by: Bob Brandon
Trust is a prime ingredient in making plans to drive your antique car over 3000 miles in a foreign country. The A7 tour across the USA in September 2006 had sections with no modern support vehicle and no trailer to load a broken car. Trust in a car is the reflection of confidence in a person ... enter Vince Leek from Warminster, England. He's a man who understands what it takes to make a machine repeat a cycle of events millions and millions of times without failure. A machine with most parts over 75 years old creates an even greater challenge. Tours are not a controlled environment. They present brutal changes in temperature, speed, humidity, vibration and operator habits.
Let's talk to the man who knows Austin engines, keeps them running, and mentors so the information lives on.
Interview conducted August 24, 2006 - Napanee, Indiana
770 miles into the A7 Tour of the Mother Road - Route 66
Vince Leek - Master Mechanic of the A7 Tours
BB: Vince, I need to interview you for the ABS newsletter, Rooster Tails.
VL: About what?
BB: How you keep these cars running so good.
VL: Those are secrets. (laugh) Okay ... let's go.
BB: Let's say someone decides to join a tour at the last minute, and you have only one afternoon to check out the car for the owner. What do you put at the top of the list for reliability?
VL: Oh, tuff question. First, I'd make sure all the body work is secure and Loktite anything that might come unfastened. (English side curtains and hood [top] have lots of small bolts and screws) I would then check the vehicles wiring and make sure all those connections are secure. Next, a check of the distributor, coil, carb and dynamo [generator]. I have a list of spares to carry, it would be necessary to neatly package and label these for storage in the car.
BB: Would you drop the oil pan to look at the engine from the underside?
VL: No, if everything has been good inside the engine .... my policy is to not disturb.
BB: How much oil pressure do you want to see in your A7's while running hot?
VL: I run 15 pounds, but that's too much. My pump, the same style that's in the American Austin, has been bored out a 1/16th of an inch to grab more oil. Five to 10 pounds of pressure is good.
BB: Will you do an oil change in the engines before you reach California?
VL: (Chuckle) We are topping up the sump every day. That's new oil and that's our change.
BB: How's your steering?
VL: Not very good .... right now there is too much play.
BB: Can that be adjusted like on the American Austin?
VL: Yes, but I do not plan to do it during this tour .... even though the cross winds like we have today are difficult.
BB: Are you all running four speed transmissions?
VL: The three stock A7's are 3 speed, but Richard and George have 4 speeds in their specials.
BB: Someone said you modified your three speed.
VL: Yes, I made a new 2nd gear that puts it a little closer to third gear. I'm sure you have started out in your car on a grade ..... you wind it out in second, shift to third and the engine loads down. Too much separation in gearing.
BB: Nice idea. I hear some of your cars here are running 12 volts systems.
VL: Yes, Mine and the two specials are 12 volts. Ken's Chummy and Stan's closed car are 6 volts.
BB: What about your drive line from transmission to rear end. Any mods there?
VL: Three of the five cars have had the fabric coupler (thermoid) removed between the transmission and the drive shaft. We use a Spicer universal in it's place.
BB: Everyone seems to be getting great gas mileage.
VL: Yes, 30 as a low and 45 miles per gallon as a high.
BB: Some of the cars have extra fuel capacity either in a special larger tank or side tanks?
VL: Yes, that is correct.
FRIENDS TOURING WITH VINCE: Ask him about his snoring!
(Laugh)
BB: Okay .... a couple of questions about crankshafts. All five cars have new cranks made of a modern alloy?
VL: Four do, Ken Cooke's Chummy is still original. These new ones cost almost $1,000 American dollars, but are made of a good, hardened alloy. The hardness goes about .020 inch into the surface. I believe the material is called EN40B. After looking at a spare American crank you showed me in Butler. I think the two models are interchangeable - American and English.
BB: You took the crank I had, suspended it from the end, tapped it to make it ring ..... and said, "this is a good one." Is that a good way to replace the magnafluxing procedure to look for cracks?
VL: It's a good first test. Be sure the crank is clean, remove the flywheel nut .... suspend the crank from a string and give it a tap.
BB: How do you conduct a better check?
VL: I use a dye kit where you spray the crank with a red chemical which is good at making its way into any cracks. The dye is rinsed away with a solvent. Step three is to spray the crank with a developer which pulls the dye from any cranks ..... making them very easy to spot. Same procedure with connecting rods.
BB: Oh, you have seen cracked rods too?
VL: Yes, they tend to crank right below the quarter inch bolt that pinches the wrist pin at the top of the rod. That little slice in the rod the bolt pulls together will sometimes continue as a crack down the center of the rod. Something important to check.
BB: Vince, you've given us good information ... and, please sent us your list of spares to carry on a tour like this.
VL: I have your e-mail and we'll send it for a future Rooster Tail.
BILL SPEAR - You have Vince's picture sitting with River Duke - Vince behind the wheel of his Chummy. This photo can be used with this interview. Thanks Bob
