Chap 10

Page 112, para 3

   We had originally fitted cross-ply tyres to the Roadster for a more authentic thirties look, especially for the tread pattern. Not only did they prove to be harmful to the ride, but they also tended to ‘track’ in the slightest ruts, to say nothing of their giving way easily on the corners – albeit a rather exciting old-time ‘drift’. We hastily removed them and fitted the correct, but reasonably authentic-looking, whitewall radials.
    Much to my understandable irritation, everyone, including all those who had insisted that modern whitewalls would be incorrect, now said that they looked rather nice after all. Well if that was the case, I somewhat bitterly pointed out, we should have fitted radials in the first place and saved the cost of a complete set of tyres.
    This was just one of those minor frustrations omitted from ‘Sidetracked’ that in so many ways appeared too idiotic to warrant inclusion. Looking back, I realise there is a very thin line between the potentially idiotic and the potentially clever: the idiotic usually being saved either by luck or some divine intervention!
    That said, the cross-plys undoubtedly accentuated one or two of the drivability problems we faced and possibly lead to some quicker conclusions than might otherwise have been the case.

Page 122, para 2

    Fitting double shock absorbers is not always as simple as it might seem, especially, as always, when required to be completely reliable. In this case, luck had it that the lower mounting brackets on the rear spring plate, just inboard of the wheel, allowed a longer cross-bolt without fouling either the disc brake or the wheel itself. This meant that the additional shocks could be fitted on the outside of the bracket with an extra-large washer acting as an outer buffer.
    We selected a vertical upper fitting for the additional shock. This we threaded through a strengthening bracket fitted to the top of the wheel-well, securing the top bolt and rubber cushion from inside the trunk on its outer edges.
    We added the necessary bump and rebound to the additional shock but, regardless of the settings, of which many an hour was spent, the ride always ended up being too ‘sharp’. Eventually, in another of those ‘in desperation’ moves, Bill suggested we concentrate all the damping onto the added shock and have the Level-Rides only as levellers.
    How to nullify the Level-Rides when they were effectively ‘unopenable’ without destroying them was another brain-teasers. I suppose, as so often, the answer was relatively simple: we drilled a hole in the base of each Level-Ride and let the most of the oil escape in order to nullify their damping, while leaving enough to act as a lubricant – or that at least was the theory.
    I am pleased to say that some 30,000 miles later, the ‘comfortable’ tourer-cum-racer characteristics continue. Admittedly, without the overall dynamics of the car with its very low centre of gravity, this unusual ‘one setting’ combination would not be possible.