Humber / Hillman / Rootes / Chrysler / Peugeot

Hi Prof My dad’s Minx with me facing the wrong way in the driver’s seat.

Nice one, Philip. My dad was a coach trimmer, which meant as the cars came off the production line he fitted the extras, could be windscreen, or other adjustments to the basic model. Edited by member, 2nd Oct 2019 5:08 pm

Hillman factory 1928

This is what really impressed the visitors from the garage industry. This part of the Telfer Line was at head height. At floor level and on hydraulic lifting were the front suspension, engine, gearbox, radiator, propshaft, back axle and rear suspension. The body would arrive above this station. Run taps up all the threads to ensure these were clear as these were likely to have ingested travel debris - the body had been built, painted and trimmed by Pressed Steel at Cowley and then transported by road up to Ryton. Then the hydraulic rams lifted the assemblies up into position and a minute or so later all the assemblies were bolted in place - this would have taken a garage hours and it did impress them. The bodies were all jig built so the front suspension - again jig built at Stoke - came with the correct shims to get the camber angle right. Freddy Burgwin worked on this part of the Minx line and I played rugby with him for Rootes RUFC - happy memories.

Haven't had the time to visit the forum for quite a while. Hope these items are suitable for inclusion on the site, it certainly gives a taste of working for Rootes in its heyday. Spent lots of time talking to Bill (my father-in-law) about his time at Rootes but looking back never asked enough questions about his time in the industry.

The Mk IV Snipe was one of life's experiences. The engine, with a seven bearing crank, had been in production as the 'underfloor' engine for the Commer Avenger coach. In this build it had chromed bores to virtually eliminate bore wear and markedly eliminate ring wear. Problem on production was cracks in the chrome plating which was normally associated with an intermittent electrical supply. This then required that the chrome be stripped out and the plating process done again - a costly and time consuming process but good for plenty of 'over'. A carefully placed camera spotted the steward flicking the switch - to get the over - and having got rid of him there were no more plating problems. The fundamental problem was that there was less room in the centre section of a Mk V Hawk body 9 - also introduced in '52 - than there was in a Series 3 Snipe which was going to be replaced. If the rear squab was redesigned once it was redesigned about half a dozen times in trying to provide more knee room. A fleet of pre-production cars were built before the Motor Show and these looked very impressive particularly those in metallic colours under the bright lights of the Ryton assembly hall. When taking visitors on tours we didn't see the new Snipes as by the time the visitors said ‘whats that?’ it had gone and we just said it must have been a Mk V - which had the new 'Italian' front end. The instrument panel did not look as good as a Series 3 but the stalks were much better. The stylist took inspiration from a submarine periscope so the gear shift/stalk and steering column looked far better. Then in '52 I finished my training and along with Dave Lloyd and Bill Moore went off to do our two year National Service in REME. Later on I was out in Cyprus where the Head of the Foreign Office’s MEMUs official car was a Mk IV Snipe and his driver said to me 'come for a run out’. Built for the roads of the world and with its Blue Riband engine, much heavier than a Series 3 - the crown wheel and pinion was massive and the front cross member was welded to the chassis - this trip was an experience. I had had the good fortune to be doing my month in CID when the pre-production ST 90 Mk II came through and went out in JWD401 with Maurice Farran. He as with the sales demo drivers knew how to make the cars go quickly but also absolutely effortlessly. Thank you, Camperman, for the nostalgia (not too sure where this post is going to end up).

The Snipe and Pullman tracks were alongside each other at Ryton and the front ends were assembled in the same sub-assembly shop along with the Hawks and the ST 80/90. A conveyor then took the front ends to the assembly tracks. They were assembled in colour sequence to match the body on the track. Only failed once when a ST90 front end in Persian Grey met a Steel Grey body on the track. The change in sidelights from round to oblong on the Snipe/Pullman was introduced at the same time for each as the front ends were identical except that the Snipe had the bird mascot - with rubber beak. The last item to be fitted - after road test/rectification and just before despatch - was the clock in the dashboard. PS. Other apprentices/pupils will have happy memories of the main assembly hall at Ryton.

There is at present a cutaway version of the Rootes / Chrysler flagship engine, the H120, on eBay, an apprentice piece. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304221581496?hash=item46d504f0b8:g:o~UAAOSwXoRhjUvR Edited by member, 20th Nov 2021 9:33 am