Hello ASCC members,
I trust this finds you all in good spirits as we head into Spring. The gradual improvement in daylight hours and temperature have made conditions in the workshop a little more enticing, though the odd frosty morning still means a beanie for my thermally challenged head.
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It has been good to get back onto some Armstrong Siddeley project work and maintenance. The Whitley Coupe hasn't been out for a month due to weather, and I'm looking forward to giving it a run as various local events crop up. Of course, some of you in the warmer climes don't necessarily have the bother with classic cars being laid up for periods due to weather, which I'm sure would be very nice! For some of us though these first outings after a prolonged winter can often mean sticky brakes and stale fuel.
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Recently we've had the school holiday period here, which typically means a number of Year 10 students from the local schools will come in for work experience at the Hangar. We try to keep in touch with careers advisors and make sure they are aware of the General Aviation trade, and every so often we'll end up with one that will take up aircraft maintenance or flying. It has been noticeable over the years, with the gradual decline in vehicle/ mower/pushbike
maintenance at home, that less young'uns are getting any exposure to general hand tools. Of course training and willingness to learn will bring them up to speed, but fostering of any mechanical aptitude at a young age to repair things, as a general interest, has been waning for some time.
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Where am I going with this? Well, if given the opportunity, encourage youngsters to have a go at repairing something. You never know where the satisfaction of repairing or restoring even the most basic of things might one day lead, perhaps even to vehicle restoration. I know that I harp on about this, but it would be great to see more in the way of scholarships , or grants, to draw students into looking at car restoration. If anyone has any bright ideas, please let me
know!
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We've recently moved into a new facility at work and a few items of tooling from the old shop were deemed not to be coming along. One of these was our mid 1960's Crypton CH10 test bench, an extremely well made and imposing thing that could be used to test anything from magnetos to starter motors. Not wanting to see it broken up I found it a home at " Up the Creek" workshops at Castlemaine. They are doing magneto repairs in-house, so if you have one that needs looking at please keep them in mind. It may end up on our old Crypton!
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Since the excellent Albury Federal Rally, the Board has met once again and discussed numerous matters. An update on spares was given. Andrew Christophersen has been working with Geoff Tuckwell to consider the viability of manufacturing 16/18hp bearings. The Board is considering the funding implications. We talked on next years Rally, planning of which is well advanced. The Rally committee continue to investigate the possibility of grant moneys being available for the event.
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Some changes to the Board are in the wings, of which you'll see more soon. Typically, there is always conversation about what may be happening with certain vehicles, new members etc. For example we have a new member in Hobart who is actively recommissioning a Station Coupe that has been in the family for many years. Hopefully we'll see some details about the project soon in these pages.
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Wishing you all the Best for Happy and Safe Motoring,
Cameron Wright, President ASCC