I always thought a crown-wheel and pinion change involved some black magic or at least a human sacrifice or two. However that was before the Internet, before YouTube videos of helpful chaps telling you exactly what to do and of course you can watch them over and over again….resistance is useless.

The videos I watched were telling me how to adjust the back lash on a Toyota Tundra as it seems Ettore did not do any YouTubes although I am sure he would have used them if available, probably instructing from the back of his horse.

On my first test drive I was astounded to hear absolutely nothing from the back axle, previously it was the lovely straight gear howl of first, second, third and then the howl of the straight bevel crown wheel and pinion necessitating ear plugs to preserve the last vestiges of my hearing. Now it’s the same lovely howl through the gears but silence in top, it does trouble me so I stop every now and then, pull the back of the seat forward to check that the diff is not hemorrhaging, seems too good to be true.

I had a list of at least 12 things to do while the floor pan was removed, things like split pinning nuts in the brake circuit, moving the blinker switch, installing the new alternator etc etc. they were all attended to although after screwing the floor pan back on and wiring all the screws, I realised there was a number 13, it will have to wait.

I have since been on the Five Valleys Rally in South Aus. Which involved reasonably short drives on glorious roads with long stops for food and drink, perfect really.

Yesterday I fitted the new wheels, these are standard at about 2.5″ wide so much narrower than the ones that were on the car, it steers much better now. The other problem I’m hoping it will fix is the under steer when I encounter bumps mid corner, the front end would skate over the bumps and go straight…..bloody terrifying, so I will report back later as I am off to find some corners with bumps and no oncoming cars.

After the discovery of the short diff. ratio in my last post it’s been all hands to the pump to change to the standard 3.86:1 ratio before the Bugatti Rally in South Australia, only tempered by the record heat in the shed this month.

Removing the rear axle on the Bug requires detachment the body tray with it’s attendant 40 or so special Bugatti 5mm body screws.  While I was at it I removed the rear body (Pointy Bit) exposing the fuel tank and wiring that I had not been able to get access to previously. The new found access has provided me with the opportunity for a new found list of things to do.

With most vintage cars when something falls off it ends up on the road and lost, so out of mind.  However with the Bugatti it falls into the body tray and scuttles into some inaccessible nook or cranny only to be found when the tray is removed, needless to say there was about half a cup (photo below) of nuts, bolts, washers, a drill bit, screw driver, split pins whole and sheared, coins, cable ties again whole and sheared. No longer out of sight and as I cannot see where any of them go, they will remain out of mind.

When the new crown-wheel and pinion arrived it was surprisingly a spiral bevel so hopefully if I get the back lash right it will be quiet so should be able to amortise cost over it’s expected life versus expenditure on disposable ear plugs (which means you can justify just about anything if you try hard enough)

After waiting six days for the local engineering supplies to tell me the shim washers needed for the back lash adjustment they were not available.  I did the usual and trawled the Internet and found http://www.precisionshims.com.au/a/Precision-Shims-Australia very nice people and they can make any type of shim you want.  My needs were in stock and hopefully now in the post.(arrived next day)

The other job on the go is to replace the current (as in present) alternator which is large and takes up most of the space under my seat with a small 14A permanent magnet one from a Kubota tractor these really are god’s gift to old cars particularly those stricken with Lucas electrics.

From the previous post you may have noticed the dead bike speedo.   I have ordered a replacement VDO A4 and while on the website a Garmin GPS based bike speedo as well, thinking the VDO can just work as an odometer as its always on whereas the GPS one can be mounted on the steering wheel  where it can be seen but needs to be charged before use and is more likely stolen so may only be available intermittently.

I will just backup a bit.  The VDO speedo has a wire to a sensor that on a bike would be mounted on the front forks so it can sense a magnet wizzing past attached to the spokes therefore counting wheel revs, you tell it what the wheel circumference is and it works out how fast you are going. So far so good.

To cut a long story short mounting it like on a bike was not going to work so I stuck the magnet on the tail shaft flange instead.   So with a wheel circumference of 2360mm and a diff ratio of about  4:1 the “virtual” wheel diameter would be 2360/4=590mm, most bike speedos do not go below 1000mm however the VDO does so all should be good.

Took the car out for a test with both speedos and the VDO reads fast so after many stops each time lowering the circumference figure in the speedo eventually I have accuracy at 525mm, so a diff ratio of 2360/525=4.5:1. I have now gone through the paper work for the car and sure enough it has a 12/54 ratio of you guessed it 4.5:1 the usual ratio for a Type 37 is 14/54 or 3.86:1.

So brings me to the Tachometer, on the Bug it runs from a pulley on the end of the camshaft via a flat belt to another pulley .  At 100kph it should be indicating about 3200rpm with my new found gearing… however at 3000 I was passing everyone.  I had reservations about the engine’s ability to rev I now realise I should have had reservations about the Tacho’s ability to indicate those revs.

The wheels.  Luckily with the hub fitment problems, I have not ordered the wheels, imagine how much it would rev with smaller wheels on the back.  So all this maths has saved me money, only two wheels and two tyres needed for the T37 Hotrod.

Quite unrelated to any of the above we went to Noojee for lunch today going the long and interesting way through some of the best country in Victoria.  On the way back I had the opportunity to drive Des Dillon’s Alfonso Hispano Suiza which is sans just about any bodywork so goes quite unlike most Edwardian cars that is to say this one goes, stops and handles.  If I had a garage that would only fit one car, this would have to be it.