For Sale Wolseley needs new home.*bran find* not Focus, KA,Corsa, Vibrator

[D Spares & Tyres]

There is mention of this somewhere but I can't find it so thought it could use its own thread. Its not really shite but although I am fixing it up, it is definitely not a restoration,just getting it back in the road in a useable condition. Lots of welding needed but no bodges, I don't want the rust coming straight through.

 

Bought by me around four years ago, I parked it outside for two years and bought it home after that to start work on it but it got ignored for a year or so.

 

It started life in burgundy but I decided to paint the lower half white or cream to brighten it up.

I can only work on one side at a time due to the size of my garage but that's fine with me, I have been doing one panel at a time to help with moral. If I stripped the whole thing down it would look too daunting.

So I painted the front wing after many hours welding it. Virtually remanufactured the drivers side front panel but winter came before I could paint it so I decided it was time to turn the car around and start welding the other side... Painted it black just to keep the damp out.

You may notice the side is white but the wing is cream. I'm just experimenting with colours and will paint it all again next year

Back in the garage now, it makes a change to see it this way round although it does look sorry for itself

My little lad has renamed it the Holesley for obvious reasons...

[timolloyd]

Good work. I like these with two-tone paint

[D Spares & Tyres]

Some welding pictures. I tend not to take photos as I'm going along, but here's a few of some rot and some repairs

Annoying having to cut away decent metal to get to rot but this was the best way to get to the rotten chassis

No idea if you can buy replacement arches but its as easy to make my own and far more cost effective! Sealed them with some fibreglass filler. It can be painted as soon as it gets warm again in the spring. Until then it can look bodged, but I know the truth.

 

Done loads if welding underneath but you don't need to see all that.

 

Will have a go at the sill end next...

[Squire_Dawson]

Lots of good work, I know these rot for fun, Fisholow bodies a byword for rust! Will be following this with interest, it's a worthwhile project.

[Zantimisfit]

Nice find. Look forward to more photos as you go

[dollywobbler]

More restorations should aim for just 'getting it back on the road!' Good luck with it. I've always found these rather charming. Go well in Riley tune too...

[Mally]

I've raced  few of these in my time............Sorry.

[mercrocker]

Excellent stuff, Mr D.    Putting something like this back on the road inevitably hides the amount of work involved.   Well worthwhile.

[vulgalour]

Two-tone burgundy 1500 you say?  Here's one I did earlier.

 

 

Fortunately I didn't have any welding to do.

 

 

[Ghosty]

Not shite? Don’t be silly.

[Asimo]

Splendid work and the best approach to a home restoration I'm sure.

 

My first few months of (learner) driving was in a burgundy one. (Actually a Riley - running on 3 cylinders only)

[Sudsprint]

What a lovely old car.

[M'coli]

More restorations should aim for just 'getting it back on the road!' Good luck with it. I've always found these rather charming. Go well in Riley tune too...

...and from the stories I've heard of the BSCC in the 60s, the "works" Riley 1.5 engines may have been more like 1.8...

[D Spares & Tyres]

Opened the front garage door to find the Wolseley looking a bit shifty.

 

What is it up to? No wonder it looks so rough....

 

Turns out to be filler dust that had collected in the bumper over rider. The bungy has slipped and all the suspicious looking white powder has fallen on the floor in a neat little pile...

 

More updates later, I'm going to try to finish the n/s/r corner of the car today and put the back end back on wheels

[mercrocker]

That must be why the later ones have bigger nostrils....

[danthecapriman]

Yeah yeah, filler dust. Right....

 

I missed this thread until now, great little cars these.

Brilliant work your doing. I like the two tone paint too, really suits it.

[Junkman]

Good work. I like these with two-tone paint

 

There's nothing wrong with two tone paint as long as both colours are the same shade of beige.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Today I started with the rot on the end if the sill, it wasn't that bad. Its on its original sills. Well mostly

Cut a bit of old washing machine to fit

That'll do. I'll paint it then fill and paint properly next year

Time to move onto other areas

Yep that's a bit past its best,

Every time I measure and cut a plate it ends up wrong so I put the remains on the new metal and spray over it with an aerosol, then I know approximately where to cut

Good enough for me apart from one bit that looked solid but was too thin to world properly so had to cut an extra small plate

Found some filler that was put in the floor years before I had it. This bodge lasted quite well! I strangely enjoy finding ancient bodges

That's it for today. I'll do a couple more hours on it tomorrow.

[Heidel_Kakao]

How do you find using old washing machines compared to some fresh zintec sheet. I have heard washing machine steel is galvanized which is good for rust protection but not so conducive to being welded.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I've raced  few of these in my time............Sorry.

I've raced a Cortina, Escort, Capri, Triumph Acclaim, Maestro, Civic, Lada Riva. They were all worthless old cars at the time, although the Cortina was too good to race really and just on the verge of being a classic.

 

Had far more fun racing that than restoring the Wolseley though! That was years ago. This is my penance I suppose

[D Spares & Tyres]

Lots of good work, I know these rot for fun, Fisholow bodies a byword for rust! Will be following this with interest, it's a worthwhile project.

My Pennant was built by Fishalow too. No rot on that. ☺

[D Spares & Tyres]

More restorations should aim for just 'getting it back on the road!' Good luck with it. I've always found these rather charming. Go well in Riley tune too...

Excellent stuff, Mr D.    Putting something like this back on the road inevitably hides the amount of work involved.   Well worthwhile.

Hours and hours of graft that doesn't really show! Some of the work I have done looks a little shoddy. For instance the rotten floorpans have been replaced with flat steel rather than the fluted originals to save money and time. I've hammered ridges in for strength though but if you look underneath its really obvious where I've skimped. If I was after perfection though, it would never get done

[D Spares & Tyres]

How do you find using old washing machines compared to some fresh zintec sheet. I have heard washing machine steel is galvanized which is good for rust protection but not so conducive to being welded.

I just use the sides which are powder coated I think. Or just whatever steel I can find. I'm out of washing machine so an Audi A3 bonnet is next in line to get butchered

[M'coli]

Every time I measure and cut a plate it ends up wrong so I put the remains on the new metal and spray over it with an aerosol, then I know approximately where to cut

I take it you don't make cornflake-packet or similar cardboard templates?

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Great work - I shudder to think of the underneath TBH. Another on my 'lovely old English cars' that I've shied away from due to a. the crap I've already got   and  b. they apparently rust even more than my exhibits a.!!!!

Two tone would really suit this......

Crack on good sir........

[D Spares & Tyres]

I take it you don't make cornflake-packet or similar cardboard templates?

Yes, sometimes. It depends on how much of the original shape is left or how good the job needs to be!

[D Spares & Tyres]

Great work - I shudder to think of the underneath TBH

Its not as bad as it could be. Although today I have found rot in one of the main chassis rails that run most of the length of the car. It is rotten by the gearbox cross member. There is an lazy part of me that just wants to patch it up and weld the chassis to the crossmember but I must resist the demons from my past... Tomorrow I shall try to remove the crossmember without snapping all the bolts...

[D Spares & Tyres]

 

I reckon the exhaust may have been repaired before

 

Didn't get much done today. Ran out of gas so had to drive to Dudley to get some more

[D Spares & Tyres]

Today's work:

 

Made up the main chassis rail. The bottom section was rotten as was the lower inch of the sides. I enjoy welding steel of this thickness, its much more pleasant than welding thin body panels. No washing machines were harmed today, I got some thick steel offcuts from my local fabricator

 

Looks better with paint. I didn't tidy up the welds with the linisher, it was getting a bit late for making a racket.

 

I have to cut away more good steel tomorrow from inside the car to access the top of the crossmember bolts and weld them in place.

[theshadow]

great work,i use the florescent lighting metal when needs must,,,,