Car accessories from the 1960's and 1970's, do you remember these?

[terranosaurusdoug]

I feel like a 21 year old somedays....



You all know where that punch line is going don't you lol...:doh

.

:lol

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

I will love to answer that one, I already know how I am going to hit that one.
Watch this space.
Any other thoughts or wishes?

Uncle Rustic. :thumb2

Nope, it is an interesting subject, I'll just sit back and enjoy :lol

One constant is people have always felt the need to get on the spanners and improve their vehicles, but that's what humans do with everything really. My six year old boy Jacob asked me a load of questions on saturday whilst driving, how was bread invented, how were crisps invented, how where bricks and roof tiles invented (I think the questions were dictated by whatever we were driving past :lol), and of course all those things are either an improvement or an adaptation of an existing product or principal, so I gave him a history lesson :lol:thumbs

 

[jims-terrano]

Haha great thread Rustic :thumbs

Hey I got one of those fuse boxes in my baby and I still have a load of glass fuses, I knew they would come in handy one day.
Made laugh because all the downsides and things of the 1970s cars is one of the reasons I love my MG.

Can anyone remember those green sun shades across top of the windscreen? Or the same thing with an aerial element printed on it for your radio.

 

[macabethiel]

Home made anti-theft device on my MIni

There were no car alarms then
My alarm on the mini comprised of a key switch mounted on the panel behind the front door, it was simple, if the switch was set, the horn would go off as soon as the door was opened, close the door, it stopped etc.?

I had a Mk 1 Mini Cooper 1275 S in the 60's and I fitted a small push button switch behind the roof lining (They were split in the middle with the interior light helping to hold it all in. Part of the wiring loom ran down the front screen pillar and along the side of the roof towards the rear supplying the rear lights & the SU fuel pump.

I cut the fuel pump wire and connected a simple push button switch fitted with a steel clip to anchor it to the roof steel work. If you remembered in advance of parking up you could use up the fuel in the system by switching off beforehand. I had mine stolen when I was at the cinema in Birmingham and found the vehicle abandoned about a quarter of a mile away as it had run out of fuel due to the pump being switched off.

I regularly forgot to switch it back on and the engine would start to splutter so I would hastily press the switch and all would be well. Over the years the headlining had a nice black fingermark where the switch was hidden !

 

[jims-terrano]

Stop swearing, I have the pleasure of getting a SU pump working:doh

 

[rustic]

Stop swearing, I have the pleasure of getting a SU pump working:doh

Why on earth did they put the early mini fuel pumps on the rear sub frame, damp got in, the contacts corroded, and was difficult to hit with a hammer lol.
So mount it in the boot, fairly dry no grit or salt to bother it, and if it did need a thump, it was very easy to get to in the dark and the rain, which is the usual time for it to fail lol.

My mini broke down regularly, usually the points, condenser, that stupid stupid vacuum advance mechanism, that invariably had a small hole in the diaphragm or the rotor arm, faulty or dirty HT leads, or plug caps. or a cracked distributor cap.
Solution, get a good secondhand distributor, complete with all HT leads, set up the points, timing etc scratch the correct alignment on the distributor, then when you break down, swap the complete distributor, line up the scratch all sorted.
The distributor was held in by a pinch clamp, slacken one bolt about half a turn, off you go... less than 5 minutes tops, then when you get home, you can investigate why the old one failed, usually the points had burnt, a quick wipe with a diamond tipped file, re set the points and check timing, you only needed a bulb and a piece of wire lol.
Problem is, I carried so much stuff in the boot, spares, including a spare bypass hose and some fairy liquid, I could do one of those in three minutes lol, spare fuel, water, oil, boy it needed oil, 4 gallons of petrol, 1pint of oil lol, tools etc that the boot floor virtually dropped out lol. Mine was the floppy gear stick, guess which gear you are in lol, the gear stick would move about 5 or 6" sideways when in gear.
Now to all mini owners, did you know that there was a grease nipple on the gear selector shaft as it passed through the aluminium casting on the back of the gear box? no... that's where most of the wear occured causing a floppy stick lol...:augie Yes after all these years you always wondered lol.
Rustic

 

[Terrano Steve]

So much has changed in the last 50 years & as I don't have a crystal ball I wish I could stick around for another 50 years to see what is next.

 

[solarman216]

Excellent thread Rustic, we had a mini clubman in the 70's my Mrs learnt to drive in it, I was trucking abroad for weeks on end at the time, she loved her little mini and never had any bothers with it at all, she would collect me from Dover when I did "dodgy week ends", oh they were the days, Rick

 

[elty001]

Here is a picture of a fuse box from this era, most leyland and rover cars had this set up.
There were two 35 Amp fuses, one for all things that turn off with the ignition, and the other, live all the time, for all lights, horn etc

If you wanted to hot wire a car, say if you lost the key, you simply linked both fuses together, no steering locks or alarms in those days.

The 35amp fuses actually blew at 35 amps in those days, but could safely carry 17.5 amps.
Cars were not power hungry then.

Landrover still have these fitted :lol

 

[makeitfit]

My first cars had no radio let alone hifi :lol
So I pinched my sister's battery powered philips cassette player. Wired in a home hifi speaker in the back and boom crappy sounds all round
Circa 1973 :wasntme

 

[macabethiel]

Second instalment might be tonight if I can't sleep again, I am on pond cleaning duty today, the smaller pond has lost around 2' around the edge caused by shrubs, weeds, and the odd tree sapling, the only way to reach it, is to run a ladder across the centre, which just happens to take a couple of spare decking boards side by side, the ladder is clamped to the decking around the pond on one edge, so it shouldn't tilt, it takes all my weight so far... will start the clearance once the sun drops a bit.
If there's a splash, I'm sure you will hear about it lol...:thumb2
Rustic

Snap I have an old wooden ladder that I leave over my small pond with two planks of decking in the middle !

Do you remember the S.P.Q.R. Mini tappet adjusting tool ? It had a ratchet attached to a screw driver tip with a socket on it. A small chart told you how many clicks you needed to give 12 thousands of an inch adjustment. It was better than feeler gauges as it allowed for wear of the rocker etc.

 

[macabethiel]

Remember Valve Car radios

My first cars had no radio let alone hifi :lol
So I pinched my sister's battery powered philips cassette player. Wired in a home hifi speaker in the back and boom crappy sounds all round
Circa 1973 :wasntme

My first car had a valve radio it would take almost a minute to warm up and come on.lol

 

[rustic]

Snap I have an old wooden ladder that I leave over my small pond with two planks of decking in the middle !

Do you remember the S.P.Q.R. Mini tappet adjusting tool ? It had a ratchet attached to a screw driver tip with a socket on it. A small chart told you how many clicks you needed to give 12 thousands of an inch adjustment. It was better than feeler gauges as it allowed for wear of the rocker etc.

I must admit I saw those, very tempted, but went the feeler gauge route.
Now on the timing and point gap, I decided to go hitech, the neon tube timing light... It had to be virtually pitch black to see it, then I also bought a dwell meter, a meter that displayed how many degrees the contacts were closed for, more accurate than feelers. Yep still got both of those, not used for....well over 21 years ...before we had the Mav lol...:augie

 

[rustic]

My first car had a valve radio it would take almost a minute to warm up and come on.lol

Valve radio, reminds me of Pike of dad's army sat in the back of Jones truck lol.
Wasn't there a record player suitable for cars once?

 

[rustic]

My thoughts on driving from the 60's and 70's till now.

Well I managed the pond clearance, finished it this morning. picture of ladder below, but it has come oit upside down lol...
Boy I slept well last night, so no further instalment.

Driving in the 60's.
When I was young I lived in a village just 2 miles south of Crewe, most people didn't have a car, my father had a motorbike then a side car, then bought a reliant regal, Del Boy style, as he could drive this on a standard motorcycle licence, provided that the reverse gear was blanked off with a plate.
People generally lived close to work so very few people commuted more than three miles. The bicycle was the favoured mode of transport.
Crewe was a no go area at 5:00 pm on a weekday for cars, on one side of the town was Rolls Royce cars, at knocking off time, thousands of bikes from three exits spewed out onto the roads.
On the other side was Crewe Railway works, where they built steam locomotives. Again thousands of cyclists joined the busy streets.
In the mid 60's my parents bought a Bedford Dormobile, my father was on "L" plates so couldn't drive it on his own. I remember my Mum's Dad, my Grandfather, use to jump on his moped and ride to our house so he could ride shot gun, so we could legally go out for the day.
Although he was legally entitled to drive a car, or small truck, he had never actually driven one in his life. He was born in 1900 when he got to 17/18 the Great war was nearly over, he went into a post office and bought a driving licence, like you or I would buy a fishing licence lol.
Still not many people owning cars and people relied on the bus and train.
As we lived close to Crewe, you could get virtually anywhere by train, well that was before Dr Beaching started the cuts. My Father had been recently promoted from fireman to driver on the railways, so he was in charge of many steam locomotives, and regularly drove the Queen in the Royal train.
I digress...
There were no motorways in the early 60's but the plan to build them was in place, motorways sprung up like mushrooms, no speed limit at all, no central reservation either. People were driving flat out at what ever the car could do... just before it overheated or broke down. Cars were not designed for sustained high speed, and the cooling was just not enough. Most tyres were cross ply and had inner tubes, and motorists had been know to fix punctures at the road side, having had the experience of mending bike punctures lol

Cars could normally achieve 60 mph on some of the A roads, there were very few cars on the road. Towns and cities were conjested though, as streets were narrow and cars parked down both sides in places.


In the 70's first I had a small honda 125 motorbike, I passed my test on that, which entitled me to ride any motorcycle, no limit, no further tests.
The was done amongst some terrace houses, he sent you on a route, then ran down the backs, to see you going past, to make sure you indicated and moved your head as if looking left and right lol.
Then he walked slow and said... feet off the floor, ride at the side of me.
There were no theory tests in those days, they showed you a few road signs... What's that? and that? this one? I am pleased to say you have passed your test.

I bought my Mini mid 70's and you could park easily outside the shop you wanted for free, no time limits then. People now started to use cars to commute to work, as other small industries start up away from the main towns and their public transport. There was some car sharing too.
Many homes were one car families.

Motorway were plentiful and busy during the 70's but the motorways often took you onto A roads, that couldn't handle the volume of traffic, so only served to get you to the next traffic jam even quicker lol. The M6 fizzled out at Carlisle, then became a busy A74.

That'll do for now, I have missed loads out lol.
Rustic

 

[Blocky10]

Rustic. You need to write a book

 

[rustic]

Rustic. You need to write a book

You know my father in law did this, we lent him an old computer, windows 3.11 with basic word, and showed him how to save to a floppy disk, he had never used a computer before, my wife took the draft and took weeks doing spell check and sorting the grammer, and editing as his was a complete memory down load, and didn't follow any date order.
Anyhow, we had a final draft, had pictures, so printed it off on decent paper, then went to a bookbinder that published student's final thesis, Gold leaf for the title, and down the spine, it looked the business, we presented it to him on his 70'th birthday, it brought a tear to his eye, as it did all the family.

I have a lot of things to complete in my life, pond, now ticked off that list lol.
I have written loads of info for my survivors, on how things are set up around the house and garden etc come in handy when my daughter and son realise their inhertance lol... I am feeling good in myself at the moment, so ticking a lot of boxes. Maybe a similar book could be on the cards lol... But who other than the remaining family would ever take the time to read it?
Uncle Rustic

 

[macabethiel]

I must admit I saw those, very tempted, but went the feeler gauge route.
Now on the timing and point gap, I decided to go hitech, the neon tube timing light... It had to be virtually pitch black to see it, then I also bought a dwell meter, a meter that displayed how many degrees the contacts were closed for, more accurate than feelers. Yep still got both of those, not used for....well over 21 years ...before we had the Mav lol...:augie

I sold my old Dwell Gauge on e-bay for more than it cost new! They are quite pricey these days.

 

[macabethiel]

Valve radio, reminds me of Pike of dad's army sat in the back of Jones truck lol.
Wasn't there a record player suitable for cars once?

Yep I know someone who had one in his Mk 2 Zodiac it just played 45's lol

 

[Blocky10]

You know my father in law did this, we lent him an old computer, windows 3.11 with basic word, and showed him how to save to a floppy disk, he had never used a computer before, my wife took the draft and took weeks doing spell check and sorting the grammer, and editing as his was a complete memory down load, and didn't follow any date order.
Anyhow, we had a final draft, had pictures, so printed it off on decent paper, then went to a bookbinder that published student's final thesis, Gold leaf for the title, and down the spine, it looked the business, we presented it to him on his 70'th birthday, it brought a tear to his eye, as it did all the family.

I have a lot of things to complete in my life, pond, now ticked off that list lol.
I have written loads of info for my survivors, on how things are set up around the house and garden etc come in handy when my daughter and son realise their inhertance lol... I am feeling good in myself at the moment, so ticking a lot of boxes. Maybe a similar book could be on the cards lol... But who other than the remaining family would ever take the time to read it?
Uncle Rustic

This has been one of the longest threads I've read and I'm thoroughly enjoying it including the off topics and touching on terrano/mavericks. I'll read it:thumb2
Rick is another who must write a book:bow