Just a little history to why I have a couple of MG's. The Sunbeam started it all!

My 1927 Sunbeam 20.9

This Sunbeam has been a member of our family for many years, and after my late father had no further use for the car, I purchased it. It has never been restored, only parts rebuilt or replaced as necessary. This includes use through out the war years with frequent trips to Sydney. As a consequence, it is becoming rather tired and has suffered a number of failures of late.

It had had a rest for perhaps 12 years, and then was recommissioned by myself for further use, as it had not achieved the restoration it so required, which had been the reason it was resting in the first place. The recommissioning included a new radiator core; a new water pump; repairing the cracked magneto cap and a starter motor overhaul. The water pump replacement was not a simple job, as it drives the generator and the magneto, which have to be removed first. The replacement water pump was dimensionally slightly different in drive height, which complicated the replacement of the generator and magneto.



After a stop on the way to obtain a roadworthy certificate, the starter motor decided that it had seen enough recent action, and that it desired a further rest. As it can be very difficult to hand crank from cold, it was roll started at the Department of Main Roads after registration. On the trip home, it was noticed that the diff was now much noisier than when on the outward bound trip. The design of the diff is such that what appears to be a rear aluminium cover is in actuality the carrier for the crown wheel & pinion and all other required differential parts. There is insufficient room to remove this with the diff in situ, for the reason that the fuel tank is right behind it. This enforced the removal of the complete diff and torque tube so that further dismantling could determine the cause of the noise, which in turn required the removal of the exhaust system as it passes under the diff.

Upon removal and dismantling, it was found that five of the ten pinion teeth were loose in the bottom of the diff housing. However it drove to return home, I will never know. As this meant that a new crown wheel and pinion was required, the chance was taken to change the ratio from 5:1 to 4.3:1, for more relaxed cruising. One infuriating part of the reassembly is that the mesh for the teeth in both directions is set by shims, and it can only be checked by assembling with the bearings, which resulted in many fun hours in setting up the crown wheel and pinion.



While the new crown wheel and pinion were being cut, the opportunity was taken to completely rebuild the rear brakes, shackles and pins etc. There was sufficient time while waiting for parts to overhaul the starter motor (again), during which I found that one of the new bolts in the bendix drive had come lose and removed its locating thread in the starter armature.

Once all this was completed, we enjoyed two outings in our NEW Sunbeam, after which we experienced the dreaded starter malfunction (again). By this time I had acquired most of another starter in case this recurred. Unfortunately, what I found when removing the floor boards was a much more complex problem than a failed starter. It was a failed gearbox housing!



Regrettably, this meant a removal of the diff (and exhaust) again to remove the gearbox from the car. The gearbox separation from the engine was not simple, as some previous person had replaced two of the bell housing bolts back to front and they could not be removed due to a cross member under the gearbox. To have the gear box repaired meant total dismantlement. While the casting was being repaired, the opportunity was taken to replace the rather noisy replacement third gear set (the lay cluster is made from separate gears and spacers). This was needed as the previous replacement, made during the war, had not been hardened. It is not known if this was the case due to the difficulty in obtaining the materials needed, or whether it was because the then owners ran a machine shop and could easily cut another set when they had worn (which they definitely had some 60-odd years later). The clutch driven plate needed replacement as the original was distorted, which meant the clutch always dragged slightly and juddered on take up from a standing start. These symptoms did not recur with the new clutch plate.

Once all these jobs had been completed, we experienced a few enjoyable and trouble-free months before our next problem. On the way home from an outing, the engine started running on four cylinders. This was traced to blown head gasket between two cylinders. As this head needed refacing, the spare head was fitted. Luckily we had a spare gasket so this did not delay us. This head had had its cracks welded and been faced after the last time it had failed. Everything went well until water was added to the radiator, when droplets started forming around two of the spark plugs, near where welds had been made at some point in the past to repair cracks in the exhaust valve seats. The car was used in this form for two months while the first head (which also showed signs of many welds) was repaired and faced. During this time another problem developed. There was now an unusual high pitched squeak coming from the bore/piston area. As the head had to be removed anyway, I took the opportunity to remove the sump at the same time for an inspection. As nothing obvious was found, I cleaned out the sump and refitted it, along with the repaired head. I was astonished when there were no further problems once all this was completed, and equally so by the fact that the cause of the noise was self curing (?).





During the above mentioned use, the Claudel Hobson carburettor had been removed three times and the vacuum tank once to clean out a brown tarry substance that kept blocking the carburettor jets, despite their being a fuel filter in the line.

Apart from a sudden and complete failure of the condenser, which caused much head scratching by an absolute lack of ignition spark (the magneto had been converted to run off a coil at some point), things have gone well lately.

I am fortunate that I have been raised from an early age to understand the joys of vintage motoring!

P.S. This was all written 12 moths ago for the Vintage Car Club of Queensland. The latest now is that the engine has such a loud piston knock in it (not to mention five other minor) that I have decided not use it any further until the engine is overhauled.
Matthew