Don’t tolerate a shabby or unruly classic this summer. Fuzz Townshend shows you how to bring your charge up to scratch - job-by-job...
Hurrah! It’s that time of year again, the time when we clear the cardboard boxes from the roofs of our classics, jump inside and inhale that much missed cocktail of stale fuel, cold oil, mildew and ancient rubber, perhaps with a splash of dry leather or cracked PVC thrown in too.
Pop the key into the ignition switch, turn it and marvel at how those contacts fizz before making good the battery connections with a tap from the heel of your shoe and trying again.
Set the choke out halfway, three pumps on the accelerator, then press the starter button, one more pump on the gas and pull the choke knob fully, as the engine catches its breath and you nurse it toward a steady tick-over, with well-timed blips of the throttle…
For many classic car owners these ‘foibles’ are a part of everyday life but it doesn’t need to be like this. Getting your car running perfectly will leave you to enjoy the remainder of the season doing the important bit; driving it.
Much essential fettling can easily be undertaken in your own garage or on a driveway, so here are 20 tips that should make your car feel like its new self again, and help you avoid standing in shame on the hard shoulder…
01 FIT THE CORRECT TYRES
Chubby tyres that fill wheelarches have been the look for cars we now regard as classics since the mid 1960s. But back then the folks chasing this look were burly enough to wrestle an eight-wheeled Leyland Octopus tanker through tiny streets without the aid of power assisted steering.
Nowadays, to the modern driver – and that includes you former 60s and 70s youngsters – older classics fitted with fat rims and modern tyres will handle like a container ship with a welded rudder.
Heading back to the original design and fitting correct specification tyres will bring a revelation in road manners, that’ll have you falling in love with your car all over again.
Predictable and fun tail-end action, combined with lighter steering and reduced unsprung weight will all combine to reinstate pleasure, with a side effect of less wear to steering and braking components.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Better, more precise handling, with lighter steering and that original look.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 1 Spanner
IT’LL COST YOU: From £60.00 per tyre plus fitting and balancing
02 FIT ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION
From the dawn of internal combustion, folks have been trying to squeeze a little more payback from the fuel put in.
Ram-air, turbochargers and supercharging can all play a part, but perhaps one of the most significant modifications to a standard classic car is fitting a computer controlled electronic fuel injection system.
Now, before you choke on your false teeth, let’s get things straight. This modification is entirely reversible, although it does involve fitting high and low pressure fuel pumps, a fuel return line, inertia fuel cut-off switch, swirl pot, ECU, etc.
It’s not a simple task, but it is doable if you’ve undertaken your own carburettor rebuilds and fitted electronic ignition. Being able to use a laptop is also essential.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Liberate your car’s engine’s potential by doing what its manufacturer would have done.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 4 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: From around £1000 to £10,000
03 FIT ELECTRONIC IGNITION
Stop the bloomin’ press. If the suggestion of computer controlled electronic fuel injection (EFI) was too much for you, perhaps the way forward is electronic ignition.
What’s the difference? EFI uses multiple sensors to determine the exact amount of fuel to supply via injectors at precisely the correct time and when to ignite it. Electronic ignition just deals with the spark bit.
Anything involving mechanical event timing is likely to be suspect because of physical wear, so electronic ignition eliminates three potential stumbling points in a classic petrol engine’s set-up.
Gone is the wearing heel of the points’ cam follower, as are the carbon points contacts and the condenser to stop arcing between the latter.
This technology was deemed radical enough to be used as a selling point for cars built between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s. Now, it’s almost forgotten, except by us nerds.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Rid your car of the electro-mechanical stumbling blocks of points and a condenser.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 2 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £40 to £400
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 1 and 2 working days.
04 DISC FRONT BRAKES
Around sixty years ago, cars fitted with disc brakes wore warning badges on their rumps to let drivers of lesser vehicles know of the prodigious stopping power.
Gradually, disc brakes became the province of humble vehicles and installations may easily be retro-fitted to vehicles sharing the same lineage.
Expect to purchase and fit new stub axles, brake calipers, discs and pads, as well as a more capacious master cylinder.
WHAT’S THE POINT? When a modern car pulls an emergency stop in front, you can avoid an embarrassing exchange of details.
FUZZ’S SPANNER RATING: 3 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £200 to £2000+
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 1 and 5 working days.
05 LUBRICATE THE STEERING
While some folks are scoffing at my half a day estimate of time needed to lubricate a steering system, let me say that, to achieve maximum benefits, this process needs to be undertaken properly, with stress removed from various components to allow full flow of lubricant into the areas requiring it.
Some vehicles use thick oil for steering lubrication, while others use grease or a combination of the two in different places.
First, check out the manufacturer’s specifications and then ensure that load and frictional contact is removed by jacking up the vehicle allowing the steered wheels to lift from the floor, before inserting lubricant using a grease or oil gun.
Operate the steering and then lubricate once more, making sure the lubricant has penetrated all areas.
Heavy steering may not be a result of poor lubrication alone. Always check tyre pressures, tyre types and steering geometry.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Without adequate lubrication, your car’s steering will become heavy and imprecise.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 1 Spanner
IT’LL COST YOU: £10 to £50 (including grease gun).
IT’LL TAKE YOU: 0.5 working days.
06 RENEW YOUR BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER
Many is the time that I have come across a classic car that has needed one push on the pedal to prime the brakes and another to achieve full operational and stopping power. Sometimes this is down to a slight fluid leak in the system, but another potential cause is a master cylinder of inadequate capacity.
With hydraulic braking systems fluid must move through pipework to operate the brakes at each wheel. If the master cylinder is of insufficient displacement to operate wheel cylinders and brake calipers, this ‘double pump’ action may become necessary.
Knowing the exact bore and travel of wheel cylinders and calipers will assist with the choice of brake master cylinder capacity. Beware though, as an oversized cylinder can cause the seals to be overcome and complete brake failure.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Buying a car in seemingly good trim doesn’t mean that all is well in every department
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 3 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £20 upwards
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Roughly 1 working day.
07 VARIABLE SPEED WINDSCREEN WIPERS
I love windscreen wipers. Those little arcs of clarity in an otherwise blurred world are something of an endless fascination to me, as sad as it may sound. I’d be happy with each tiny wiper operating randomly from an individual motor, without an automatic park facility, but I admit that that isn’t likely to be much help when trailing a fat tyred modern hatchback, chucking out as much slurry as a Shropshire farmer on a muck-spreading May afternoon.
Intermittent wipers are a start and such action can be had using a few proprietary components available from decent electrical stores.
Use of a wiper motor from a more modern vehicle can also give enhanced operational functions, as well as more rain, spray and crap-shifting power.
However, one sure fire way of making sure that your car’s wipers will cope with shifting the slurry, is to slow down.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Forward vision is everything when driving any vehicle
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 3 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £10 to £500
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 0.25 and 5 working days.
08 ALTER THE CAR'S GEARING
So many road routes have been altered over the past 20 years that it can be difficult to follow the smaller roads more suited to many classic cars. Even drivers of relatively modern classics may find themselves thrashing their car’s engine at around 3500-4000rpm for all of 70mph.
Simply raising the ratio of the final drive can leave cars with a lacklustre getaway potential, often resulting in the need for an additional gear ratio, so often a final drive change can require a gearbox change too.
The power packed by the car’s engine will also have an influence on outcome, meaning that some cars will still be eminently driveable with everything in original trim barring the final drive ratio.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Many classic cars reach a thrashing maximum speed of 60 to 80 mph, rendering them stretched on today’s roads.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 5 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £100 to £10,000
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 1 and 12 working days.
09 VALVE CLEARANCES AND CYLINDER COMPRESSION
The power derived from your car’s engine is in part down to the compression in each cylinder and the time allowed for air and fuel to enter the combustion chamber.
Poor compression may be the result of worn or broken piston rings, or poorly seated and perhaps corroded valves. Worn cylinder bores may also be a part of this scenario.
The first step is to ensure that the valve clearances are correct, thus eliminating any low compression readings caused by overtight or non-existent clearances.
Once this is done a cylinder compression tester can be used in turn on each cylinder to ascertain the internal condition of the bore area.
Poor valve clearance figures can be resolved by adjustment, but unsatisfactory results from the compression test not due to adjustment will likely result in major engineering work being necessary.
WHAT’S THE POINT? More power and efficiency.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 3 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £20 to £50 in tools
IT’LL TAKE YOU: 0.5 working days.
10 ADJUST YOUR CAR'S TYRE PRESSURES
Tyre pressures are one of the most fundamental aspects of a car’s handling. If they’re wrong, it is wrong.
I’ve already had a rant about correct tyres, but it’s all for nothing, if they’re not correctly inflated. Low pressures, especially in early design radials, can lead to heavy steering and dreadful cornering characteristics.
Over inflation can lead to halfpenny sized contact areas twixt tyre and road, which can be made even worse if applied to relatively unyielding cross-ply tyres.
However, if you’re out for a spot of trialing, those low pressures may help you win, so it’s horses for courses.
If your car is fitted with non-original specification tyres, please remember that obtaining the correct tyre pressure may be down to hearsay, rather than scientific fact. Personally, I’d opt for originality.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Correct tyre pressures lead to correct handling.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 1 Spanner
IT’LL COST YOU: £0.20
IT’LL TAKE YOU: 10 minutes
11 FIT POWER ASSISTED STEERING
There are now a multitude of power steering upgrades available to owners of many classic car types and if age or illness is making driving difficult these can make all the difference.
Some kits use an electric motor, as found on some smaller modern cars, to assist the turning of the steering column and these can be less demanding to fit.
When it comes to fitting hydraulically assisted steering, things can get a bit more involved, including the welding of new brackets, etc.
Because it’s your car’s steering that we’re talking about, it is absolutely crucial that any fabrication is of the highest quality, as a lot of stress and strain will be inflicted on all aspects of the equipment.
If there is any doubt about the skills of the fitter, run away and find a professional.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Make parking a pure pleasure with added power.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 4 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £600 to £2500 plus fitting
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 2 and 10 working days.
12 FIT A SERVO ASSISTED BRAKE SYSTEM
Giving your car’s braking system a bit of extra oomph is especially relevant in today’s world of ‘stop on a sixpence’ traffic and in situations where a modern car unwittingly pulls out into your previously well-judged comfortable stopping zone, leaving you to pile your antique death-horror box into the rear of that brand new Audi A3. The galling tuts of witnessing motorists would ring in your ears for months.
Fitting a remote servo could help you to avoid such situations, giving your car more pressure at the caliper or wheel cylinder for the same amount of pedal effort.
Servo kits can be had relatively inexpensively, but fitting one will need to be undertaken by someone competent and experienced, as some pipework alteration will be necessary.
Vacuum assistance for the servo is taken from the inlet manifold, so you may find a need to remove this and have a suitable take-off adapter fitted.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Increase your classic’s braking power
FUZZ’S SPANNER RATING: 3 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: £80 to £150
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 1 and 2 working days.
13 HAVE YOUR CAR DYNAMICALLY TUNED
Getting your car dynamically tuned on a rolling road by operators used to working with classic cars and carburetors is extremely pleasing. But do your homework and find somewhere that really does understand that your car’s engine isn’t designed to hold together beyond 5000rpm.
A good facility should have all the means to rebuild, re-jet or re-needle carburetors on site, as well as carrying a stock of points or replacement upgrades, high powered coils, new HT leads, etc. My personal favourite is Aldon Automotive, in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.
Before taking your car along, make sure the engine is in top nick and that the cooling system is up to scratch, with good hoses and sound radiator matrices, as they will be put to hard work during the tuning process.
Also, be certain that the tyres on the driven wheels are in good, sound condition. They’ll be doing the equivalent of your car’s top speed.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Better power and fuel economy.
FUZZ’S SPANNER RATING: 1 Spanner
IT’LL COST YOU: From around £300.00 plus parts
IT’LL TAKE YOU: 1 working day.
14 UPGRADE YOUR COOLING/HEATING
Cooling systems are often neglected, but they are the engine’s life-support mechanism, and when they fail one can find one’s self in the Big Spends department.
Fresh hoses and new clips are a good start, but treating the entire system to a comprehensive flush can remove old debris and restore cooling capacity.
Add a new, high performance radiator and heater matrix pairing and your car will not only run at a steady temperature, but the cabin will be a better place to be, especially if your car is a convertible.
Don’t forget to renew or renovate heater taps or valves. They often look alright from the outside, but are corroded beyond function on the inside.
Ditto with the thermostat, although you can check your car’s current item by warming it up in the best pan in the kitchen, using that lovely chef’s thermometer to register its operation.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Enjoy trouble free, long distance motoring while reaping the benefits of toasty tootsies.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 3 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: From around £180.00
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 1 and 4 working days.
15 FIT NEW BODY SEALS
If you’ve noticed any damp patches in your car’s carpet, the problem may not emanate from below. Typically, front and rear screen seals have long lives, with owners shying from replacing them due to the risk of breaking the glass. Consequently the rubber ends up hard and fails to do its job properly.
This leads to water seeping through tiny gaps and nestling in cosy body cavities, until it finds its way through the resulting rusted panel and onto your Hush-Puppies.
If you’re going to give replacing these items a go, have a friend on hand for assistance and so that you can blame them if it all goes wrong.
Door and side window seals often are still in place way beyond their intended lifespan. Rattling drop glasses and high-pitched whistling whilst driving are key signs that something is awry.
WHAT’S THE POINT? Banish unwanted breezes and uninvited water ingress from your car’s cockpit.
FUZZ’S DIFFICULTY RATING: 4 Spanners
IT’LL COST YOU: From around £100
IT’LL TAKE YOU: Between 3 and 6 working days.