HANDS ON THE WHEEL – THE STEERING WHEELS OF PETER SPRINGALL AND ALSO SPRINGALEX
Apr 27th
STEVE HOLE tells the story of Peter Springall, who along with VW Derrington and Mota-Lita changed the way we steered our cars with their after-market steering wheels that literally took off.
During the boom period of the go-faster accessories market of the sixties, the replacement steering wheel could, said the adverts, could turn your Corsair into a Lamborghini Miura. Hmmm. Maybe, but probably not, let’s be honest.
One of the first companies, if not the first, to attack the aftermarket was Vic Derrington with his wooden-rimmed steering wheel, which sold like the proverbial hot baked goods, for many years. Indeed, find one More >
BRAND NEW AND RECONDITIONED VW AIR-COOLED ENGINES
Apr 20th
I’ve always kept a close eye on the varied multi-coloured tapestry that is the huge VW Beetle scene, particularly the engine and performance parts aspects. There are plenty of companies who can make a Beetle engine go faster but there are tuners and there are tuners.
One very good who has appeared on my radar lately is The VW Engine Company of Keston. They can offer you reconditioned units as well as brand-new engines featuring many of their own components. Prices for Type 1 or Type reconditioned ‘cores’ start at £1974 inc VAT or for their ‘new’ reconditioned range it’s from £3174 More >
HAZARD LIGHT KIT HELPS ALLEVIATE DANGER
Apr 20th
Making an unplanned stop on a public road can be dangerous.
Public roads can be dangerous places, but a vehicle that is stopped in other than a
parking space is especially at risk.
This risk is multiplied if the car is not highly visible and sadly many older cars are not equipped with hazard warning lights.
If you own a classic style kitcar, treasured classic or vintage car, there can be a strong pressure to keep that car as original as possible, but it’s not always logical to do this.
After all, someone running into your car will not do a lot for the originality More >
MAKE AN IMPACT
Apr 20th
Machine Mart’s range of Clarke Impact Wrenches provides the power and efficiency to tackle a variety of applications.
This range includes two powerful battery-powered Impact Wrenches. The Clarke CIR18LIC is a best-selling ½in-drive impact wrench, supplied with two 2Ah batteries and a charger. It has a max torque of 450Nm and comes with three LED work lights, allowing you to clearly see where you’re working.
The Clarke CCIW160 is a lightweight, compact, yet powerful tool, and the latest addition to the range. Another ½in-drive impact wrench, the CCIW160 is also supplied with two 2Ah batteries and a charger. It offers a max More >
HERITAGE ADD LAND ROVER
Apr 20th
Heritage Parts Centre has announced the acquisition of Evolution Automotive Components (EAC), a leading Land Rover parts supplier based in Coventry. This acquisition marks a significant step for Heritage, who remain dedicated to providing the highest level of service and the best parts for classic VW, Porsche and now Land Rover.
As part of the acquisition, EAC’s entire stock holding will be transferred to Heritage’s 40,000 sq/ft warehouse in Shoreham-by-Sea, where it will be seamlessly integrated into its existing inventory. EAC customers will continue to purchase parts as normal through the respective channels they have been using.
Heritage CEO, Barney Dines confirmed More >
INSULATION IS IMPORTANT
Apr 20th
Grip, crimp, strip insulation and cut wires – all these functions are part of this new fully insulated set of long-nose pliers from Laser Tools (part number 8423). VDE-marked and manufactured to IEC 60900 standards for 1000vAC / 1500vDC live working, these pliers are part of Laser’s extensive range of insulated tools and workshop safety equipment designed for use on hybrid and electric vehicles.
These really are useful and versatile pliers: the long-nose jaws open to 95mm and the VDE insulated handles are equipped with slip guards. They are tough and robust, with strong plier body hardness of 42-48 HRC (Hardness More >
A PIG OF A JOB!
Apr 20th
One for our North American readers … New Pig absorbent mats and other products have been soaking up spills, leaks and other messes in industrial settings for almost 40 years.
Now you can get that industrial-quality power for your home workshop with New Pig Absorbent Mats.
The mats are made from multiple layers of thermally bonded polypropylene that won’t rip, tear, or fray even when saturated with oil, grease, coolant, solvent, or most other liquids.
The mats have a dimple pattern to quickly absorb liquid for faster, easier clean-ups and the highly absorbent fibres won’t leave liquids or residue behind. The mats can More >
REVERSE ENGINEERING – NERUS
Apr 20th
STEVE HOLE tells the story of sixties tuning company NERUS ENGINEERING COMPANY Ltd
Pic courtesy of the excellent Imps4ever.co.uk web resource
The area around Rye, Hastings and Bexhill-on-Sea has a rich motorsport history, with the latter even laying claim to being the birthplace of British motorsport.
The heyday for the area was the sixties. We often talk about the ‘M40 corridor’ being the UK’s F1 hotbed, well this corner of East Sussex was its counterpart some sixty years ago.
Harry Weslake’s engineering company helped put Rye on the motorsport map with his work for Bentley, Austin, Jaguar and the JWA Ford GT40 Mk1. Setting More >
CATERHAM CARS GOES XL – NEW HOME FOR CATERHAM CARS
Apr 14th
As part of their ‘fifty years of the Caterham Seven’ celebrations, Caterham Cars has announced that they’ll be moving to a new 54,000 sq/ft factory just down the road from their current home. They hope to be moved in by the end of 2023.
One problem that they have had is building Sevens quickly enough and they claim that the new facility will enable them to build over 750 cars a year.
“It’s fitting that, in our 50th anniversary year, we can invest in new premises to facilitate our ambitions, for the future of the Seven and the brand as a whole,” More >
NEW LIGHTWEIGHT JOINS THE XCS CLUB!
Apr 14th
A brand new stripped-out track-orientated model has recently been announced by XCS Designs. It’s called the Clubsport and we’ll let XCS Designs’ boss Harvey Rice describe the car to you:
“The 427 Clubsport package was conceived after looking at Cobra replicas in motorsport and the research and development team at XCS has taken a ‘clean sheet’ approach and designed a spaceframe chassis that allowed crash forces to be correctly distributed around the driver, offering considerably stronger rollover and side impact protection. The added bonus is that the resulting chassis has exceptional torsional rigidity, which allows our camber compensation set-up to work optimally.
“Many have shied away from taking this kind of car into a More >
