Re: Re: Rear Engine Mounting 11BL

Thanks all! I knew you’d know!

Bryan – loving the phraseology and the idea of driving my Traction ‘savagely’ conjures up pictures of ‘yumping’ it through the Kielder Forest on a wintry day!

My mount is definitely not central,it’s squashed up against the top of the box and showing its age with various small splits from perishing, does this mean that I have some slight age related wear somewhere further forward (like the diabolo g/box mounting)? One annoying thing I’ve found when stripping the floors back to bare metal inside, is that at some time in the past, someone has obviously started to jack it up just aft of the bulkhead behind the engine and consequently I have a floor which slopes gently off to either side from the middle. A friend who is a bodywork wizard is going to give me a hand to knock it back into shape. I have already treated the insides of my lovely rustfree monocoque to lashings of protectant and spent far too much money on new carpeting (as the original had worn right trough to the felt/straw mat underneath) and numerous other (especially rubber!) parts. One thing I am slightly intrigued by is that the car does not have keyed ignition – just another oval button switch at the top of the dash which you pull out to turn the electrics on – was keyed ignition an optional extra?

By the way, Bryan,as you see I managed to find more or less exactly what I wanted. It’s a lovely solid 1950 car(exactly the same age as me, possibly even to the month!) with patina – no rust that I can find and the engine seems sound with no knocks other that one or two tappets that need adjusting. It was still full of bits and bobs belonging to the previous owner who was obviously a fisherman. There was even a 50 franc note and some change in the glove compartment! He kindly left me some of his cheroot doofers, three knives, a small wood cased tape measure, several of his parking permits for central Toulouse and a letter from the Police about fire insurance. He mothballed it when he was 65 (in 1992) and it was found on Le Boncoin in the middle of last year. I bought it from the man who found it and was going to keep it but like me has several other classics and I managed to persuade him to let me buy it.

Thanks again!