Max’s Mutterings – Four

Continued: –

I was working in a rather large service station on Canterbury Road, sometimes in the workshop and sometimes in front serving petrol (no self service back then.) In my spare time I studied the Payen, Byrne & Blackford gasket catalogue. From this I learnt that I had bought an Alvis 12/50 1923 to 1932. There were 2 sizes of engine – 68mm bore x 103mm stroke and 69mm bore x 110 stroke. The gasket in both engines is a Payen 537 and there was the diagram.

I also learnt from a piston catalogue the compression height of the pistons, 45mm for the short stroke engines and 37 mm for the long stroke ones. As I had no front brakes I figured I had an early car. (Even American cars all had front brakes by 1928.)

As there was no fan or water pump I figured a big radiator would be needed. A trip to Burwood Spares on Parramatta Road, and a rather ugly vintage Standard radiator was modified to fit.

Playing 3rd Grade Churches Cricket at East Bankstown one Saturday afternoon, a rather attractive green tourer drew up, and a bloke wearing the mandatory whites (no multi coloured uniforms on a cricket field in those days) reached into the back of the car for his bat and approached the group. I sauntered over to see what sort of car it was. A red triangular badge on a rather handsome radiator said ALVIS. AHA!

To be continued: –

Lee-Anne’s Loiterings – A wander through Trove found…

Payen, Byrne &​ Blackford commenced business in 1940 as a partnership between C.B. Byrne and E.C. Blackford, producing gaskets and washers. As the company expanded it relocated several times, at the same time forming an association with Engineering Components Ltd. The title of the company then became Payen, Byrne &​ Blackford. The premises shown in the photograph occupied 50,000 sq. ft. of floor space at Eagle Farm. (Information taken from: Queensland Chamber of Manufactures year book, 1963, p.33) https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38019138 (Photo not very informative.) Unidentified (1963).  Head office and works of Payen, Byrne & Blackford, Brisbane, 1963. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland