Richard Branch

8 October 2015 at 16:15 #51496

Bringing this back on topic i.e. “Greetings” 😉

I have now joined the Lagonda Club thus closing the circle of my initial post on here (about a red 16/80), finding a car, thanks especially to Peter for bringing it to my attention, Chris, Colin and other members for guidance. And now joining up. I am impressed with how easy it was to join on-line (unlike AMOC) and spend a few quid on my club badge!

Sorry I couldn’t get along to the AGM last week, it would have been good to meet you all but it would have been without my car as I only picked her up this week.

Now I’m a fully fledged owner and member get ready for a barrage of questions on here, I’m a bit of a forum chap.

Finally, I’ve got the Lagonda 2,3 & 3.5 Litre Cars in Detail by Arnold Davey and also An Illustrated History 1900 – 1950 by Geoffrey Seaton. What other books would you chaps recommend?

Rgds Rich…

Alistair Crawford

8 October 2015 at 20:06 #51497

Rich,

some say that the Sonnets of Shakespeare are helpful – either to sooth you when Lagonda motoring is not working out as planned, or to celebrate the joys of driving a Lagonda

h14

10 October 2015 at 11:51 #51500

“Lagonda: a History of the Marque” (I think that’s the title!) by Davey and May, large book with dark blue dust jacket. Occasionally comes up on ebay, well worth buying, mainly concentrates on the pre-war history and models, which is the section written by Arnold Davey.

If it’s like the “4.5 litre Lagondas in Detail” book, you might well be disappointed to find much repetition (can one plagiarise one’s self?!) with your “in Detail” book, but here you get the whole story and the roots and development from your car.

Laurence

Richard Branch

10 October 2015 at 12:57 #51503

Thanks Lawrence, I think there’s one on eBay or Amazon at ?45 at the moment so I will “invest” in that.

Any more for any more?

Colin M34

10 October 2015 at 20:11 #51504

Hi Guys

“History of the Marque” is the must have book. Entertainingly written by Arnold. I keep mine in my bathroom so I can read and re-read chapters in convenient isolation.

Great to see you all at the AGM.

Colin M34

h14

11 October 2015 at 10:12 #51509

A good buy at ?45. Only criticism is that it could do with more photos, but Geoff Seaton’s book has all you need. Beyond that, there are books of reprints of period road tests, which you might find interesting; unfortunately the print quality of the original magazines wasn’t great, so photos in particular come out poorly.

Laurence

TVJL

11 October 2015 at 13:42 #51510

Long out of print though it may be, this is the holy grail of Lagonda books, IMO. I spent a long time looking for my copy and paid a silly amount of money for it.

http://www.palawan.co.uk/books/lagonda.html

NB One edition of the book to avoid purchasing (by mistake) was published in German (unless you happen to want that edition, of course).

Richard Branch

5 December 2015 at 09:10 #51577

Lovely sunny day yesterday so I spent a great morning driving her around the quiet back roads of Berkshire. Just need to master the “black art” of that crash gearbox now. And trust me, I will!

Incidentally, heel & toe seems physically impossible because the brake pedal sits almost 3″ higher than the centre throttle. Is that typical? I would expect the brake pedal to align with the accelerator more or less when it’s pressed down and fully applied?

5 December 2015 at 09:30 #51578

Richard, Looks like a very handsome 16/80 – if you are near Silchester do pop-in (I know it is just in Hampshire but our address is Berkshire!) I haven’t driven a 16/80 but with an M45 I only tend to “heel & toe” if I need to blip the engine revs changing down from 3rd to 2nd other than that using the clutch stop adjusted to your style should ensure you have sweet gear changes, most of the time. You are able to adjust pedal heights if you wish however do be careful as you would not be the first member who has managed to get his foot stuck between the pedals while driving…..! Best wishes, Stephen

Colin M34

5 December 2015 at 11:49 #51579

Hi Richard

My 16/80 has the ZE gearbox with has a high third gear. I love the acceleration in the intermediates. This suits the revvy 16/80 nicely. Sometimes this is called “twin top” and on one occasion I was in traffic going like a train at 60 mph and looked the rev counter and discovered that I was still in third!

I hasten to add that I have new Phoenix rods in the engine.

To get changing gears right with the Z box is “interesting”. As Stephen says, on the way down you just need a quick dab on clutch pedal while blipping the engine whereas on the way up the clutch stop is needed to slow the shafts and avoid crunches.

Driving my M45 is different. The Meadows engine does not rev like the 16/80 but to have the sweet gear changes Stephen referred to you still need to manage use and adjustment of the clutch stop.

Both models are great fun – but different.

Colin M34

Richard Branch

5 December 2015 at 15:57 #51581

Hi Colin & Stephen,

Thanks for the kind comments about the 16/80. Regarding the gears I agree, mine feels like 3rd & 4th are very close whereas the gap between 2nd & 3rd is wide. I am finding changing up through the gears is fine, and best done quickly making for a snappy change. Confession… I don’t actually know if I am utilising the clutch stop but as I find it so easy to change up I am not too concerned. 😉

Going back down the box 4th to 3rd is easy but I am finding that I need a good boot full of revs to get down into 2nd from 3rd. I guess it’s the wide gap between the ratios to be aware of.

Regarding the need or otherwise for heal & toe, I suppose if I am slowing down I can do all the braking and then sort out the gear afterwards but it’s nice to know one can do it if necessary. It feels to me as though the brake pedal is exceptionally high in relation to the accelerator. I’ve looked at pictures on the web and while it does seem on other cars the brake is not so high. What do you think?