New Project

[cdk84]

Every maker has a car in their model line that those loyal to the marque feel would benefit from upgrading, whether in handling, performance, or both.

One such model is the Sunbeam Alpine. The Alpine handled well, but its scant 95 hp didn't provide very much 'forward motivation', while the Alpine's beefier cousin the Tiger was the opposite: 'muscle bound,' with too much (if delicious) power for the capacity of the Alpine's chassis/unibody, barely modified to accommodate the greater demands of the Tiger's far more powerful engine. The Alpine had too little power, but handled; the Tiger had too much and would go end for end the moment you powered up without paying proper attention.

Enter José Rodriguez who invented a kit to adapt Ford's Cologne 2.8 L V6 easily into the Alpine engine bay with virtually no modifications. The car retains all the handling virtues of the Alpine while holding its own with the Tiger in acceleration up to 75 or 80 mph, all the while providing very good gas mileage. Clearly, to those who love the Alpine driving experience, José's modification results in the car Sunbeam should have built from the start. And likely would have, had there been a V6 in the Rootes Group's bag of tricks. There wasn't. ( the first V6 was designed in 1950 by Lancia, so the concept was afloat well before Kenneth Howes penned the Alpine in 1958 )

Our prewar Singers suffer from two shortcomings; the first was a power deficit similar to the Alpine's. The Nine's extremely tall gearing allows 972 cc's to move a Singer in a lively manner on back roads --unless there are grades greater than 4 degrees; highway performance is another matter, with cruising speed realistically less than 55 mph. Anything that can be done in favor of a Singer having more bottom end power and the added driving versatility afforded by higher cruising speed would be worth considering, unless the car is extremely rare, when originality would outweigh modification to enhance performance, unless it were done reversibly.

This second Singer liability was poor engine metallurgy. A 'matching numbers car' in the collector's world can command a considerable premium. Due to Singer's poor metallurgy, a matching numbers prewar Singer is a rare commodity indeed: most early cars have at the least had stitching to repair the engine block, if not that and work on the cylinder head. Very common are cars with complete engine transplants. ( Makes one wonder where all the replacement engines came from... )

If a 1.5 L engine can replace a 972 cc in a Singer Nine engine bay, so much the better. Kudos to the ingenuity of the engineer: as long as there's enough airflow for adequate cooling, and the rest of the running gear is up to the increased torque, and the brakes can handle the power, and the balance of the car isn't ruined, and... and...

There were just over 61,000 Sunbeam Alpines made at Rhyton-on-Dinsmore. I don't believe the entire prewar Singer production is anywhere near 60,000 units, so the rarity of an early Singer is something to factor in. Converting one of 60,004 Alpines to a V6 is a slightly different matter, if only evaluated by numbers. That said, creativity is part of what makes our hobby challenging and rewarding.

I would be most interested to ride in a Singer with a 1/5 L engine, whether from the factory or from the workshop of an enterprising Singerist. I would also hope the conversion could be made without wholesale damage to an original car, in a way that could be reversed, and with the original parts preserved. Realistic? Who can say? but I can hope.

Both approaches have me thinking. Thank you for that.

Cheers,

David

[ColinB]

On originality, I am committed to keeping my early Rotax ammeter despite the severe damage to its case. This is because it has a fairly unique fitting where the fixing bolts are also the connections to the switchgear: there isn't room in the dash to make another arrangement and I haven't seen a similar unit despite hours trawling eBay! Fortunately I found new cases advertised on the net and they fit the inner parts perfectly so my problem is solved. I don't know if it works but I do have a connection from the positive take-off to the coil via the ammeter and ignition switch so that's a start.

[mikeyr]

well you will have to wait many years but you are welcome to ride in my 1.5 when its done

For the plain ol 9 mine has a blown block, it appears the crank went through the side not once but twice based on the repairs so my block was non-rebuildable when i got the car and at the time I could not find a proper block. I debated for close to a year as I really wanted a original Singer LM but my car is missing so many pieces that it will never be original and I went with a A-series motor, I should have gone with a 1275 but I had a 1098 handy so that is what I am putting in my car along with a 5-speed gearbox. I am told that will allow my LM to go proper speeds on modern roads, its only a few CC's increase but a few decades increase in HP and with the modern gearbox I should have plenty of get-up-and-go around town and a higher top speed on the freeway. I live in S. Calif. so I live in the land of the freeway, nearest town is 25 miles away and there is only one way to get there, the freeway not small back country roads. Los Angeles is 90 miles away and the first 35-40 miles are the freeway then you can take smaller roads, like the 1 along the beach (beautiful road). So building a proper modern day road car became my priority over original, I upgraded the brakes to finned alloy drums to help with cooling like the factory racing Singer's had. I am now going to go back and upgrade the rear axle as well, both for different gearing and better reliability, keeping the original axle housing, but new gears/axles. When done the rear axle will look original outside but will not be inside.

I chose the A-series motor because it fits in the chassis with absolutely ZERO mods, no cutting, no welding, no nothing. Just fabricate some rather simple brackets to replace existing motor/gearbox mounts. The only modification is cutting of the driveshaft and I didn't want to do that, so I got a Sprite driveshaft and will modify that one. So if the next owner wants to go original, it will be easy. But my car is too far gone and missing too many pieces to ever even look original.

Now the 1.5 is a different story, I have driven 1.5's and they can handle the modern speeds, I have upgraded the brakes on mine with the same finned alloy drums to help cooling. My 1.5 "should" run but the block has cracks and what appears to be coolant seeping between the cylinders into the oil, so the cooling channel may be too badly corroded and if that is the case, I will swap motors in it also but I really hope not as my 1.5 is very original and missing only a few minor pieces that are easily gotten.

First I have to finish my son-in-laws Austin Mini, all the welding is done, most of the body leading is done, engine/gearbox are done so some more lead, then some bondo and paint and re-assemble. Then its back to building a body for my 9 since the person in the UK stopped talking to me about me buying a body and shipping it to me. So that will add quite a few years to my 9's restoration before I can touch the 1.5, but after the Mini its ONLY Singer's unless I sell both and move on with my life.

[mikeyr]

oops, sorry Colin, I had not noticed that David's comments were in your thread, didn't mean to change subjects on you.

[Phillip]

Colin! let us know where we can get the cases. The bezels I know are available, but the cases look very good!

Care to share?

Nicely done ammeter BTW!

Cheers,
Phillip

[ColinB]

I quite like how posts meander sometimes Mike! The cases were on eBay and seem to be a really well made item for around £25. I bought mine from Auto Electrical Spares on Friday and got it this morning.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Replacement- ... 2749.l2649

[Phillip]

Ahh! Thanks for the clarification Colin.

I thought you meant the Bakelite case rather than the bezel.

John at MJC Products makes all of these and I guess sells to others. He did the 5" single slot bezels for me for the chronometric speedos and tachs. I did a thread on this a while back:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1268

John's MJC site is here:

http://www.classicbezels.com/

He is also on eBay.

Cheers,
Phillip

[Phillip]

...and here's his eBay shop:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/mjcproducts

[ColinB]

Nice stuff - I will be looking hard at it all!

[ColinB]

Wiring to dash more or less completed and on the car. I had trouble getting the dashboard lights to work but some additional earth connections sorted that out. I used 35amp wire for the power input and for the head- and sidelights and 25 amp wire for the rest. I just about managed to get a grommet over the wires and properly located in the hole in the bulkhead so I hope it doesn't have to come out again!

[ColinB]

I soldered up the first brake cable today. I used an acid flux and solder paint to tin the stainless cable then floated proper 60/40 tin/lead solder into the interface within the bolt. When that had hardened I hammered the top end of the cable into the cup at the end of the bolt and then filled the cup with more solder. This replicates what I found when I took out the rotten cable, so it should hopefully do the job.

[ColinB]

Nothing very photogenic happening! I have finished the brake cables and they are all loosely fitted on the car. I have renovated the pinch bolts that grip them but have a slight problem in that the 5mm cable is difficult to get through the 5.5mm hole in some of the bolts as the end of the cable is distorted by cutting. I will 'tin' the problem cables with solder paste to hold them together and re-cut them.
The dash is on the car and the electrics work when I attach earth jump leads to the chassis and the positive to the input cable. The starter button also functions as it should. I'm sure the lights are fine but I haven't connected anything up yet. Oil pressure pipe is bent and connected and Met rang me yesterday to tell me that he will work on my distributor this week. So I may be heading to start the engine within the next couple of weeks.
I have cleaned, painted and connected the rear luggage carrier and added a piece of box section across the rear to replace the very rotten channel that was there originally. The bolts holding this all together also help to hold the rear suspension mounts in place so I wanted this to be done to get the chassis up to full strength before I start on the body. I plan to paint the whole chassis again once everything is fitted to cover the inevitable knocks and to protect the bolts.
The shed is feeling a bit small now as this is a very long car, but fortunately the luggage rack folds up to make more room.

[telco.2]

It's looking great Colin! Small bits & pieces maybe, but as they say "every little helps!"

[ColinB]

I have fitted the rear dampers which were easy. The front ones were a puzzle as I couldn't see how they connected to the chassis. It turns out that the upper fitting is part of the spine within each front mudguard. The light bar then connects across to stiffen it all up - I have mocked it up for a photo. Not a great arrangement in my view as these parts are only bolted together and will flex far more than the chassis would have done. I'll leave the front dampers off until I'm ready to fit the mudguards which in turn will have to wait for Rob Roan to find the time to make up one missing running-board support for me.

I have also started making patterns for the woodwork and think about how to go about the rebuild of the structure. I don't know how the bodies were originally made but the top is only connected to the base timbers by angle irons each side of the door openings, so three per side, plus the scuttle fits into a flange along the top and sides of the fuel tank. It looks as if the rear of the body has a separate fixing to the chassis cross member but the structure there is in poor shape so I can't tell if it connects to the side base timbers or not.

From the screw heads remaining within the base timbers, which you can see in the picture I took soon after she arrived, it is clear that the central floors were part of the structure and were not removable, making up a relatively flat and strong base right across the chassis. Obviously the floor at the rear is removable to give access to the differential.

It occurs to me that one option for me is to make up this flat structure on the chassis and then lift the upper part onto it using the doors to check the fit before screwing it down via the angle irons. I'll do a lot of thinking before I do any doing, and I would be grateful for any advice.

[ColinB]

On another front, I had a look at the seats just to see if I can use what I have got or whether I will have to get them completely re-covered in leather (£££££!). I cleaned up one seat back using a damp sponge then applied a proprietary cleaner and renovator. It is softer and looks much better so I'm pretty sure now that I can re-use much of it and retain a sense of age in the interior.

Before

After