Thread: Interesting Old Equipment, Projects & Work Places

When I was an apprentice motor mechanic with UK Motors at Chermside in Brisbane when they had a few new deliveries of new cars to go out & the detailer needed a hand us apprentice's would have to help him. First job was to wash the wax off the entire car with de waxing fluid , then wash the car with detergent , then polish the paint work with Repo polish & last was to clean the glass with Bon Ami , it did a brilliant job. The longest part of the job was removing the wax as you had to clean one panel at a time so the cleaner didn't dry & the wax did not set again especially in summer .

3T. All I can recall was the container was Yellow but then I suspect they all were then.

Knowing my olde Boss was a bit of a cheapskate I reckon it was the "Poor Person's" version.



Probably why it was hard graft getting the windows clear of smudges & streaks.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

Alan Moffat tipped it down the carbies on one of his Bathurst race cars because he didn't have laps to run in his changeover engine.

Often after a rebuild the rings would not seat in a Cummins N series so a bit of Bon Ami was tipped into the air intake to lap them in and get the required compression. Cummins service managers were appalled by this practice but their field reps would recommend it.

In San Francisco a few years ago Offy Dave had this problem with a Miller 91 he had rebuilt and I suggested the Bon Ami trick. Dave and his boss Phil Reilly were aghast at the very suggestion.

If the rings on a Cummins don't bed in, you're not working it hard enough.

Originally Posted by Bigbjorn

Often after a rebuild the rings would not seat in a Cummins N series so a bit of Bon Ami was tipped into the air intake to lap them in and get the required compression. Cummins service managers were appalled by this practice but their field reps would recommend it.

In San Francisco a few years ago Offy Dave had this problem with a Miller 91 he had rebuilt and I suggested the Bon Ami trick. Dave and his boss Phil Reilly were aghast at the very suggestion.

It may very well have worked. But the problem with doing it is there does not appear to be any recommended guide lines of how much to use; one teaspoonful, one table spoonful, half a cupful, sprinkle a "bit" into the air intake, the options are endless! The stuff appears to be very abrasive, so what is to stop it scouring a bloody great groove down one side of the cylinder bore? What happens to the valve guides if some of it gets forced up past the valve stem on compression?

For a pre-combustion chamber injection system it MAY have a place, but I damn sure would not put it into a petrol engine!

A small project for biased Land Rover owners:

While I was still working at the brickworks, I had a Series 2A Safari Station Wagon. But son number 2 arrived and it was decided that we needed a more "suitable " vehicle, so it was traded on a 4 door Cortina. (yeah, right!)

A small time later the plant manager told me that there was a civilian model Austin Champ at the head office plant near Perth. It was actually parked in the "graveyard" as the engine had been "dusted" and needed a complete overhaul. The body was a bit rough but the transmission and suspension were all still good.

So, in exchange for I think, $50, it was trucked down to me. I think at the time some special order bricks were being sent from the Perth plant to us, so it was just added on to a truck that was bringing some bricks.

For those not familiar with these vehicles they were quite unique. I think that they had more drive train universal joints than an octopus!There was no transfer gearbox as such, the drive from the 5 speed all synchro gearbox went direct to the rear diff housing. There it combined with the diff and an output shaft to another long drive shaft running all the way forward to drive the front diff. It had a "forward" and "reverse"selector, so 5 forward and 5 reverse gears. (there is no truth in the rumor thatit was built that way for the Italian Army!)
4WD could be selected as required with a separate lever.

The suspension was all 4 wheel independent controlled by long torsion bars. The 4 anchor points for the torsion bars were adjustable, but not as an operational feature. After I took mine back to the farm, I did adjust the torsion bars to obtain a higher ground clearance.

The engine in the civilian models was slightly smaller than the military models. It was the same engine as used in the Austin A90 car at 2,660 cc, compared to the Rolls Royce built military spec. at 2,838 cc.

I don’t really recall just what I had to do to the engine, but after an overhaul it ran really well. A bunch of torque was a feature, and the independent suspension provided for a soft ride, especially compared to a Land Rover! It was never registered for road use, but I used it to go to and from work, as the road from where I lived only served two farms.

I sold it at the clearing sale when we sold the farm. According to Wiki there were only about 500 civilian models made, and a lot of them came to Australia. Something else that I should have kept!

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A Brief History of the Austin Champ


Sold: Austin Champ 'Military Jeep' Auctions - Lot 6 - Shannons


Austin Champ


Austin Champ - REMLR

Bloke I worked with briefly near Georgetown had one. He reckoned it had a grease nipple count of over a hundred. And a service interval of 1000 miles.

They were designed for and by the UK military, just after WW2, but arrived late, and by the time they were available the military realised that the Landrovers they already had as an interim measure were almost as good and better in some respects - and you could get about four of them for the cost of one Champ.

I cannot imagine why any civilian buyer would get one new! Very limited carrying space, only two seats in the front, no tailgate, no hardtop or ute version, soft top only. But despite these points, they were still a fascinating machine, and I would certainly buy one if I came across it cheap enough, although I have no idea what I could use it for!

Almost any finely ground washing powder will do the trick, Ajax, Bon ami,

I personally recommend a fairly expedient oil change post deglazing,

as to getting the right amount in...

pull the air filter, rip the foil off the tin and hold it at just so an angle inside the air intake, the engine will venturi the appropriate amount out of the can for you.

Done.