Dicky’s Disastrous Debris - Steering wheel restoration 3/9/22

[Angrydicky]

More cleaning. 

The dashboard came up very well. Most of the original wood effect paint is in good condition, it’s just around the windows where surface rust has come through.

The dash plastics are in amazingly good condition. Normally on Hampshires and Atlantics they’re all falling apart and they are made of unobtanium. The only other car I know that used those particular switches was the Triumph Mayflower (and they’re always disintegrated on those too). I gave them all a wipe down and they look good. The gearknob is pretty good too. 

Sadly, the steering wheel is fucked. Normally owners just put a cover on but this one’s beyond that! 

[Asimo]

Just happened across this on Australian Gumtree

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/panorama/other-parts-accessories/austin-a70-and-a90-running-and-maintenance-instructions/1271159487

[bunglebus]

I love the dashboard - that steering wheel may not be beyond redemption but it would probably need professional repair

[Angrydicky]

I love the dashboard too. A really nice piece of design.

Seats are starting to look good now. They should respond well to some leather cleaner and conditioner when I get that far. Took the rear seat base out to clean it and discovered some more rot underneath. The foam of the seat base was soaking wet and it had held water against the metal like a sponge! I’ve cleaned it up and brought it in the house to dry out.

[Angrydicky]

My attention turned to the engine bay.

The starting handle was missing, but the Somerset one fitted. I turned the engine over, it felt ok and was showing clean oil on the dipstick. 

I started by removing the carb. All the linkages are seized solid on it, as is the bulkhead linkage where it goes through an aluminium housing. I’ve never come across that before and it goes to show just how damp this poor car has got. For now, I’ve soaked the bulkhead linkage in penetrating oil and left it to soak in. 

The carb needs all cleaning up and freeing off. Luckily, there was an overhaul kit in one of the boxes of spares. It still had the receipt from when it was bought. 1978!

 

 

[Joey spud]

This is one hell of a classy car and has got you written all over it,there couldn't be a better new custodian for it.

And as it has a big stout chassis under it then the rot in the floors and lower panels is all reparable bit by bit without it loosing its shape.

Also that lovely careworn front bench seat with its cheeky arm rests is the dogs dangley bits.

[Angrydicky]

I ended up removing the rocker cover to give better access to remove the inner mounting bolt for the carb. Having done this, I turned the engine on the handle while watching the rockers. All the valves were opening and closing, with the exception of number one which was stuck. I was also surprised to see really smelly, stale old petrol come spurting out of the disconnected fuel pipe! Normally if the pump works there’s a blockage in the tank or line. But this fuel system seems good. I had been planning to use a gravity feed when I come to start it, but maybe I don’t need to. I don’t know how much petrol there is in the tank but I’m tempted to just drain it and put some fresh in.

After cleaning up a few corroded connections, I put a battery on it, too see what worked and what didn’t.

The dash starter button didn’t seem to be working, but the solenoid button did. I thought there was something wrong with it until I remembered that the A70 and A90 starter switches don’t work unless the ignition is on. 

The engine cranks over happily on the starter. The horns work but that’s about it. The trafficators, wipers, heater and fuel gauge are all dead. It’ll probably only be one or two corroded connections preventing them from working, as all that stuff goes through the same fuse. The horn and lights run through the other fuse, and I am sure that if the light switch wasn’t seized we would have at least one or two lights working too.

 

[Angrydicky]

I very carefully cleaned the mouldy headlining. It’s mega fragile and here and there I felt it give way as I was cleaning it, mostly around the sides. It’s far from perfect but a big, big improvement on what it was like. It was originally beige, but they normally do look not far off this colour these days!

I did discover the original rear window blind (a prewar throwback, I didnt even know they were fitted on Hampshires) is still present and in surprisingly good condition, though the cable that used to connect to the dash so you could pull it up to hide the world behind from view, is sadly broken.

The headlining just in front of the sunroof has come down, and the roof above is flaking with surface rust. It’s solid but needs cleaning back, rustkilling and painting before it’s too late. Same with the sunroof aperture. I did attempt to open the sunroof but the mechanism is seized. I got showered with rusty flakes while attempting it, which went all over me and my nice clean seats. I’m hoping to be able to stick the headlining back up when it’s all painted. 

The main identity plate on Counties Austins is a little Bakelite plate usually fitted on the back of the drivers sunvisor. Sadly, the sun visors in this car have really suffered. have have a good spare Somerset one that looks the same to me but the all important plate is in very poor condition on this car. There is a bloke in Canada doing repros but they’re just not the same. The chassis plate, the one riveted to the chassis, has actually corroded through the middle on this car! 

[Ghosty]

This is utterly fascinating. 

[Angrydicky]

Here’s some pictures of the crusty drivers side for your perusal:

The rear door locking mechanism was seized on this side and so far no one had managed to open the door. I managed to open it from the inside, and lubricate the mechanism, so it all works well now. 

As you can see, someone’s already replaced the inner and lower sill using Zintec steel or similar. It hasn’t suffered and looks a reasonable fabrication job (for once) though what they welded it to has rotted since. It is only tacked in though. I’m hoping to be able to improve on whats already there.

The whole sill was full of rusty flakes from the top of the sill and door bottoms, and as my vacuum cleaner held up the white flag halfway through doing the interior, I had to scoop it all out by hand. There was some weight there!

Thats the outrigger, which carries the body mounting. All very ropey. I was hoping to be able to repair all this without taking the body off the chassis, as you really need a two post lift for that and I haven’t got one.

The passenger side is in amazing condition in comparison. The only part of the sill that feels crunchy is at the very front on top, the rest is all solid. The front floor needs a 6” patch but the rear floor is in good condition.

Tried one of the rear wheel spats for size. Looks good although someone has filled over one of the mounting holes on this side! The wing will need some repairs but at least I have a replacement to go on the nearside, I’m grateful to the previous owner for finding that as they’re completely extinct nowadays.

Number plates. LOB retains its original Bluemels plates which are a real period piece, always seen in period photos and also Austin press photographs, as Austin always fitted this style on their factory registered cars (which I believe this to be). They were dirty, but in amazingly good condition, some of the best I’ve seen in fact. Normally the digits are breaking up and owners remove them to fit nasty repros which rarely look anywhere near correct. 

I gave them a gentle clean with baby wipes to get the years of dirt off them.

I have carefully removed the front plate and backing plate, as it’s very bent and twisted. I’m going to take it into work, separate the two, weld up a small split in the mounting bracket and blast and powdercoat the bracket. I will carefully straighten out the original plate and reassemble it with the original cleaned up bolts, keeping the patina intact.

You can see how twisted it is here.

One of the brackets on the car needs straightening too, I’m hoping to do this in situ as to remove it involves removing the bumper, something I don’t really want to do at this stage.

Its important to retain the original backing plates as they’re special extra wide ones only used on the A70 and A90 models. The rear one has a hole in it that needs welding up, which will be easy once it’s on the bench. One at a time though. I’ll do the front one first.

All the seals need replacing. There’s nothing available so generic off the shelf ones will have to be used when I get that far. 

I’ve never seen one of these overriders rotted through before. They’re made of really thick steel so it shows how damp the drivers side has got wherever it’s been stored.

I do apologise for how dark some of the pictures are, especially of the back of the car and the interior. It’s quite dark where the car is kept and I really struggled to get photos to come out so you could see things properly. Hopefully they’re ok.

[outlaw118]

Hey Rich, that's epic, and as usual a great read.

On a practical note, something I've been thinking a while, is there anywhere that still sells leaded juice? I had a quick google and there's a place in Hertfordshire listed - Ashwells - but who knows how accurate/up to date that is.  Or are you going to have to use additive?

Comparitively speaking the rust isn't as bad as I expected, when we were racing we had mark 3/4/5 Cortinas that were rustier than that and took some work (me, with a hammer, a fucked welder and some reclaimed* road signs) to get prepped!

 

Good luck mate, you've got this. Is it near home or work? Will love to come and have a look.

 

[juular]

This is just so correct. 

 

[artdjones]

There's a lot of rust, but it's better than I expected.

[jonathan_dyane]

Lovely car, I too had no idea such a thing existed! Those spats are very sexy.

It’s lasted remarkably well all things considered.

[barrett]

Your knobs are in remarkable condition!

I recently learned of the existence of this thing, which I would love to have

[Angrydicky]

3 hours ago, outlaw118 said:

Hey Rich, that's epic, and as usual a great read.

On a practical note, something I've been thinking a while, is there anywhere that still sells leaded juice? I had a quick google and there's a place in Hertfordshire listed - Ashwells - but who knows how accurate/up to date that is.  Or are you going to have to use additive?

Comparitively speaking the rust isn't as bad as I expected, when we were racing we had mark 3/4/5 Cortinas that were rustier than that and took some work (me, with a hammer, a fucked welder and some reclaimed* road signs) to get prepped!

 

Good luck mate, you've got this. Is it near home or work? Will love to come and have a look.

 

Hi Bob, good to hear from you! Yeah I’ve got it up in Suffolk, you’d be more than welcome to come and poke around it (not through it) if you’re ever in the area!

Leaded 4-star, yeah as you’ve noticed the website is years out of date and most of the garages on there either don’t sell it anymore, or don’t exist anymore. I use Castrol Valvemaster Plus which seems pretty good, it also incorporates an ethanol stabiliser.

If you really want the full fat lead, google tetraboost. They are a company who sell the neat tetraethyl lead which you can mix with unleaded to make the good stuff!

[Angrydicky]

6 minutes ago, barrett said:

Your knobs are in remarkable condition!

I recently learned of the existence of this thing, which I would love to have

This is a beauty. Have you seen pictures of the Hampshire convertibles bodied by Penneck of The Hague? I have a Dutch friend who is really into these old Austins, and he reckons one does survive over there, but it’s modified.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

57 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

.....If you really want the full fat lead, google tetraboost. They are a company who sell the neat tetraethyl lead which you can mix with unleaded to make the good stuff!

This. Absolutely this! Good for any car that originally ran on leaded.

[somewhatfoolish]

16 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

 

 

The dash plastics are in amazingly good condition. Normally on Hampshires and Atlantics they’re all falling apart and they are made of unobtanium. The only other car I know that used those particular switches was the Triumph Mayflower (and they’re always disintegrated on those too). I gave them all a wipe down and they look good. The gearknob is pretty good too. 

 

Definitely worth photographing exhaustively and taking a lot of measurements, as they will likely disintegrate in the same way; with measurements and photos they are well within the amateur 3D printing realm.

[Skizzer]

14 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

sunroof

Scrap it.

[Datsuncog]

18 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

I did discover the original rear window blind (a prewar throwback, I didnt even know they were fitted on Hampshires) is still present and in surprisingly good condition, though the cable that used to connect to the dash so you could pull it up to hide the world behind from view, is sadly broken.

Never mind the sunroof, this gets me all hot and bothered.

Never heard of such a device; and it's hopefully a feature that can be repaired at some point (although I can well appreciate there are somewhat more pressing matters to attend to first).

I know diddly-squat about 1940s/50s motors, so between this and Vulg's Lanchester thread, a whole fascinating world of Bakelite, scumbling, and Bluemel is opening up to me.

It's marvellous to see work begin on this so quickly after decades of neglect; more power to your elbow, sir!

[Skizzer]

Joking apart, this is great stuff, not least that window blind as Mr Cog says above. Love it.

The welding and metalwork looks extensive but at least not horribly complicated, and the interior is ace.

[captain_70s]

On 3/30/2021 at 8:48 PM, Angrydicky said:

I found this in the back window. Reg comes back to a Talbot Avenger, last taxed in 1991.

 

The levels of post war austerity oozing from this thing are making me want to treat myself to some tinned meat.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 3/31/2021 at 8:04 AM, outlaw118 said:

...is there anywhere that still sells leaded juice? I had a quick google and there's a place in Hertfordshire listed - Ashwells - but who knows how accurate/up to date that is. .....

Chalk Hill filling station  in Dunstable still had a 4-star leaded pump when I last passed it - the only one other than Ashwell Garages that I know of. 

[beko1987]

16 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Never mind the sunroof, this gets me all hot and bothered.

Never heard of such a device; and it's hopefully a feature that can be repaired at some point (although I can well appreciate there are somewhat more pressing matters to attend to first).

I know diddly-squat about 1940s/50s motors, so between this and Vulg's Lanchester thread, a whole fascinating world of Bakelite, scumbling, and Bluemel is opening up to me.

It's marvellous to see work begin on this so quickly after decades of neglect; more power to your elbow, sir!

Tbh I'm looking at them going wow, projects and restorations that are more in my price range and skills etc. Almost gives one motivation to titivate ones own car! (prob more the Lanchester than this for the rust but meh) 

Could happily see an old thing like this for Sundays and show days and pissing off the locals when I'm bored and the xsara/modern for actually going places

[Asimo]

On 31/03/2021 at 08:04, outlaw118 said:

Hey Rich, that's epic, and as usual a great read.

On a practical note, something I've been thinking a while, is there anywhere that still sells leaded juice? I had a quick google and there's a place in Hertfordshire listed - Ashwells - but who knows how accurate/up to date that is.  Or are you going to have to use additive?

Comparitively speaking the rust isn't as bad as I expected, when we were racing we had mark 3/4/5 Cortinas that were rustier than that and took some work (me, with a hammer, a fucked welder and some reclaimed* road signs) to get prepped!

 

Good luck mate, you've got this. Is it near home or work? Will love to come and have a look.

 

No need for leaded fuel for this with it's 6.8:1 combustion chambers. Only petrol available back then was "pool" grade, rationed until May 1950. 80 octane not yet available. Nobody was concerned about valve-seat recession as car engines just did not last long enough without serious maintenance back then.

As discussed in parliament...

[Angrydicky]

New V5 is here @LightBulbFun

Impressive speed, I did it online Monday morning and it arrived today.

I thought it might have automatically updated to Historic Vehicle status but it hasn’t. What’s the easiest way of doing this do you reckon?

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Angrydicky said:

New V5 is here @LightBulbFun

Impressive speed, I did it online Monday morning and it arrived today.

I thought it might have automatically updated to Historic Vehicle status but it hasn’t. What’s the easiest way of doing this do you reckon?

 

very interesting it just says number of former keepers 1, no "since such and such date"

on the 1987 V5 you have does it say "Number of keepers XXX since such and such date" 

 

something like so? (note not my image just an example I pulled from ebay, if you put old logbook into ebay its a bit scary what shows up but its great for saddos like myself who like to research DVLA history like this LOL)

im just trying to figure out if the DVLA have dropped that from new V5's or not, not found a solid answer yet tho

the date is when the vehicle was computerised, as keeper counts from buff logbooks did not carry over, so the DVLC put "Number of keepers since such and such date" to specifically tell people the keeper count only goes this far back and that before that date it could of had 100 keepers for all we know

(can you imagine how many continuation books that would be LOL)

 

(PS may I advise you crop the image so the right side of your first picture so the Chassis number etc is not visible?) 

 

1 hour ago, Angrydicky said:

I thought it might have automatically updated to Historic Vehicle status but it hasn’t. What’s the easiest way of doing this do you reckon?

on this front, just take the new V5 to a post office that deals with vehicle tax, with a filled out V112, and then ask them to tax it into the historic vehicle taxation class and they will do so and take the V5 from you to have it updated

note this will tax the vehicle so make sure its insured or make sure to SORN it right away once you get the new historic vehicle V5, or the DVLA will then break your knee caps if you dont SORN it in good time after getting the new-new V5, for having an uninsured vehicle on the road

 

however vehicles untaxed before 1998 do not have to Be SORNed and the system wont actually do it, so you dont have to worry about SORNing this one if you dont want to change the tax class right away

 

anyways my sleep inducing DVLA ramblings aside,

Awesome to see things are progressing at a steady rate already with the new Austin tis very awesome to see  keep up the good work!

[Rusty Pelican]

EPICNESS - Will follow this build

 

[Angrydicky]

@LightBulbFun