|
Ru78
Original Poster
52 posts
35 months
|
Afternoon all, Last time I posted a picture of my Austin Seven a few of you asked a bit more about it... so I thought I'd post a few more pictures of it and a bit of background! The car was my fathers originally, but has been off the road since 1969 (last tax disc) although was apparently driven once in the late 70's as part of a house move, but not again after that. it sat outside under an old tarpaulin until the early 80's when our postman asked if he could have a go at restoring it... possibly the best thing as he took it away, dismantled it and put it in a garage... he sorted the chassis,but got no further due to ill health. I tracked the car down in the late 90's and required it (the postman was glad to have his garage back... and me the car)... but I then stored it in my parents garage, waiting to have the time and money to tackle it... another 10 years! So in Oct 2009 I started on the box's of bits, and body shell... The body and chassis before I started.    Rebuilding the engine was way out of my comfort zone... but with guidance from the A& friends website I got stuck in... not sure its perfect, and will have it apart again to improve on a few things.. but working for now...  No wiring or wiring plan meant that I had to figure out a loom from scratch, and changed everything to 12v at the same time... plenty of lessons here to be learnt... mostly not to be som mean on buying different coloured wire, I've ended up with far too many red wires for my own comfort!   Also had the body shell dust coated and sprayed inside before putting it back together...  Finally got as far as getting it on to its own wheels in summer 2011... and had to take the end off the shed to get it out! Plus 6 good friends to lift it off the table it was sitting on!  Then the addition of a nose cone  And the full coat of paint  And lastly a spare wheel and I had the nose cone chromed... plus some new badges...  Looking forward to getting the engine tuned up... and seeing some sun! Thanks for looking, Ru
|
|
|
guru_1071
2,328 posts
103 months
|
that looks great, and a nice history
|
|
|
tr7v8
4,008 posts
97 months
|
That looks fantastic, would love a go in one of these old specials.
|
|
|
Roy C
3,024 posts
153 months
|
Great looking little car.  Thanks for sharing.
|
|
|
XJ13
235 posts
38 months
|
Very nice looking special - thanks for posting.
It has always been at the back of my mind that I would love to produce one of these - perhaps an Ulster replica. One day perhaps!
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
v8250
944 posts
80 months
|
OP, that's a lovely looking Special; thank you for sharing the family history with us all. PS, love the 'ding' on the central rear view mirror...hope it stays with the car 
|
|
|
XRS
47 posts
59 months
|
Was it painted in a "Little" Sussex village? If so, I walked past it during preparation and admired it for a while. Looks lovely.
|
|
|
Major Fallout
4,086 posts
100 months
|
i spent a long time not liking austin sevens including specials for no real reason.
But now I think they are fantastic things! Cracking little engines, that rev and rev!
|
|
|
lotus72
338 posts
135 months
|
that is bluddy georgeous!! I bet it'll be a ton of fun once you've got it on the road. Know where there's another like that?
|
|
|
Ru78
Original Poster
52 posts
35 months
|
Thanks for the positive replies!
Yes it was painted in a little Sussex village, and a few people stopped by as we were preping / rubbing down etc...
As for finding another.. plenty of specials out there, but I've never seen another like this one, I suspect its a one off with the body made in the early 50's... although no evidence of that!
Ru
|
|
|
Steffan
6,190 posts
97 months
|
Nicely restored special. Not over restored which is really good.
I can remember these cars in the 1950's (just) and there are literally hundreds of different types. I would agree with the OP that this was probably built as a special in the 1950's when Colin Chapman amongst others was really putting such cars on the map.
There were a great many such builds although this one does look to be an unusually well sorted car when it was first built as a special which is brilliant. Some of them were very crude indeed.
Very good example and an excellent restoration. Well done indeed.
|
|
|
crankedup
9,240 posts
112 months
|
Simply great that we are still able to build and use cars like this. Have fun.
|
|
|
Jon Brown
375 posts
53 months
|
|
|
NiceCupOfTea
21,959 posts
120 months
|
Absolutely lovely. You can keep your bazillion horsepower supercars and 300bhp overassisted hot hatches, this will be *SO* much fun on the road! Bet it sounds and smells great too!
|
|
|
HustleRussell
4,132 posts
29 months
|
Glorious. Fancy swapping with my Caterham for a day? 
|
|
|
biffonracing
28 posts
21 months
|
Fantastic car,
where are you based, what do you plan on doing with her?
would love to see her join us, once tuned in the 750 Trophy
|
|
|
Hooli
21,222 posts
69 months
|
That's wonderful, I love to have something like that one day.
|
|
|
Ru78
Original Poster
52 posts
35 months
|
Morning,
Biff, I'm based in East Sussex, and will bring it along to a 750 meet later in the year, but unlikely to race this year as too much going on, but may do in the future!
Ru
|
|
|
occrj
176 posts
47 months
|
Cracking shape isn't it, really like that.
RJ
|
|
|
61GT
222 posts
49 months
|
Fantastic looking car. I have a real soft spot for Seven's, particularly specials.
|
|
