The Oily Rag: The Humber Speedster Project

For a number of years I have wanted a pre 1920’s, (Veteran) speedster, but a number of issues prevented me from obtaining one. (1) Veteran Speedsters are few and far between here in Australia. (2) The technology of their era does not lend itself to driving on the modern roads – they generally won’t do over 50 Kph, and if they do stopping is a major issue ;-) So most of the ones you see at car shows are trailered to and from site. (3) A vehicle suitable had not presented itself. UNTIL late last year I was talking to a friend, (and fellow car nut), who said he might have a donor car that would suit. He had bought a 1932 Humber a few years earlier, which had been stripped down to a rolling chassis to be made into ‘a two seater speedster’, but not finished - exactly what I had in mind. The previous owner had done a lot of work; rebuilt the engine, differential, brakes and suspension – I had lucked out! About two weeks after visiting my friend to check out the Humber it arrived at my place one rolling chassis and ten boxes of parts. The Humber has a 3.5 lt 6 cylinder engine, four speed transmission and cable brakes. I've decided to upgrade some of the systems - ignition, cooling, and fuel, plus improve the horse power a little by adding an Eaton M112 Supercharger. My main aim is to build a fun car that will do highway speeds and turn heads. I was intending to upgrade the cable brakes to hydraulic, but from the research I've done cable brakes are quite good so will see how they go. Just on a side note: The engine is an IOE design - 'Intake over Exhaust'. It has a large intake valve in the head, and exhaust valve in the block. So it's a hybrid side valve / Over head valve, it will be very interesting to see how it performs.

I’ve set myself a deadline of June 30^th 2014 to have it on the road, hopefully ;-) It should be close. I’ve started to collect a lot of the parts needed, but still have a lot to do. Over the Christmas break I started on the firewall, toe board and floor, these have been cut to shape and temporarily fitted. I’ll post photos as the build progresses.