Lagonda Rapiers

10 minute(s) of a 484 minute read

The photograph below shows the earlier attempt at fitting a balance pipe. I think that this having an internal diameter

for the connecting pipes of just 1/4" OD was too restricted to be effective. The second photograph may help to explain the difference between the old and the new (bottom).

Bj

Hello Moe

You were right the first time. When the manifold is attached to the side of the cylinder head the carbs are horizontal. They are normal 1 1/2" SUs because the location of the distributor the rear carb has a left hand float bowl and the front one has a right hand float bowl. 

It gets rather crowded but it all fits together and it all works extremely well. Perhaps it is a little different the motors you are used to looking at.

1934, Four cylinder, 1500cc, 2 OHC,

Bj.

2-2-2017

In some ways the whole car is an up-grade:- The chassis front and back axles gear box etc are original as is the engine with the exception of the cylinder block. I have shown this before but when I bought the car it was a very rough racing car with the engine in bits, I had owned and restored  four other Lagonda Rapiers previously. I seem to make a habit of buying "basket cases" and restoring them the only difference is I have only sold this car once to a University Professor who had it for almost two years without ever driving it. I had to deliver it to his home when he bought it. After two years when I bought it back it was standing where I had parked it in his very large garage. the only difference was that it was standing on four very flat tires. I should add that these had been new when I sold it, when I got it home one opf the first things I did was to take them off and throw then away. I learnt my lesson and now vow that I will never sell it again. But going back to when I first bought it i gave it a last nut and bolt, including taking the chassis entirely apart, restoration. It was fitted with one of a very small batch of exact replica Eagle Two seater bodies that some members of the Rapier Register in England had built. These are such a good copy of the 1934 originals that the aluminium skin cracks in all the same places as the ones sold in 1934. Over the years the engine has been subject to an ongoing programe of improvement. Again Members of the Rapier Register have played a vital part in that they arranged for a batch of a dozen or so new cylinder blocks to be made. These differed from the orininals only in that the cylinder bores had been "adjusted" to permit the bore to be increased from 62.5mm to 73mm

Increasing the engine capacity from 1104cc to 1498cc. Over the years there have been two or three different grinds on the camshaft The one i have settled on now is nominally a 20/60. This combined with a compression ratio of 9.5 : 1 seem to suit the sort of driving that we do in the car.

The gearbox is a standard (close ratio) ENV75 Preselector. There is NO clutch fitted and the drive is taken up on the first gear band when starting off from a stationary. Wheels are Rudge KO (42 Long) these are 17 inch and wear Michelin 17 x 450/500 Super Comfort. These are a tyre still made by Michelin having been first introduced in 1934. The interesting thing about the "Super Comfort"is that they were the first low pressure tyre ever made. Written into the side wall is the advice."Maximum Pressure 20psi. Having experimented with different pressures I can say that you vary from the recommended 20psi at your own risk. Mr Michelin knew what he was talking about! 

To get back to your question. The standard Rapier SU Carburettor size was either 1 1/8" or 1 1/4". The Rapier Register spares scheme has had made a number of sets of the "Barker" inlet stubs to take 1 1/2" Carburettors. To take full  advantage of these my car has larger inlet valves and enlarged and polished inlet ports. The whole package has been developed over the years including changing from Magnetoto the much more reliable Coil and distributor. The  brakes are still the standard Girling cam and roller mechanism fitted first on the Rapier in 1934, the first production car to be fitted with these outstanding brakes. To make the most of these super efficient brakes the Rapier uses 13 inch drums. The Lagonda Rapier is credited as being the first car "ever" to stop in less than 30ft from 30 mph. When I first bought the car in the late 1970s it have been used solely as a racing car in the UK since just after the end of WW2. i.e. In the early 1950s. It had belonged to and was first built as a racing car by Beatrice Shilling who had worked during the war in England as the Carburation Specialist at the  Royal Aircraft Establishment (Farnborough). As the car is now used as a sports/touring car I have replaced the outside exhaust with a four branch (extractor) system which fits neatly under the bonnet (Hood). It is a very confortable long distance touring car for two people and their luggage, it very easily keeps up with most modern traffic. On past visits to the UK and France I have driven through Central London and around the Périphérique in Paris.

The three photographs show KG 5363 with 1. Beatrice Shilling driving it in the 1950s, 2. More or less as it was when I bought it in 1978 and 3. Racing at the Victorian Australia Winton Circuit in the 1980s. 4. My extremely patient and very good navigator wife Helen with the car as it is today, (There has been a small change to the luggage rack to improve handling on tight Alpine roads) This one was taken about ten years ago with the car stopped at the Historic Pit Counters at the Reims Grand Prix circuit in Northern France.

Now what was it you wanted to know?

Bj.

Hello Moe

Wash your mouth out you naughty boy!

I am sorry to disappoint you but it is important to keep in mind  my ability to service everything. Accordingly there is nothing that could not have been done in the 1930s in or on the car.

Above is a photograph taken during the 2004 VSCC Jubilee Rally at Harrogate in the north of England.

This was taken in the cattle Pavillion at the Harrogate Show Grounds.

A pinion bearing in the differential had chosen that moment to fail. OK we are on the other side of the world 1,000s of miles from home in Australia. What would you do? Call for a recovery vehicle to take the car back to the shipping agent so it could be shipped home and finish the Rally in a modern hire car?

What I did was to borrow some jack stands, jack the car up and remove the diff centre, remove the pinion to obtain the number of the two pinion bearings. After a phone call to the Bearing Specialist in the next town I organised one of my English friends to drive me there and back first thing next morning, By "afternoon tea time" the diff was back in the car and we were back on the road that night and finished the rest of the week long Rally.

Two weeks later we were enjoying motoring in the French Alps.

Looking at the attached photograph you may notice typical of England it was a little wet underfoot AND under the car. With the exception of the two jack stands all the tools used were in the took kit carried in the car.

Bj

Hello Paul

Yes in broad terms although there are a number of significant differences. One of the main differences is that in a Wilson 'box the planetary gears run on bronze bushes while the ENV uses needle roller bearings. Generally the ENV box is smaller and lighter. Despite not holding any "Wizard qualifications" I do all the work on my gearbox myself.

From my observations most of the" Professionals" who work on preselecctor gearboxes also claim to travel by flying broom and have a black cat sitting on their work benches.

Bj

2-3-2017

Hello Paul

You will find a lot of information on the ENV 75 box on the English Crossley website http://crossley-regis.org/env_type_75_preselector_gearbox

The smaller 10Hp Crossley from the mid 1930s also offered the Preselector as a option. Their description and service info is probably the best available for now. There is a new book hopefully to be available later this year that will cover all aspects of owning driving and servicing the ENV 75 transmission. It is co-written by the Rapier Register Technical man Paul Nickalls.

See also; www.vorwahlgetriebe.de/en/trenner-rechts/wilson-preselector-box-env-75.html 

Once you have driven a car with a Preselector gearbox you will wonder why they were not more widely available.

Bj.

For those who failed to understand/appreciate my little joke about flying on brooms and black cats. #248

This was meant to imply that many of the "experts" who work on Preselector gearboxes along with those who "rebuild" magnetos  often claim to be Wizards who work Magic cures. i.e Practice Witch-craft.

Bj

Hello Again Moe

The Rapier's distributor is a Bosch I am not sure of the model but it is the smallest 4 cylinder distributor I could find at the time,1979. It is a very snug fit as are most things with the Rapier engine, It is gear driven from the end of the gear driven generator. You can see why I have one left hand and one right hand carburettor float bowl. It is actually all very accessible, all you have to do is to open the right hand side of the bonnet (hood). Put out your hand and it would be the first thing that you would touch. Almost as accessible as an Ford A model, or a Dodge Four.

Bj.