Hobo Jungle

[healey36]

Yeah, I have a number of neighbors that like to come over and see what I'm doing, tell me how I'm doing it wrong and how they'd do it if it was them. They're a hoot...

This time I'm going to tamp the sand/gravel, pour a concrete slab over it, than lay the bricks on top of that. Need to sort out drainage, which led to the original problem.

Hey Sarge...did the 'B' come with the retractable antenna or did you replace it?:


I need to find one to fill the hole on the Sprite (no radio though). I've looked around for some sort of rubber grommet but haven't been able to find one.

Healey

[MurphOnMillerAve]

8) ...
Murph, hard to see that salute as malicious. Maybe he'd been watching 'Hogan's Heroes' before coming out to play.

That sounds good. I'm not sure, however, that we saw it as malicious, just as something that made us feel uncomfortable immediately and that we wished he had not done it, no matter who was part of our group. Oh well, the moment is long-gone, but I appreciate your input, which provided a comfortable perspective.

[sarge]

Healey:

It came with it, and a radio in the car but no speakers I can find, so I haven't played with it any further. Not a priority because I don't need the distraction in a driver's car; I'd rather listen to the car.

I'd suggest you hit the performance parts and hotrodder trades, as there are rubber firewall plugs that fit like grommets you might find useful to plug the hole in the wing.

[rogruth]

8) ...
Murph, hard to see that salute as malicious. Maybe he'd been watching 'Hogan's Heroes' before coming out to play.

That sounds good. I'm not sure, however, that we saw it as malicious, just as something that made us feel uncomfortable immediately and that we wished he had not done it, no matter who was part of our group. Oh well, the moment is long-gone, but I appreciate your input, which provided a comfortable perspective.

I don't think Hogans bunch was around at that time.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

8) ...
Murph, hard to see that salute as malicious. Maybe he'd been watching 'Hogan's Heroes' before coming out to play.

That sounds good. I'm not sure, however, that we saw it as malicious, just as something that made us feel uncomfortable immediately and that we wished he had not done it, no matter who was part of our group. Oh well, the moment is long-gone, but I appreciate your input, which provided a comfortable perspective.

I don't think Hogans bunch was around at that time.

easy enough to check: 1st episode September 17, 1965 - Final episode -> March 28, 1971

[sarge]

Healey:

It's so very '70s British. There is this special little spanner key just for pulling up the aerial.



The two fingers fit in the head of the aerial and the ends hook enough to start it telescoping out (by hand, of course). No power aerial here!

Including this key, there are four for the car. There's also one for the glovebox, one for the boot, and one for the ignition. Now that I think about it, I haven't tested to see which might lock which door; rather silly to lock the dam things really. Each key is radically different in design; it's like they sent someone to some little tool & housewares shop on the corner of the High Street in Oxford to buy whatever keys and cylinders might have been in stock so they could finish a couple more cars before they next went out on strike.

The character is in the quirkiness...

I did find my old RAC emblem and put it on the car-Grin! I doubt if they will come save me at the side of the road here, though.

[rogruth]

Murph may know the time of the photo but my guess is early 1960s.

[sarge]

June 1957 was when Kodak printed it Roger.

It's always on their paper and you can see the date plainly...

[healey36]

In 1967 people were apparently far more trusting...there's only an ignition lock the Sprite (no door, boot, or gas cap locks)...or maybe they were all replaced at some point with generic non-locking versions.

Here's the RAC badge I bought at some auto parts flea market a hundred years ago:



Funny that it specifically indicates that "This Badge Must Be Returned When Membership Expires."

Healey

[rogruth]

June 1957 was when Kodak printed it Roger.

It's always on their paper and you can see the date plainly...

Shows how observant I am.

[sarge]

Healey:

Actually that's the badge for the chief competitor in insurance and roadside rescue to RAC (the Royal Automobile Club). Your's is the Automobile Association (AA). I also had a membership to the AA (found the 80s version of that badge in the same box as my RAC one).

You joined these organisations and they both had their origins in the club culture. The RAC had a very fancy club with all the Mr. Patel features (I think they still have the club building). They were originally a toff's auto enthusiasts club, were one of the first racing sanctioning organisations and created a roadside assistance organisation patrolling all through the UK. At the same time the AA was doing similar. Both date back to the turn of the 20th century or thereabouts.

In the '80s the badges were square for both RAC and AA, and the display entitled you to some advantages when either would show up for roadside assistance, usually in some Ford Transit or Bedford van back then.

Yours looks like my father's; I think that design started in the 40s just after the war and was replaced by the square one in the late '60s or so. It's 'way cooler than mine were, but I still have his RAC badge (which is very pretty too) and an AA one like yours.

I think the old AA was the parent or the inspiration for the American version, American Automobile Association AAA.

I'll get some photos for you, just for fun. They're in the garage and its raining right now...

I'm back from a soggy trip to the garage:

Here's what the RAC emblem looked like in the '80s...


...and the AA emblem from the same period.


These are the old 50s and 60s era ones. They clip to the grill of your car.


I'm tickled we found the box they were all tossed in. I have no idea whether they still are in the same role in the UK today and, if they are, what the badges look like if they even still display such things.

[healey36]

What a doofus I am...yes, AA, not RAC. I have a generic repro RAC badge around here somewhere, or I may have given it to my brother. I've seen a few photo's of their yellow roadside assistance vehicles:



According to Wikipedia:

"From 1906 until 1967 the AA distributed vehicle badges. These were to be returned upon the ceasing of the insurance contract, however, many were never returned. Recently, many of these badges have become collector's items, and have been known to sell for more than £200."

I think I bought mine for five or six bucks many years ago...must have been before they became "collector's items".

I'll have to make a bracket for it so I can mount it on the grille with a couple of stainless-steel fasteners.

According to the Triple-C website, my AA badge dates to Oct. 1954 thru Mar. 1955...not quite 1967.

http://www.triple-c.com/AA_Badges_-_Serial_Numbering_System.cfm

Oh well...

I wonder if the American Automobile Association ever issued badges to its members...

Healey

[sarge]

That is an interesting resource!

Your's is the right style even if the number is earlier. I remember these as numbered to the member, not the car, so it wouldn't be an inappropriate match. Go ahead and put it on; I think it is fine for your car.

If you look at mine, there are screws that go into the two holes and you can see a brass bar that has a hole in the centre, one bar per screw, and a nut behind to draw up the bar. They go on the grill, the bolt through the mesh or between the crossmembers of the grill, then the bar across the inside of the crossmembers or mesh and drawn up with the nuts.

[healey36]

Thanks Sarge...I've got some sheet brass around here somewhere...I'll make a couple bars and fasten it onto the grille. Should look sharp...

Now I just need to get it out of the garage and start 'er up. Supposed to rain most of this week...I'll probably defer to this weekend and keep working on the patio this week during "sunny intervals"...

Healey

[sarge]

Healey:

Yeah, it's supposed to be British Car Week this week in the USA according to the site you sent the link to a few pages back. Rain all week here.

How British is that!