Discussion
Two years since my last update (where does time go)....
My other project passed its MSVA yesterday. I hired a trailer to take it and return it from the test station just over an hour away. Whilst I had the trailer hired I extended the hire period until Monday AM so I'm off to collect the little Austin from the in laws tomorrow.
It's going to be a very tight fit in the garage but we'll get there! Might need to make up a dolly frame to support the car sans wheels but will allow me to move it around a bit..
My other project passed its MSVA yesterday. I hired a trailer to take it and return it from the test station just over an hour away. Whilst I had the trailer hired I extended the hire period until Monday AM so I'm off to collect the little Austin from the in laws tomorrow.
It's going to be a very tight fit in the garage but we'll get there! Might need to make up a dolly frame to support the car sans wheels but will allow me to move it around a bit..
I think there's quite a lot of filler. There's several points on the body where if I poked hard enough my finger would punch right through.
Job 1 will be, as you say, to take the wings off and give it a thorough clean with a pressure washer and get some of the years of grime off.
It will be interesting to see what is revealed when I start attacking it with the flapper/wire wheel! The underneath I think is actually fairly ok. The various multiple oil leaks over the years appear to have glazed fairly it comprehensively in a thick oily sludge.
Think I better order some goggles/masks and ear defenders for the upcoming marathons with the grinder!
Job 1 will be, as you say, to take the wings off and give it a thorough clean with a pressure washer and get some of the years of grime off.
It will be interesting to see what is revealed when I start attacking it with the flapper/wire wheel! The underneath I think is actually fairly ok. The various multiple oil leaks over the years appear to have glazed fairly it comprehensively in a thick oily sludge.
Think I better order some goggles/masks and ear defenders for the upcoming marathons with the grinder!
Edited by Ambleton on Sunday 13th August 20:31
Ambleton said:
Got to the in-laws. Trailer loaded and will head home on the morning!
Closer inspection underneath etc shows substantially more rust than I thought! Worryingly....
Nice one OP! Glad to see the old girl fits in the garage (just about!), and looking forward to seeing you progress with it now you've got her home! Reckon you'll sling a Readers Rides thread up for it or just keep updating this one?Craikeybaby said:
Great stuff! I remember following an A35 on a rainy trackday at Donington Park - it looked like a lot of fun!
First time I drove mine was at Donington in February this year, couldn't get on with the brakes - found out the chap that 'balanced the brake bias front to rear' had set them up to pretty much be entirely working the rear drums and not using the front disc brakes...!
Chunkychucky said:
Nice one OP! Glad to see the old girl fits in the garage (just about!), and looking forward to seeing you progress with it now you've got her home! Reckon you'll sling a Readers Rides thread up for it or just keep updating this one?What wheels have you got on yours. They look great!
I was on the lookout for an early set of rostyles but love the look of yours.
Ambleton said:
Undecided yet. Might sling a reader's ride up.
What wheels have you got on yours. They look great!
I was on the lookout for an early set of rostyles but love the look of yours.
Ok cool i'll keep an eye out on this and the RR section just incase What wheels have you got on yours. They look great!
I was on the lookout for an early set of rostyles but love the look of yours.
They are Weller steel wheels, got them from Rae Davis Racing (along with an ungodly amount of other stuff...), believe they're the same as Weller's Formula Ford steels just with BMC stud pattern. I see RDR have started offering a slightly different design now with slightly-oval holes around the rim, so look slightly different - funnily enough I never wanted them, just had to run them as stipulated by Goodwood Revival/HRDC.
I always wanted some nicely-dished 13" Minilites, or ideally Watanabes (being a Japanese car freak from childhood!) but in all honesty have tonnes of other crap to sort out before that becomes a consideration
Penguinracer said:
Man…that thing is just crying out for an LS conversion…??
It's going to be going as a (fastish) road spec.
If I was going full lairy it would be getting an 1800 Kseries and type9 but it's not.
Chunkychucky - if you have any spares/panels or parts left over from your build that might be of use that your looking to clear out let me know
Ambleton said:
Chunkychucky - if you have any spares/panels or parts left over from your build that might be of use that your looking to clear out let me know
I would do, unfortunately I had the bodywork done on mine probably 15 years ago now, I remember at the time having one of the stapled paper/handwritten parts catalogues you uploaded a picture of previously (Auto Furbish was it?), spent over £1k on damn-near every bloody repair panel they had at the time.I'd definitely recommend keeping an eye out for decent used panels popping up for sale (although these may have started increasing in value now), as the repair panels can sometimes take more time fettling them trying to get them to fit than it's worth investing in before just buying a whole new wing from someone.
Not sure if you're in this group on Faceache, but this is the sort of thing I had plenty of at the start of our bodywork saga:
Penguinracer said:
Ambleton, are you looking to upgrade the original engine with period mods or installing a fast road 1275?
If you do the latter, I’d recommend retaining the original engine should you or anyone else wish to reinstate it to return it to matching numbers.
I think in a previous post the OP mentioned it looked like someone has swapped the 948cc engine out at some point anyway so a 1275 has been procured to be fitted, but happy to be corrected!If you do the latter, I’d recommend retaining the original engine should you or anyone else wish to reinstate it to return it to matching numbers.
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