Dicky’s Disastrous Debris - free Austin gets more miles under its belt, 18/1/25

[vulgalour]

3 hours ago, 3VOM said:

Dishwasher tablet in cooling system is one approach but I don't know if you want to take that option on such an old car.

To clear out the blockage in the Lanchester rad, we used a whole load of denture cleaning tablets.  Left to soak for a while it cleared the radiator out lovely and showed us where it was leaking in no time.

[mk2_craig]

Great work @Angrydicky!!  I reckon this car has been enormously lucky to have been rescued by you after such a long period of rigor mortis. I bet it was probably in a pretty tidy general condition immediately prior to becoming dormant, if it had been your usual end of life banger at the same age then it would be far less intact than seems to be the case. Well done!

[brownnova]

Wonderful news!! So glad to see this up and running!

Honestly, this is my favourite project on the beige at the moment! 

[Angrydicky]

Another crap video, showing the exhaust note. You can see the soot on the wall, and all over the back of the car, that was what was resting inside the exhaust!

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Ooof. Lovely to see the old girl slowly awakening. As I said previously, you are clearly the lifeline this car urgently needed. Each step, no matter how small, is heartwarming.  I bet the old chap (was it nephew of the owner if I remember correctly?) who sold it to you would love to see it on the road again eventually. 

I love the trumpety exhaust note too - reminds me a little of my old Morris Minor! 

[PhilA]

Sounds like the throttle pump is leaking down. Other than that, it sounds remarkably healthy! 

Phil

[Minimad5]

😎 Good work young man !!

[Angrydicky]

9 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Ooof. Lovely to see the old girl slowly awakening. As I said previously, you are clearly the lifeline this car urgently needed. Each step, no matter how small, is heartwarming.  I bet the old chap (was it nephew of the owner if I remember correctly?) who sold it to you would love to see it on the road again eventually. 

I love the trumpety exhaust note too - reminds me a little of my old Morris Minor! 

Thank you - I can't tell you how happy I was to hear it finally burst into life after all that work!

Yes, Steve, the late owner's nephew, is keen to see it back on the road. He's 63 now though, so that depends how quickly I work. I did phone him up and have a chat with him a couple of months ago when I was removing the rear bumper corner to get the rusty remains of the rear wing off, and I found that both overriders were full of little plastic cowboys and indians, of all things. I guess they'd been posted in there by some kid and forgotten about. I took the opportunity to update him about what I'd been doing and promised to send him some photos through the post of the progress, as he doesn't do the internet or emails. He thinks the toys were his brother's, and was going to ask him. They had likely been in there over 50 years if that's the case.

[Noel Tidybeard]

blocked rad? cheap cola like wollydobbler did with the bluebird

[Angrydicky]

I had some holiday to use up, so took a couple of days off to give me a long weekend to work on the Hampshire.
Started by removing the knackered drivers door. This put up a real fight and eventually I sheared off the top hinge pin while the lower hinge came off complete with the captive nut plate and bottom of the A post still attached! It turns out that hinge was completely seized and when I was opening the door the bottom of the A post was moving. Until it eventually snapped. That will need a lot of work, I think my replacement drivers door still has both its hinges thankfully, although I’ll need to find another captive nut plate as this one isn’t salvageable. The A post itself is poor - there’s been water leaking down into it for years and it needs a lot of work.
I whipped the drivers seat out as one bit stood out as being more urgent than the rest, which was the centre drivers floor around the drivers seat. When I sat in the seat, I could feel the floor collapsing at the back, and I knew there wasn’t much left of the body mounting.
The Austin Hampshire has six body mounts, and this one looked like the worst. I cut the head off the bolt, and removed it:

The body had dropped as the mounting wasn’t supporting it anymore. It was in urgent need of repairs. Fortunately, the chassis outriggers and even the rubber mountings were good.

Made a template:

Knocked up a new mounting:

Jacked the body back into the correct place, and welded it to the inner sill. 
I’m quite fortunate the sills have been done at some point, as although they’re not the best job in the world, the fabrication is ok and it’s still solid, plus it gives me something to weld to.

 

I then moved onto the floor around the body mounting. Whoever fitted these sills left gaps around the mountings, not sure why as it’s just a mud trap, so I filled this one in.
 

 

I welded the bottom of the B post to the inner sill, so it no longer flaps around, and made a start reconstructing the lower part which has just rotted away completely.
 

 

[Angrydicky]

Having got the mid section sound again, I decided to have a look at the front. I had a look at the body mounting, it didn’t look as bad as the mid one although it didn’t really have any floor attached to it anymore, and I could see a small hole in the side. No good, so, trying to be careful not to cut into the wiring loom, I took the head off the bolt and knocked it through. The mount was held on by one tiny piece of rusty A post, with that broken off, I was able to remove it.
 

This body mount was in better condition than the mid one, and as such, it still had the spot welded triangular strengtheners which attach to the inner sill. I didn’t know it was supposed to have these, so I’ll knock up another couple to fit to the middle mounting at a later date, once I’ve got the car on its side or in the air.
Annoyingly, my template for the middle one was no good as this one is bigger. 
 

Quite pleased with that bit of fabrication if I do say so myself! This is the first bit of serious welding and fabrication I’ve done in probably a year or more, so it’s good to know I can still do it, even if I was a bit rusty with the welding to start with.

Car feels a lot stronger already. Now I can replace the floor under the pedals and the rest of the rear floorpan, next time I get a chance to work on it.

 

[Minimad5]

Some great fabrication, looks like you're giving the old girl the love she needs.

Jealous of your warm and dry garage 😅

[stuboy]

fab work with the fabrication

 

[High Jetter]

Seriously good work there!

[wuvvum]

That's some pretty impressive work on those body mounts considering how little you had to work with as a template...

[Angrydicky]

Thanks, I’m really pleased with how they came out. Just a couple of cereal box templates and a piece of steel bent in the vice, nothing too difficult although it is time consuming. It probably took an hour to make just one body mounting. Very satisfying though. It goes without saying there are no off the shelf repair panels available at all.
The whole side of the car feels so much better and more rigid now. That was three days work, and it will take probably another two possibly three to finish off the floor on this side.

I still haven’t flushed the radiator out, but I was eager to see how it would start after sitting in the garage for the last fortnight. So a quick prime of the fuel pump using the little lever, about 3/4 choke and it fired straight up first press of the button, and ran nicely on a fast idle. It’s definitely spinning over much better than it was, we think the rings have freed off after the long layup.

No smoke either, so the modern valve stem oil seals I got from AH spares are working well. The original o ring seals had all disintegrated. All the soot seems to have emptied out of the exhaust now too.

I fitted the dynamo back on but it’s still not charging, despite cleaning the contacts on the control box. The club have a few nos control boxes which are not too much £££ so I’ll pop a new one on there and see if it works. The one currently on there isn’t the original anyway as it’s dated 1951.

 

[somewhatfoolish]

On 12/6/2021 at 10:41 AM, Angrydicky said:

I’ve managed to buy a lot of spares for this car from the Austin Counties Car Club. They’re losing their storage and stuff is available for £cheap at the moment. In addition to the drivers door already mentioned, I now have a bonnet (good secondhand) and two nos wings, the two I needed to go with the nos one that came with the car, and the nos one already fitted some years ago that is still good, it just needs fitting properly because the alignment is miles out.

Sadface for that; are they losing the lot or just downsizing?

[Angrydicky]

Just downsizing, the bloke who runs it is intending to keep the remaining, more saleable, spares at his home in Kent, but there was far too much to accommodate before.

[Angrydicky]

 

I got a welding trolley for Christmas, which is perfect, just what I needed as the welder is really awkward to lug around, especially since one of the silly little plastic wheels got broken off it.

 

So obviously I had to test it out!
The drivers A post and floor were some of the worst areas on the whole car. When I took the door off, the lower hinge broke off complete with the remains of the A post. I wasn’t sure even what it should look like, as the lower 12” had mostly gone. Copying the other side (which is much better preserved) I welded in the section where the hinge will bolt to, and welded it to the lower sill. The hinge fits just under where the bend is and will be quite difficult to line up. I then removed the top layer of the double skinned part, cleaned back to good metal and welded a new skin on.

This was really difficult due to how far gone it was here. I’m still not 100% certain of how the A post and sill is supposed to be at the bottom, although I’m doing it to factory spec as far as I can see, and most of that is hidden under the top of the sill or behind wing, so it isn’t crucial.
The old hinge is almost beyond repair, even if I could get these screws out the aluminium hinge is corroded around the bottom screw. Graham Potts, Austin Counties oracle and spares supplier, reckons he’s got a complete hinge which he will look for once he’s recovered from his knee op. Hopefully it’s the right one, otherwise I’ll have to get this one TIG welded.
Interestingly, one screw is missing from the top hinge and all the others are chewed up, so someone’s tried to get this door off before.

I then turned my attention to the drivers floor. It was clear it would need a full floor replacement here.

With the new body mount in place I now had something to weld to. Before I started welding, I cut all the rot out, cleaned up the edges and then cleaned up the chassis, brake and clutch pedals, and the other parts under the floor with a wire brush before cleaning all the loose rust off and soaking the lot in penetrating oil. I also got some weld thru primer on top of the chassis. The original anti-drumming bush was still bolted to the chassis under the rotten floor, and this was in good condition.
I didn’t have a piece of sheet steel big enough to make the floor in one piece, but it came out ok.

The hole in the side of the gearbox cover is where a removeable cover goes, which is where you access the gearbox dipstick and oil filler.
When I put my foot on the floor it pushed down initially, only in that front corner because it was flat sheet with no pressings. No problem, five minutes with the blowlamp and copper hammer made a couple of pressings which have done the job.
Quite pleased with that for a home fabrication job, the metal below the pedals was quite thin and I had to cut back further than I’d thought to find good metal to weld to.

Looks pretty good underneath where it’s welded to the body mount. Still need to do a bit more plug welding here, but the mount is tacked to the inner sill.

The ‘new’ drivers door needs a bit of finishing off, but it will save hours of work. Have you ever seen a door this bad before?

 

[Angrydicky]

I'm sorry.

Having got the Hampshire up on the ramp and had a proper look under it for the first time (without lying under it) I'm going to have to admit defeat on this one.
The chassis has gone in several places that will be hugely difficult to repair, plus most of it is so deeply pitted all over it's clearly lost a lot of its structural integrity. It's gone all around the front suspension mounting including right up the inner box section of the chassis which you can't get to to cut the rot out without cutting out most of the outer chassis, the steering box mount (including both sides) right down the side where the master cylinder is attached, and where it loops over the rear axle.
I can buy a good chassis from the club but there's a huge amount of work to swap everything over, plus the entire body is so rotten it would need substantial bracing, then I've still got to tackle the incredible amount of rust in the body. All inner wings, bulkhead, sills, floors, even the roof has rotted through.
I need to stop being too sentimental with hopeless old wrecks, those who said it was too far gone were right. I'm a brave restorer but this chassis rust was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
I was quite upset at first, but then I spoke to my Dutch Austin mate and we have come up with a solution, which is what I should have done from the start.
He has a Hampshire in his barn, bought as a spares car for his Atlantic restorations. It's a left hand drive Dutch export model, but has been off the road since the 1970s with the engine dismantled. Good news is this one has been dry stored so it's not too bad.
He wants to keep the engine and box, the dash plastics, the rear anti-roll bar, and the steering including the rare left hand drive specific steering idler which he needs for one of his Atlantics. He also wants my spare Atlantic diff I've been tripping over for the last ten years, and the brown front seats out of LOB. The rest he's offered to me for a reasonable price.
LOB has a good low mileage, running engine and gearbox which I can swap over, along with the other parts he's removed.
The good news is this one appears fairly solid from the photos he's sent - all the doors are good, as are the floors, A posts and rear wing flanges.
It needs welding to the backs of the sills and a bit on the strengthening brace behind the front panel. He reckons the chassis is sound.
One rear wing is patched up, but I have a new wing to fit and the wing mounting flanges look perfect from the photos he's sent inside the boot.
The interior looks quite good, the mice have got at the headlining unfortunately, but the blue leather seats look alright. It's got a good steering wheel which is a £300 refurb saved straight away.
These cars were made so they would be relatively straightforward to convert between left and right hand drive with the instruments in the centre.
He wants me to fly out to Holland and take a look but I don't know when I'd get the time to do so. He's going to get it out of the corner of his barn and take some more photos for me, but it looks pretty solid from the photos he's sent already.
I think this is a good solution, making one good running Hampshire out of two knackered ones.
What do you think?

[Cookiesouwest]

2 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I'm sorry.

Having got the Hampshire up on the ramp and had a proper look under it for the first time (without lying under it) I'm going to have to admit defeat on this one.
The chassis has gone in several places that will be hugely difficult to repair, plus most of it is so deeply pitted all over it's clearly lost a lot of its structural integrity. It's gone all around the front suspension mounting including right up the inner box section of the chassis which you can't get to to cut the rot out without cutting out most of the outer chassis, the steering box mount (including both sides) right down the side where the master cylinder is attached, and where it loops over the rear axle.
I can buy a good chassis from the club but there's a huge amount of work to swap everything over, plus the entire body is so rotten it would need substantial bracing, then I've still got to tackle the incredible amount of rust in the body. All inner wings, bulkhead, sills, floors, even the roof has rotted through.
I need to stop being too sentimental with hopeless old wrecks, those who said it was too far gone were right. I'm a brave restorer but this chassis rust was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
I was quite upset at first, but then I spoke to my Dutch Austin mate and we have come up with a solution, which is what I should have done from the start.
He has a Hampshire in his barn, bought as a spares car for his Atlantic restorations. It's a left hand drive Dutch export model, but has been off the road since the 1970s with the engine dismantled. Good news is this one has been dry stored so it's not too bad.
He wants to keep the engine and box, the dash plastics, the rear anti-roll bar, and the steering including the rare left hand drive specific steering idler which he needs for one of his Atlantics. He also wants my spare Atlantic diff I've been tripping over for the last ten years, and the brown front seats out of LOB. The rest he's offered to me for a reasonable price.
LOB has a good low mileage, running engine and gearbox which I can swap over, along with the other parts he's removed.
The good news is this one appears fairly solid from the photos he's sent - all the doors are good, as are the floors, A posts and rear wing flanges.
It needs welding to the backs of the sills and a bit on the strengthening brace behind the front panel. He reckons the chassis is sound.
One rear wing is patched up, but I have a new wing to fit and the wing mounting flanges look perfect from the photos he's sent inside the boot.
The interior looks quite good, the mice have got at the headlining unfortunately, but the blue leather seats look alright. It's got a good steering wheel which is a £300 refurb saved straight away.
These cars were made so they would be relatively straightforward to convert between left and right hand drive with the instruments in the centre.
He wants me to fly out to Holland and take a look but I don't know when I'd get the time to do so. He's going to get it out of the corner of his barn and take some more photos for me, but it looks pretty solid from the photos he's sent already.
I think this is a good solution, making one good running Hampshire out of two knackered ones.
What do you think?

I agree. Two into one. Good plan

[Angrydicky]

[High Jetter]

Good plan indeed, but still a helluva load of work involved.

[D.E]

Jesus that is a rare one! The only original Dutch survivor, it seems.

[Angrydicky]

20 minutes ago, D.E said:

Jesus that is a rare one! The only original Dutch survivor, it seems.

We don't know of any others. 

It doesn't have any paperwork at all. We think it's been stored for nigh on 50 years.

The Atlantics are a lot more desirable. Under the skin they're very similar, with lots of shared components, hence the parts robbing. I do think it's a shame to convert it to right hand drive after all these years, but if it means the car lives on, it's a good solution, and obviously I have all the parts already.

My friend did try to buy this Hampshire a few years ago just over the border in Belgium. He said this one was a proper gem, really low kilometers and needed no welding. He agreed to buy it, arranged the trailer etc, then the seller changed his mind and pulled out, much to my friend's annoyance. This one had been sold new in Belgium.

 

[Matty]

Go for it. As long as the Dutch car is as good as it looks then you can't lose surely. This is why I didn't want to buy a car that needed bodywork. No space, no time, no patience. Best of luck pal but I'm sure it'll be right

[somewhatfoolish]

Makes sense; the only quibble I'd have is for originality keeping the engine and box with it and giving Mr Cloggie your engine and box, but that's a pretty trivial matter for such a low value marque/model that's never likely to be troubling Pebble Beach.

[Mally]

I've dealt with the Dutch, sound people.

So you take a diff, two seats and cash to  him, and come back with a car less steering, engine and box?

Or he does it in reverse. You need to have the conversation who is travelling.

I've done it a couple of times from Harwich with a trailer, all I remember is overnight is better, but more expensive because cabin.

Day is cheaper but hard driving if long distance on the other side.

Hull maybe easier, longer sail. means longer sleep.

How far is the drive on the other side? I like Holland.

It all makes sense* to me.

[Angrydicky]

1 hour ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Makes sense; the only quibble I'd have is for originality keeping the engine and box with it and giving Mr Cloggie your engine and box, but that's a pretty trivial matter for such a low value marque/model that's never likely to be troubling Pebble Beach.

Yes exactly that, I’ve already done a lot of work on this good running engine, which is a BMC exchange unit with a tiny mileage on it (10k) and I don’t want to swap that for one in pieces which may or may not be the original. As you say, at this level it makes no difference to value really if it’s got the original engine or not.

36 minutes ago, Mally said:

I've dealt with the Dutch, sound people.

So you take a diff, two seats and cash to  him, and come back with a car less steering, engine and box?

Or he does it in reverse. You need to have the conversation who is travelling.

I've done it a couple of times from Harwich with a trailer, all I remember is overnight is better, but more expensive because cabin.

Day is cheaper but hard driving if long distance on the other side.

Hull maybe easier, longer sail. means longer sleep.

How far is the drive on the other side? I like Holland.

It all makes sense* to me.

Yes he’s a good man, I’ve known him a long time and we’ve swapped parts and advice before. 
He’s in Tiel in the centre of Holland, not that it makes much difference really as Holland is quite small. The Hampshire was originally registered in the district of Noord Holland (North Holland) according to the numberplate.

I’m intending to pay a professional to do it. Shortest distance would be from Hull. Mileage wise it’s not too much but obviously ferries etc are expensive. Euro tunnel costs about £400 return for a Landrover and trailer, he said, plus that’s a lot more mileage.

[mk2_craig]

There seems to be a lot of logic in this plan! Is the idea then to convert the Dutch one to RHD and register it in the U.K. for the first time, or “effectively” hammer it over what’s left of the British one and put that car back on Englands roads?