NV 2803 - 1933 McEvoy Special

[Ronald]

Ian, i've just read some of this thread, and was surprised by the fact that Bev had visited the Mcevoy house in Iver, not only does mums sister now live in iver, i'm pretty sure the wife of the chap that lives in our old cottage was living in the gate house of Iver house until she met her now husband...... the world continues to get smaller....

Ronald.

PS, mum says that Bev didn;t get his own Mcevoy until a few yrs after his vist to the Mcevoy's.... maybe that inspired his search for a car!!

[Ian Grace]

Hi Ronald - very interesting. I recently put Bev on to another McEvoy which is currently languishing in Wantage - much mutilated and with a Rover engine, but it could be sorted and Bev may be the man for the job.

[Ian Grace]

Bit of an update on the McEvoy. It is now at the shippers in Colnbrook, alongside the Olive Willats fabric saloon which is currently going through the V765 registration recovery process in the good hands of Michael Worthington-Williams.

I have a new Hardy-Spicer prop shaft and couplings supplied by Clive Hamilton-Gould to go in the container, along with a set of new tyres.

I have just received from Bev Hicks his article for the Yearbook on his McEvoy which he owned back in the sixties. In it he mentions that he has a letter from the previous owner - a Geoff Perrin - in which he mentions that he once met up with another McEvoy from the Cambridge area, and that this was painted cream. On the photos of NV (see below), the cream colour can clearly be seen under the more recent green. The car was last on the road in 1957, and since Bev acquired his McEvoy in 1961, then Mr. Perrin must have seen it some time in the mid to late fifties. Small world!

As for restoration plans, as mentioned before, I had planned to fit a 1932 season radiator and delete the rear valence. On second thoughts, I think I will keep it perfectly original to the 1933 specification, which means that I will need a late-pattern front valence (the car has none at present). Can anyone help?

[Ian Grace]

One of the deciding factors in planning to keep this car as original as possible is that the only other 1933 season McEvoy known to exist is the ex-Bev Hicks, ex-Chris Dunster car TJ 1876 that went to Germany and thence to Belgium in the eighties. The last known owner of this car was Roger Carrette who joined the Morris Register with it in 1987. He is no longer a member of the MR, and there is no record of when he left.

I have written to Roger at his last known address - a long shot, of course, but definitely worth a stamp. This is one of those rare Minors that we need to pull all the stops out to find.

[Simon]

Mine is a 33 Jensen, or at least parts of it. Would you please check the chassis number against your records. I have got what I think is the correct front vallence, but it needs to be checked with the correct side valve radiator. Over to you. Is anybody thinking of making front vallences for cammy Minors.

[Ian Grace]

Hi Simon,

Your Jensen's (which may be a McEvoy) chassis number is SV31636 which puts it firmly in the 1933 season. The front valence on your car doesn't match any seen on contemporary photos of McEvoys/Jensens.

Here's yours:



But here is your car back in the sixties when owned by Frank Turner - with no valence at all:



I'll post a wartime pic of the front of the ex-Bev Hicks' McEvoy later today which shows the standard 1933 season Minor front valence fitted, which is what I believe our cars should have.

[Ian Grace]

Well, this is interesting. I just scanned and blew up the image of Bev's McEvoy, clearly taken during the war. It is difficult to see clearly, but from this image, I can't rule out the possibility that the valence currently fitted to your car is indeed original. We know that the 1932 season McEvoys had custom-made louvered front valences fitted, so there is no reason to suppose that they retained the factory valence for the 1933 cars. And also, although your car has been fitted with a vintage radiator for decades, your valence is clearly made to suit the 1933 season radiator shell which dips down below the front cross-member.



For comparison, here is the stock 1933 season front valence:



It looks very much like the wedge-shaped fillets inside the chassis rails of the stock valence are absent from that fitted to Bev's car. Conclusive?

[Ian Grace]

For completeness, here's some more McEvoy/Jensen valences.

First, the prototype 1932 car RC 300 - clearly a non-stock valence:



Next is Jim Peacop's 1932 car:



Next is Sarah Gibson's 1932 car's front valence back in the sixties:



And the same car today:

[Ian Grace]

I have finally found the ex-Bev Hicks 1933 McEvoy TJ 1876. It is indeed in Belgium where it was last heard of 23 years ago.

Here's the e-mail I just received from the current owner:

"Dear Ian,
I received to day your kind letter about these car. Yes, indeed, I am the owner of the TJ 1876 car, and I restored it. As soon of possible I collect all the documentation I have and send it to you, but please, i ask you to be patient a few days. I appologise for my very bad english, but, I promes you to do my best to help you in your restoration."

More anon!

[ashford]

Here's a link to the ex Mike Gibson McEvoy model 70 car on youtube:

1932 McEvoy Special Model 70:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWZQQreKDpg

I suspect you have seen these before but while I'm at it here's links to lots of other McEvoy Specials of different types:

1939 McEvoy Steyr:
http://www.svvc.co.uk/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=84

1933 fwd BSA McEvoy Special:
http://www.bsafwdc.co.uk/page17.php

1932 Star McEvoy Special:
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/1932 ... egd7o0lxv3

1927 McEvoy JAP:
http://www.motorbase.com/auctionlot/by-id/264179452

Have you spoken to Robin Moore on the subject of McEvoys? He has owned atleast one of the Wolseley Hornet McEvoys for many many years and may well have more info. There must be enough McEvoys out there to start an owners club!

[ashford]

Hi Ronald - very interesting. I recently put Bev on to another McEvoy which is currently languishing in Wantage - much mutilated and with a Rover engine, but it could be sorted and Bev may be the man for the job.

Is this the morris special known as 'Lord Pembleton'? - it was sold in Surrey about 6 years ago and consisted of a morris minor side valve chassis with Rover engine (probably 1930s rover 10) .

[Ian Grace]

Actually, no it isn't - it is the KK Special - XJ 5717 - now JHT 596.

I don't have any data on Lord Pembleton - I'd be keen to learn more.

Looks like I finally have the shipping set up for the McEvoy and the fabric saloon - sailing on the Kobe Express, ETD Southampton 18th March, ETA Seattle 17th April.

[Ian Grace]

Story from Cheshire Life courtesy of Jim Peacop. The jury is still out regarding whether this is a McEvoy or a Jensen, but that is another story.

http://cheshire.greatbritishlife.co.uk/ ... cop-26010/

[Ian Grace]

Time for a quick update on the McEvoy. Today was the first chance I have had to take a good look at it. The first task was to clean out the body which was awash with the debris of decades - 54 years in less than ideal storage, to be exact - she was laid up in 1957. Hundreds of snail shells filled the foot wells - evidence of much fine dining by the resident mice who had done a good number on the rear seat squab. it looked quite presentable before shipping, but six weeks of vibration destroyed it to the point of being almost unrecognizable. What seemed to be the remnant chunks of horsehair turned out to be one massive mice nest and most of it ended up on the garage floor because the underlying ply board disintegrated.



The cleaned out office showing the hydraulic brake conversion. Amazingly, the inch or so of pedal cross-shaft that was cut off to accommodate the rather bizarre brake pedal box was found buried in the debris in the rear foot well.



A vertical shot showing the broken nearside ash sill rail - possibly another consequence of its recent container voyage and the accompanying weeks of vibration. The frame is suffering from extensive dry rot and woodworm and most - if not all - will need replacing.



What is left of the rear seat squab.



These photos look grim, but they record the low ebb for this car. It is completely original and all the patterns are there - it now has a bright future and will make a superb car in due course.

[Ian Grace]

One more thing - In sorting out the engine parts, I discovered that someone has replaced the rear main roller bearing with a solid steel bush - lined with white metal. I have not seen that done before. Has anyone seen this done before? I highly doubt that this was a McEvoy modification - but I suppose it is possible.

The cylinder block has has its number 1 and 4 manifold studs replaced with very long ones to accommodate the McEvoy manifold, and in one of the boxes of bits I found one of the two heavy steel plate bridge pieces that fit over these two studs to hold the manifold on. So I have one to use as a copy to make another.