Allegro Club International

[josephlamont]

Well I certainly had not been looking for another car. RKB 143T has kept me fully occupied (and still does) but on Ebay there was this seemingly unwanted Vanden Plas........ The seller said that if it was not sold it would be "weighed in". It appeared to deserve better than that - the car has been Ziebarted and was said to be solid underneath. To cut a long story short we bid and secured the car without any competitive bids. (Does Ebay give rise to irrational behaviour in others?) The car was located in County Down, Northern Ireland so that presented some challenges in collection.
On Monday I set about travelling to Northern Ireland to pick up SWP 377V. That meant being up at 5.00am (even before the cats - they were perplexed) and my wife drove me to Glasgow Airport in good time for the flight to Belfast. Just as she drove away I noticed the display board which said Flybe flight BE125 - Cancelled......in the end I had to wait at the airport for 4 hours until the next flight at 12.10pm! (the taxi man I met in Clough was not surprised at this - he says that if there are not enough passengers they just announce staff sickness and don't fly the plane to save money!) So, armed with a £5 Flybe food voucher I got lunch at the airport, and duly set off on the 12.10pm plane. They say it is a 45 minute flight but this was barely 30 mins - you just about take off when you start to land! Things from there went quickly - they needed to because I had to get the ferry from Belfast at 7.30pm. Anyhow, the airport bus took me into the city centre bus station in 15 mins, and I flagged down the driver of the No. 20 bus that I needed to catch to get to Clough (pronounced "Cloch") So there was no delay there, and I reached Clough in a rainstorm at 2.30pm. There, the friendly taxi man drove me to the vendor and SWP 377V. We had a bit of a chatter about the car and I was keen to get going, so that I had time if there were any mishaps. Despite my fears SWP 377V did well - her automatic gearbox works fine although there is no first gear. We filled up with petrol at Castlewellan and headed for Belfast. Once we got going the car settled into a 45-50mph canter and things looked good. Sat Nav helped us through Belfast to the port, where we arrived at about 5.30pm, in plenty of time for the ferry. I got some food at the terminal, and since I arrived first, SWP 377V was first on the ferry, and first off.


SWP 377V travel from Northern Ireland 005 by josephlamont, on Flickr



SWP 377V travel from Northern Ireland 006 by josephlamont, on Flickr

The sea crossing was fine - there was some swell on the Irish Sea but the ship was using stabilisers and I was using seasickness tablets so we were fine. We got into Cairnryan at 10.00pm where it was now dark and I'm glad to say SWP 377V's lights worked! I set off for home in Crieff and did the trip non-stop, getting in at 1.30am! When I say it was good that the car's lights worked, it certainly helped not to attract the attention of late night police patrols. There was one in Ayr and one around Glasgow - SWP 377V's weak spot was her tyres - they were worn beyond the limits and one of the rear ones was absolutely bald! Anyhow we avoided any problems and arrived in good order - ready to fall into bed!
Today we have had more time to get to know SWP 377V. First stop was to get a set of spare keys cut and then we went to Strathearn Tyres for 4 new tyres. In the afternoon we started to look at the car a bit - I had noticed a damp smell and when we started to investigate we found the carpet underfelts sodden wet! The carpets came out and we looked at the metal floors - they were wet with a kind of emulsion of oil and water but fortunately the metalwork was still OK - at least we found no holes or rot. The car had been Ziebarted from new but if that wetness had been allowed to fester the result would be a heap of Ferrous Oxide. So now we are trying to dry everything out!


SWP 377V travel from Northern Ireland 009 by josephlamont, on Flickr

All this has prompted efforts to find a garage - this car was not in the plan, not least because we have no further garage space! So far no success.......
We also need to do more to identify the leaks and I will ask Morrisons of Stirling to give her a check over. The missing first gear is an issue and I was surprised when the engine and gearbox took 4 pints of oil to reach the mark on the dipstick! SWP 377V has been a workhorse and there is a fair bit of work to do! Cheers Joe

[J Dawson]

Well done for saving this, Joe.

The leak is probably due to the windscreen - mine still needs doing.
_________________
Austin - you can DEPEND on it!

1976 Allegro 1100 4-dr saloon

Squeak, rattle & roll

[Andy Perman]

Hi Joseph and welcome to the forum Great you saved another one from the scrappers.

Mine like yours had soaking carpets in the front footwell, passenger side, when I took them out water was literally pouring off them. The fault with mine was a combination of the windscreen seal not working and also the drain point under the rear part of the wing, where it joins the cill was blocked by body filler!! Water routed down from above had nowhere to go, so spilled into the footwell.

Looking forward to following your progress here

Andy.

[Paul-V]

Joe, on the E-series automatic gearboxes, there is an adjustment facility for the 'brake bands' on first and reverse gears, access being via some blanking plates on the front face of the gearbox casing.

You may just get lucky and be able to get first gear back. Try to get hold of the original BL workshop manual for the Allegro or Maxi, I believe the procedure is detailed in there.

Windscreen wiper spindles can also allow water ingress in to the front of the car.

[M. Irvine]

No drive in first gear is usually caused by failure of the one-way (sprag type) clutch. Presumably the car will not pull away from rest with '1' or 'D' selected, but will drive if '2' is selected on the selector (shift) lever?

Band adjustment are for 2nd, 3rd and reverse gear bands.

Although I don't think it will have any effect on the loss of 1st gear are you sure the oil level has been checked in the correct manner?

Merv.
_________________
ALLEGRO = Agile, Lively, Legendary, Economical, Genial, Reliable & Outstanding.

[Mike Dean]

[josephlamont]

Thank you to everyone who has commented and given advice. I was much impressed by Andy Perman’s renovation of his Series 1 VP – I would be very pleased if I could reach that standard! Things have moved on a bit with SWP 377V – Morrisons of Stirling have run an eye over the car and Willie McCutcheon, the Foreman, took me out in it to test the gearbox in particular. Interestingly he found first gear about three times before it started to miss. When coming to a smart halt whilst still in drive the car then cannot pick up first gear. Knock the gear lever into third and away she goes and the drive is really smooth – not as if you were trying to start out in second. Willie’s view was that I should take the car to an automatic transmission specialist in Glasgow. I do appreciate the suggestions Paul and Mike have made and I will try to understand the possibilities before going to Glasgow!
Another SWP 377V issue is a knock coming from the nearside front suspension and Willie says we should replace the knuckle joint and ball joints. Whilst the car was up on the ramp I got a good view of the underside and it seems really solid. There is an old repair under the driver’s door but it appeared to be holding up fine. I wondered if the engine had slipped a bit on its mounts but the hydraulic lift on the ramp took the weight off the mounts and it looks OK. So I was quite pleased with the outcome – the prognosis could have been much worse!
Back home I have been messing around trying to identify all the water leaks – there are 3 into the boot and rear parcel shelf – both sides of the rear windscreen leak and the water runs onto the parcel shelf and into the boot. The offside rear drainage pipe hung loose in the boot so any water it carried went straight into the boot. At the front things are less clear – water goes from the bulkhead area into the driver’s footwell. I have been trying water coloured with food dye to see if we can identify the source but with no success! Thanks for Paul’s tip about the wiper spindles – a possible culprit!
So there is plenty to keep us going here and thanks again for everyone's comments, cheers Joe

[Laurence]

There's no brake band adjuster for 1st gear.

Try adjusting the selector cable before getting too deep into the box, it's a job you could do before condemning the sprag (1st gear freewheel) clutch.

Selector gear checking:

1. Position selector lever at 'N' & start engine.
2. select '1' , release the brakes & drive forward. as the car moves forward, select 'N' . Diconnection of the drive should be felt as 'N' is selected.
3. Stop the car, select 'R' & drive backwards, as the car moves backwards, select 'N' . Disconnection of the drive should be felt as 'N' is selected.
4. If the drive is felt to disconnect as 'N' is selected from both directions the gear selector cable is correct.

Adjusting:

5. Stop the engine.
6. Position the selector lever @ 'R' .
7. Slacken the outer cable adjustment locking nut and, holding the the cable close to the locknut, pull the cable out as far as possible from the selector lever housing. Tighten the locknut.
8. Ensure that the engine will start only with 'N' or 'P' selected.

The selector cable is the lefthand of the two cables from the selector box to the gearbox, the other is the park lock cable

[J Dawson]

The knock from the front could be a loose wishbone which only needs tightening up.
_________________
Austin - you can DEPEND on it!

1976 Allegro 1100 4-dr saloon

Squeak, rattle & roll

[josephlamont]

Laurence,
Thank you for this guide. I tried the steps you described but first gear let me down. Instead of picking up traction I just get a whirring sound rather as if a cog is not quite engaging. In the circumstances I didn't feel confident about adjusting the selector cable. I now have the AP handbook (thanks to Mike Dean's link) and I have the BL Training Manual for the automatic gearbox. I'm trying to get some undertanding of how it works.......
Joshua - thanks for your note about the wishbone - it pays to start with the simplest and easiest.....
I have had some discussion about the water leaks on front and rear windscreens with Earnside Garage who did the bodywork on RKB 143T. The suggestion is to take out both windscreens and re seal them using fresh rubbers......I am now searching for windscreen rubbers....... In the meantime its not raining, so the windscreens don't leak - easy done when you know how!
Cheers Joe

[Laurence]

I don't think using new windscreen rubbers alone will be the answer, the rubbers are designed to allow water in, hence the drain tubes in each lower corner.

Over the years of 'allowing in' water, the corners corrode & become porous & weak so I would remove the windscreens & repair/make good & treat the corners, then refit the windscreens with new rubbers & plenty of windscreen sealant to prevent water being 'allowed in'.

[Andrew Mallett]

Hi Joe,

Congratulations on your new purchase, I read in your other thread how you find the VP a much smoother ride than RKB 143T. I have a VP and I find it is a smoother ride also coincidentally.

I totally agree with Laurence regarding the screens. I had loads of sealant put in my Series 3 1.3L 4 years ago, it stands out all winter and I haven't had any leaks at all. When the screens were taken out I also put 8 grommets in the holes were the drain tubes were fitted. The screen fitter then used loads of sealant. He used a special sealant which he said was very good for this particular job. I can't remember what it was called or what type it was but I will give him a ring to find out what it was and I'll let you know.
_________________
Bloke from Norfolk.

[josephlamont]

Hi,
Thanks for the advice on windscreens - I think there may be quite a bit of corrosion in places around the windscreens so having the glass out is a chance to get it sorted. I can see that windscreen rubbers are scarce - I have asked Colin Taylor if he has any in the Club's spares, so here's hoping!
cheers Joe

[josephlamont]

Today SWP 377V went into Morrisons of Stirling to have the front knuckle joints replaced and the front near side ball joints repaired. It has taken me a bit of time to track down the ball joint kit - in part because one supplier was in doubt about the contents of the kit despite the correct code on the box (QSK 96S) However I was relieved that my eventual purchase appears to fit and the ball joints are fine. Morrisons have had a bit more difficulty with the knuckle joints and in fact SWP 377V is still in the workshop, to be finished off tomorrow. All this started with a knock on the nearside front - lets hope it sorts that out! I am beginning to wonder if the hard ride I have in the Allegro 1500, RKB 143T, maybe to do with the knuckle joints - I previously thought it simply needed a Hydragas pump up.......we'll see!
I am working away collecting together parts for SWP 377V and I have spotted Edgware Rubber and Trim who list an Allegro Series 2 windscreen rubber - here's hoping because I've drawn a blank everywhere else - Colin Taylor tells me Club spares ran out over a year ago...

The town of Crieff is host to the 4th European meeting of the Austin Healey Club this week. What this has meant is that Crieff Hydro has almost been taken over by mainly European enthusiasts with, we estimate, around 150 cars. It is astonishing - every other car is an Austin Healey and the majority are left hand drive!
In this exalted company we keep a low profile!

Tomorrow its back to Stirling to pick up SWP 377V and, I hope, not too eye-watering a bill!
Cheers Joe

[Laurence]

I have used QSK96S with no problem, but there's always the chance that the contents of the box have been pilfered/lost.

I have bought kits of parts at Autojumbles/Ebay/reputable parts suppliers, & very often there are some pieces of the kit missing.

Could the harsh ride of RKB 143T be due to loss of nitrogen in the displacer/s?