Can anyone comment on the car I have been offered as a gift in exchange for a few favours I did for a guy?
I have wanted a Rochdale for donkeys years and I've been given one in rough condition. Now I need to find out details of them.
Is there a book about the marque?
Have any of you owned them and are able to give me technical information, please?
I would very much like to use in PCT's where I presently enter anything I own or can borrow, most recently a Westfield and a Liege.
I am quite prepared to use the shell on a spaceframe with a Sierra 1600 but would be open to argument about retaining the sidevalve if competition classes are more suitable to the old spec.
If it goes to the modern spec it will get used in the kit car class of PCT's, autotests, scatters and night rallies. The older spec will be PCT's only as there are no classic trials near West Yorkshire apart from the White Peak when it runs. I do not particulary want to build a car for one or two events per year.
Also what is so special about Aquaplane inlet and exhaust manifolds with twin SU's, do they push 25 HP up to 26, which in the fifties was spectacular or are they really worthwhile, even now? They are available from the guy for 짙100 but I don't realise how bad they are, are they 짙100 good? I could get a fully sorted 1600 engine and box for that money. OK, so I'm a philistine.
Regards
John
Hi John,The good news. I was once a part owner of a Rochdale with Peter "Mad Dog" Smith who now has a business in Yorkshire re-building Hewland racing car gearboxes. We had just done the Falcon Guy Fawkes in his old Anglia and were full of enthusiasm. (This was around 1968).We bought it home and in an evening of frenzy stripped it almost to the bare chassis. There it lay. I went of to do a student placement in Munich for six months and when I came back his Dad had dumped it!That's not much help is it! Try talking to Mike Furse who is quite knowledgable about things E93A of that ilk. Also there is something about them on the net you can find by following one of the links (I think it's British speciality cars) over on my Classical gas site.On classes be careful or you will be in class eight. I would speak to Mike Furse/Simon Wooodhall/ Andrew Brown. Michael
ReplyDeleteRhodsey, you old dog,One minute I'm answering you on the Liege pages, next you're over here, as Gari would say "like a rash".The "Aquaplane" major contribution was from a replacement Cylinder Head which raised the compression ratio and "flowed" better. Obviously the Twin SU's helped, as did the exhaust manifold.Neil Bray used to have this setup in "Primrose" when first given her to drive by Derek Fleming, however the rod through the side of the block on an Edinburgh trial some years ago, plus the search for more torque, lead to the fitting of a crossflow.As I said on the Liege pages "Old Ford" enthusiasts would no doubt find these bits very attractive, they are like the proverbial Hens Teeth nowadays. Simon R.
ReplyDeleteSimon,Can you let me have the url to the Leige page so I can link to it.Michael
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can add regarding Rochdales. In the mid / late 60's there was a husband and wife couple called Ross who used a Rochdale Olympic car on southwest area autocrosses including the Players No.6 and R.A.C. championship events. It was a new car, a fibre glass coupe and ran in the up to 1600 sports car class and had a Ford engine, pre cross flow 1500 I think. It was fairly successfull, road registered but trailered to events and was quite a pretty dark blue car. I am sure this is of little help but its just stuck in my mind all those years!Stuart Harrold
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