Stop knocking Jowett engineering

[David Kemp]

I have been helping a friend rebuild his Alfa Romeo 156, whilst interesting, I have come to the conclusion we should stop knocking Jowetts engineering.The Alfa is 60 years newer but still has problems, everything my mate touched ,ending up needing replacement , crank, cams….and availability of parts here in Australia was appalling & expensive. Most parts he had shipped from the UK!
General comment from Alfa lovers was" you need to look after your Alfa , by changing oil more often than other cars" . Also working for a VW dealer , we have had numerous golfs come back as absolute duds! Quietly giving the customer a new car or money back.I think the legends of VW reliability, Jowett unreliability need to be reassessed!

[george garside]

and we should of course remember that it was its enviable reputation for reliability and longevit that kept the twin in production from 1910 to 1953!. The javelin was intended as a replacement for the 8 and 10 and was originally to have been 10hp for the home market and 13 for export. It was the Javelins, perhaps unintentional, class leading performance that was also its achiles heal!

george

[Keith Clements]

I can think of only two glaring unreliability issues that beset the Javelin- the crankshaft that broke after a few hundred miles of flat out competition, and the gearbox that was a production decision to bring in house and build on antiquated tooling. Perhaps the head gasket leakage with liner sinkage might also creep in there, but this car was virtually all new and suffered from a small development team with inadequate resources compared to Ford and Morris and the heavily subsidised French and German motor industries.
As I have found on a number of long journeys, keeping to the servicing schedule can be a challenge but it was the norm for a 1950 car.

[ian Howell]

From about 1969 to 1987 I ran my second Javelin with no major problems on day-to-day work motoring and covering over 120,000 miles.

No complaints from me!

[David Kemp]

Spent 4 hours with my Alfa mate this
week end , replacing the clutch master cylinder, what a #$%%$$! nightmare. No accessibility, & some cunning Alfa engineering , made a simple job a pain in rear. The master cylinder was made of plastic! It still cost $300.00! We joke my Jupiter is a hobby car & his Alfa is his daily driver & hobby car! Makes me want my Jupiter on the road ASAP.

[george garside]

Post war 4 cylinder Jowetts enjoyed a degree of publicity that was out of all proportion to the size of the firm (? because of their enviable competition successes and the very advanced nature of the Javelin) As a result the relatively few crankshaft failures and the self inflicted gearbox problems also received a disproportionaly high level of publicity.

It should also be remembered that the Javelin was designed as a replacement for the pre war 8 and 10 hp cars with the intention of a 10hp 1200cc version for the home market and the 1500cc for export. It was not designed as a sports saloon or competition car but was treated by some owners as such.

I had 3 javelins as everyday cas in the 60's and 70's and never had anything fail even with regular running at an indicated 80 and rarely below 70 on what motorways existed then and this was probably the experience of most owners who maintained their vehicles to a high standard with particular attention to lean top quality oil and efficient cooling.

Incidentally George Green , one time service manager and sales manager of Jowetts and latterly managing director of Jowett Engineering had an enormous by pass oil filter ( I think half a gallon capacity) on his personal Javelin (sold to a club member when Jowett Engineering closed , possibly David Ellis or Harry Brierley who both bought Jowett Engineering cars) George Green was firmly of the belief that dirty overheated oil was the cause of most evils and regularly ran his Jav at 80 mph with no problems.

george

[Forumadmin]

Gerald Palmer said to me his one regret on the design of the Javelin was the cooling system. The thermo-syphon design inherited from the pre-war era and augmented by a water pump on the hot side was perhaps not the best solution. But this arrangement did manage to take us over some 7500ft (2300m) passes in California in 108 degree Fahrenheit (42C) air temperatures last month on our way to the Arctic Circle. It did burp a few times and require some replenishment of the coolant up those long climbs from sea-level in about 30 miles but water temperature remained stable.

The suspension thrived on the endless gravel roads much better than most modern saloon vehicles.

English cars of that era were often let down by Lucas electrics in the more harsh conditions. The Javelin also suffered from lack of development by such a small company in the austere post war decade that benefitted the MG and Porsche marques. Materials such as gear steel and good aluminium were in short supply and also some tooling was worn out after war work.

The road holding on radial tyres is exceptional and the aero dynamics and coefficient of drag very good for a 1946 design.

This week at Le Mans the Javelin and Jupiter were planted among a sea of Astons, Porsches and supercars but people looked at them rather than the supercars because now they all look similar and boring.

[BobCulver]

I ran a Javelin for 20 years as everyday transport. For anyone seeking a post war hobby car, I am a strong advocate of Javelins. Relative to others of the time have virtues of technical difference, roominess, handling, performance, and economy, The cars usually quite at home in modern traffic. The wooden floors, semi chassis, easily removed engine, fabricated construction of the engine, simple brakes, suspension, s.as, and hoards of parts, all well suited to amateur work. Unlike many others do not break scarce axle shafts, or wear out irreplaceable steering boxes. The ability to easily raise capacity and c.r attractive.
However the cars do not fare well in realistic appraisal of all the engineering. In their day had a poor reputation and many mechanics were reluctant to touch. With substitute cranks, pistons and main bearings, gearbox thrust washers, and radiator additive the major problems now remedied. Several other design aspects do not qualify for praise; ie the original ignition waterproofing, the light front wheel bearings, basic inconsistent throttle linkage and frail cable, delicate 1st gear (esp JCL), gearbox layshaft bearings. Priority for weight saving was somewhat distorted; heavy grille and front seat, very light gearbox. As with all cars of the time diligent greasing was necessary.
But with problems now well known and usually remedied, cars are notably more reliable now than ever before , and comparable other makes.
As above, in many ways now the ideal sensibly priced post war car. With fewer potential enthusiasts now with any prior association, the challenge is to spread the message.
Curiously in the day Javelins were considered awkward to work on. Yet many tasks more convenient than many contemporaries and infinitely better than any modern.