDAY 23rd August:
The event at Kames near Muirkirk on Sunday 23rd August which I mentioned last month is still accepting entries. These can be accessed through the East Ayrshire Car Club website.
SATURDAY 12 th SEPTEMBER.
The Millport Classic Car Club show which was cancelled in May has been rescheduled for Saturday 12th September.
This is a great little show in a lovely setting.
You can book through the website or by Email:
Tel: 07810786674
Email: garrisonhousecafe@gmail.com
Perhaps we can still salvage something from this summer.
FUEL
Here is the final episode of Dave Stewart’s article on petrol/
Much has been written and spoken of late about the problem of using unleaded fuel in the type of cars beloved by members of classic car Clubs.
While I am in no way qualified to formulate an answer or give advice on this problem I have researched and spoken to several leading experts in the field of fuel and engine requirements. What you can read below is my own interpretation of the facts as I see them, written in as plain a way as I can manage, without detracting from the scientific accuracy.
Before the advent of unleaded fuel we had the choice of two star, which had an octane rating of about 92 and four star with a rating of 97/98. Octane rating is simply a way of measuring the resistance to detonation or pinking’ for a given fuel. Detonation is the uneven burning of the fuel over a longer time than engine design allows for. The tendency to detonate becomes more critical the higher the compression ratio of the engine. As the majority of our sort of cars were fitted with low compression engines, there was no need to buy the more expensive four star fuel.
The time arrived when it became politically desirable to try and do away with added lead in petrol for motor cars. It was explained that unleaded was suitable for all cars provided that ignition was retarded a tad and you kept an eye on tappet clearance. Unfortunately this advice turned out to be inaccurate and was withdrawn in quick order. The advice that followed was varied and contradictory. My own conclusions have thus been drawn from these two convoluted facts.
Lead was first added to petrol in the 1930’s to help achieve higher octane ratings, a better controlled combustion, a degree of lubrication and the covering of internal surfaces within the combustion chamber. The first two points do not concern us as modern fuel technology is able to achieve these benefits by means other than using lead. The latter points do concern us, as to date, there are no alternative additives to lead that will perform these tasks as well as lead additive.
Lets first look at what happens inside a cylinder as combustion takes place. The inlet valve opens and a mass of petrol and air is sucked into the cylinder, the piston moves up on the compression stroke, with both inlet and exhaust valves closed. Ignition and combustion of the fuel/air vapour occurs and send the piston down on its power stroke. It returns upwards to force the spent gas out through the now open exhaust valve. Simple text book stuff, so lets look a little deeper into what happens.
In chemical terms, the petrol/air mixture does not burn evenly. The front of the flame, the area near the spark, burns fast and fiercely at perhaps 2,000 degrees centigrade, the ‘back flame’ away from the spark only partially burns at 300/400 degrees C. This leaves a residual amount of unused oxygen within the charge. As it is expelled through the exhaust valve, the oxygen reacts within the iron of the valve seat and forms a microscopic amount of oxide. It adheres to the underside of the hardened valve. If lead is present in the fuel, it coats the contact surfaces of the valve and valve seat, thereby stopping the iron in the steel from oxidlising. In mechanical terms, the valve deforms as they slam shut and also relative to the valve seat. The iron oxide is the same stuff as jeweller’s rouge, an abrasive material. Now, no prizes for guessing what happens when you place an abrasive between two surfaces and move them relative to one another under pressure. The softer of the two will begin to wear and that is exactly the problem with a soft cast iron valve seat, the type that many of the cars that interest us were fitted with. The rate of this wear can be excessive and is dependent on the angle and width of the seat and operating temperature of the engine.
Without lead, the inlet valve is also susceptible to increased wear as the lubricating effect of the lead is denied to the valve and seat surfaces. Again, operating temperatures and geometry are critical in the extent of wear.
We are obviously stuck with the geometrical problem of our own particular engine, but the problem of operating temperature can be minimised by the way in which the engine is used. It has been proven that the higher the engine speed and load, the greater the valve seat recession. On a test engine, recession rate doubled when engine speed was increased from 3,800 to 4,400 RPM. Conversely a significant drop in wear rate was found at 2,000 RPM.
I draw to following conclusions from these facts. When using a lead free fuel there is an increased rate of wear upon both the inlet and exhaust valve seats. This rate of wear is not important if the engine has an aluminium head with (hardened) valve seat inserts. Some cast iron heads had hardened inserts, and some are capable of having them fitted. Many cast iron heads that rely on the parent metal for the valve seats are dangerously susceptible to valve seat recession. It is therefore better to use four star fuel with lead than two star without. The occasional tankful of unleaded will do no harm at all. If prolonged use of unleaded is unavoidable, then keep engine speeds and loading to a minimum.
There are to date, no fuel additives on the market that stand up to ~ independent scientific testing as a safe alternative to leaded fuel. The perceived effect of overheating when using four star in an engine designed to take two star is not correct.
The above information has been gleaned from conversations with and articles written in various papers.
MOTORING TRIVIA:
My thanks to the prolific pen of Dan Gardner for the following. Vanilla Ice Cream that puzzled General motors’!!!! Never underestimate your Clients’ Complaint, no matter how funny it might seem! This is a real story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its Customer-Care Executive. A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors: ‘This is the second time I have written to you, and I don’t blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It’s also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem. You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won’t start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I’m serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds “What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?” The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn’t start. The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc. SVCC Rumour July 2020 18 In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor. Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn’t start when it took less time. E..ureka – Time was now the problem – not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: “vapor lock”. It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate. Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking. Don’t just say it is “ IMPOSSIBLE” without putting a sincere eff
Excerpt of article from a 1902 copy of “Motors and Motoring”
“A prime difficulty of the establishment of a motor car is the chauffeur or engineer.
The perfect motor servant should be a combination of gentleman and engineer. He is a new type of man, and will require the wages of other engineers. I do not think that a competent, cool headed, skilful, well mannered engineer will ever be obtainable for 30 shillings a week. On the other hand, the simplification of the motor engine and the establishment of garages will render the employment of highly educated engineers unnecessary in private establishments. As to public garages, some are well managed, some are not. Beware of those which offer to house your car very cheaply. They will make up the deficiency by overcharging you for repairs.”
Vanilla Ice Cream that puzzled General motors’!!!!
The following story has been taken from “The Rumour” the magazine of The car Club of New Zealand. Thanks to Roger Martin for sending it. It is claimed to be true but I think it may be an Urban Myth but funny nevertheless.
‘This is the second time I have written to you, and I don’t blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It’s also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem. You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won’t start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I’m serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds “What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?” The Pontiac President was understandably sceptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway.. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn’t start. The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc. SVCC Rumour July 2020 18 In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavour. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavour, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavours were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavour. Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn’t start when it took less time. E..ureka – Time was now the problem – not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: “vapour lock”. It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapour lock to dissipate. Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking.
That’s all folks,
Hoping to catch up with you next week or possibly at one or other of the venues I have mentioned.
Keep safe,
Ronnie Johnston