MASCOT May-June 2004

The Saga of the Sagging Singer

Richard Batchelor

We bought the 4AD, PYA 830, in 1972, having no particular desire to own that model, but I remembered seeing them around in the 1960s and thinking it was a nice looking car. I had a Jowett Jupiter at the time and thought the Singer looked a bit old fashioned, in a nice sort of way. The 4AD had spent most of its life in Devon, having been sold by A F Small, Silver St, Taunton. Having paid close to £100 for the car we were disappointed to find that the back end of the bodywork was beginning to leave the rest of the vehicle, although mechanically it appeared to be in reasonable order. (Thinks - it will only take a couple of weeks to patch that up)

By this time I had joined the SOC to gain some knowledge of how to set about the restoration. This proved to be very helpful, and later, when ASCO was formed, I went along with them and began to get on quite well getting things back together. I found that a lot of parts on the car were incorrect, ie wrong differential unit, wrong radiator surround, wrong front seats etc, but with help from other members I gradually got most of the bits and pieces together. Due to the need to earn an honest crust, little work was done on the Singer during the 1980s and '90s, and it rested in an old barn, but the gales of 1987 blew the barn down and I thought that would be the end for the old car. However, when we finally got round to clearing up the barn, we found the car had been protected by a large 10 inch beam, and apart from minor scratches, the only damage was a small dent in the front scuttle where the beam had touched it on its way down!

Very little work was done on the car until 1999, when I persuaded my son to help with the respraying. We had a couple of weeks of good weather and were able to hang the bits and pieces on wires across the yard, and the paint went on reasonably well. And then all that rubbing down and polishing - Phew!! She was finally back together and MOT'd for 2000 and ready for my brother's village show and millennium celebration. By the time SNCR 2003 came round, confidence in the old girl had reached the point where we thought we could get as far as Farnham and back, so a phone call to Mike and we were booked in. And what a great weekend it turned out to be, as everyone who went knows. The round trip from Hereford was about 275 miles, mainly on A & B roads, with fantastic views over the Lambourne downs. We made several more runs, then one Saturday in September 03, after a clean and polish and general check over, we took a short test run up the road ready for Sunday's outing, (as you do). All went well for about five miles until there was a very loud knocking from up front, which indicated that something had come adrift, so we switched off and declutched immediately then coasted to the side of the road. Testing with the starting handle we found it almost impossible to turn the engine past No 2 cylinder, so it had to be towed home.

It was easier to remove the sump than the cylinder head, so we looked inside there first and discovered several lumps of piston. As the pistons will not come out from the bottom, the head had to come off and as soon as it was removed the problem was obvious - the head of No 2 inlet valve had parted company with its stem and had embedded itself in the top of the piston, as you can see in the photo.

As the oil pressure had always been low, we decided to measure the crankshaft and sure enough it was well worn, so it was decided to remove the engine for a major overhaul. Just about everything was well worn, as might be expected with 130,000 miles recorded. The crank and pistons were standard size, but I think the

engine must have been apart before, as several of the tab washers were missing from the big end bolts, and one piston was of the later type, having a fourth ring below the gudgeon pin - has a valve broken before??

I had collected some engine spares over the years, and Bill Haverly was able to supply the other parts I needed. I found Bill very helpful with both information and parts - many thanks Bill. The camshaft was also badly worn and these are not easy to find, but a phone call to Derrick Bedwell and he fixed me up with a good second hand one. Thanks, Derrick - it pays to be a member of ASCO just for these contacts! The car is running well again now, and I hope it will be nicely run-in for SNCR 2004 up here in Herefordshire this July.