Sold 1972 Austin 1100 - SOLD

[UltraWomble]

SEDNESS

[SiC]

Understandable but still

 

Is this the sill?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Austin-1100-1300-Sill-62-78-/331321446164?epid=1555719689

 

Or is it made up of several bits like the MGB is?

[vulgalour]

ADO16 sills are pretty complicated, I assume because they're also effectively the chassis of the car.  They have four parts:

 

Outer - this is the bit you see outside the car, obviously, once you see rot on this it's usually much too late for the rest.

Intermediate - this goes on the back of the outer and is the one that's rotted in the pictures above

Inner - this is the curved panel that joins the bodyshell to the floor

Closing - fits underneath the sill and joins the floor to the outer sill.  Also keeps all the road muck and water out of the inside of the sill.

 

I'm going with Earlpart panels which does mean spending quite a bit more cash, but they have a really solid reputation for fitting well and saving hours of fannying around making the panels fit, so it's worth the extra expense.  I need to order a pair of outer sills, intermediate panels and possible jacking points since those seem to be missing too.  All that is going to come out at around £300-500 I think, once postage and VAT are factored in.  It's not terrible for full sill replacement since I can DIY on this.  Using man maths, the investment in new sills on top of the other costs (meagre though they are) is about what it would have cost me to buy this car to start with so I end up being a little ahead since I'll have a more solid car than I could have afforded to buy.

 

Of course, if I'd just gone out with some savings and bought a car I could have started off with something better in the first place, but where's the fun in that?

[SiC]

Sounds a bit like the MGB sills.

 

Tbh, even if you did spend more with the intention of getting a "better" car it still likely would have bits rotten somewhere and need attention. At least when this is all done and finished, you'll know it back-to-front that its solid.

 

I also feel that if you put blood sweat and tears into something, you become more bonded and feels more like its your own.

 

Whats the story with the GT6 behind the 1100? I do love the look of the GT6, shame they're pretty pricey.

[spartacus]

Bad luck Vulg, you've obviously thought about it and come up with a plan that makes sense to you and that's what matters. From what we've seen in the past I reckon you'll drop onto this in a few months and blitz the sills in a weldfest frenzy.

[vulgalour]

SiC: It's a long-termer.  Destined to have a different bodyshell fitted if the chassis is sound, just been waiting its turn since it needs a few folks to help remove and refit the bodyshells.

 

Spartacus:  Hope so!  I reckon when I have a weekend properly free of other things I'll get that floor sorted out and then I'll be free to pull off the outer sills and bosh new ones on in no time.  Fitting new panels to nice clean metal is always loads faster and easier than trying to patch bits into old stuff.  The prospect of putting it all right is pretty exciting rather than daunting.

[junkyarddog]

That's such a shame,

and you were steaming along with it.

 

Still,sometimes it is wise to take a step back at times.

[Felly Magic]

You have done well. Thinking about a comission for you to do atm as well

[outlaw118]

 

 

Of course, if I'd just gone out with some savings and bought a car I could have started off with something better in the first place, but where's the fun in that?

That's got to be a caption on the calendar or summert.

 

Good luck dude, you've made a sound decision I reckon, take a break before it all becomes a massive PITA.

[purplebargeken]

It's always a bit frustrating to find worse bits,especially worse bits that are structure vital. Having a break from the car is an excellent idea, as you say it will give you time to save up for the appropriate metal bits and the Austin mojo will be replenished once again.

[SiC]

This is for the MGB wing, but still interesting to see how much work really goes into replacement body panels. Makes a bit more sense when you see the prices of this stuff and also how if a company doesn't have the original tooling and plans, it can be such a crap fit.

[Shep Shepherd]

Poor little car

[wuvvum]

As others have said, with an ADO16, it's perfectly possible to find nearly as much grot as this on a shiny MOT'd example - it's just what they do.

[mercrocker]

Yep, you could have spent 3 grand and got this far....

[D Spares & Tyres]

No rush. Its been an interesting read so far. Restoring cars is meant to be enjoyable so don't blame you for putting it to one side. You have done more on this in one month than I have done on my Wolseley in three years!

[SiC]

This is for the MGB wing, but still interesting to see how much work really goes into replacement body panels. Makes a bit more sense when you see the prices of this stuff and also how if a company doesn't have the original tooling and plans, it can be such a crap fit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRrOJ8cDNPg

Oops. I put this in the wrong thread, but I guess it's still revenant to this!

[MikeKnight]

That also explains why it made horrible crunching noises when we tried putting it on the lift.

 

There was literally no connection between sill and body.

 

Thank goodness we stopped at touching the pads to the sills and didn't actually lift it. The wheels would've probably stayed on the floor..

[purplebargeken]

Fuck.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

That's 1100's for you. Most were that rotten in 1982.

 

Dropping the rear frame out of these is really, really easy - far easier than the Mini where the bolts snap off in the sill ends.

[DodgeRover]

That also explains why it made horrible crunching noises when we tried putting it on the lift.

 

There was literally no connection between sill and body.

 

Thank goodness we stopped at touching the pads to the sills and didn't actually lift it. The wheels would've probably stayed on the floor..

Strewth lifting anything over about 5 years old under the sills is asking for trouble in my experience, that's why I'm not keen on those hoists. I always jack/ support under something definitely solid..

[vulgalour]

It was fun, the car is too small for the lift.  The arms on the lift don't go short enough to reach all of the sensible lift points on the car like, you know, subframe mounting points or whatever. So we had to use the sills, which looked okay-ish until the recent discoveries were made and it became clear just how bad this had got.  Just as well we were gently-gently with it at the time so no damage was done.

[vulgalour]

Today the closing panels arrived.  I'm glad I ordered these rather than trying to make them myself, they're quite a complicated shape with a slight taper to the ends I would have struggled to replicate.  They'll also be massively easier to fit than anything I could make myself.

 

20170926-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Next on my shopping list for the 1100 are a pair of intermediate sills (about £50, plus postage) and a pair of outer sills (about £200, plus postage) so I can put all the grot right.  In the meantime I need to finish repairing the floor and inner sills and get the clutch master cylinder rebuilt so the car is easier to move around for the big welding that it'll require.

 

Probably won't get on with this properly until next year, my calendar of obligations is pretty full and things are unlikely to quieten down until February 2018.

[SiC]

I can't like that post enough because of progression, even if not a lot, is still being made. Like a lot of others, I'm really looking forward to seeing this on the road.

 

I may or may not have a slight regret that I didn't get a 1100 as my first classic instead of the MGB.

[chaseracer]

That's 1100's for you. Most were that rotten in 1982.

 

Most were gone by 1982! 

[purplebargeken]

I think you made a very sensible decision to mothball this for a while. It can get a bit grrr, when you discover way more rot than you or others anticipated. 

 

It's great to see you collecting the appropriate panels for the little car and let's be honest, by the time it gets finished, you will have extended its useable life by a good couple of decades I would say.

 

It will be a slow win, but a win all the same.

[vulgalour]

Probably won't be completed until after the MoT exemption thing comes in but I'll be getting it MoT'd anyway.  Still not really sure how that's going to work with insurance and stuff.

[barrett]

Exactly the same way it works now, ie it will make no difference whatsoever. If it doesn't need a MoT then why would your insurers be concerned whether it has one or not? They certainly don't have anything g to say about the approx. 200,000 MoT exempt vehicles currently on the roads...

 

Anyway, good to see some progress and props for taking a step back until you're in a position to do it properly. I'm gonna be mothball in my BX soon and saving a bit of money to get it sorted properly rather than just chipping away a piece at a time. Must be getting old.

[vulgalour]

The green BX or the silver one?  I reckon the boat's sailed on me owning another BX, they're a cracking car if you can keep topside of the rust.

[barrett]

The gold one. Most of the others have been disposed of, two are going in the next two weeks and then I'm down to two. I can categorically state five is too many BXs at once.

They're still dirt cheap though, there were like nine on ebay last week and I don't think any of them broke £500. I'll have mk2 14 next I reckon.

[vulgalour]

Must have missed that one if you posted about it.  I don't remember a gold one.  There were a lot on eBay recently, trouble is I don't want a diesel one and I'd like an estate.