Dicky's tat: My first prewar car

[Angrydicky]

I've owned loads of older cars, but never anything made before WW2. I've wanted to rectify this for the last few years, but with prices on the up it's taken a while to find the right sort of car.

 

My criteria was:

 

1930-1947ish

Saloon

Not an Austin Seven or Morris Eight

Four seats and mid-size - I didn't want anything tiny, but didn't want to have to garage a limousine either.

Oily rag/original condition

Good history

Running and driving (not a complete project)

Original reg number

 

I kept looking, but even those cars in need of full restoration were fetching top, top money. 

 

Then, in the summer, my friend Andrew offered me his 1935 Standard for a very reasonable price. The car was just what I had in mind, but there were a few things that I was a bit concerned about. For my budget, though, I had to make some sacrifices:

 

There was no history, and the original reg had been sold years ago. It's now on an Audi (sniff!).

The front seats and headlining have been retrimmed, though at least it retains its original rear seat, which is in need of some repair. It was running, but had broken down with some unspecified fault, possibly distributor related, so was being sold as a non-runner.

Paintwork was tatty, though it was a poor respray in the 1980s instead of genuine patina. And, perhaps most importantly, some parts were missing. Most notably the sunroof, hubcaps, bonnet catches and horns.

 

Here's some of Andrew's pictures when he found it, and once he'd done a bit of work and got it running and driving:

 

 

 

 

 

I agonised about it for a while (as I'd just bought the Vauxhall Royale) but decided to go for it. The other problem was that the car was up in Penrith, Cumbria and I needed to get it to my parents garage in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. Fortunately, Andrew's dad Geoff agreed to deliver it on his trailer. 

 

This was my first view when it arrived outside!

 

 

We rolled it off the trailer, removed the tarp and pushed it down to the garage.

 

 

Andrew had had some fun and games with the Standard club trying to get the car registered, as there was no paperwork when he got it. After being given some duff information and, having had no luck with the club, he went direct to the DVLA who did a search using the chassis number. It seemed the car did have a number, MSJ 262, which it was given when the original number was sold in the '90s, but plates had never been made up and the logbook had been lost after the then owner died.

 

First job I did was to make some better number plates for it. Most satisfying!

 

 

 

The 1608cc sidevalve engine had allegedly been rebuilt, and once dad and I got it running, we had no reason to doubt it. It's smooth and sweet, with good compression. It came with some ancient 'Lodge' plugs in a box of spares, which it now, unsurprisingly, runs better on than the modern NGK items it came fitted with. The 'failure to proceed' was indeed a very worn dizzy, now fitted with electronic ignition so it runs happily, but the distributor will be rebuilt in due course, as will the carburettor. The water pump is leaking slightly and needs a new bearing, so I'll send that off to the magicians at E.P. Services in Wolverhampton.

 

 

 

Inside, it's quite tidy but there's more bits missing here including the clock mechanism, some trim panels and the end pieces from the under-dash shelf. The windscreen mechanism operates well.

 

 

 

 

The rear seat base is original. It has some mouse damage so will have to be carefully repaired.

 

 

Five wheels, four with new tyres, and a stainless exhaust. The body has been removed from the chassis, which was cleaned and painted before the body was fitted back on with proper sound deadening etc. All four shock absorbers have been replaced with later type and the pivots modified accordingly - we think the fronts are A30/35 rears and the rears are Morris Minor fronts! 

 

 

The next job was to take the window frames, dashboard and wheels to where I work, Past Parts in Bury St Edmunds, where I stripped and cleaned them in my lunch hours. The window frames and dashboard should be painted with wood-effect paint - sadly this is long gone and they had been painted flat brown which I stripped off. I need to find some method of recreating the original finish. 

Three of the wheels have now been powdercoated black. One is worse than the others, which will become the spare.

 

 

The missing sunroof was arguably the biggest problem. I tried without success to find one. We decided we'd have to go down the route of building a wooden frame and adding strengthening ribs. Then, we had a stroke of luck. Work were clearing out a load of steel shelves, so I saved a few to use as sheet steel. Anyway, dad saw them and had an idea, he measured them and found that some were exactly the right length to fit the roof aperture. So, some slight modifications later, and we have a roof that opens and closes perfectly. Still needs final finishing, a better handle, headlining and covering with black vinyl on the outside, but for the princely sum of £0, I can't complain.

 

 

 

 

After that, we removed the front and rear wings and spent some time knocking out dents and filling where necessary. Both door bottoms were fairly rotten and had been filled in the past. These received welded repair sections and the wooden frame below was filled to line it all up. The running boards are custom made aluminium items, which are very strong. All the wooden floor has also been replaced to a high standard.

 

[egg]

Brilliant. What's the plans for usage? Daily driver!?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Love it, major jealousy felt. 

[Angrydicky]

Brilliant. What's the plans for usage? Daily driver!?

In the summer I don't see why not, though it'll probably just be used for trundling to the shops, to work occasionally, or to the odd show if I'm feeling brave. Road runs would be good. Hadn't given it much thought really!

[Angrydicky]

 

The sunroof has four drain tubes, two above the windscreen on each side and one each on the side of the car towards the back. These had also been replaced along with all the channelling for the sunroof. One part I wasn't happy with were these little exterior drain covers. I didn't know exactly what they should look like, but I knew these weren't original as they were the only square thing on a streamlined, curved, Art Deco era design. I removed one and found that it had indeed been made out of thin aluminium. So I made some more appropriate ones out of sheet steel. I'm not sure exactly what they should look like as the cars are that rare I haven't seen another up close, but they certainly look the part. I'll get them silver zinc plated at work before they are finally fitted.

 

 

 

While I've been at work, dad's been continuing rubbing down, filling and priming. He took the boot lid off and spent a lot of time knocking out all the dents and filler in it. The car has clearly been driven into a lot of things over its 82 years! He also discovered that the lower valance panel is in fact fabricated from aluminium. It's a very good job, so it's staying.

 

Eventually, we got to the 'turning around' stage, so had the tyres fitted back onto the two offside wheels I cleaned and had powdercoated, and got it off the axle stands and back onto its wheels for the first time in two months. Note my Clarke's Atlas valve radio on the left, which is a similar age to the Standard.

 

 

Also note the boot hinges, which we think are from a MK1 Mini! It should have internal hinges, but these are missing. 

 

 

Reconnected the battery, and without priming the fuel pump, the engine started second pull of the starter and ran well on choke. I hadn't driven it before, so I reversed it down the drive for some pictures. It feels great, with a really smooth clutch and gears. Can't wait to take it out on the road, but while it is taxed and insured, it's some way off being road legal yet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managed to find one hubcap on eBay - does anyone have any more?

 

 

And reversed back into the garage to start stripping the shoddy paint off that side: 

 

[eddyramrod]

Wow.  Seriously wow.

[Felly Magic]

Blimey!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

What a lovely old Standard, and cracking thread to see the year out with. As it has no history, it'd be worth paying a fiver to the Welsh and getting a list of previous registered owners. It should be interesting how far back their records go, and whether they can provide you with any potential leads on where it's lived over the years?

[320touring]

I have found my next "old car goal"!

 

Top work and thread, excellent:)

[Tickman]

I have found my next "old car goal"!

 

 

 

I'm busy that day those days

 

I have never been in a pre war car and judging by the projects I have waiting I shouldn't until I am in a position to 'need' one.

[Sigmund Fraud]

The window frames and dashboard should be painted with wood-effect paint - sadly this is long gone and they had been painted flat brown which I stripped off. I need to find some method of recreating the original finish. 

 

Would you consider hydro-dipping ? Or is that too high-tech for ye olde Standard ?

[320touring]

Would you consider hydro-dipping ? Or is that too high-tech for ye olde Standard ?

Interesting suggestion, good plan!

[Guest Hooli]

Absolutely brilliant, I'd love a pre-war car.

[stonedagain]

If it kicks off between Trump & North Korea, we'll all have pre-war cars!

[Squirrel2]

Brilliant! Well done on what you have achieved with this Standard.

 

A lovely project and a car from an era when things were well-made and designed to be repaired. Looking forward to progress updates too, as I love restoration threads like this.

[Squire_Dawson]

I believe the wood effect you are looking to re-create is called scumbling. It was very popular and most convincing but fell out of favour in the 1950s when tastes began to change, and the rot set in. That is some good shite and with a 1600 engine should be quite useable. The only problem I have with pre-war cars is their body shape, incorporating running boards and which tapers towards the front, gives a very narrow passenger compartment and severely restricts legroom.

[mercrocker]

Wonderful thing!   Would be quite happy sat in that in the garage with "Roll Along Prairie Moon" coming out of that wireless.

 

I too have a yearn for something pre-war but unless I can find a folding one I don't think it will be happening.....

[spartacus]

Ace, it'll never happen but I like to think I could use something like this as a daily. Envious for sure.

[brownnova]

Awesome!!! Like others I too would love a pre war car but am too much of a wuss currently... one day.

[Angrydicky]

What a lovely old Standard, and cracking thread to see the year out with. As it has no history, it'd be worth paying a fiver to the Welsh and getting a list of previous registered owners. It should be interesting how far back their records go, and whether they can provide you with any potential leads on where it's lived over the years?

I was under the impression that they'd stopped releasing details under the data protection act, or some such bollocks. Apart from to cowboy parking firms, which is of course acceptable.

[Angrydicky]

I believe the wood effect you are looking to re-create is called scumbling. It was very popular and most convincing but fell out of favour in the 1950s when tastes began to change, and the rot set in. That is some good shite and with a 1600 engine should be quite useable. The only problem I have with pre-war cars is their body shape, incorporating running boards and which tapers towards the front, gives a very narrow passenger compartment and severely restricts legroom.

Yes, most of them are like that sir. That's why you should hire a chauffeur to be cramped in the front while you lounge around in the back.

I'll definitely look into that process, sounds like it could be just the ticket!

[danthecapriman]

Most excellent! Lovely little car.

I'd love a WW2 military staff car myself, American ideally! It's unlikely to happen though!

 

Can't wait to see more.

[meshking]

Nicely done! Very jealous, a pre war car is next on my list to own.

 

Sent from my SGP621 using Tapatalk

[bezzabsa]

gunna be a cracker when it hits the road..

[johngarty]

A (very) late entry for thread of the year. 

[beko1987]

I've always wanted to daily something like this, park it at the front of the office car park etc!

 

Lovely old thing! 82 years old, I've got a Hoover that old

[eddyramrod]

Dan, you were saying...?  It's on your doorstep too, at £20k.  Not unreasonable if you were to sell your others (except the Capri obviously).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Packard-Clipper-PETROL-MANUAL-1940/311665683338?hash=item4890b8eb8a:g:L~MAAOSwoydWrG4f

[wuvvum]

This is lovely!  I'd love another prewar car, although with prices going the way they are it's unlikely, at least in the immediate future.  I reckon 12hp cars are the sweet spot, having enough power to be more or less usable in modern traffic, but still small enough to be easy to store and economical-ish to run.

 

Are the brakes cable or rod on these?

[danthecapriman]

Dan, you were saying...?  It's on your doorstep too, at £20k.  Not unreasonable if you were to sell your others (except the Capri obviously).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Packard-Clipper-PETROL-MANUAL-1940/311665683338?hash=item4890b8eb8a:g:L~MAAOSwoydWrG4f

Holey shit! That'd be nice done as a US army staff car. it'd have to be with my others though as I don't sell things...

[chaseracer]

Richard, this is a thing of wonder.  It even has PLAH trays!

 

The window frames and dashboard should be painted with wood-effect paint - sadly this is long gone and they had been painted flat brown which I stripped off. I need to find some method of recreating the original finish.

 

My grandad used to do this, both freehand and with a roller-type tool - which I think the Owd Giffer still has in his workshop somewhere.

 

I shall enquire.