Singer Junior Project

[david.bryant]

Hi
I am a new member having just acquired a Singer Junior 1928 -1930 Project
Chassis number 19146
Block 10.7.29 in casting
Front axle 16045

The photo is a third of the pile I purchased.
I live in Perth Western Australia.

The block, pistons and head look usable as does the three speed gearbox. Unfortunately all the parts forward of the block on the engine are missing.
Does anyone have timing gear, Timing gear casing magneto available for the singer Junior?

All the brake pads and levers going into the brakes are missing as is the input shaft to the rear diff and the rear brake drums are in a sorry state. Any parts available?? Anyone got a photo of what the brakes look like internally for the junior?

Hope to start cleaning parts to determine which way to go forward with the project this month.

Regards
David

[ColinB]

Definitely quite a project so good luck with it! There is a partly complete magneto on eBay right now which just seems to be missing the caps. There is a Singer club in Australia and I know they hold spares so its worth joining them.

[david.bryant]

Thanks for the heads up Colin I will look out for the club in Australia.
I am in the Vintage Car Club of Western Australia.
Regards David

[darcy]

Hi, good luck I suggest you contact Singer Club of SA - see - https://m.facebook.com/singercarclubsa/
Many spares can be seen on their page.

[david.bryant]

Thanks Darcy
I will contact them.

Does anyone know what year the Singer Junior Chassis number 19146 was made in?
It does have front brakes and a three speed gearbox.
Regards
David

[ColinB]

The information I have gives the following pointers:
1928 4 wheel brakes, semi-elliptic front and quarter-elliptic rear
1929 4 wheel brakes, semi elliptic all round, hydraulic shock absorbers front and rear
Mid-1930 (I think) the radiator surround changed
1931 Coil ignition.

I hope this is helpful

[david.bryant]

Thanks Colin
My parts are lining up with 1929 at the earliest as it has the four wheel brake actuation rods and Semi elliptic springs all round and hydraulic shock absorbers front and rear. The radiator surround does not have a Singer badge at the top. There is a part of a distributor with the parts though not much else from the timing and components from in front of the block.
Hopefully someone knows the year of manufacture from the Chassis number.

Regards
David

[ColinB]

This is the type of surround that was used until sometime in 1930 I think. If you have distributor parts that would suggest an early '30s car. My car is number 11695 and is a 1929 model registered in December 1928.

[ColinB]

By the way, you asked about brakes. The attached photo is from the 1929 Owner's Manual. You can see that the brakes are pretty conventional with a cam operating the shoes when the brake rod is pulled. The rear drum has two sets of shoes, one for the footbrake and one for the hand brake.

[Mike57]

Hi David

Your engine is 1929 but the Chassis number is 1930. According to the information that I have from research undertaken by my father there was an article by C.J. R Rowe in an unknown undated publication that quoted for following chassis numbers for the production years. The numbers are the starting numbers.

1927 - 101
1928 - 3351
1929 - 10100
1930 - 18700
1931 - 27700
1932 - 36500

Hope this helps. BTW I saw that collection of parts on Gumtree. If you have radiator and radiator surround in usable condition I would give you $500 for those if you decide the project is too much. I am in Melbourne. I just relocated my fathers 1929 Junior from Perth to Melbourne. I have all the parts manuals and Rotax manuals if you are in need of information. PM me for my email address.

[david.bryant]

Thanks Colin I had missed that there are two sets of rear shoes! (And those brake parts are missing!)
Thanks for the Chassis number list Mike that shows the Chassis is 1930. That makes sense as I believe the blocks would be aged a bit before they were machined from the castings.

The radiator has gone down for testing, though the radiator specialist was not optimistic that it is usable.
My radiator surround does not have the Singer emblem that Colin,s has and it is not so shiny!
Cheers
David

[ColinB]

The surround looks pretty good to me and it should plate up well. I recommend you get it copper coated before the final nickel goes on (I'm sure you know it wasn't chromed) as that will fill any small imperfections.

[Mike57]

The core looks original. You will find the brass pipes are fine but the cooling fins are shot. I just trashed my original core which was in about the same condition. You will still be able to use the top and bottom tanks and get a modern core fitted until you can source a replacement. I am still looking for one. The top pipe does not look right though. It looks to be bent down too far and is too long. Looks a bit odd.
Interesting that the surround is missing the badge. Mine has a badge which is bolted on. I always through the Singer emblem was embossed into the metal. Now I am wondering. Anyway that surround can be fixed up. If you decide to part it out let me know. My surround is brass so possibly Colin can tell us both if the surround is Nickel plated brass and mine is just missing the Nickel plating.

The blocks were left outside to age for about 6 months I think before they were used so a 1929 block in the 1930 car is usual.

If it is 1930 then it may also have a distributor rather then a Magento. I have been in contact with a fellow in the UK that has a distributor that would be for sale if you are interested PM me and I can email you his details and photos.

[Mike57]

Hi David

I believe mine is an original top and bottom tank with a 1970's core grafted onto them.

[ColinB]

The rad surrounds on both my Junior and the Light Six were fairly thin pressed steel which were originally nickel/chrome plated straight into the steel with no copper undercoat. They rot and good original ones are hard to find. I waited four years before I got a tip-off from a club member that a good one had turned up.

David's surround looks original to me as it has the slots for bonnet tape around the edge whereas replicas tend to use the stick-on stuff. I don't know where the logo has gone though.