Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

that engine screams aero

Hispano Suiza?

Spot on Olly.

1926 H6B + 1928 12Mbr engine (27 litre, OHC, 6 carbs, compressed air starting, 24 spark plugs).

This is one with a V8 version of the engine in it the V12 is better because obviously its hugerer but also because its a 60 degree v rather than 90 degrees which means that you can get it all under the original bonnet profile (although you need to add about 6 inches in length).

Heh, surprised myself a bit, but the age and number of cylinders narrows the field a bit. You have/had some amazing cars, I love the work that goes into them.

I've been very lucky in the things that have come my way. Owning Hispanos was like winning the lottery. I was trying to get an H6 and got a tip off about a pair of them. When the owner told me he would only sell the two together I nearly walked away but at the last moment asked the price. It was less than I was planning to spend on one. So I bought them. For the first few months I kept going out to the garages to look at them. I just couldn't believe my luck and after looking at one I would go to the other garage and check that there really was another one. I sold one quite soon but I had the other for a while. These bits are a kit I put together from my spares to build a Hisso Aero car - but plans change and now they are off to Germany.

Quick question, I need to know what model Ferrari this is please. Circa 1981.

308 gts

Merci danstuff.

Pah miserable office garage people have forced me back into fixing my recalcitrant auto. Back to re-checking the timing, getting the pump controller fully functioning and resetting and getting the sodding EFI to re-learn itself. More spluttering and 5mpg until it does.

And a new battery and possibly a wideband o2 sensor. And after all that I still probably need to pull the lifters.

Never ending.

I fucking hate/jealous of you.....

PS From your description is there anything else it could be?

Isotta Fraschini, perhaps Daimler or Maybach? Napier, Sunbeam. There was a Rolls Royce with RR Eagle engine for sale about 8 years ago but not sure where that has gone.

Once I got it all set for collection last night I spent a bit of time looking at the engine. I will be really sad to see it go. The more you look at it the more you notice all the design features which make HS head and shoulders above any other pre 1930 manufacturers including Bugatti, Bentley, RR, Alfa Romeo etc. they are fabulous and although it is just a lump of metal I am feeling sad to see this one go even if it is paying for the Delage to be finished. (Ps Lynx - I am not as well off as you may think - since I left school I have spent over 30 years applying all of my earning capacity to attaining my car ambitions the way most people target a house, pension etc. probably unwise but it has been a blast so far).

You need to write a memoir and this quote should be printed on the back. :-)

since I left school I have spent over 30 years applying all of my earning capacity to attaining my car ambitions the way most people target a house, pension etc. probably unwise but it has been a blast so far

The internet is awash with hype, rumours and fabrication on the subject, so it's probably worth adding to the confusion...

Do modern cars still have to be "broken-in"?

i.e. the old advice was to stay below 3,000rpm for the first 1,000 miles, etc.

I should get the new Mini this weekend, and will be driving to Leicester the weekend after... which offers the potential to open it up a little. Should I be restrained and slow-lane it? Or should I put it in sport mode and enjoy it?

The Mini manual suggests limiting to 4,500rpm for the first 1,200 miles... but I don't really buy the idea that modern engines needing bedding in like that.

Tyres... sure, but very few miles will break these in.
Brakes... sure again, but few miles will bed these down.
Clutch... well so long as I don't redline the thing, I can't imagine this being an issue either.

So what's the current wisdom on breaking-in a new car with a modern engine?

Oils have improved and manufacturing tolerances etc probably have too, but the fundamentals of engines have not changed since Carnot. Still lots of metal moving around, fast and with lots of force, with very close fits to other bits of metal. They can never be machined perfectly so bedding in allows the final bit of deformation to occur sympathetically. So pay attention to the manual! You ought to be glad you've got a nice long tedious journey to start munching through those 1,200 miles and anyway at 4,500 in top gear you'll be in license losing territory I expect even on the motorway.

PS those other things you mention are consumables, the engine is 4 lyfe!

what @Olly398 says is true - although manufacturing tolerances are much improved - this also means that everything is a lot closer - so pay head to the guidelines.
It also normally means a very early first oil change - as you want to get any of the tiny bits of metal out of your oil asap - so make sure you don't miss it or wait to long past the schedule for that first service.

It will be fine, people still argue over it, but from the experiences of lots of people who owned the last one, run-in or break-in made no difference to the oil consumption of the engine in the long term.

It's not a mineral based oil from the factory and it's not going to be an early first service, if there is there's something wrong with your car. It's conditional based servicing, so it won't tell you to service it until it thinks it needs it or a preset distance/time has been reached.

There's no need to run them in anymore.

Well that's cleared that up then!

Thank you all, I hear all your advice and will heed it well.

Meaning I'll go in the slow lane and drive as if I'm elderly and fear speed will tear my body apart on the way up to Leicester, and will absolutely hammer it and "drive it like ya stole it" on the way back.

Seriously though, I'll be gentle to start with.

My understanding is that you are looking to avoid constant revs, labouring the engine and high revs but there is a million and one opinions on this subject.

Camshafts and followers - these items still come with break in provisions every time I buy one / have one made. They say that from initial start up engine revs must not be less than 2000rpm for the first 20 minutes of running.

That creates two issues with my new old engines - the first is it assumes that even without any initial set up guidance or data for a standard engine let alone one then blueprinted and modified - that when we stick it on the dyno for initial running we can get it to run right straight out of the workshop and the second, particularly with early aero engines, is that 2000 rpm is pretty close to redline for the feet per minute speed of the pistons!

Camshafts and followers aside plenty of my car and bike engines are run in at first practice followed by an oil (and filter where fitted) change in the paddock and then a weekends racing. Only failure to date (leaving out old 2 stroke bike engines which in race trim are always a hairsbreadth away from destruction) was on a fabulous engine with only a few hours on it which had a chain inside the timing chest driving the generator. A roller on the chain broke up and a piece went into the oil pump at full noise on a trials hill, it sheered the drive to the oil pump, caused a weird screeching noise and brought everything to a sudden halt as the mains seized. The journals turned blue from the heat either side of the big ends and mains. It was all rebuilt and running again 10 days later - modified so it couldn't happen again even though I could find no record of any of the same car having had that particular failure in the 80 years since they were made!

I'd follow this advice if I was breaking in my engine, and I will be doing this with my new head and also using a mineral oil for the first 500 miles, but again, on a brand new Mini, not necessary.

I guess it really depends on the manufacturer - some makes deliver the cars already run in (on the dyno)

Personally I would avoid really hard driving and I would avoid travelling at a contstant speed/rev range for long periods. i.e. Drive it normally without redlining and on the motorway give it the occasional blat up and down the speed range.

Brakes get bedded in from heat cycles so a few sharp stops from speed probably wouldn't hurt to give it some hard braking.

Again, this is all based on what people have told me - so ignore if incorrect!