Hi Listers,
There has been some talk on Castle floor changes lately, so I thought
I could put in my knowledge. Castle was (is?) a company whose full name
Castle United Developments (CUD) made lots of accessories for cars. Some of
the most common were badge bars and key fobs of the type issued with Rootes
cars new (certainly Humbers in Australia) which were a long black leather
rectangle with rounded ends and a nice enamelled badge hinged to the
centre. On the back of these badges is the name CUD. They had some close
relation to Rootes as their adverts appear in Modern Motoring and Travel
on a regular basis, but from my collection of Rootes parts lists, no
mention is made of their products being listed as options - the key fob is
not listed even though it does appear in some of the official Rootes ads of
the time. Some dealers may have fitted them as options or they may have
been fitted at the request of the owner.
As to the floor change unit for Sunbeam Talbots and Mk Alpines, the
unit I have is currently with a friend who is investigating having the main
casting copied and reproducing the other machined parts. How much interest
is there in getting some more of the castings done? By the way there is a
different unit for the Mk III units as the gearbox was moved back about an
inch so the lengths of the rods and cable would have to be adjusted but the
castings are the same. I got my unit off a MkIII Sunbeam Talbot - nice car
once with OD, Tachometer. When I inspected it it was sitting flat on the
ground with rust all over it and was not able to look underneath it but the
price was right for spares ($150 I think). When I dragged it out of its
resting place, I found the OD had been removed and an earlier standard box
in its place - but at least I got the tacho, floor change, OD switch and
engine block with the tach outlet from the camshaft; all desirable options
and accessories for one of my Alpines. I don't know whether the Castle
change had been fitted since new or put in with the change of gearboxes -
possibly the later because of the difference in lengths of the operating
rods.
Let me know directly or to the list (we need to up the profile of Mk
Sunbeams) on how much interest there is for reproductions and I will see
what can be done.
Cheers,
Roger Foote.
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