Allegro Club International

[josephlamont]

Hello! My name is Joe Lamont and I'm a new member living in Crieff, Perthshire. My memories of Allegros go back to 1975 when my father took delivery of LSE 107P, a new 4 door 1300 in Glacier White from Dicksons of Forres. He generously let me drive the new car out of the showroom - the first time I had that experience! On getting my first job I needed a car for work and I went to Oliver Rix Garage in Nantwich, Cheshire. There I bought my first car, VFM 62R, a 4 door 1300 in Russet Brown. It was the garage's demonstrator and I paid £2,000 for the 6 month old car. It was a great success and I had it for 3 years until I was rear ended by a new Vauxhall Cavalier with just 27 miles on the clock. The outcome of that was a trade in for GDM 442T, a 4 door 1300 in Pageant Blue. It too, was a good car, but was memorable for the curious booming sound emanating from the petrol tank when being driven in stop start traffic. Thereafter Maestros and Montegos were the order of the day and Allegros became a thing of the past.
Having recently retired, I have rather more time than before, but I am not quite sure why I began to think back about the Allegros. To cut a long story short, the reflections led me to an eBay purchase of RKB 143T, a 1500 Special in Vermilion with a vinyl roof. £800 secured a running car with MoT, on which I took a risk. Setting off from Crieff at 4.00am I caught a series a trains to Widnes, where the vendor of the car kindly met me, helped me to get it taxed, and waved me on my way after a very welcome cup of coffee. I filled up with petrol and headed north. Fortunately, the weather was mainly dry, and RKB 143T performed very well, covering 270 miles with no mishap - we even passed an ANPR check at Gretna Services without question!
RKB 143T has just 24,000 miles on the clock and the bodywork is generally good (the car was Ziebarted). The engine is very smooth running but the weak point is the gearbox - changing down from 4th to 3rd and 3rd to 2nd is a kind of mechanical violence which makes one cringe. There have been various debates about how to deal with this, but eBay presented the chance to purchase a 1500 Allegro engine and gearbox from a 1979 car. A day trip to Ormskirk and back secured the deal and Meadow Garage in Crieff now have it ready and waiting. The plan now is to put the replacement engine and gearbox in complete - of course the risk is that we do not really know how good it is - particularly the gearbox! The seller said the engine ran smoothly and came out of a car he scrapped (because of rust!) with 66,000 miles. At the same time BL Transverse have been very helpful supplying a new clutch kit and a 1978 Maxi gearbox (of unknown quality). The next part of the plan is to take RKB 143T's original gearbox to Tayside Transmissions in Dundee to see if they can restore it using parts from the Maxi gearbox. There is risk in this too, but if it went well we would have a complete, functioning, second engine and gearbox.
All this starts on Monday (27 Oct) when Meadow Garage start on the replacement engine and gearbox...........Lots of things could go wrong but there are good people doing the work!..............fingers crossed all goes well!
Thankyou for reading - I hope there will be further posts to describe progress!


The Allegro - from 26.08.11 004 by josephlamont, on Flickr

[Richard Howe]

Sounds like quite an adventure. I look forward to seeing more - perhaps Andy Cripps might be interested for Quartic, as well.
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[David Smith]

Hi,

Could be the linkage?

Perhaps read the Gearbox section of the forum.
Under the section "E series gear change how bad?"

Just a thought.

Thanks Dave

[josephlamont]

Thankyou for the replies - we shall see how it plays out! The comment and link regarding the gearbox are helpful - I shall do some more reading!

The brave? foolhardy? plan I set out for RKB 143T has already received a challenge. Driving home recently the clutch packed up, but fortunately I was only about three miles away and managed to get back in second gear. I think there may be something up with the hydraulics and perhaps the clutch itself too. Anyhow RKB 143T is now undriveable, but the plan to have the engine and gearbox changed on Monday (24 Oct) remains intact thanks to Meadow Garage's low loader:


Allegro to garage 221011 001 by josephlamont, on Flickr

Fortunately, we have a new clutch as part of the engine change, and I have been interested in people's experiences of clutch master and slave cylinders described in various parts of the forum - we may yet need help! I hope to be able to post an update early next week, in the meantime the garage at the house is empty and that gives a chance to do some clearing and sorting out! I must say having the odd Maxi gearbox on the garage floor does make you walk round a bit more carefully! Cheers for now! Joe

[josephlamont]

As described before, RKB 143T went into Meadow Garage in Crieff for an engine and gearbox change on Monday 24 Oct. Progress was quite speedy initially, with the bonnet coming off and the original engine coming out without difficulty. Here was the state of play at mid morning on Monday:


Allegro engine change 241011 003 by josephlamont, on Flickr

In this view the engine bay does not look too bad but I think RKB 143T is never going to win any engine bay competitions! The black Ziebarting is a bit flaky in places and the inevitable vermilion shows through. However, I don't complain because I think the Ziebarting has done a good protective job.


Allegro engine change 241011 004 by josephlamont, on Flickr

A closer view of the engine bay...... and of the engine that came out of it......


Allegro engine change 241011 002 by josephlamont, on Flickr

It appears really quite clean and oil tight - note the shiny new fuel pump, only just recently installed! In fact it has only just had a full service, so the engine is fine - a pity about the gearbox!
The replacement engine is shown below on the hoist before installation:


Allegro engine change 241011 001 by josephlamont, on Flickr

All we really know about this unit is that it has done 66,000miles and the engine has been run recently. It looks quite dry so here's hoping both engine and gearbox are fit for some more miles! Shortly after the engine was put in place.........


Allegro engine change 241011 005 by josephlamont, on Flickr

The initial signs are encouraging, in that the engine ran when tested, but inevitably there was a fair bit of work getting everything fettled and set up. One delay is the need for a new choke cable - I am hoping that BL Transverse will be able to send one soon - but it does mean it will be some time before we know how well all this has worked. As the proprietor of Meadow Garage said "its nae been anywhere yet!"

So, progress has been made, but we are not quite at the end yet........I hope to make further posts as we go along! Any comments are welcome! Cheers Joe

[Laurence]

Looking good, fingers crossed eh?

[alan wilson]

[josephlamont]

Hi Alan, and thankyou for your note about oil. When I first got RKB 143T the downward gearchanges were dreadful - only 5th to 4th was smooth. I was over-optimistic in thinking that a full service would improve the gearchange - - in fact there was no difference. Meadow Garage had used 10:40 oil for the service, and in view of your experience, I wonder if there would have been an improvement had they used 20:50. However, for the oil change on the replacement engine they have used 20:50 so lets hope that will do the trick for that unit!
We are still held up by the choke cable..........cheers Joe

[josephlamont]

There is now some more progress to report. Meadow Garage have now split the gearbox from the engine that was the original in RKB 143T. I was able to pick up the gearbox (together with the inevitable splashes of oil!) this morning and here is how it looked:


Allegro & Maxi gearboxes 004 by josephlamont, on Flickr

A quick 'phone call to Tayside Transmissions in Dundee ascertained that they were happy to receive this gearbox and the 1978 Maxi 1750cc gearbox that BL Transverse had previously supplied:


Allegro & Maxi gearboxes 001 by josephlamont, on Flickr

The idea is that Tayside Transmissions will renovate RKB 143T's original gearbox using parts (baulk rings in particular) from the Maxi gearbox. How this will play out is not certain - the gearboxes look very similar, but not identical, to the untutored eye. As is clear in the photographs, the splash shields are still in place on both boxes, so there is not a great deal to see. However, if there is a solution to be had I'm sure Tayside Transmissions will find it!

Separately, BL Transverse have come up with the choke cable for the replacement engine now in RKB 143T. It is in the post, so with any luck, we should see a test drive of the replacement engine in the near future. We could also be in the position of wanting to test drive the original engine and renovated gearbox in due course - that's a bit of a problem as we only have one car! Cross that bridge if, or when, we get to it! For now I need to get the oil off everything after spending the day shifting gearboxes! Cheers Joe

[josephlamont]

Today has seen some encouraging progress. RKB 143T's replacement engine is in the car and the choke cable that was awaited has duly arrived. The scene at Meadow Garage this afternoon was like this (it gets dark early here!) :


Allegro replacement engine testing 10 Nov 11 002 by josephlamont, on Flickr

I think you can just see a neat plume of exhaust from the tail pipe - yes the engine runs nicely and it was just being fettled for idle speed. The engine bay now looks like this:


Allegro replacement engine testing 10 Nov 11 004 by josephlamont, on Flickr

Please note the nice shiny black choke cable! All seems to be well on the engine front although the alternator belt needs replacing. As far as the gearbox is concerned the car has been round the yard and all the gears can be selected, but we have not got to a road test yet, so I will reserve judgement for now! I hope we will have an update in the near future - in these parts the Local Authority is very efficient at salt spreading - I would like to get any road driving done before we run the risk of meeting up with salt! Anyhow, so far so good...........cheers Joe

[josephlamont]

Well, I hesitate to say that we have an outcome, because pride goes before a fall, but RKB 143T has had a proper test run and has done very well. However, this was not before a curious episode with the exhaust. When I first picked up the car I looked at the exhaust and thought that's good, an entirely new system, because it looked split new. Penny (my wife) noticed that the tail pipe seemed a bit out of alignment:


Allegro engine test run 12 Nov 11 003 by josephlamont, on Flickr

When Meadow Garage had it up on the ramp it became clear that the system was not a proper fit for the Allegro and some metal bending had gone on in order to get it in place. However, it seemed to do the job and did not seem a pressing issue. When it came to testing the replacement engine the exhaust started to spill its contents out of the tail pipe. I did not realise how much packing there was that could simply unravel - and I'm sure we haven't seen the last of it! At the moment it is still functioning, but I am on the trail of a new exhaust through the Club's spares service.
Notwithstanding the exhaust, yesterday we took RKB 143T for a proper test run. It was a 30 mile round trip from Crieff to Auchterarder and back via Kinkell Bridge all in glorious winter sunshine. The engine appears fine, although the exhaust may not be doing it any favours, as it seemed reluctant to pull at lower revs. The engine also seems to run hotter than the original - at least according to the temperature gauge - the gauge was reading from the mid point to three quarters over the whole run. The real benefit from the engine change is the gearbox. This one is much better, with no crunching of gears. It is a bit stiff, and although I may be overly optimistic, I think it was loosening up as it was driven. In all, the car is now a pleasure to drive, and after the test run RKB 143T was back on home ground in the last of the winter sunshine:


Allegro engine test run 12 Nov 11 001 by josephlamont, on Flickr

There is more work to be done on the car, and we need to turn our attention to the body work. I hope to provide further posts on this front! Cheers Joe

[Laurence]

Sounds like the plan's coming together

[Colin T]

Sounds like a good outcome to the saga.

As for the running temps, I have found that the sender units seem to vary with age, so you might want to try a new unit, which for the A-series cost me about £7, it may be the same unit for the E-series but I'm not sure.
_________________
Hell has frozen over...... the car formally known as 'Heap' is back on the road!

[josephlamont]

Thankyou for the replies - I am interested in the comment about the temperature sender unit and I will follow that up.
I have started to consider what to do about the various bodywork problems there are on RKB 143T and I have made the acquaintance of Earnside Garage, a small car bodyshop on the south side of Crieff on the bank of the River Earn. A visit there allowed me a good view of the underside of the car whilst it was up on the ramp:


Allegro bodywork 15 Nov 11 004 by josephlamont, on Flickr

In particular there is a weakness on the sill just under the driver's door by the hinge:


Allegro bodywork 15 Nov 11 001 by josephlamont, on Flickr

There is nothing obvious on the outside:


Allegro bodywork 15 Nov 11 002 by josephlamont, on Flickr

However from underneath there is a hole!:


Allegro bodywork 15 Nov 11 003 by josephlamont, on Flickr

On the front nearside wing rust is all too obvious:


Allegro bodywork 15 Nov 11 007 by josephlamont, on Flickr

........and above the light cluster:


Allegro bodywork 15 Nov 11 006 by josephlamont, on Flickr

The proprietor of Earnside Garage considers he can repair both the hole on the underside and the front wing by patching the existing parts (rather than removing the nearside wing and fitting a new one). He says why fit a new wing if you are simply going to join it to a front valence which itself is rather past its best. This gets to the nub of the problem - in making these repairs, if you go after everything, you will land up rebuilding the whole car. So his philosophy seems to be: repair what you need to but don't go looking for trouble! I can certainly see a benefit in not stripping away metal parts unless you have to, but equally I would like to ensure the car is improved and protected against further decay. On that last point, in view of the prodigious amount of rain there is in Perthshire in winter, and all the salt that comes with frost and snow, we have agreed to delay these repairs until the spring. So we will see how things shape up, but any comments or advice people have about the amount of intervention would be welcome!
I can't quite get used to the idea of not driving the car much in winter - I have always ridden my bike through winter, not being a believer in "dry miles only"!
However, in the meantime we will see if we can get the exhaust sorted out and if we can rebuild the original engine and gearbox. Cheers Joe

[Richard Howe]

It's wise to make the front panel last as long as possible, as repair sections are nigh-on impossible to source save from other shell. Good quality panels of any kind aren't easy to find, so "make do & mend" will save you a lot!
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.