Bath Microcar Rally

[chrispbug]

Fri 03rd July 2015 to Sun 05th July 2015
Bath Microcar Rally (30th Anniversary of Rally)
Gates open from: 12.00 on the Friday
Open to: All
Venue: Keynsham Rugby Club
Venue Address: Crown Fileds, Bristol Road, Keynsham B31 2BE 
Saturday road run, a barbecue in the evening. Large Camping Area Shower and Toilet facilities in the Club House. Water available outside. Sorry NO electrical hook up available. Breakfast , Lunch and Evening Meals available in the Pub over the Road. Bar open 5:00pm onwards 
Contact: Wynford Jones   01823 490666     wyn@kr200.fsnet.co.uk 
www.bristolmicrocarclub.com

[Big Al]

I can only part report back on this still popular event. Slightly down on numbers of cars but pretty much the same faces. We still gained folk making considerable mileage to attend. The Trojan gang, up from further Devon and Cornwall. This year Essex did us proud, but I fear their reward was a pretty grim drive home as the traffic was bunching in rain spray following the weather.

I arrived about 10 and if you were a schmitter there were quality parts available. Even I found myself investing. The Friday I had to go to the Dr with an open sore on my leg. A cut on my shin gained in the loft doing electrics. Any thought of taking a car ended with a packet of pills and a telling off.  I probably should not have gone down on Sunday, but Bath is my local bash.

It was tea shirt weather on a candifloss day. The atmosphere gently mellow. With a few folk not seen for ages, gossip on even more elusive folk to me was had. Most thrive, even if they are not active in micros anymore. The wind picked up a bit blowing from the East about 12 noon. Yet we were suddenly mugged by Autumn moving in from the West. The temperature plummeted and as the cloud hit the oolitic ridge, the rain started. Classic confused Bath weather. A few folk made the move to pack up but the true Micronaut is made of stern stuff and though the confab was fractionized to cover, it continued. The AC petite and a Hienkel chose to play in the rain. I think virtually all cars present were used and maybe half made the event under their own power.

Bath is like an old pair of slippers. Its comfortable and relaxing, easy to slip into. Wynford announced that with fall back in the numbers of cars it was again operating on the margin of covering its costs. If we keep this turnout it is worth doing, but any further reduction calls things into question. Better would be for more folk to come. Draw a circle round those who had travelled well over 100 miles and there are plenty of folk who used to, or could have, come. Its the old problem of how to winkle them out. Without our long distance support the South West would have no rally, that cannot be right.

[blob]

That was a fun one, fantastic weather all weekend with rain for a fraction of Sunday. Challenging terrain on the run out, fascinating visit to the American Museum somewhere one should visit if they have not done so and find themselves near Bath. First time I've been in a micro trying a 3 point turn manoeuvre on steep hill the width of an Isetta, Bob should get a medal for that one!

[Bob Purton]

The Bath rally was good fun, MIke and I drove up there on the Friday to be fresh for the run Saturday morning and as it turned out we needed to be. The run was to the American museum Claverton, not a tremendous distance away but the route took in some massive hills, the steepest of which we were doing fine climbing in second gear until the Bond in front faltered causing us to lose momentum and have to drop into first. Poor old Alan Bud's AC Petite gave up on the first incline causing him to have to turn back around and return to base but not before receiving a rude gesture from a punk rocker in the car behind!
Ken Bells Isetta blew its second head gasket in a week and didnt even make it to the hilly section! The second Bond in attendance didnt even make it out of the camping field as it stalled in the line as we were about to leave and the poor old driver couldn't restart it. All the breakdowns were treated in good humour though.
The American museum was a really great place to visit, could have spent the weekend just there alone. Of course the day of our visit was the fourth of July so there were soldiers in 18th century costume, cannons firing and all sorts going on.
The return journey to base was interesting, we decided to follow a small convoy of Heinkel trojans back as the leader wanted to use a less hilly route and had a satnave, Big mistake!! :lol: Just on the outskirts of Bath the leader overshot the turning and lead us into a narrow residential lane that was steeper than the hills we seeked to avoid, the result being each car got part way up and stopped, worse still our brakes could barely hold us from sliding back down! I managed a seven point turn with the help of a residents even steeper drive , others ejected there passengers but still couldn't climb the hill so the road was blocked by five stranded bubblecars for some time.A scene of total chaos! MIke and I managed to get away deciding to make our own way back and although getting lost again with the help of some directions from locals worked our way back to Keynsham.
I took the photo below of Big Al in the middle of a rain shower on Sunday afternoon, Al decided bazaarly to sit in the middle of the field on his own with a brolly. When commented on that it looked odd he said "Its not me , its the others"! great retort! Great 30th Bath rally. Will be going again. The only downside which has been the case for years is that the camp site is noisy due to the bypass and railway line. MY thanks to the club for a great time.

[DaveMiller]

Bazaarly?  Gosh.  Doesn't seem to be selling much in that photo 

Well, with only two Bonds there until the Sunday, it must have been me holding you up on the hill.  It is of course so easy for a Bond Mk G to climb hills, that I was taking the time to enjoy the view ...

It was indeed a challenging route, with the sorts of hill that are so deceptive:  that first one didn't look much, but I needed to drop to first (maximum 10 mph).  Later on we came to something that looked steeper - but sailed up in third.  Don't understand it!

We had to leave early on the Sunday, but a lovely rally.

[Bob Purton]

Well well, I was chatting away to you about the history of your Bond in the Museum car park and had no idea that you were Dave Miller! That's the thing about forums, one cant always put a face to the name.  Now I know!

[Big Al]

Now you will believe I set light to the bearing grease on the front hubs of an Isetta, driving round Bath. Its a strange place, follow the valleys and the gradients are reasonable. Take a cross cut to another, or gain the rolling higher lands and its a steep climb. Perhaps it sounds a daft place to have a rally but Bath was originally about using the cars, testing them and the owners. Failures were common as was grouping together to resolve the problem, each learning a little more for the experience. I am sure the few that remain keen on runs retain this fraternity of spirit.

Days of flogging stuff of my jumble stand are long gone. I was walking with the stool so I could set when talking. Not as painful as standing up. You can see my legs are swollen in that pic.

Sounds like there is good effort to attend the Isetta 60th and Ken Piper weekend for those cars catered for. Likewise the National.

[Bob Purton]

Funny you should mention the grease on fire, after a very long descent with foot on the brake most of the time we also sensed a strong smell of burning! After that I tried intermittently stabbing at the pedal which I think was better. Less brake fade and no flames coming out! 

[AndyL]

Surprised really. I mean the Isetta braking system is pretty good for a car that weighs a smidge under a third of a ton. Standard mini's didn't have any better and they are twice the weight.

[Big Al]

I think that is part of the problem. The brakes have an easy life and get a bit cacked up. So a bit of heavy Bath action creates a lot of friction cleaning the brakes up till they are efficient, or get glazed. Glazed brakes will make heat as the system has the power to make them work. This was what had happened to the Isetta I was driving. No fault of anyone but the friction material got contaminated with the dirt and dust which cooked onto it, possibly due to some of the liquidised grease. After running a disc over them they worked fine. Hienkels have an own goal if you run on the original green brake friction material. This stuff is hard and glazes up. Best have new soft friction material. Hot Trienkel drums can distort. Not sure if Isettas are prone to this, but if so tends to be the drums with the handbrake inside. Uneven pressure, which increases as the drum cools. You get the scuffing drum that an annoyance when trying to adjust the brakes to perfection.

[Bob Purton]

I'm curious to know if the car you were driving had German or Girling brakes Al?
Good point about not cleaning out all the brake dust provides fuel for the fire. I'm sure many microcar problems and reputations have a lot to do with lack of maintanence. Example, Plasmans Nobby rear axle bearing, a bearing is a bearing but if its not getting any oil it will fail quickly. The car gets the blame but was there enough oil in the chaincase?

 

[Big Al]

ATE set up. About 8 times the price of Girling, at the time.

[plas man]

. Example, Plasmans Nobby rear axle bearing, a bearing is a bearing but if its not getting any oil it will fail quickly. The car gets the blame but was there enough oil in the chaincase?

Bob , it was early days and straight from the Mod scooter scene , what did we know about oil - apart from Rockers 

as for the Bonds not concurring the hill , some tinkering with the final drive sprocket is needed , of the 2 interchangeable sprockets there is a vast number of tooth variation to choose from , big question is do you want to fly down the main roads or be shown up on the inclines ?

[Bob Purton]

     Oh, you were a mod, you should have said before, that explains everything!

Actually the Bond in front wasnt really struggling badly as far as I could tell, I exaggerated, we were watching the column change and it appeared that Mr Miller
fumbled a change down and the time lapse cost him some momentum. It carried on climbing well but by then Thumper had to slow up and select first or we would have been in it's boot!
Good suggestion though. I may experiment with the cogs on Bobette at four gear does seem very high.

[AndyL]

I wonder if the Isetta ATE brakes had good rubbers?

I generally find German cars (in general not just Isetta's) have good rubber, whereas our cars tended to use inferior polymers. When I used to run an old mini as a daily driver, that was the chief source of aggravation- either the brake cylinders or the pot joint rubbers would fail. the cost of replacement was low, but the cost in time high. I'd have happily paid four times the price for rubber parts that were hardier!