The Constance story
Why might you ask?..... �Its BRITISH!!�. If a British car does not leak its fluids, there must be something wrong with the car. Constance is well known for her leaks. There have been many cases when concerned motorists will pull up beside her at the traffic lights to inform me of Constance�s dribbles. Of course my reply would be, �Oh.... that�s OK, there is still three buckets of water to go!�.
Of course, when you look at a Crossley cooling system, the thing you will notice most of all is the water pump, that�s because there is no water pump!!! No water pump means one less moving part to turn, and one less thing to go wrong. Instead the motor relies on bucket loads of water to keep the motor cool, and to hold the nose of the Crossley firmly planted on terra firma!!. This type of cooling system is known as a Thermosiphon system. The cooling recirculation works from the hot water ascending from the motor to the header tank, the water then cools in the radiator, causing it to descend to the bottom tank and then return into the motor for reheating. Well ..... it works in England .
With the Crossley restored, The one part of the car which gave a lot of trouble was the radiator. When I was getting 26 mpg for petrol and 2 buckets of water that boiled out of the radiator for every 26 miles it was time to see an expert. I was told the usual stories by the radiator repairer... �I�ve never seen one of those before. um.., it is very old and complicated and will cost you this much $$$�. Once back on the car the radiator was cooling a lot better though the small leaks in the header tank which I had pointed out to the repairer, still leaked. He patched them up with little effect. as time went by, the leaks just grew bigger.
While travelling on a car event to a mountain called Arthur�s Seat. a friend, who was travelling behind me noticed water splashing onto the road as I was driving my car, Because my car was old and incontinent he just had to name her �Constance Crossley�, so now the name has become widely used by the car club and therefore has remained stuck. As time went on, her leaks were becoming stronger.
Another friend asked me to take some of his work collegue friends for a picnic at Hanging Rock one weekend. Little did his friends realise that there trip was going to be the Steam Works Sauna on wheels. Water dripped from the header tank, hit the fan, sprayed the motor and then turned into steam. As there is no sealing between engine bay and cabin, you can see what I mean.
With the motor and engine bay covered in rusty water, the time had come for the radiator to be fixed properly. Sound advice came from a vintage car club member of a highly recommended radiator repairer who could do the job well at a reasonable price.
Will Constance still live up to her name?... of course she will. With eight litres of oil in her sump, and no oil-seals to hold it in...
"She�s British!!!
