SHAKEDOWN OF THE RILEY TO PHOENIX GREEN NEW YEAR CLASSIC CAR MEET ..........WILL IT GET THERE ????

ATTEMPTING TO GET TO THE 2024 PHOENIX GREEN CLASSIC CAR SHOW IN GLADSTONE, A 1929 RILEY 9 MONACO AFTER A TWO YEAR OVERHAUL AND A TEST RUN OF A FEW HUNDRED YARDS ON NEW YEARS EVE....WILL HE MAKE THE 30 MILE ROUND TRIP.....TUNE IN AND FIND OUT

[@gordonsimpson3235]

Hah, you broke down in our village! Some lack of continuity afterwards, but only a local would know. Good round-up, and terrific turnout at the Phoenix again.

[@TweedsGarage]

Shhhhh Gordon......you'll give away the TV magic 😁

[@garyjohnson9561]

Never leave home without a jet key Mr. Tweed! Derbyshire Austin’s sell them. All the best.

[@TweedsGarage]

I shall be knocking one up for the toolbox Gary.

[@mikeadams7829]

So good to see the Riley out and about , they really are a delightful car , your gearbox sounds just like the one in my '29 tourer. Had my tourer been in the condition your car is in I would not have '" restored" it , sadly much of my car was missng and it looked like it had been used as a farm hack ! I agree driving a vintage car in modern traffic is a challenge , i try to stick to back roads . I hope your Riley gives you as much pleasure as mine has given me , HAPPY NEW YEAR >

[@TweedsGarage]

Very wise Mike, back roads are the way to go and future trips out will be planned to avoid major roads as much as possible . Happy New Year.

[@brucedobney5635]

Great to see the Riley on the road. I hope you continue enjoying it. Best wishes Bruce

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks Bruce..

[@edwardwest5035]

Very enjoyable, I'm looking forward to more Riley videos. Happy new year. Edward.

[@TweedsGarage]

Cheers Edward, hopefully some trips out this year.

[@BlownGaskets]

Top job mate, great to see the car out on the road, I have really enjoyed following your Riley build and joining you on a ride along was very enjoyable and I shared some of your feelings of satisfaction, thank you for all your vids, I hope many more are coming

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks for coming along and there will be more videos this year. 🙂

[@nazdagg1945]

well, finally. start the new year off with a drive. good show. what's next, a hillclimb?

[@TweedsGarage]

thanks Nazz, I think a few trips out first ;-)

[@retromechanicalengineer]

A nice drive out Mr T. Lively looking meet too, plenty of variety. Best wishes, Dean.

[@TweedsGarage]

thanks Dean, now the Riley's going I can sneak back on to the Bantam

[@union310]

That Riley is faster than my Jimny

[@TweedsGarage]

and as bouncy :-)

[@colinbeadle7109]

Well done! I enjoyed your visit to the car show. The Austin 6 recalled memories of my Grandad hiring a similar model from a taxi company in Chichester taking my family to visit relatives living in Windsor. I recall a number of university students driving MG sports cars which were popular in the forties. The students wore their house college scarves and usually had a girl friend with them. Thanks for the nostalgia. By the way, I noticed when changing gears you didn’t appear to double declutch when changing gear. I take it the Riley had synchromesh?

[@TweedsGarage]

Glad to ignite those memories Colin and on the double declutching i may have forgot occasionally and the Riley gearbox has syncromesh between 3rd and 4th gear hence why it is know as the silent 3rd gearbox......although as witnessed it isn't always 😂

[@984francis]

Grand. I love the colour of the Rolls and though it is very swish, your car is prettier.

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks Francis, yes the Rolls was a real gentleman's carriage .

[@russellnixon9981]

Excellent fist run out Mr T, takes a wile to get to know a car, concentration trued up to max, likening to every little noise Well done you for road side repair. Happy New year to you and Miss Tweed and to Jenkins of course..

[@TweedsGarage]

yes and there were a lot of noises to listen too :-) , I was right tuckered out at the end of my 30 mile trip Russell .

[@rockcrusher4636]

Thanks for sharing, great stuff. Merry x-mas and Happy New Year. Cheers.

[@TweedsGarage]

Good to hear from you Crusher and the same to you :-)

[@jorobinson2729]

@rockcrusherMrs Tweed here. Nice to hear from you. We missed you! 💖

[@rockcrusher4636]

How kind, thank you, I was unsubscribed yt does that its the second time now otherwise I'm always watching, great stuff. Cheers.@@jorobinson2729

[@31wdriley]

Enjoyed the drive with you. With my 6:1 diff , I am into top a lot quicker. Same noise from the Silent Third box. Best speed on back roads at 80-90 km/hr. Have been looking for a mechanical focused St. Christopher, may look for an empowered amulet.

[@TweedsGarage]

my father bought me a Tourist Trophy Garage St Christopher medallion ( Mike Hawthorne´s garage in Farnham ) which I will be mounting in the Riley at some point.

[@steveanderson3942]

Certainly seems to drive nicely 😊

[@TweedsGarage]

At the time i seemed to be constantly busy listening for noises, adjusting timing and throttle and battling with gear changes, but when i watched the footage back it was indeed going very nicely Steve.

[@oldfarthacks]

Nice to see the Riley running. A well done job on your part. There is always some little things that go wrong, good job of finding the problem on the fly and not having to have it towed home.

[@TweedsGarage]

Cheers O.F.H. , it gave a sense of immense satisfaction sorting the problem.

[@coplandjason]

Good video Allan, an interesting eclectic mix of cars at that meeting. Glad you had no real troubles with Gladstone - my first thought was that it sounded like fuel starvation when it came to a halt but glad you were able to get it sorted and home again. Sounds as though you're getting used to the gear changes now as well, a fine art driving an old gent like that. Cheers

[@TweedsGarage]

you're very kind to say that Jason......but I did edit out a few more gear change stinkers :-)

[@453421abcdefg12345]

Really nice to see the Riley back on the road again! That was a very nice drive, with very few other cars on the road, I am sure it will take a few more miles to get used to driving this one, especially a first long drive out, as for the break down, it was only a very minor glitch, the sort of thing that makes driving interesting, I am sure you were completely exhausted after a first long drive, the next drive should be a lot more relaxing! Happy New Year! Chris B.

[@TweedsGarage]

It was enjoyable Chris and I think Gladstone making a 30 mile shake down run was quite an achievement for the old boy......and yes I did need a mug of tea and a sit down when I got back home.

[@jjj7665]

Brilliant collection of vehicles. Very enjoyable to watch.

[@TweedsGarage]

Cheers Allen, modern cars are more convenient and comfortable but a bit soulless , although I had a lot on my plate for a first run it was the first time in a long while that enjoyed every gear crashing mile of it.

[@iancharlesworth3654]

BRILLIANT MR TWEED. Great work on your new OLD car. Enjoying watching your skills. THANKYOU.

[@TweedsGarage]

and thanks for watching Ian.

[@gbentley8176]

Well done Mr T. Sounded pretty good for the shakedown trip. Noticed you having to tweak the timing quite a lotl should settle down. I find the gear box works well with a quick haul from 1 to 2 for the get away then just a blip on the clutch for down changes. Up needs more of an ear for the revs but all in all they work well. More front end pitch than the Lynx but the saloon is clearly sprung differently. Great to see the RMl such a super driving car and they do corner better than some moderns. I have covered 200 or more miles in a day two or four up and everyone enjoyed the ride. Great to know so much American metal lives in Hampshire. Sadly I could not go out for the Riley meet or even a trip this year. Thanks for all the posts, best wishes from the New Forest.

[@TweedsGarage]

yes Mr B, the timing lever kept moving, it's something I want to try and improve but haven't worked out how to get it all apart yet ( it didn't help that the idle jet was gradually screwing itself out of the carb with the side effects being corrected with timing corrections ) . I do keep looking at the Rm´s as they are a nice looking car and you're not the first to comment on their handling abilities. Hope you can get out this year.

[@glenmiller3783]

The Riley runs great, looks like your roads are about the same quality as ours. Thanks for taking us along.

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks Glen, my pleasure.

[@unbalancedcrank]

A lovely trip out. Thanks for bringing us along. Car of the day for me was the GN, with maybe the COE truck to tow it and sleep in!

[@TweedsGarage]

the GN was one of my favourites too.

[@nicholasgerrish6022]

Bloody good! I’ve been away, so this came as a great surprise to me, as I had almost given up wondering how the job on the Riley was progressing. The car sounded fine, running smoothly and it can only get better as it all beds in. It’s always interesting to find out what petrol other people use for their Riley Nines. I was advised to use Tetraboost, to make up the lost lead in modern petrol, and use 95 octane petrol. What is your view……

[@TweedsGarage]

I run the Riley on Tetraboost and Super Unleaded which probably makes the octane rating way over what it would of run on originally, it does run a higher compression ratio with the new pistons which probably enjoy the raised octane, the other reason is to avoid ethenol as much as possible and its effects when sitting around for a long time. I think the Tetraboost helps when the fuel goes off a bit which doesn't take very long with the modern stuff.

[@shedbythetracks]

Wow! what an adventure! I enjoyed the drive and the automotive buffet. You must be better at handling adversity than me.. or you just edited out the swearing. Cheers and Happy New Years

[@TweedsGarage]

the only swearing was aimed at fellow human beings, the car petering out although worrying , it wasn't far from home, I have roadside recovery and it offered a challenge to fix it ( a toolbox, oil and jack were onboard ) , the worst case scenario would of been a dead magneto ( must get the spare overhauled ) , so with sparks confirmed I knew I was in with a chance of getting home.......and if all else failed there was a pub within walking distance. Happy New Year my friend.

[@asciimation]

Well, that's just my new years ruined then! I told Mrs Tweed (in front of witnesses no less) I would nag you to get your Riley on the road and you've just gone and done it. Before I got to nag! I was looking forward to the nagging. What will I do for the rest of the year? Better get mine done I suppose. Lots of interesting cars there. I like those kinds of get together, bit of everything. Well done for keeping the vintage end up! Great to see the Riley on the road. You have to do something about the paint scheme though, I am not convinced that's factory. Is the tension right on your hand controls? They seem to move a bit with the steering. I assumed they shouldn't so set mine up not to?

[@TweedsGarage]

one nagger is quite enough Simon ;-) and don't worry, the red is going to go ( the blue wheels are a bit brighter than I hoped but as the car is very dark it needs something to catch modern drivers eyes ) . Yes I´m not happy about the drag from the steering affecting the adv/rtd levers but haven't figured out how to get it apart yet as I´d like to renew the horn wiring as it looks like a length of old bell wire .............now....when is the Riley going to be on the road :-)

[@asciimation]

​@@TweedsGarage I had to drill out the old horn wire from my steering tube. I welded a drill bit to a length of number 8 fencing wire to make a massively long bit and drilled the old wire out! My Riley is getting there. Remember I have to build mine first, you just have to fix yours :)​

[@terryporter9778]

Very interesting group of auto mobiles I like it very much in fact brilliant start to the year thank you

[@TweedsGarage]

thank you Terry.

[@teamjdb]

Great video, thanks for sharing, looked like great fun; breakdowns can be surprisingly rewarding if you manage to get them going again!

[@TweedsGarage]

It was a good day's motoring, the most fun I've had driving in a long time😀

[@adamheazlett1179]

Quaity gear oil and additive should help also double shuffle sweet or no clutch not ideal though.

[@colinwellman9480]

My Christmas wish fulfilled, the Riley back on the road! I'd consider that a very successful first drive , but a little stressful even as a viewer. Is the time coming when you move it on? I know you like a change and a challenge. Did you get Jenkins busy with a rag after the run? I mean the car, not himself.

[@TweedsGarage]

are you saying I´m like a KZbin Father Christmas ??!!! I think I´m happy with the Riley as my vintage wheels, with good performance, brakes on all four wheels, decent room inside for its compact size and improvements to be done ( twin carb conversion, front spring repair, and a new exhaust system ( the current one creates a terrible drone in the cabin that's not really picked up on in the video ), some steel work needs attention and maybe some light completion. Jenkins was left down the garage to grease nipples.....

[@brianmichaelhoward9038]

Looking and sounding great…. Until. But if that was the only problem, well done. How’s the better half.

[@TweedsGarage]

On the road to recovery thanks Brian

[@austinswallow]

I salute you sir! An excellent start to the New Year! Looked a very interesting collection of cars and good that pre-War cars are getting used, helps raise their profile among youngsters, otherwise they never get seen! A car is only original once and patina is earned - restored cars are generally too glossy and far less interesting than a car that wears its battle-scars - yours fits the bill perfectly if I may say! As for gear changing, well, I have the same problem with the Austin Swallow, it is only 3-speed and I try to limit the number of gear changes as possible, I can engage 1st gear whilst in motion without it grinding, but changing up & down into 2nd is mostly a problem, if there is a really long time delay in the motion, then is silent, but out of 10 changes I am lucky if 2 of these are silent. I have tried always, I have had experienced drivers - one a lorry driver and the other well used to veteran & vintage cars - drive the car and they both felt that there was a mechanical problem - which may be the case, the second gear set was brand-new (an "Andes" gear so better ratio than the factory 'box) and it is possible that the gears themselves are not quite right, don't think they can be installed incorrectly... It is going to be a strip down job to check and I have another new pair of "Andes" gears to swap over, just in case there is a machining defect with the new gears! Thanks for sharing, look forward to seeing more footage of your adventures!

[@TweedsGarage]

Thank you Sir, yes crash boxes are a challenge but when you get it right it is extremely satisfying ( but inwardly you are always cringing with mechanical sympathy with every gear change ) . Hope you get to the bottom of your troublesome second gear .

[@nickaxe771]

WOW the Riley seems to be going really well sound sweet....spent many years driving trucks with crash gear boxes.....very satisfying once mastered. 2nd sounds a little raw. Wow the Pub meen was real busy for this time of year and considering the weather. Well done on the road side repair....not a good locations to be stranded at the side of the road. I bet you enjoyed the day Mr Tweed...was great to watch....yes I am fed up with the wet weather also....cant get out on my Triumph Bonnie.....to much chrome....I am using the Bantam through.....only if all the salt has been well washed away.

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks Nick, yes I enjoyed the day very much and it bought back the joy of motoring ( I think it helped that the roads were quiet ) . Cars and bikes never seem to breakdown in a convenient spot, but I did have a cyclist and motorist stop to ask if I was OK and fellow motoring enthusiast parked behind me with his hazards on and offered tooling if needed as he didn't live too far away.

[@nickaxe771]

Well that was nice of these people to stop....job well done by all.@@TweedsGarage

[@user-zu8wc3sc4g]

Good to see the Riley finally running and reasonably reliably, would be good to hear more about the manual ignition advance. I don't know much about vintage cars but I am guessing that there is an automatic centrifugal ignition advance but in those days gasket seals being poor it was difficult to make a vacuum advance that worked?

[@TweedsGarage]

cars up until the early 30´s and motorcycles right up to the 50´s ( motorcyclists are quite a conservative bunch and shunned coil ignition in favour of magnetos ), a lot had to do with batteries and charging circuits not being reliable and the advantage of magnetos are they are a complete self generating ignition unit so the engine will still run without a battery. Most magnetos don't have mechanical ignition advance so it is all down to the driver/rider, fully retarded for starting to avoid kick back ( lethal on big single motorcycles sometimes inflicting broken bones ) and 2 strokes could start running backwards, then when the engine is warming up the ignition can be advanced for normal driving. On old vehicles its common practice to retard the ignition as the engine slows down when slogging up hills to assist getting to the top......I will try and include it in a video when discussing the Riley.

[@user-zu8wc3sc4g]

@@TweedsGarage Thanks for taking the time to provide a detailed reply. As modern vehicles in my lifetime since 1971 have had automatic ignition advance you kind of forget about that aspect of motoring in the past. I suppose with motorcycles they were also trying to keep them cheap (as people were skint) and mechanically simple. Before I was born my dad had a 250cc "stroke Frances Barnett which was apparently quite unreliable, although I have been unable to find any record of F/B making that particular machine, although they did use Villiers engines in some models.

[@martinwade9421]

@@user-zu8wc3sc4g I have a Francis Barnett 250 here in Ireland. Last year I rode it from Dublin to Mountbellew, County Galway to see my cousins. The exhaust came loose on the way home. I waited until it cooled, then replaced it and continued home. Max. speed 48 mph. (Cruiser 90) In August 1969, I did the same run on a 200 cc. Francis Barnett Falcon without any mechanical troubles. ( 110 miles x 2 ).

[@user-zu8wc3sc4g]

@@martinwade9421 Interesting, I recall my dad said his issue on his first ride was a fouled spark plug, that would have been the mid 1950's when he bought it, at a guess perhaps 1956. It was a 2 stroke but not sure what engine it had in it other than it was a 250cc. He then moved onto four strokes from that time. His main purpose was commuting. The best bike he had re performance was a 1980 Honda CD 200 Benly (he always stuck to low capacity despite having a full licence to save fuel). I currently have a Honda CB 125 F with a top speed of about 65 (less with me on it) but it cruises well at 45 to 50mph so shows how the performance has changed! Thanks for replying.

[@AllenORourke1954]

Cracking video Allan, total respect to you vintage car drivers mate, I'll think of you the next time I go out in my car, smart key in my pocket, doors unlock as I approach, foot on the brake, press the start button, into drive and off I go letting the 7 speed automatic gearbox do all the work. I think the last crash box car I drove was a snot green Ford Prefect with the sloped back end, a 3 speed if I recall, got some lovely grating noises out of it... Happy new year mate... Allen.

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks Allen, yes modern cars are convenient but are rather soulless and although I had a lot going on for my first shakedown run I loved every gear crunching, pot hole bouncing, carb popping, odd noise worrying 30 miles of it, some of the most enjoyable motoring I´ve done in quite a while....

[@nicholasgerrish6022]

In certain respects, your Riley looks rather more like the WD model. The back of the car of the car appears to slope right down, without any boot, and the overall appearance looks a little more rugged than other models. Are the wheels on your car slightly larger than the standard Monaco. I’m sure you’ve done all the background work, and probably have original documentation. However, it was just a thought!

[@TweedsGarage]

It's a MkIII which from the MkI up until then had the small box boot on the rear, the MkIV the boot box merged into the bodywork corners, the wheels and axles are 5 stud ( not sure who made them but they were from an outside supplier ) the MkIV's onward had six stud axles of Riley's own making .

[@mattcollier5957]

Lovely ol Riley, i live behind the Phoenix inn pub, we knew Jenks very well, his ashes are scattered on the tiny patch of grass between the pub car park and the A30 basically the patch of grass at top of car park. i have a couple of classic cars, i never bother going to this meet, its the same vehicles and people each year. I enjoyed your video though, i was trying to work out where you broke down?

[@TweedsGarage]

I knew he was a local lad but didn't know his remains we're spread there...i think the place deserves a blue plaque. I didn't break down i just failed to proceed 😉just outside of Upton Grey failing to make it to The Hoddington Arms ..

[@mattcollier5957]

Ahh thats where it was, my Aunt lives three buildings up from The Hoddington Arms, of course, sorry, failed to proceed. @@TweedsGarage

[@terrybullard6026]

Tom Rolt, who used to own Phoenix Garage a long time ago owned a GN.... I wondered if that was it ?

[@TweedsGarage]

Hi Terry, I´m not sure, it was quite popular so I struggled to get round it to get the footage that I did ( we did used to go along to their summer evening events years ago and when it was mostly vintage cars at those events )

[@terrybullard6026]

@@TweedsGarage Cheers

[@stowfilmlounge7163]

What a marvellous start to 2024 Mr Tweed. Well done to you both. Jenkins must have been sore to have missed it. Funnily enough there was another touring GN at Stony Stratford with very similar patina. Just managed to remove the gearbox from my 1948 Morris M only to find the clutch stuck to the pressure plate. Hardly surprising after a 50 year lay up.

[@TweedsGarage]

its amazing how many GN´s survive, a true enthusiasts car. I think I´d be writing a stern letter to Mr Morris about your cutch sticking after only 50 years :-)

[@rogerlill]

Hi from another Mr Tweed fan with a 1948 Morris M!

[@TweedsGarage]

@@rogerlill sounds like a Tweed's Garage 1948 Morris Club 😁

[@stowfilmlounge7163]

@@rogerlill Hello. Not many of us about - Morris 10M owners I mean, not Mr Tweed fans!

[@stowfilmlounge7163]

@@TweedsGarage well, it does have a certain ring to it.

[@nicholasgerrish6022]

I must say that I wasn’t over impressed by the cars at that meet. Yours was one of the few “proper cars”, if one can say that, but it really was a great pleasure to see it being driven, at quite a rattling pace too. It must have been 30 mph! It won’t be long before I start taking out my 1934 Riley Ascot. All that crunching and odd whining that Riley’s sometimes make is making me itchy, to get on some of my Derbyshire roads. How about doing the Monte’? You wouldn’t be the first, in an early 30s Riley Monaco……

[@TweedsGarage]

It was trotting along, the speedometer was reading just over 30mph but having Mrs Tweed follow me home when i first bought the car know that it seriously under reads and unfortunately even servicing the speedometer and replacing the damaged cable sheath hasn't seemed to of cured the problem ( i will purcase a cheap gps speedo for peace of mind and to compare against the car's speedometer) . Need to get some trips out to get my confidence up on the car's reliability so the Monte might be to much, but i am thinking about the VSCC Boulogne bicycle ride event ( old cars welcome ) . I have since discovered that the vintage cars drop in to the Phoenix then head to The New Inn at Heckfield ( ( the Phoenix meeting was originally vintage cars got it got a bit taken over so they moved elsewhere)

[@adamheazlett1179]

Hey Bud the clutch is not a footrest .Seems quiet common in UK.They change clutches more than underpants.

[@TweedsGarage]

Its a 95 year old car designed for people who were a lot smaller back then than we are now, size 7 feet were your larger foot size back then, there is literally no where to place size 9 feet than above the clutch , my 1927 Chevrolet Capitol was just as small .........current mileage on the clutch on my daily driver is 110,000 miles