project 1968 Austin 1100 Mk1 (Take 2) - Gone :(

[SiC]

I'm also getting quite fat by the looks of that picture ?

[HMC]

6 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

Hey, at least you have hair.

And a nice garage

[purplebargeken]

Yes, double bonus.

[anonymous user]

Another vote for the rocker cover mayo just being down to it sitting around for ages

[camryv6]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Oh what a lovely thing! can never have too many ADO16's around here  

I enjoyed your past ADO16 exploits so am looking forward to seeing how this one goes, hopefully it will see the road,

I have to wondering however, given you already have the Dolly on the go how did you convince the wife to let you get another car, especially another ADO16 after she undoubtedly saw what they are at their worst!

"possibly a bit modern" yeah sure 

What car is that ??

[dozeydustman]

That is one handsome car.

+1 emulsion in the rocker box is due to being left for ages; change the points and do the static timing and I reckon you'll be underway. Fingers crossed it's not a rotbox.

[alf892]

Float chamber level looks ok......but was pic taken after it had stalled? I had trouble with Bornite's mini after we put a go faster float valve in.......it had a nice soft rubber tip so should have been great. I dug the old and very worn one out of the bin and it ran a treat. Plugs say rich but reaction to throttle says lean.

Therefore condenser! Especially with those point looking bit nasty

 

 

[Christine]

Any use ? I did add a few aerodynamic aids in my yoof ..!

[AnthonyG]

That looks great. A late Mk1 if registered in 68, I think the Mk2’s were launched late 67.  The colour looks a lot like the solid blue MG Rover did in the early 00s.

Looks like you have the HBOL for these in that box of treasure in the footwell, I have a factory manual for these if you get stuck. 

[SiC]

2 minutes ago, Christine said:

Any use ? I did add a few aerodynamic aids in my yoof ..!

I think I found one of them in the box of manuals that came with it! Thanks anyway.

 

[SiC]

Points and condenser replaced. Bonus footage of me rambling along with some shit. 

 

 

[RobT]

Mine did that.  Stalling then reluctant to run again.  New condenser and correct gapping of points, and after a while it eventually just decided to run OK, having done so previously.   Think there was some fuel starvation involved too.  The more I persevered, the better it got, so could've just needed a clear out.

[Angrydicky]

That looks great. I was about to comment on F being extremely late for a MK1, but AnthonyG beat me to it! 

I quite like the vinyl roof. A lot of older cars had aftermarket vinyl roofs back in the day, nearly all of which have since been stripped off.

[SiC]

8 minutes ago, RobT said:

Mine did that.  Stalling then reluctant to run again.  New condenser and correct gapping of points, and after a while it eventually just decided to run OK, having done so previously.   Think there was some fuel starvation involved too.  The more I persevered, the better it got, so could've just needed a clear out.

Which points and condenser set did you get? There are very few worth even having. If it's a powerspark, lucas or intermotor set, they will likely let you down. The condensers are crap with them.

 

[SiC]

24 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

That looks great. A late Mk1 if registered in 68, I think the Mk2’s were launched late 67.  The colour looks a lot like the solid blue MG Rover did in the early 00s.

Looks like you have the HBOL for these in that box of treasure in the footwell, I have a factory manual for these if you get stuck. 

Yes very late. According to the 1100 club, 1967 had both MK1 and MK2 numbers mixed, so hard to know volumes of both. I guess quite a few probably sat on forecourts or in storage lots. Maybe someone just preferred the look of the MK1 and this happened to be sat in the back unsold while the new MK2 were the new shiny?

[SiC]

25 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I quite like the vinyl roof. A lot of older cars had aftermarket vinyl roofs back in the day, nearly all of which have since been stripped off.

So do I! It's 100% staying. Shame no Webasto roof. 

[SiC]

So this car is bit of a paradox. I bought it as a "restoration project". Basically the trader guy selling it part-ex a XJ8 and got this. Being COVID, he didn't see the car in person and took the last sellers word for it. The guy I bought it off moaned that seller turned out to have sent the trader 7 year old pictures when it was last restored apparently. I personally don't care what the full story on whatever happened between to be honest!  

C&C advert is still up:
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1204953

This is the eBay advert I bought it from:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293575624794

Rubbish pictures and a description that would put people off. This was up for £3500 to begin with and I've been privately BeEP messaging about ADO16 recently. Anyway we were commenting about how it must have been a turd that he bought without realising and disappointed.

It then went down to £2500 and then £1800. Finished on Sunday night and by lunchtime it had no bids. So I decided to message him to find out what the crac was.

Also made a cheeky offer of £1200 given I couldn't see it and the description. That was rejected.

Got sent some more pictures. Not great and many were blurry. However apart from what looked like poor paint prep, I couldn't see much wrong with it. Saying that, most of the pictures weren't of use - despite me asking for under seat pictures.

Anyway I sent another offer of £1500 and about 20 minutes before the auction ended, there was no bids so he accepted.

Crikey bugger I've just won a car.

So I really didn't know what to expect. But generally on these it is usually the body that is the problem and the mechanicals that are fine - with the mechanicals being the easy bit. As said plenty of times on here they love to rot. On this one its the complete opposite!

Since it's arrived here and all this evening I've been hunting for nasty stuff needing welding. Fully expecting to do welding and actually wanting to do it.

Admittedly I haven't gone under it yet but I'm struggling to find anything wrong!

Under the seats



Pulling the tape off and looking at the backside of the rear subframe mounts, there is nothing of alarm. Some surface rust but there is wax down here - I did scrape a few bits off with my screwdriver. I've been poking hard with that screwdriver and it's all solid.







You can see bits of MIG wire, so it's definitely been welded previously. The welds on the car all look pretty decent work too.

The sills are all solid.




Footwells have been replaced at some point. These aren't my pictures, they're the sellers but yeah it's what they look like.




I need to take the front wheels off for a proper look but feeling the trumpets, they seem smooth, hard and metallic.

Under the dash I can't get a good picture but again it's all solid. Looks to have had the heater box area welded when looking inside the bonnet. You can see a line of welds behind this float bowl picture. Possibly why it's got that metallic lining in the engine bay.


Essentially I think the trader just has higher expectations on what this was. If you look at his other stock, they're all Mintola Concourse stuff.

So what needs doing?

Engine needs tuning, carb, etc. Gear change is a bit crap - looking at the clutch fluid I suspect the slave might be knackered.

Sat in the seats with the door open I can smell petrol. So I need to get underneath and check the pipes for corrosion.

Brake fluid reservoir is low, so I need to check pipes and flexis.

Suspension needs pumping up. Not sure why it's low. It's not on the bump stops, so it is holding pressure. The eBay picture showed the suspension a fair bit higher than it is now. I wonder if someone went poking recently on the valves and then realised what they were!



Hence the paradox is, I bought this expecting the mechanicals to be fine and needing bodywork - typical ADO16. However I've received something the complete opposite! Some bodywork but mostly touch ups and adjusting bonnet + door shuts as they scrape the paint.

I still need to go underneath and have a good look. But so far there is no structural areas that have me alarmed and wanting to get the MIG torch out.

This is not a bad thing as I have plenty of bits to weld on the Dolomite Sprint still!

I've got tomorrow and next week off. Maybe I'll be able to get it fully sorted and back on the road by then? All on the speed of how quickly parts come of course.

[SiC]

This is nice to have. First ever classic car that I've bought with the first owner information with it.




Quite amazing that it's survived considering it came from Scotland!

Also a question for the ADO16 experts on here, am I supposed to have a bit of trim here?

[Datsuncog]

So... it was restored in 2012/13, and seven years on, there's a few blebs and bubbles?

Well, slap my thigh and call me Susan. Sounds like your vendor's never seen an ADO16 before.

I reckon you may have got a bit of a bargain here.

Fingers crossed the ignition system gremlins are chased out over the next few days!

[SiC]

I forgot to fully write up the points bit...

Found my other "high quality" Moss condenser. I put it on the crappy Chinese 45d that I ran in the MGB for a bit.


Took that out and desoldered the connection for the single line on the 45D setup. Then cut a wire off a crappy condenser and soldered it on.


The points that were on it are totally screwed. Absolute junk these condensers.



Also happened to find this which (iirc) @anonymous user sent me for the old 1100 but I kept. I did polish it up and it is still quite shiny. Tempted to put it on.


Found this too in my bits stash. Pretty sure this is an important instrumentation I need for this.


Or I'll keep it for the Dolly.

[Split_Pin]

That looks absolutely grand. I much prefer the look of the 4 door examples and vinyl roof too!

Hopefully you'll have it running sweet and be driving and enjoying well before your annual leave ends.

[RobT]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

Which points and condenser set did you get? There are very few worth even having. If it's a powerspark, lucas or intermotor set, they will likely let you down. The condensers are crap with them.

 

I bought a Powerspark condenser which I figured wouldn't be ideal, but will carry a spare and try and get a NOS one when autojumbles are a thing again.  Didn't bother changing the points as they looked fine, just gave the surfaces a clean.

[SiC]

7 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I much prefer the look of the 4 door examples and vinyl roof too!

I prefer the 2 doors! The shape looks more right to me.

MK1 grille is nicer though. 

[SiC]

4 minutes ago, RobT said:

I bought a Powerspark condenser which I figured wouldn't be ideal, but will carry a spare and try and get a NOS one when autojumbles are a thing again.  Didn't bother changing the points as they looked fine, just gave the surfaces a clean.

Problem is when the condenser fails it burns up the points as happened here. At least they're not too tricky to change on an ADO16 but still would be a bit of a pia. 

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

Problem is when the condenser fails it burns up the points as happened here. At least they're not too tricky to change on an ADO16 but still would be a bit of a pia. 

im still not entirely sure why people dont/cant just use a proper high quality high voltage film capacitor of the correct values?

[GBJ]

Distributor seems to be missing the all important Marigold cover.

[RobT]

Sounds like you've done well there m8.  Get it pumped up, serviced, and just blez around in it!

Re the gears, mine is a bit shite when downshifting to third, so I've been double de-clutching which works most of the time.  Going from second to third is like stirring syrup, massive amount of travel.  All part of the charm though I reckon.  Is your pedal heavy?  I've changed the clutch slave but my mechanic recommended doing the hose too, as they break down internally.  25 quid delivered mind, but hopefully that'll sort it.

[RobT]

14 minutes ago, SiC said:

Problem is when the condenser fails it burns up the points as happened here. At least they're not too tricky to change on an ADO16 but still would be a bit of a pia. 

Yep getting a decent one is on my list, as sod's law it'll fail at completely the wrong moment.

[Isaac Hunt]

Looks like a good solid car.  

Tahiti Blue is a favourite colour of mine, although I'm not sure I would have used it on a 67 1100 but it does look kind of cute.

My Grandparents had a Maroon over Grey Wolseley 1100.  When that got painted, my Mum chose Limeflower Green.  I was mortified, but my Dad reckoned it would have cost too much to maintain the two colours.  

A popular 'mod' was to make an insulated bonnet for that rocker cover using the thick 1970's sound deadening material.  The mayonnaise I'd caused by condensation from short runs.  The insulated cover for the decker cover eliminates the mayo problem. 

[SiC]

Yep getting a decent one is on my list, as sod's law it'll fail at completely the wrong moment.

Yes. Happened to me down Stapleton Road in Easton, Bristol. Really not the safest place to breakdown, let alone having to deal with rush hour traffic too!

That was the second MGB breakdown and it scar me a bit.