1958 Austin A35 - the family heirloom...
Discussion
Hi all. (Long post warning)
This build has been a long long time on the cards and will, like my other threads, be a long time in the making.
I hope it doesn't take 6 years like my last build! The benefit of this one is that parts are readily available, relatively inexpensive and there's lots of support and mods available "off the shelf". Rather than having to design and make everything up as I go along.
Let's start off with the background on the little A.
All aboard the time machine for a step back to the 1930s to a young chap called Billy Owen (my wife's maternal grandfather), serving his apprenticeship at the old Austin motor works in Longbridge, before it merged with Morris, Triumph etc to form British Motor Holdings, that later became part of British Leyland.
When the war effort got more severe he joined the Royal Engineers and was one of many who took part in the D-Day landings working on mobile bridges, vehicles, trucks and personnel carriers etc. He was one of the very lucky ones that somehow managed to survive.
After the war he set up a garage in Leek in Staffordshire, mainly working on BMH/BLMC cars of the era (i don't have any photos unfortunately). During his life he had several A30s and A35s. Two that remained were a 1958 black 2 door A35, and a 1957 Palm green 2 door A35.
Here's a picture of Billy with his Palm green A35 (802 RRF) in the mId 90s. Billy died in the early naughties, with his wife, Eileen, surviving until 2015. The car still exists somewhere. It's on the club register and it's presently taxed but the owner is unknown.
The black one (3537E) was given/sold to my MIL in her early 20s and is affectionately known as Bessie. It has remained with her ever since. It has been up/down to brighton a lot and was used extensively for many years. It still has its original Staffordshire number plate, which is worth a fair bit more than the car, but it's staying with it. It has been off the road for about 18 years now. It has been in the family for around 50years, 46 with my MiL. I think throughout it's life Billy did a fair bit on the car. It's had different (standard) gearboxes, engines, axles etc through the 70s and 80s.
There was a bit more of a push on the little A approximately 8yrs ago when my wife announced she wanted the car at our wedding. My FiL did a great job and indeed it did make it to the village hall about 250yards up the road under its own power but ultimately there was just too much to do to get it properly back on the road.
Here are some pics from our wedding of the A35 in 2016.
Fast forward to this weekend just gone. I hired a trailer to take my other project for its MSVA (which it passed) and extended the trailer hire over the weekend.
I drove up to the North Wales border and we hoisted the A35 onto the trailer and dragged it to its new home, inside in the dry for the first time in it's life. It's quite funny. Out in the wild it looks tiny. It's less than 1.4m wide and less than 3.5m long. Looks very big in the garage though!
That concludes the history. In the next lengthy episode I'll go over plans, what we've got and start to document a partial tear down.
This build has been a long long time on the cards and will, like my other threads, be a long time in the making.
I hope it doesn't take 6 years like my last build! The benefit of this one is that parts are readily available, relatively inexpensive and there's lots of support and mods available "off the shelf". Rather than having to design and make everything up as I go along.
Let's start off with the background on the little A.
All aboard the time machine for a step back to the 1930s to a young chap called Billy Owen (my wife's maternal grandfather), serving his apprenticeship at the old Austin motor works in Longbridge, before it merged with Morris, Triumph etc to form British Motor Holdings, that later became part of British Leyland.
When the war effort got more severe he joined the Royal Engineers and was one of many who took part in the D-Day landings working on mobile bridges, vehicles, trucks and personnel carriers etc. He was one of the very lucky ones that somehow managed to survive.
After the war he set up a garage in Leek in Staffordshire, mainly working on BMH/BLMC cars of the era (i don't have any photos unfortunately). During his life he had several A30s and A35s. Two that remained were a 1958 black 2 door A35, and a 1957 Palm green 2 door A35.
Here's a picture of Billy with his Palm green A35 (802 RRF) in the mId 90s. Billy died in the early naughties, with his wife, Eileen, surviving until 2015. The car still exists somewhere. It's on the club register and it's presently taxed but the owner is unknown.
The black one (3537E) was given/sold to my MIL in her early 20s and is affectionately known as Bessie. It has remained with her ever since. It has been up/down to brighton a lot and was used extensively for many years. It still has its original Staffordshire number plate, which is worth a fair bit more than the car, but it's staying with it. It has been off the road for about 18 years now. It has been in the family for around 50years, 46 with my MiL. I think throughout it's life Billy did a fair bit on the car. It's had different (standard) gearboxes, engines, axles etc through the 70s and 80s.
There was a bit more of a push on the little A approximately 8yrs ago when my wife announced she wanted the car at our wedding. My FiL did a great job and indeed it did make it to the village hall about 250yards up the road under its own power but ultimately there was just too much to do to get it properly back on the road.
Here are some pics from our wedding of the A35 in 2016.
Fast forward to this weekend just gone. I hired a trailer to take my other project for its MSVA (which it passed) and extended the trailer hire over the weekend.
I drove up to the North Wales border and we hoisted the A35 onto the trailer and dragged it to its new home, inside in the dry for the first time in it's life. It's quite funny. Out in the wild it looks tiny. It's less than 1.4m wide and less than 3.5m long. Looks very big in the garage though!
That concludes the history. In the next lengthy episode I'll go over plans, what we've got and start to document a partial tear down.
Right... So.... What have we got?
This would be a 1958 A35 2door saloon. Fitted with smiths cabin heater (I don't know if this is an aftermarket or OE but I don't think they all came with heaters as standard). It's not a deluxe, the deluxe had a chrome grille.
Engine is a standard (but not original) 948cc A series fed via a Zenith carb. Positive earth electrics, dynamo.
Front hydraulic drum brakes and rear rod actuated brakes. Yes, that's right, rods....
Lever arm dampers throughout.
It was originally pulled off the road about 18yrs ago because of a rad leak and poorly engine.
The rad was replaced with a ropey looking spare that was in the back of the shed and the head was removed and had hardened valve seats fitted. At the same time the seats and door cards were retrimmed in burgundy red vinyl and they look very smart. The headlining has been replaced. Brakes were worked on but never really got to work.
In the meantime it appears the petrol tank has corroded and filled with gunk and she won't start - this is the least of my concerns right now...
This car will not be a garage or show queen. The aim for the car is to get it back on the road to have fun in and enjoy. The plan is that this will actually be my wife's and so I want to give it more power, better brakes, steering and suspension so it's a bit more usable and less "old". If she doesn't feel safe in it she simply won't drive it, so it has to keep up with modern traffic.
A35s aren't worth a lot of money and the plan is never to sell it anyway. If this was for sale right now it would only be worth about two grand (not including the plate). If it was immaculate it might be worth £7k.
Over the past couple of years I've been collecting parts for this project. These are listed below:
- Ital 1275 A+ engine on a single SU (this needs a rebuild)
- Midget Ribbed gearbox (this needs a rebuild)
Midget rear axle with hardened half shafts and hydraulic rear drum brakes. These internals/brakes will need rebuilding into a spare A35 axle my in-laws have in the shed.
- Sprite anti-roll bar and bracketry
- Midget front suspension/hubs/hydraulic disc brakes. These will need rebuilding/refurb prior to fitting
- Austin A40mkii steering box. These have stronger larger internals and also have a rolling pin that doesn't wear.
- 3.7 rear diff from a sprite (I believe)
I think so far I've spent about £1300 on parts.
In addition to the car and a few parts, I've acquired a fair amount of paperwork, original workshop manuals, handbooks and paperwork.
Before I get to all of that though we have to address the elephant in the room... It's a 65year old BMC car that's been kept outside it's whole life. There's rust.
...and filler.
Front valance is literally made of cornflakes, filler and paint. The front lower panels are very rusty and thin. Front LH outer wing is good but the inner wings look trashed. RH front outer wing is in a pretty bad way. Sills need doing, rear arches need doing, rear panel needs checking. Suspect the bottoms of the doors need some welding too. The floor actually looks ok. I had a poke around with a screwdriver and punched a few new holes....
There's plenty to be cracking on with. Whilst there is a lot of corrosion going on, I've seen a lot worse. My friends have driven around in much worse MX5s! :Hehe:
I have a tame welder and fabricator buddy who's going to come over and have a look over it once I've taken the wings off. Naturally everything is rusted solid so it's a bit of a painful task but we'll get there.
This would be a 1958 A35 2door saloon. Fitted with smiths cabin heater (I don't know if this is an aftermarket or OE but I don't think they all came with heaters as standard). It's not a deluxe, the deluxe had a chrome grille.
Engine is a standard (but not original) 948cc A series fed via a Zenith carb. Positive earth electrics, dynamo.
Front hydraulic drum brakes and rear rod actuated brakes. Yes, that's right, rods....
Lever arm dampers throughout.
It was originally pulled off the road about 18yrs ago because of a rad leak and poorly engine.
The rad was replaced with a ropey looking spare that was in the back of the shed and the head was removed and had hardened valve seats fitted. At the same time the seats and door cards were retrimmed in burgundy red vinyl and they look very smart. The headlining has been replaced. Brakes were worked on but never really got to work.
In the meantime it appears the petrol tank has corroded and filled with gunk and she won't start - this is the least of my concerns right now...
This car will not be a garage or show queen. The aim for the car is to get it back on the road to have fun in and enjoy. The plan is that this will actually be my wife's and so I want to give it more power, better brakes, steering and suspension so it's a bit more usable and less "old". If she doesn't feel safe in it she simply won't drive it, so it has to keep up with modern traffic.
A35s aren't worth a lot of money and the plan is never to sell it anyway. If this was for sale right now it would only be worth about two grand (not including the plate). If it was immaculate it might be worth £7k.
Over the past couple of years I've been collecting parts for this project. These are listed below:
- Ital 1275 A+ engine on a single SU (this needs a rebuild)
- Midget Ribbed gearbox (this needs a rebuild)
Midget rear axle with hardened half shafts and hydraulic rear drum brakes. These internals/brakes will need rebuilding into a spare A35 axle my in-laws have in the shed.
- Sprite anti-roll bar and bracketry
- Midget front suspension/hubs/hydraulic disc brakes. These will need rebuilding/refurb prior to fitting
- Austin A40mkii steering box. These have stronger larger internals and also have a rolling pin that doesn't wear.
- 3.7 rear diff from a sprite (I believe)
I think so far I've spent about £1300 on parts.
In addition to the car and a few parts, I've acquired a fair amount of paperwork, original workshop manuals, handbooks and paperwork.
Before I get to all of that though we have to address the elephant in the room... It's a 65year old BMC car that's been kept outside it's whole life. There's rust.
...and filler.
Front valance is literally made of cornflakes, filler and paint. The front lower panels are very rusty and thin. Front LH outer wing is good but the inner wings look trashed. RH front outer wing is in a pretty bad way. Sills need doing, rear arches need doing, rear panel needs checking. Suspect the bottoms of the doors need some welding too. The floor actually looks ok. I had a poke around with a screwdriver and punched a few new holes....
There's plenty to be cracking on with. Whilst there is a lot of corrosion going on, I've seen a lot worse. My friends have driven around in much worse MX5s! :Hehe:
I have a tame welder and fabricator buddy who's going to come over and have a look over it once I've taken the wings off. Naturally everything is rusted solid so it's a bit of a painful task but we'll get there.
Edited by Ambleton on Tuesday 15th August 22:28
antipodes40 said:
Brilliant. My very first car was a four door A30. Had huge fun in it, despite its diminutive size. The somewhat weak big end gave me my first taste of stripping down and rebuilding engines. Fond memories.
Ah yes, I think the A+ resolved many of the issues of the earlier engines and we substantially stronger.It's a very cute little car and I'm looking forward to getting it back in fighting health
jeremyc said:
Because rece car ... 
It's pretty well understood that to make these cars handle well you lower them, make the front very stiff, add a front ARB, and the rear very soft, removing the rear ARB. Problem with making the rear very soft on a road car is you then can't really take rear passengers or load up for a camping trip. There are lowering blocks available which keep the standard stiffness but lower the back end, so I'll probably end up doing that.
My intention is to fit a telescopic front telescopic damper conversion from FrontLine Developments. This also changes the camber angle of the trunnion.
Edited by Ambleton on Wednesday 16th August 07:02
Bobupndown said:
Nice little project and all the nicer given its long family history.
Will watch with interest.
Where was it first registered, is that it's original registration?
Staffordshire (E) was registered location, and yes, still on its original plate, which is quite nice (but also makes sense) as Leek (where Billy and Eileen resided and Billy had his garage) is in Staffordshire, so a nice link.Will watch with interest.
Where was it first registered, is that it's original registration?
Edited by Ambleton on Thursday 17th August 19:04
THE ROAD TO RUST : PT1
On Monday and Tuesday eve I thought I'd start stripping the front end down to get a better idea of the corrosion.
The front wings are bolt on and so are (in theory) dead easy to remove.
First, the lights come off. Sidelights, indicators, main headlights. Sidelights and indicators came out without any dramas and I was on a bit of a roll. Naturally all other fasteners are seized up solid.
I carefully ground the heads off the headlight bowls and they popped out too.
At this point I turned my attention to the LHS outer wing. All the fasteners down the A-post apart from one snapped straight away so I drilled them out. The other bolts along the top and forward edge were all seized up and after cutting one or two off from inside of the wing I got fed up and moved my attention elsewhere....
The front grille. To remove the front grille the radiator needs to come out. So I took the air filter off the carb and cabin air ducting out (helps with access) drained the radiator and got that out. It's held in with four bolts and none were seized - hurrah. It's looking a bit sorry for itself however.
I'm undecided on what to do with the radiator. Wether to just replace it with a new aluminium one or just get this one re-cored and pressure tested.
Once the rad is out you can access the fasteners for the chrome grille surround/frame and the grille itself. Some snapped, but most came off unscathed.
The front bumper was also removed without issue...
It looks a little sad without its face
At this point my attention went back to the LHS outer wing.... Between the wing and the body is a T section rubber strip to hide the shut gap. Here's a snap of the RHS of the area in question.
I had a smort idea - if I run (carefully) my angle grinder with a 0.8mm cutting disc down the centre of the trim, I'll cut through all of the fasteners and not damage the body too much... IT WORKS! well that saves a load of messing about!
And the front left wing is free!
Oh dear... There's quite a lot of rust
I think about 20yrs ago a local garage (to my in-laws) did the sills on the A35. The inner sill looks like it's just been smashed up into rust and all the other corrosion blissfully ignored....
Front lower panel behind indicator and LHS of valance panel
Upper door hinge area
Lower door hinge area
Front inner wing
Arch to sill
Rear of inner wing
Don't get me wrong. I've seen a lot worse. But it's still quite daunting at this early stage
On Monday and Tuesday eve I thought I'd start stripping the front end down to get a better idea of the corrosion.
The front wings are bolt on and so are (in theory) dead easy to remove.
First, the lights come off. Sidelights, indicators, main headlights. Sidelights and indicators came out without any dramas and I was on a bit of a roll. Naturally all other fasteners are seized up solid.
I carefully ground the heads off the headlight bowls and they popped out too.
At this point I turned my attention to the LHS outer wing. All the fasteners down the A-post apart from one snapped straight away so I drilled them out. The other bolts along the top and forward edge were all seized up and after cutting one or two off from inside of the wing I got fed up and moved my attention elsewhere....
The front grille. To remove the front grille the radiator needs to come out. So I took the air filter off the carb and cabin air ducting out (helps with access) drained the radiator and got that out. It's held in with four bolts and none were seized - hurrah. It's looking a bit sorry for itself however.
I'm undecided on what to do with the radiator. Wether to just replace it with a new aluminium one or just get this one re-cored and pressure tested.
Once the rad is out you can access the fasteners for the chrome grille surround/frame and the grille itself. Some snapped, but most came off unscathed.
The front bumper was also removed without issue...
It looks a little sad without its face
At this point my attention went back to the LHS outer wing.... Between the wing and the body is a T section rubber strip to hide the shut gap. Here's a snap of the RHS of the area in question.
I had a smort idea - if I run (carefully) my angle grinder with a 0.8mm cutting disc down the centre of the trim, I'll cut through all of the fasteners and not damage the body too much... IT WORKS! well that saves a load of messing about!
And the front left wing is free!
Oh dear... There's quite a lot of rust
I think about 20yrs ago a local garage (to my in-laws) did the sills on the A35. The inner sill looks like it's just been smashed up into rust and all the other corrosion blissfully ignored....
Front lower panel behind indicator and LHS of valance panel
Upper door hinge area
Lower door hinge area
Front inner wing
Arch to sill
Rear of inner wing
Don't get me wrong. I've seen a lot worse. But it's still quite daunting at this early stage
Edited by Ambleton on Friday 18th August 06:01
Sensing a lot of angle grinder use in my future I've just popped down to my local Arco on my lunch break and treated myself to a proper pair of over ear defenders, goggles and some dust masks.
Normally I'm fairly blasé when it comes to safety equipment, but i like my ears and eyes and if I'm using a grinder for prolonged periods then I should probably suit up. My pal once got a bit of rust stuck under his eyelid when he was under his car grinding away so I'd rather not have to go through that ordeal.
Whilst I was down at the industrial retail park I popped into Toolstation and got a few more cut off discs and strip discs.
Normally I'm fairly blasé when it comes to safety equipment, but i like my ears and eyes and if I'm using a grinder for prolonged periods then I should probably suit up. My pal once got a bit of rust stuck under his eyelid when he was under his car grinding away so I'd rather not have to go through that ordeal.
Whilst I was down at the industrial retail park I popped into Toolstation and got a few more cut off discs and strip discs.
Edited by Ambleton on Friday 18th August 12:54
Well... Another hour or two in the garage this evening and a few more bits removed.
Battery, blower and heater matrix off. I have damaged the blower during removal but I'm fairly sure it can be bonded back together. The plastic had gon awfully brittle and I've snapped a bit off
The little stack of parts is getting bigger and bigger. I need to get some tote boxes and large clear bags and start labelling stuff now I think.
One of my favourite things when dismantling old stuff is the amount of cowboy bodges you find to "just keep going". A temporary fix turns into a permanent solution, like these ~100mm cable extensions...
I got a bit further than this but not much:
It's also obvious to me now why the hinge supports behind the wing always turn to cornflakes... The roof and A-pillar drain channels run right down to the wing split area and so any and all water will be directed into the void and soak those plates and trapping the moisture.... Perfect.
In addition I also raised the back of the car, drained and dropped the fuel tank. It has a few pin holes in it so instead of trying to repair it, it'll need replacing. Some people do weld fuel tanks after several flushes and then filling with CO² gas, but it's not worth it imo.
Battery, blower and heater matrix off. I have damaged the blower during removal but I'm fairly sure it can be bonded back together. The plastic had gon awfully brittle and I've snapped a bit off
The little stack of parts is getting bigger and bigger. I need to get some tote boxes and large clear bags and start labelling stuff now I think.
One of my favourite things when dismantling old stuff is the amount of cowboy bodges you find to "just keep going". A temporary fix turns into a permanent solution, like these ~100mm cable extensions...
I got a bit further than this but not much:
It's also obvious to me now why the hinge supports behind the wing always turn to cornflakes... The roof and A-pillar drain channels run right down to the wing split area and so any and all water will be directed into the void and soak those plates and trapping the moisture.... Perfect.
In addition I also raised the back of the car, drained and dropped the fuel tank. It has a few pin holes in it so instead of trying to repair it, it'll need replacing. Some people do weld fuel tanks after several flushes and then filling with CO² gas, but it's not worth it imo.
Edited by Ambleton on Saturday 19th August 07:35
ferret50 said:
I was planning on K series engine/Mazda 6 speed 'box for this project,
Unfortunately I suffered a minor stroke so that level of DiY is now a distant dream!
OP, a car in bits takes up a lot more room than a complete one, would stripping a bit, fixing, rebuilding and moving on work for you?
Oh yes, I imagine a Kseries Mazda box midget would change a lot of boy racers smug faces. Would be fairly lairy too I'd have thought!Unfortunately I suffered a minor stroke so that level of DiY is now a distant dream!
OP, a car in bits takes up a lot more room than a complete one, would stripping a bit, fixing, rebuilding and moving on work for you?
I know a car in bits takes more room but not sure there's much way around it. There's not much to the little A anyway. Once the wings are off and engine and box out that's pretty much it I think. The interior can come out too but in order to keep it rolling the suspension, brakes and steering need to remain. So that's pretty much it.
and31 said:
Excellent thread-this will be a hoot to drive with a tasty 1275 lump!!
That's the plan. I don't want to go too fiery with the engine. 75-80bhp would be nice. Don't need to go mad but originally the A35 had about 34bhp. I suspect today that's more like 20-25bhp so 75bhp and a heap more torque would be very welcome!Hagus said:
Had one when when I was 17 or 18 (early 90’s) drove round in a constant 4 wheel drift on the crossplies ?? sweet 948 did 78 mph on the clock slipstreaming a box van ??
When I adjusted the brakes I got maybe half a dozen reasonable stops…
Fantastic project ??
Ha. Nice, although I suspect your Speedo might have been over reading a tad When I adjusted the brakes I got maybe half a dozen reasonable stops…
Fantastic project ??
I'm hoping the upgrade to midget front discs and rear hydraulic drums should make for a more sure footed brake feel and reasonable stopping distance!
and31 said:
I think 80 ish bhp is a sweet spot for a 1275 A series. I’ve only had experience of it fitted in mini’s, and had some road cars with serious power(1380 that was 127bhp!) but a right pain in the arse unless flat out!!
80bhp will make a very tractable engine and be lovey to drive.
Good to know that my intentions are about right from people who have experience of these engines. One of the guys I spoke to about the engine rebuild said that 75-80 was a nice place to be with a larger single SU. Said a lot of people go twin smaller SU but it doesn't actually give you anything other than balancing issues and slightly worse fuel consumption. (With that kind of power)80bhp will make a very tractable engine and be lovey to drive.
I might have a bit of a change of tack on a few items.
1- To keep the cost down a little (at least in the short term)
2- To try and keep more original items on the car
3- Done a bit more research.
First up the fuel tank. You can buy a new shiny alloy one off the shelf for about £450. Or I could try and repair this one. POR15 sell a tank revival kit which is a multi stage clean/etch/liner and essentially bags the tank internally, repairing pin holes and giving a fuel proof liner for years to come. I'll clean up the outside first and see if any chunks come off before committing!
Second is the rad. An alloy one is about £250, but by all accounts a re-cored original with a 3row core is more than capable of keeping up with the demands of the 1275 A+, even if driven hard. I work next door to a radiator specialist, so I can pop in one lunchtime next week and see what they say.
In theory that should save me about £500, which will surely be swallowed up with welding.
If possible I'd like to try and get the other wing off today so I can have a peek under the RHS too.
1- To keep the cost down a little (at least in the short term)
2- To try and keep more original items on the car
3- Done a bit more research.
First up the fuel tank. You can buy a new shiny alloy one off the shelf for about £450. Or I could try and repair this one. POR15 sell a tank revival kit which is a multi stage clean/etch/liner and essentially bags the tank internally, repairing pin holes and giving a fuel proof liner for years to come. I'll clean up the outside first and see if any chunks come off before committing!
Second is the rad. An alloy one is about £250, but by all accounts a re-cored original with a 3row core is more than capable of keeping up with the demands of the 1275 A+, even if driven hard. I work next door to a radiator specialist, so I can pop in one lunchtime next week and see what they say.
In theory that should save me about £500, which will surely be swallowed up with welding.
If possible I'd like to try and get the other wing off today so I can have a peek under the RHS too.
Edited by Ambleton on Sunday 20th August 09:27
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