Singer Technical Sources

Technical Sources

Books - there is a real scarcity of books on the Singer marque or on the Roadsters in particular.

General Book on Singers


	The Singer Story, Cars Commercial Vehicles Bicycles Motorcycles by Kevin Atkinson ISBN: 1 874105 529 £25 for Motorbooks

The Book of the Singer - Pitman's Motorists' Library by W.A. Gibson Martin - excellent 124 page guide to the SM 1500 Saloon, the Hunter Saloon and the SM Roadster with maintenance recommendations for the Singer Nine Models 4AB and 4A. - unfortunately out of print.

Singer Cars Postwar to 1955 by Trevor Alder, published by Transport Source Books - contains road test reports on various Roadster models, SM 1500 Saloon, and Singer Hunter. For more information see Contents page.

This book also contain an excellent maintenance article (plus some repairs) from Motor Trader March 1954. This articles is downloadable from http://www.singercars.com/4ax/motortrader.pdf.

This appears to be the rarest of the Singer books from what I have seen. For more information see Contents page.

My own car VSV816 is compared with an MG YT in an article entitled Seaside Specials which appeared in Classic and Sportscar in October 1986.

Published in February 2008 is Peter McKercher's book on Racing Roadsters. It includes photos, perspective and recollections of Singer's place in the Golden Days of Sports Car racing in North America during the fabulous Fifties. It is available through the UK Singer Owners Club, advertised in the Regalia section of their website and in the "Singer Owner".

Manuals

Owner manual gives instructions on day to day use, maintenance guide and some repair instructions.

Manual for 4A and 4AB, some useful details for 4AD but much is not relevant.

Instruction book and repair manual for 4AB published by Singer Motors Ltd, contents here.

The Catalogue of Spare Parts has 14 plates and a listing of all the parts for each plate. Scans of the exploded Parts Manual diagrams can be found on the NASOC site.


	Photocopies of the Singer Nine, 4A, 4AB, with 4AD Supplement Service Manual, The Singer Roadster Owners Handbook, and Singer Roadster Catalogue of Spare Parts are all available from the Singer Owners Club, UK. (See the section dealing with Services/Technical Library). All are priced quite modestly and well worth purchasing. The Book of the Singer (above) also serves as an excellent manual and Motor Trader article is a very good summary

Articles

I have obtained permission of the Association of Singer Owners to reproduce the technical articles which have appeared in their journal MASCOT in the last 20 plus years, which relate to the 4AD here. I have also added by permission some technical articles from the Singer Owners' Car Club journal Singer Owner. There is a subject index and an author index to these articles to make them easier to locate.

Copyright and Disclaimer - PLEASE READ

The articles are copyright of the Association of Singer Owners or the Singer Owners' Car Club and may not be reproduced without their permission. The webmaster gratefully acknowledges the huge contribution made by the clubs and their authors and especially Bill Haverly (MASCOT) and Ashley Crossland (Singer Owner).

Whilst every effort has been made to provide sound advice, neither the authors, nor the clubs, their committees or officers, nor the webmaster can take any responsibility for the opinions expressed in the articles, for the effect resulting from errors or omissions therein, or for the accuracy or correctness of the information provided. Readers should also note the date of the articles as some technologies and advice may have changed over the intervening years.

Blogs

A couple of really useful blogs have appeared in 2007 with plenty of technical information and photos. One describes carpet replacement and promises more to come. The other covers in detail the rebuilding of a post-war Singer 9HP engine - 15 parts covering everything from clutch and carburettor to head, valves, gaskets, bearings, pistons valve timing etc etc. Navigation is a bit tricky, starts at Part 15, can scroll on down to Part 7 and then there is a link to "older posts" to go to Parts 6 through 1.

Bulletin Board

The North American Singer Owners' Club (NASOC) has a useful Singer Bulletin Board for posting questions and researching previous answers. There is also a downloadable archive. Use is limited by the fact that all entries are in posting order with no index; so you have to scan through or use the browser 'Find' function. The technical section is also very useful.