Austin Seven Special
Discussion
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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