Acoma Super Comtesse

[Barry]

I know not all will be interested in my 50cc plastic cart but for those who are:-  (how many of you are there?)
I bought a Super Comtesse from the French Alps recently.  I already have one.  When this one arrived I was surprised to find it in very good condition with 875km on the clock.
I had a tinker and soon found out why it had been abandoned.  The decompression cable was tight giving no real compression.
There were quite a few odds and ends of spares with it.  The type of things you might want to change if you were trying to identify a problem.  Spare carb, new coils, spare barrel and piston, and other bits and pieces including a new 17 tooth sprocket.

I got it running and it sounded really sweet.  Driving it about the garden, it went well but not very fast at all (speedo wasn't working so 875km?).
I was puzzled by the new 17 tooth sprocket.
Looking underneath the final sprocket on my car was 24 teeth.  I looked at my other Comtesse and it had 17 - quite a difference from 24.  
A quick swap and I was getting nearly 30km/hr (speedo fixed - French glue type grease in the speedo, cable and gear).

For all lucky Comtesse owners, check the final drive sprocket.  I can only assume that the 24 tooth was an option for carrying very heavy passengers or quick trips to the summit of Mont Blanc!


I have one leaking rear brake cylinder - any one know what car these came from - 2CV?

[Big Al]

Sounds like a good buy. Always satisfying to get a car' with a problem' to find it was a simple fix no one thought to look at. Clearly the sprocket was indentified so there will have been a reason for that. Working up a mountain or something. Cannot aid on slave cylinders but someone will know.
See you list children in your collection. Maybe reversing the decompression experience might yield a lower rate of performance by them when required. Add servo and TV remote control.........

[Bob Purton]

Hi Barry. Sounds like you got a good buy there. When are you opening the museum?

[Barry]

If I could open a museum and earn enough to get by I would.  I could store peoples proper Microcars for a few bob and keep them dry and polished.

With four boys and University approaching the tuition fees for my family will be about £108,000. for three years + accommodation etc.  Makes you think doesn't it - hopfully the Schmitt will be worth £100,000 by then.  Ho ho ho....

Or could the museum make £692 per week? (thats the university fees)

Any info on Acoma Brakes would be appreciated.  The wheels seem to be used on many French cars.

[Big Al]

[quote author=Isetta_Owner link=topic=2895.msg17936#msg17936 date=1313507152
With four boys and University approaching the tuition fees for my family will be about £108,000. for three years + accommodation etc.  Makes you think doesn't it - hopfully the Schmitt will be worth £100,000 by then.  Ho ho ho....

Or could the museum make £692 per week? (thats the university fees)
[/quote]

Don't forget that to earn that £108,000 you have to pay tax so that you are supporting someone else's kids and pay for them to be useless to society while investing in the future. A lot of this money was going to be your pension and associated investments. Its a bargain!

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Al

I think the answer is no.

To make £692 per week you would need a suitable builing at zero rent and running cost (insurance etc) and charge 72 people £500 per year to look after their car with permission to show it to the public (museum).

I do not think that would make a good business plan.

Building location, Rental and taxes, Staffing, Heating and lighting, Insurance. all need to be costed and added.

Nice idea. shame about reality.

Chris Thomas

[richard]

shush - your all depressing me  

a lot of contributors to this rubbish have no children. but who on earth do they think will be paying for their old age . all that they have contributed , and some have never, has gone on paying todays pensioners . 

[Barry]

Dear Al

I think the answer is no.

To make £692 per week you would need a suitable building at zero rent and running cost (insurance etc) and charge 72 people £500 per year to look after their car with permission to show it to the public (museum).

I do not think that would make a good business plan.

Building location, Rental and taxes, Staffing, Heating and lighting, Insurance. all need to be costed and added.

Nice idea. shame about reality.

Chris Thomas

And that's just to pay the tuition fees which I have spread over 52 weeks.  In actual teaching hours I hate to think what it would cost per hour. Luckily my boys can all take out a loan then with a fresh degree can emigrate to Australia never to be seen again (and never pay the loan back).   How long do you have to live in Scotland to get free university?

[richard]

i count myself lucky that my son doing uni this year will only come out with a debt of £28,000 rather than £50,000 expected from next years starters. OMG . god knows how much debt i shall be in though. hobbies very necessary to keep mind off reality 

[Barry]

shush - your all depressing me  

a lot of contributors to this rubbish have no children. but who on earth do they think will be paying for their old age . all that they have contributed , and some have never, has gone on paying todays pensioners . 

And don't talk about pensions!  I am only to willing to help towards the Civil Servant pension scheme.  I was told that I would have to put 25% of my wages into my personal pension to get the equivalent of a typical Civil Service pension.  I think CS pay 8% to get this pension.  Do my maths tell me right, that I am contributing 17% of my taxed income to support the Civil Service pension fund? Good luck to all you Civil Servants though.  You chose the career and a good choice it was.  I only wish I had done the same.

[Bob Purton]

i count myself lucky that my son doing uni this year will only come out with a debt of £28,000 rather than £50,000 expected from next years starters. OMG . god knows how much debt i shall be in though. hobbies very necessary to keep mind off reality 

What do you say to someone with a university degree? ........" I'll have a big mac please!"

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Bob

Not to my two daughters you wouldn't. They went directly from Uni into good jobs and they are now earning more money than me (not difficult). Luckily they did it all just before the university fees thing took off. Looking at some of their friends who were not so lucky, they definitly did the right thing. But Uni is definitely not for everybody. I do feel sorry for the next generation of Uni students. Perhaps the universities should be financed from the Civil service pension fund? Hang on there is no fund, what we pay today goes out next week as pension payments.

What has this got to do with an Acoma Super Comtesse?

Sounds like you have a great little car in your collection Barry. Get them while you can.

Chris Thomas

[Barry]

I will try to find the good ones Chris.

Now I understand.
The Super Comtess should manage 38.88km/h (according to the book)
The Comtesse Break only says 27.76km/h.
This must be due to the 17 or 24 tooth final drive sprocket because the 50cc engine spec is identical.

The carb is 13mm and the inlet port (and other ports) is very small.
When I was driving it flat out, it ran out of breath - wouldn't rev any higher with either 24 or 17 tooth gearing.
Must be designed for the French speed regulations.

I can see that with a better exhaust, better porting and a larger carb, it could almost be usable on UK roads.
I will have to have a word with my Canadian Moped men.  They seem to be up-to-speed with sensible tuning.

I agree with Bob, there is a definite connection between the 'small' micros and the moped army.

[Big Al]

Dear Al

I think the answer is no.

To make £692 per week you would need a suitable builing at zero rent and running cost (insurance etc) and charge 72 people £500 per year to look after their car with permission to show it to the public (museum).

I do not think that would make a good business plan.

Building location, Rental and taxes, Staffing, Heating and lighting, Insurance. all need to be costed and added.

Nice idea. shame about reality.

Chris Thomas

A calculation similar to one I have done since about 1990. Even did it again last year as I have a property with potential. However even with grants etc. it only works if you extend into associated business and make much use of the edges of rules. It fast becomes a lifestyle choice. A great lifestyle but not one I was actually looking for.

Pensions, can I mention Ponze Schemes (pyramid selling)? These are illegal save in pensions systems backed by the Government. Tells you all you need to know. Bad investment and better to make your own provision outside any rules insisting you convert your funds into a forced selection of poor annuities. Not only that but if done right your 'pension' will be inherited by your kids. It can be tax efficient avoiding paying for those who made no pension provision and throw themselves on the State. Or are we going Asian and your kids are your pension? Its a bit of mess but I do think they missed a trick by not applying an incentive to study 'useful' subjects that provide a chance of direct employment. Some of the courses are just designed to treadmill degrees with no real target. I would like to think parants expected to foot the bill would be able to steer their kids away from these but modern kids seem to get there own way a lot more than in days of old.

[Bob Purton]

Dear Bob

Not to my two daughters you wouldn't. They went directly from Uni into good jobs and they are now earning more money than me (not difficult). Luckily they did it all just before the university fees thing took off. Looking at some of their friends who were not so lucky, they definitly did the right thing. But Uni is definitely not for everybody. I do feel sorry for the next generation of Uni students. Perhaps the universities should be financed from the Civil service pension fund? Hang on there is no fund, what we pay today goes out next week as pension payments.

What has this got to do with an Acoma Super Comtesse?

Sounds like you have a great little car in your collection Barry. Get them while you can.

I'm not suprised Chris if they are as organised and as focused as you are. It was a joke!  For my generation it was very unusual for a kid to go to university where as now you are the odd one out if you dont, not a sign of kids being brainier now but just the fact there are not a lot of jobs to be had and the government wants to keep them off the unemployed list so pushes further education even if it is things like a degree in Bob Dylan studies! Apprenticeships were alway a good thing as you got taught the job you were going to actually do!   Still nothing to do with Comtesses!!

Chris Thomas