OUMF trip to Neil and Max Cawthorn’s workshop-Straightening of the OUMF 1959 Riley 1.5 race car chassis

​After the incident at the Goodwood Revival, the OUMF Riley 1.5 required a comprehensive pull on a repair jig to get it back into shape. We were extremely lucky to find that Max and his Dad Neil felt able
to help the team with this job, especially as their workshop, in the town of March in Cambridgeshire, is widely known for its expertise in restoring accident damaged modern and historic automobiles.​An OUMF ‘van-guard’ of Dave Sellars, Tom Grant, and Ding, trailered the Riley to within a few miles of ​March the night before, to...

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spend a wonderfully hospitable and fascinating evening with Jo and Alan
Coombs. After a delicious supper, senior OUMF Alan stunned us with his latest and greatest
Lanchester, a super rare 1925 40hp, absolutely packed with the finest engineering of the time. He is
converting this state-coach-sized behemoth back to its original splendour having been used a hearse
for many years prior to it being laid up in the 1970’s! He already has it running…
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Leaving early, the vanguard and the contingent from Oxford converged on the Cawthorn’s workshop
at around 7.30 am next morning. The first step in the repair process involved a thorough assessment
of the damage to ascertain the exact extent of it. After their assessment, it was a relief to learn that
the Cawthorn’s agreed with what we thought and that the impact damage was limited to the right
hand rear chassis rail, boot surround, and the offside rear quarter panel.

​The team quickly got to work removing the Riley rear axle so the car could be thoroughly secured to
the Celette chassis jig to be precisely measured and straightened. This jig is an essential tool for
restoring cars – and especially classic and vintage ones - to their original alignment. Special brackets
were made up to anchor the Riley to the jig in several places at the front, so that the shell of the car
would not be distorted or further damaged by the hydraulic 10 tonne ram pulling on a slinge point aat
the rear. Once it was secured to Neil’s satifaction, plates were welded to the damaged areas to
anchor the huge chain attached to the hydraulic ram – and the pulling began! Neil’s lifetime
experience paid off in spades as he used heat, and different angles of pull to slowly align the chassis
back to its factory specifications.

Once the chassis rail and spring mounting points were straightened, he turned his attention to the
rear body panels of the Riley which were badly creased during the Goodwood spin. He and three of
his super-skilled craftsmen there utilized their collective expertise to meticulously pull and reshape
the body panels. This process involved using a combination of hand tools, dollies, jemmies, and even a
sledge hammer, along with the hydraulic Dozer equipment, to bend and shape the car back close to
what it was before the accident. Minimal paint and filler would be needed to complete it properly, but
we all felt it looked sufficiently straight to pass scrutineering at Silverstone for the last race of the
year!

So, with the chassis and bodywork ‘de-creased’ enough for Neil’s blessing, the rest was down to us,
and it was time to remove the Riley from the chassis jig, reattach the rear axle, get it back on the
trailer, and after presents and photographs, set off back to Oxford.

​Huge thanks to Alan and Jo Coombs, and to the kindness, dedication and the expertise of Neil and
Max and all the team at the Cawthorn's Repair workshop. We all learned so much from this visit – plus
that we have none of the equipment to do what they did to the OUMF Riley 1.5! So with their
invaluable support, it lived to fight another day in its final HRDC race of the season at Silverstone.

Connor Johnstone - 2 nd year Motorsport Technology