mk1-forum.net

Hi.

This might soud a bit strange, but i've been told Rolls Royce had something to do with the 1275 Princess assembly in some aspects. Is this true? The most commom believe is the engine internals being balanced at RR facilities. Can any of you confirm (or demystify) this?? And if that is the case, how to tell the diference from normal to those "RR" assembled engine units?
My 69´ VDP engine is a TC 1275, 9 bolt head, 12G1279 casted block, number 12H - 209 - H12138.
Where can i find detailed information about this model?

Thank you in advance.

Regards.

RT

I for one have certainly never heard of any RR involvement at all regarding the 1100/1300 cars.

Are you maybe thinking of the Vanden Plas 4 litre “R” which had a Rolls-Royce engine? Many years ago I had a long conversation with John Byde who had been the 1100 Club Spares Secretary for many years. Prior to that conversation I had been told by one “expert” that the Vanden Plas body shells were made of better quality metal than the more basic models and that the engines had received more attention like balancing etc but he said this was incorrect. We were in his VP1300 at the time which I thought was an exceptionally smooth running example and said so. He told me that the engine was a second hand one out of a Wolseley 1300 and was no different to the previous original factory engine.
Mind you it would be nice if all the rumours were true. It would make them even nicer vehicles.

R-R and A series? No way.
However, the extra soundproof material in the VDP versions, especially compared with the almost non existent soundproof of the Austin - Morris cars, made the former much more civilised than the latter. This fact maybe fooled some people to think that the engines had received a special treatment.

Thanks for your information.

This is (was) o commom believe over here. I think people came up with this because VDP cars were indeed more carefully assembled, and the higher quality trim and interior might lead people to that myth. Other fact is these cars are scarce, and due to that, so is information about the model. Glad we sorted this one.
As far as i read, the biggest difference in the engine unit (to the "normal 1300") will be the crank, EN16T and the rods. Aside from that, seems normal.
It would be nice to know RR had shared some of their work with this model, but they're still great cars.
They were nearly all destroyed as rebuilt is too dificult, starting with the seats, the "non avaliable" chassis replacement parts extra difficulty, and of course, as mini engine donors...
I have this one for 13 years, and althoug the rust is there, is still quite solid, and is pretty much all original. I first bought to take the engine off, but after driving for a few miles, just couldn't do it. Is far to nice to became a donor...

Is that the original colour ?, quite distinctive. Where are you located out of interest ?.

Hi 111Robin. No this is not the original colour. The car has darker green under this one. I'm located in Portugal, near Lisbon.

Thanks. I'm always looking out for ADO16s when I'm in the Algarve. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a nice rust free example next time (is there such a thing ?)

I have one 73' 2 door Austin 1300 rust free over here (100% free of rust). It's the best i've ever seen. It's a client's car, but i can ask him... It spent last 24 year dry stored without any single momento in the wether. Hydros are empty, with usual problem in the back ones...

Sounds interesting. If he has any photo's I'd be interested to see what condition it's in.