Let's Talk Cyclecars

The engine I am looking for has exposed valve gear



Would love to run a speedway engine but it has to be in period to get the eligibility do***ents from the vintage sorts car club and I am trying to build the best recreation I can
Shame as speedway engines seem to be easier to find than the correct engine

 

Here is another view of the jappic engine

 

Looks like this one from 1926.

http://s452.photobucket.com/albums/qq244/marticelli/1926 JAP 350 OHV sports engine/

 

This engine is a singl port and not a twin port,
There is a good story about this engine, The guy who originally owned it was told by his mother to go and push his fathers motorbike into the local pond , but he thought the engine was too good so he removed the engine along with all the controls and dumped the bike, he then kept the engine for over 50 years as you see it,
It was then sold to a friend of mine who kept it in the same condition then he saw a wanted advert for and engine for a sun motorbike, so he sold it to a deserving cause,
I placed a number of adverts for the correct engine for my car and some guy in USA relied to my advert saying he had the correct engine but the picture he sent was of this engine , it was lucky I already knew of this engine and it's history , so wasn't taken in by this scam

 

There must be some interesting stuff in the bottom of ponds in the UK! I'm a lot clearer about what you're after, I'll keep an eye out.

 

Does anyone by chance have an extra copy of HOW TO BUILD A CYCLECAR
By Stanley Pontlarge. I have been looking to get a copy for quite some time and have been very unsuccessful. Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

You need to get in touch with Tim gunn at his old bicycle company he reprinted it

http://www.theoldbicycleshowroom.co.uk/publications-408-c.asp

Tell him Adrian sent you

 

Will do, thank you for the suggestion.

 

Tiny world isn't it?!

 

It's a small cyclecar world

 

3 new folks to the HAMB landing in the cyclecar thread in the last week!

Welcome to Krodista !

 

Thanks for the welcome banjeaux bob. I stumbled upon this website due to my love of cyclecars and had been reading for a few weeks before I thought I would ask about the book as it has come up in old posts in this chain. I did write the gentleman at http://www.theoldbicycleshowroom.co.uk, but it says on his website that they are currently out of stock on the book. I keep hoping that I will stumble upon a cyclecar project in a pricepoint that I can afford, but until then I am enjoying living vicariously through you all and through the Morgan 3 wheeler community.

 

1928 Salmson GS8/GSS W/fabric body from the Netherlands.Vincent pic.

 

I know it's NOT a cyclecar! Just imagine,if you will,that this is just a little smaller than it really is....

Panhard X72

 

The jappic has an entry for vintage revival at Montlhery in 2013! 6 months away

 

That's fantastic, Ade! Nothing like a deadline to maintain motivation.

 

Excellent news, UKAde..!

 

Found five of these wheels at a local salvage place and instantly thought cyclecar/cyclekart.
It was obvious that the rims are simply steel 20" bicycle type but the hubs are quite a bit bigger and have a bearing I.D. of .750" and the spokes are certainly heavy duty.
I thought I had come across something special until I happened to see the exact wheels on a welding tank dolly!
Oh well... at $10 each I will come up with something to use them on. Maybe the hubs would be proper looking on a light cyclecar.

 

Good find and not a bad price. You could build a running prototype and have some fun.

 

This looks like a lot of fun!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1922...Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f1d8ee765#ht_597wt_1167

 

Fun, and with an interesting history..!

 

That's a great car it's almost a shame to have such a great history as it will end up in a collection or museum ,
It needs to be driven raced and used

I always feel sad seeing rows of great cars in museums resigned to being static and stared at when they should be out there being used

Sorry got carried away

 

No, Ade, you're spot on. Motor vehicles should be used as they were designed to do.

There was an article in a US car enthusiasts' magazine back in 1990 bemoaning the fact that so many cl***ic cars end up as 'four wheeled coffee tables'. Sadly, that's what seems to happen, especially with the more valuable/historically significant vehicles.

Briggs Cunningham (RIP) was one who's collection was pretty much operational and some of the cars got regular use - I was a front-seat p***enger in his Type 41 Bugatti when it was driven at illegal speed up the Newport Freeway back in 1979, and was p***enger in his Alfa 8C while the museum's curator, John Burgess (RIP old friend), did doughnuts in the carpark with it!

While I think museums are important to preserve our history for future generations, it would be nice to see some exhibits being used outside the museums' walls.

That's my rant and I'm sticking to it..!

 

I agree that much of maintaining an automotive museum is to keep the displays in proper operational condition and that means, IMO, occasional use of the cars.
I recall Ivan Dutton, when asked about the risk of using vintage Bugattis, commenting that it would be very difficult to do any more than 100K GBP in damage in any incident. Besides, every compe***ive use adds to the history and provenance of any great cl***ic car.
In my own experience, gazing upon a Porsche 917, Formula 5000 car or Auto Union is just a teaser in comparison to seeing and hearing the cars run on track!

 

I have an acquaintance over here who drives a restored, early Darracq at motorsports events around the world, and she races it at 10/10ths! Her husband used to restore bespoke Veteran and Vintage-Era cars for clients in Europe, and his cars were museum quality and fully drivable.

 

Hubs for 15 or 20mm Axles are often used in mountainbikes and BMX. They are solid, well machined and you can find them at every price range (but not for 10$, so it was a good deal). Same for the rims, spokes and tires. I think a well ***embled bike-wheel will bear the forces and the weight of a light Cyclecar.

 

You know how it is, two steps forward three back,

This week a friend of mine came to see the jappic, we have done a lot of work together including a recreation of a 1925 deemster race car,

We were looking at the pictures I have of the jappic when JO says it's ot a staggered seat, after more careful looking at pictures it seems that the part that could be called the p***enger seat is set back from the drivers seat like some amilcars ,this was often done on small cars so the driver and p***enger were not shoulder to shoulder ,
So for a brief moment I contemplated leaving it as before ,
Then got out the saw and cut half of the seat back bulkhead off and started to make up the woodwork for a staggered seat ,
Ho hum but it is supposed to be a faithful recreation of the jappic ,
So most of last weeks work is either in the wood pile or s**** metal pile friends who needs them

 

Here are a couple of interesting covers

 

The license plate on the CARETTE magazine car looks like a
Wisconsin dealer plate.

 

Read about Gaston Rivierre and the Contal tricar at www.PreWarCar.com