New Project

[ColinB]

I trial-fitted the doors today. While they just go into the openings they don't fit at all well so I will have to think hard about what is wrong with the geometry. Unfortunately when she arrived the body had been taken off and various rotten pieces of wood had parted company with the rest of it. It was loosely re-fitted for delivery with the doors hanging off and the side pieces of the frame sagging so everything must have wiggled about quite a bit.

I have re-attached the basic structure to the chassis through the original bolts holes so that should be OK and the original side pieces covering the edge of the floors fit well between the uprights so it is all a bit of a puzzle. The main issue at the rear is over the wheel arches, and this may be solved by trimming wood from the lower door frames. At the front the passenger's side is not too bad but the driver's side needs quite a bit of thought.

[telco.2]

Hi Colin,
If I can sort these, I'm sure you will have no problem at all!!
Bill

[ColinB]

Nice projects Bill! A Junior and a Senior? Yes I'm sure I will get it done but I really need to analyse the issues before I take off any wood. No rush as I won't fit the front ones until the engine and gearbox are back in and I'm not sure when the engine will be back from Whitmores.

[telco.2]

31 Junior, 27 Junior & a 10/26. Pics of completed Juniors attached - both sold - no pics of 10/26 but also sold...you can't keep 'em all!!
Bill

[ColinB]

Nice cars Bill! The headlights on the '27 Junior are interesting; were they originally on the front mudguards? I have a friend with a '27 saloon and his are on a bar between the mudguards as on the later versions. His car was a complete (actually incomplete) wreck when he got it so your arrangement may be the correct one.

I have by the way got the two rear doors more or less fitted with just a little more wood to shave off the doors around the wheel arches. I have six apple trees to prune and about 20m of mixed hedge to cut back so no more work on the car today. There is beer in the fridge but I have to earn it.

[telco.2]

Glad you're making some progress Colin.
My Junior was very early '27 model and although a basket case when I bought it, headlamps were with it as were the remains of the front wings. The mounting holes lined up exactly and looking at early references to the Junior, this was correct. They changed the mountings later in 27 as the wings "flapped" a lot as you can imagine!! That, I'm thankful to say, is now someones else's problem. I enjoyed the rebuild though; I suppose it's the challenge. It turned out to be a very pretty car and I sold it on the garage forecourt when I took it for its first MoT!!! That staggered Liz too but it enabled us to kick off with the '34 9/1.5 that I am still doing. Unexpected planning permission and health problems caused the delay; at least I have legitimate excuses.

[Phillip]

Lovely cars guys!

The Junior is under-rated and undervalued in my opinion, especially when compared with the Austin Seven and other 'baby cars' of the period.

Great to see many of them being saved and appreciated...

[ColinB]

I agree Phillip - it is a larger car with a better engine and chassis. What the Seven owner today can enjoy however is oodles of spares: from whole engines down to the smallest components they are all on eBay. Despite being so popular in their day our Juniors are in a far worse position - one wonders where all the parts have gone!

[Phillip]

Hey Colin,

I imagine the numbers of Juniors produced were still far behind the numbers of Austin Sevens produced so perhaps the survival rate is reflected in that.

Singer may have been the third largest car manufacturer in Britain in the late 1920's, but their output was still much less than the top two, Austin and Morris. The decline certainly accelerated after the wall street crash and through the depression, and, of course, thanks in part to very slow Government assistance and the degree of damage to the factories after WWII, they never recovered. I think the total production of Singer Roadsters only amounts to something like one year of MG TC production!

As for spares, I have heard stories from those that were there that Rootes scrapped bins of pre-war parts when they took over. I know here in Montreal a local scrapyard told me that they were hired to haul away and smash engine blocks and cut up other spares with a gas torch for the pre-Rootes cars at the dealers.

I think there is a strong argument that the Singer Junior was really the 'first big car in miniature', being a proper scaled down car and not a scaled up cycle car. Perhaps lack of spares and the lack of expertise looking after the OHC engine led to many being scrapped. Never-the-less, these are lovely cars and it is great to see the remaining ones finding appreciative owners. I do notice a few being built as specials and completing in VSCC events, so that is encouraging too!

If there were money enough and space in the garage, I'd be looking for one too...lol!

[ColinB]

I must say I love my little Junior. Started her yesterday after about 6 weeks; she fired up immediately and drove happily around the garden (too wet to go on the roads). I have been introduced by the Singer Owners Club to another Junior owner near Duxford who has trouble changing gear in his new purchase. I plan to meet him when I next visit the Imperial War Museum to take his car out with him to see what the problem may be.

[ColinB]

Whitmores rang me today. They are getting on well with the engine and wanted to know if I required new piston rings all round or just replacements for the two broken ones. I have opted for all new rings as it seemed like a good idea while the engine is completely stripped. The total bill for the rebuild will be just over £1400 which includes £250 for the new rings and 20% tax which I'm pretty happy about (except for the tax!)

Rear doors fit now OK - I took a bit of wood off and packed out the lower hinges to adjust the angle and I get a satisfying clunk when they close.

[ColinB]

I have been reviewing the rear mudguards which are the final external part requiring serious work, other than covering the roof. The passenger side one is not too bad but has a little rot on the inside face where it was bolted to the woodwork. The driver's side is more seriously corroded but again this is on the inner face around the bolt holes, so I don't need to worry so much about cosmetics in the repair, but I definitely need to establish a decent foundation for the bolts.

I have never shaped steel before but I thought I would have a go. So having made a cardboard template I cut a piece of spare steel and started hammering. I haven't got any special tools so I used my basic hammers with my big vice as an anvil. It eventually started to fit fairly well so I think I will be able to do these repairs myself. I will use an industrial adhesive and small countersunk machine screws rather than weld to complete the repair on the inside and then skim it with filler on the outer face. The adhesive will seal any gaps between my patch and the original to stop water getting in and I fear that the original metal will blow into holes if I try and weld.

[darcy]

If you then spray /paint the inside with thick sound deadening paint (looks like tar) you will hardly notice the change in level inside. Usualls you can buy from auto shops, just make sure it sprays or paints thick.

Just a thought.

[ColinB]

Thanks Darcy, I will take your advice.

[telco.2]

Hi Colin,
I had the same problem with the wings on the '34 and after welding I used Stonechip paint. I have found it takes final colour better than anything else and it can be thinned so that it doesn't leave it too 'lumpy'
Bill