Westfield Elevens

When I park up a frequent comment from spectators is " How do you get into that ", my reply is " Getting in the the easy bit " followed by " Don't
watch " as I fight against gravity to extricate myself . ( 110 kg and 82years in two weeks don't help ) . However some mods and revised procedures
have helped considerably , I have made the steering wheel detachable , a simple system at zero cost , two rails from scuttle to rear clam which will bear my weight , one centre car that also supports a half tonneau and one that is quickly in or out of position across the door opening .
These enable me to lever myself off the seat and stand up to step out of the car .
I have put it all to test this last week with four trips round the Yorkshire Dales , which are in easy reach with each trip being roughly 75 miles .
In all a good start to the season .
Cheers , Bob Whittaker .

Good to hear you are still enjoying the car Bob!

Excellent work, Bob! Care to share some pics?

I am currently working on my vac system (25D card screw end that had the rubber vac hose jammed on!). Trying to avoid spending £30 on a full copper pipe vac system with flame trap. I can get the parts I need from various places. Once or if the vac unit dies, I’l get a Distributor Doc replacement with a push on spigot.

I empathise with you Bob. I'm a little younger than you but I've tripped over the door a few times, and I need to remember not to pull on the steering wheel lest it bends out of shape (it's very delicate!).

For the distributor vac problem, you can just plug the vacuum fitting at the intake manifold and forget about the vacuum advance. Time the engine at max advance (around 32º BTDC) using a dial back advance timing light. Problem solved, and you won't be able to tell the difference in performance.

You can also purchase some copper tubing and the compression fittings to make a new vacuum system, but I would not bother. I have not installed a vacuum advance distributor on a BMC A engine in about 29 years, mainly due to the fact that the big 45 DCOEs don't produce enough vacuum to make a vacuum advance distributor worth while.

As for getting in and out, well, there is no elegant way to accomplish this. I push myself up (sill and tunnel) and sit on the sill, then bring a leg into position to stand up on the sill and get out. Now 74, but I can still handle the maneuver without undue stress. OF course, there is the option of standing on the seat. One thing that I have to do is to glue a pad onto the tunnel for my knee. Other than that, the car is comfortable with my angled seat bottom and memory foam padding stuffed into pillow cases. I really do have to sort out a proper seat. On the shelf, I have a pair of W11 buckets in green with yellow piping. I just need to figure out how to mount the driver's seat at the proper angle and position.