Mk IV Engine paint

Slightly OT but if the SS engines had originally been painted greeny grey I think this factory photo would have had a different tonal quality. I’m also surprised that Lyons who was very much interested in the sexy appearance of his engines would have sanctioned the rather utiliarian look.


Peter

Agreed - I have since shown the colour to several people with experience in engine reconditioning within Australia and they were unanimous - the engine had been reconditioned by Repco and that was their colour. The engine colour on the UK car which had resided in Spain was a sheer coincidence. Engines were all black it seems. Thank you all for your input. A wonderful group of correspondents. May you all live long and healthy lives!
Darryl

Hi Rob,

It would have been much easier if you people in the USA, and most of Europe, and most of the world, :scream: simply drove on the correct side of the road! Then poor Sir William and his team wouldn’t have had to include such modifications to his cars, and the business side of the engine would have been as accessible as our proper RHD cars! :grin: Ha Ha!! Naturally I jest, but how do you gain access to things with that steering column there?

Are you okay in Chicago Rob? We see and read awful things on the news service.

What about you Peter in Scotland?

Stay well please, good people.

Tim

Yes, as I recall Ed was restoring a LHD Mark IV and had all kinds of complaints about how it was kludged together because it was never designed to be LHD. The Mark V is much better, having LHD intended in the original design, although there are a few things you have to be aware of, such as we need the side entry distributor cap, and the brake fluid reservoir is way over on the right.
I think it has been one of those perpetually recurring questions among motorheads; how did it ever get started, driving on one side vs the other?
Now having my first RHD car and being right handed, I am learning to shift with my left hand and am quite clumsy at it.

I’m not actually in Chicago, I’m in one of the 50 or so suburbs that surround it. There are 36 cases in my town, fortunately none in my wife’s nursing home, and they’re keeping very safe, no visitors since March 11.

Hi Tim,

Here in Scotland things are fine apart from the fact that we are in lock-down. We are even in a period of nice sunny weather and the garden is looking lovely with spring flowers. My wife and I are both in our 70s and supermarkets give us a little priority for deliveries. I have driven many thousands of miles in the US and in Europe with both LHD and RHD cars and it doesn’t bother me which side we drive on.

Peter

Hi Peter,

I’m glad to hear that you and your wife are well.

I lived in Italy a long time ago and I have to say that it was the most enjoyable and exciting time of my life. Italian drivers are perhaps the best drivers in the world. You need to have all your wits and skills to hand in order to keep up. Being in my 50’s now I’m not sure if I would be able to keep up these days.

Stay well,

Tim

Dear Rob,

I’m very sorry to learn that your wife is in a nursing home, that must be very hard for both of you. Please be assured of my prayers for you, your wife and your family. I’m glad that she is safe.

Kindest regards,

Tim (Rev)

Hi Tim,

I’ve spent a lot more time driving in France and Spain than in Italy but I found the Italian car drivers were fine but on small mountain roads I found the on coming motorcyclists liked to to play chicken with you.

Peter

Tim, thanks for your kind response. I have a scheduled window visit tomorrow morning; me outside and her inside. She still recognizes me and smiles.

Coincidentally I watched an old British movie tonight called The Iron Maiden that began with the joke of driving with the steering on the wrong side. The director got a 1960 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, about the biggest widest American car ever made, and put it on a narrow single lane road in England with hedgerows and driven by an American girl who of course can’t see the steam traction engine coming the other way and crashes into it. Iron Maiden was the hero’s steam tractor, and there are a lot of other steam tractors at a rally in this flick. I kept hoping for sight of a Jag, but the hero drives an Alvis.