Our other hobbies and passions

[olderisbetter]

The forums seem a bit quiet maybe it is all the other parts of life taking people off here, Does anyone else have other cars rather than just MM they are into or maybe even a hobby that is a big part of your life? I have a beetle and mini that are long term slow projects, If you have something different it would be great to hear.

[BLOWNMM]

Back in the early 60's I fitted a GMC 2/71 diesel blower onto a grey motor in an FC Holden. The Holden grey was a 2.2 litre OHV six similar to the OHV Vauxhall six. It also had the best Waggott head I could afford, steel bearing caps, overbored, Myers headers, a Moss box from a 3.8 MK.2 Jag with 28% Laycock overdrive, Heasman suspension and lots more. When I sold the car in '65 I took the blower off . It laid around for about 47 years until my brother asked if I wanted to sell it to him. I gave it to him but before I did, I stripped it down and checked it all out. He bought a pair of 6PK pulleys and I machined and fitted them when he called down for a week or so plus machining some other bits and pieces. When he received his motor from the machine shop, he assembled it all. He sent me some pics of it which I thought may be of interested. Needless to say a lot was learned from this installation which went a long way to help with the blower installation in my MM.
Bob

[greendefender123]

Yes I'm a land rover nut. Bought a defender when I was 18 and rebuilt it when I was 19. Iv also got a vw camper t2 project to do. Not very motivated to start it at the moment. I do car trials aswell. Used to do the 24 hour endurance ones but im only doing the local field trials these days. Great fun tho. Iv got a Rickman Ranger kitcar to use but it needs a new carb and distributor really so it's just parked up at the moment and my fathers taken bits off for his jago. Iv modified a fiesta for trials which iv been using for the last year or so.

[Nickol]

Other Hobbies - aber wie !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... WEXNDrDHoY

and this .... a moving rust bucket

triumph herald.jpg (279.68 KiB) Viewed 5823 times

[firedrake1942]

Triumphs always were!

[panky]

Apart from my two Commer campers taking up a lot of my time I've just got this back on the road after five years

At the MOT station


Passed with no advisories

[firedrake1942]

Not car related, but I am a bibliophile (NO daily mail 'reader' don't go rushing off to the police - It's BOOKS)! I have 8,523 in my cottage and am now building an extension to house them. Strangely there are quite a few Morris Minor related books and am half way through Gillian Barnsley's excellent biography of Alec Issigonis !

[palacebear]

My 'other hobby' is also not car-related. I collect (in a small way) items made of bakelite. Particularly valve radios and mains-powered electric clocks with bakelite cases. The clocks are a VERY small source of income as I also renovate them, rewire them to PAT-testable standards and re-sell them.

[firedrake1942]

Looks like you could be a useful man to know for the Series 2 and MM clock in the dashboard, With a Series 3 it doesn't affect me ! You ought to let the club know if they don't already as I am sure that there must be a few of these which are display only and have not worked for years.

[palacebear]

If I was confident enough in my abilities I would do. Domestic electric clocks have a 'proper' motor driving the gearing via a flywheel, which I can cope with! Automotive clocks such as that in the S-MM are electro-mechanical. They're much the same as a small wind-up clock except for a 12v supply and a pair of contacts on the balance-wheel. These basically replace a wind-up main-spring. Autimotive clocks of this type usually only fail because of carbon build-up on the contacts, or when the oil on the gear-staffs dries out. Smiths used to recommend having the clock serviced every two years. One day I intend getting hold of a non-working Minor clock to see if I can revive it. They're terribly fiddly and I don't think my eyesight is up to the job!

[olderisbetter]

Well as i suspected i am not the only one that has more than a few things going on, Some great pictures and skills already in here, Engines on a stand all clean and defined look like works of art and i am sure if a gallery was to put a few on display people would see it, Much better than an "unmade bed" or a wheel barrow that have been displayed, I collect quite a few different things, mainly studio glass or anything like that and remember those loud coloured vases in the 60's and 70's made in west germany i have a fair few of those, For me the 60's and 70's was the time i grew up in and all those things are still going strong, Quality used and recycled seems to be a theme across my life and cars i have recently had to give away to a good home some G-PLAN furniture, Those wall units can be worth good money if you have the right one.
Palacebear, bakelite is so much better than plastic to look at, I have my dad's work clock in the loft which is green and cream and glows in the dark, it works ok but i bet it is radio active, I used to have pictures of my bakelite things on a weblink, If i can find it i will post it here.

[palacebear]

I collect quite a few different things, mainly studio glass or anything like that and remember those loud coloured vases in the 60's and 70's made in west germany i have a fair few of those, For me the 60's and 70's was the time i grew up in and all those things are still going strong,

My partner is a glass collector, predominantly paperweights, and has a large collection including a few limited editions from Caithness and a unique 'one of one' edition. We've also got a very small collection of 'art-glass' mainly Murano fish.

As olderisbetter says, there's something about bakelite which 'ordinary' plastic tends to lack. I'm glad my Minor still has the brown bakelite horn-push, trafficator switch and dashboard knobs. Just a pity that somebody in the past has chosen to paint the round bakelite heater shroud with hammerite paint!

I've attached a few pics of the bakelite bits we keep on display at home. 3 are self-explanatory from their tags. The other consists of (left to right) Smiths travel clock, 'Smokers Table Lamp' with integral ashtray and matchbox holder, Musical Cigarette Box (plays Blue Danube Waltz and revolves to reveal cigarette/cigar storage), Bush DAC90 2-band valve radio, British Rototherm desktop thermometer, Stratton perpetual desk calendar and Siemens-made GPO 200-series telephone. All 1950's except the telephone which is 1935. Everything else is in storage awaiting either refurbishment or sale (winter projects!).

[firedrake1942]

That Bush radio is a masterpiece and in such good condition. I never really saw the point of 'teas-mades', Goblin or otherwise. You have still got to get up to get the milk from the fridge unless you have tea black or use UHT both of which are crimes against nature.... Bakelite is king tho.

[olderisbetter]

Palacebear, Stunning bakelite display and the clock looks good with the period power outlet, I was given an old Bush radio years ago with no valves and parts missing inside so last year i converted it after a clean up into a bluetooth speaker and it lives on a shelf in my friends mancave, It just plays whatever is playing from his phone but looks and sounds better, Murano glass fish look great i have built a wall unit/tv wall in a room to display studio glass the plan is to put LED lights behind or underneath them to get them to light up at night, DIY is a chore to some people but i like it enough to call it a hobby and it helps with my other projects.

[palacebear]

The Bush VHF radio adds a certain period tone to 'Just A Minute' and 'I'm Sorry I Haven't Got A Clue' on a Sunday... bring back 'Round The Horne' !!!
We just have a self-assembly cabinet with glass shelves and halogen downlighters for the Murano and other nick-nacks.
Forgot to say... I collect Smiths Empire pocket-watches as well

[olderisbetter]

The tone you refer to is what i like, At 51 i was not able to catch Round the horne live, But i love 'Just A Minute' and 'I'm Sorry I Haven't Got A Clue' and 'Round the horne' I have them on digital format and i use an old guitar amp in my cabin to get a deeper sound, The back light sounds good for glass, I have seen someone using UV light on uranium glas in the dark, It glows like atomic waste.

[morris van]

My other hobby is my 1970 MG Midget which I've owned for 26 years and use at least a couple of times a week.

[sid]

i too have a Herald Convertible,a '66 1200.i'm also a motorcyclist/biker,with a couple of old-ish bangers.i collect die-cast models,'tho i had to sell a large part of my collection a few years ago to finance car repairs.also follow football,but don't have the time to attend as many matches as i used to.it's hard work keeping up with all these hobbies whilst still working as a full time HGV driver!

[SteveClem]

Family history. We find it quite fascinating. Got back to the late 17th century before the trail went cold. Then went sideways and found all sorts of interesting cousins...heroes and villains.
Helps when you have an unusual surname.

[firedrake1942]

I did the same but found the trail went cold in Ireland in about 1770 as the name was very common. It is fascinating though I found out how my great great grandfather and GGmother met - he was lodging in her house as shown on the census documents.