project 1951 Lanchester LD10 - Welding Near Wood

[ETCHY]

Glorious, very well bought .

So cool, it's sub zero !

[vulgalour]

It has been a long day here at Vulgalour towers, the partial cloud cover and slightly lower temperatures have been most welcome!  Got another massive image dump here for you so hold on to your tweed, we're going in.

After washing the car it was a good time to see where any water might be getting in.  Looks like some is getting in past the boot seal, happily going no further than the rubber mat on the boot shelf.

Some is getting in past the front passenger door seal too.  There's signs this door has blown back on itself at some point so that could be what this is about.  For how much water I threw on the car, this is far less ingress than I was anticipating so that bodes particularly well.

Rust next then.  Now that I've had chance to really get into the nooks and crannies and find out what's what, there's very little to report.  The worst bits are where the sill meets the rear arch and this will have to be repaired.  I will probably give this to someone else to do, this area is pretty close to the timber frame and I don't trust myself with a welder that near 70 year old wood.  Also, if it turns out there is some damage to the wood here, it would be sensible to get a specialist to deal with both metal and wood at the same time.  Not a problem for now, the car seems pretty solid and it's not going to be venturing out an inclement weather any time soon.

I knew there ought to be a coachbuilder's plate somewhere and eventually found it on one of the door door steps, covered in paint.  I'm torn between shining this up and leaving it as it is, I like these details, and yet it being painted over badly years ago is kind of what this car is about, so I feel like I should leave it be.

The tyres that came on the car are all dead.  The front driver's tyre goes flat, and the two spares chucked in the boot are also dead.  What's more, none of the tyres are the same brand.  We've got Dunlop Gold Seal, Atlas Grip-safe, Avon H.M. Tourist, and a single Firestone Town & Country.  I wouldn't be surprised if all of these tyres are older than me, none of them should ever be allowed to touch the road again.  I can also now confirm they're all 16" by 5.25, thankfully a very common size so there's decent choice on tyres, for what this car is at least.  Have a little Classic Tyre moment.

Attention then turned to the interior.  The car has, unsurprisingly, been smoked in.  and all the butts and ash left in the ash trays.  There's a little ashtray in the dash that swivels around, and one in each rear seat side arm rest, those are the things that look like bakelite cigar lighter.  Most of the dirt inside is from cats padding about with muddy paws, it was surprisingly clean.  I've dealt with dirtier cars that aren't even half the age of this one.  The battery lives under the car under the back seat, you lift the seat squab out which isn't held in with anything other than its own weight, then you can either lift out the big panel whole, or remove the smaller panel - I suspect there's supposed to be a little leather tab on this - and use the hole as a handle to lift out the big panel.  I assume the smaller hatch is to make it easier to keep a refillable battery in good health.  Sadly no exciting treasure under here, just a lot of dust and a bit of straw.

After vacuuming all the dust and debris out of the car, it was time to get cleaning surfaces.  I used baby wipes for this, if they're mild enough for baby skin, they're mild enough for 70 year old leather.  They also smell nice and clean very effectively. Later I will put suitable treatment on the various surfaces in the car, including some leather feed to keep the leather the best it can be.  First shot is the rear seat base, cleaned on the right, dirty on the left.  This car also has the largest arm rest I've ever encountered in any car before.  It is very much a car to enjoy riding in the back seat of.

The headlining is in remarkably good condition, even the trims that run along the sides are in great shape.  They're a little dull from age, perhaps, but a vacuum with a soft brush attachment got rid of all the dust and cobwebs and really, I see no need to change any of this or redo it.  Quite remarkable.  Even the dome light is still intact and in great shape.

The varnish on the door cappings and dashboard do need to be redone to protect the wood, and will get done.  Slightly more difficult to sort out is going to be the scumble on the instrument cluster, sadly most of it has flaked off.  The switches are in great shape too, these need the letters repainting, a quick and easy job.  It is nice that the various pulls are labelled so you know what they do.  The mileage is something I'm not sure of on this car.  It's no cream puff so it seems unlikely to be a genuine 29K, equally I'm not sure I can believe it's been around the clock, for all it's dents and issues.  I'll likely never know, the car has no history with it.

We did find the knob under the dash that operates the fresh air vent in front of the windscreen.  The foam seal around it has gone quite disgustingly sticky so that will have to be replaced.  There was a very small amount of treasure to be had inside the car.  Some of the seals on the car look to be in exceptional condition, not at all what I was expecting, and when we found this receipt (unfortunately too faded to read what for), perhaps it's a hint that some of the seals had been replaced before the car was laid up.

There's also a handful of spares.  Amongst this is what looks like a bit of exhaust pipe that goes over the rear axle, some sort of coolant pipe, a metalastic mount for something, a pedal rubber, a spare rear light lens, a mystery gasket, a couple of original style 'acorn' spark plugs (it currently has modern ones that don't really fit properly), a pair of boot hinges and trims, and some floor board fixing bolts and washers.  The tobacco tin is a little bonus and will carry on living in the driver's side glove cubby.

The only bit of history we could find was in the passenger door pocket, a little Lion Brand cash book, the sort my late Mum would buy when I was little.  Inside, there's just the one entry that hints at it being for the Lanchester, the rest of the book is empty.  The odometer in the car reads 29025 and the single entry for Lanchester reads 26743.  Given the only date in the book is '81 and the car's last tax expired in '84, it's reasonable to assume it did around 2,000 miles in the last three years of its life on the road.  As for that VW, it was last taxed in '83 and was a 1600 of some sort in white from 1969.

With the interior all wiped down, and no real need for the usual deep clean, it was looking and smelling significantly better inside.

[vulgalour]

There was another discovery made which is that the car only has one door lock, and it's on the passenger door.  When we viewed the car it wasn't really clear why this would be until the car had been cleaned and we could get a better look at things.  There's signs that the passenger door has been sprained at the hinges and, given it's a suicide door, we wonder if it flew open at some point and scared the occupant who then insisted on having a lock fitted to keep the door shut.  Given the lack of anything to keep you in the car if the front doors open, I can't say I blame them.  It's part of the car's history, so it's staying.

After the wash, the next thing to do was give the glass a clean.  It is always astonishing how much better a car looks just for having the glass cleaned.  I haven't polished the glass, just regular cleaner for now, they're going to get dirty again when I polish the frames to get rid of what oxidisation I can.  The big, plain windows on this car lend it a more modern air than the rest of it feels it has, and the crank speed on them is wonderful, they're a delight to use.

Then, because I couldn't help myself, I got the T-Cut out to see if the old paint would come up with a bit of a shine.  The paint on this car is very thin in places, so thin it's missing in others, so this isn't a job that can be done with a machine polisher, you have to do it by hand.  It's going to take a fair bit of time but this paint will come up and, once polished up with the T-Cut a coat of wax will help keep it that way without need of oily rags.  It shouldn't go flat again for some time since it will be living in the garage.  I only managed to do the C pillar and half of the rear door on the passenger side, and I'll do a little bit at a time like this until the whole car is done.  I'm leaving the dents, the blemishes, the thin paint, the overpaint, and even the filler if it's in a spot that it does no harm.  The polishing is just to bring everything up a bit.  It should end up looking like a nicely weathered old leather seat when it's done, comfortable in its old age.

All that done, it was time for a photo with the Princess and then push it back into the garage.  I'm either a genius, or an idiot, because the Lanchester only just fits in the space available in the garage.  The drive is slightly inclined and we found it SO hard to push!  As soon as it got onto the flat of the garage floor, it rolled with no bother at all.  It is a tight fit in the garage, but it does fit!  Tomorrow, we'll get a battery and see if we can drive it a few feet under its own power.

 

[bangernomics]

Couple of sheepskin rugs on those front seats wouldn’t go amis

[Billy - Medhurst]

Older than the usual stuff I look at / Show interest in but this seems a charming little car.

It screams do not restore but preserve - I look forwards to more updates.

[somewhatfoolish]

36 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

The varnish on the door cappings and dashboard do need to be redone to protect the wood, and will get done.  Slightly more difficult to sort out is going to be the scumble on the instrument cluster, sadly most of it has flaked off. 

Is there such a thing as vinyl wrap that's like Dynoc? Or that weird printing thing where the stuff is floated on using a water bath?

[ETCHY]

Dunno if it's possible on that panel,  but I found this re' Scumble on Youtube, probably more stuff on there too.

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Interesting motor for sure. Do you know any history pre-layup? 

As for preserving the paint, have you heard of Ankorwax? I'm considering it for retaining the patina on my Lambretta which has 59 years of story written on the paintwork. It's not cheap, but is supposedly brilliant at properly sealing the paint and ensuring it doesn't deteriorate further. 

[lesapandre]

"Driving about in a radiogram" does really sum this car up. Is their any provision for a radio in them? The 'posher' marques had HMV valve sets as an option - Rover P4's particularly.

[RoadworkUK]

Thoroughly heartwarming stuff. Just lovely.

[lesapandre]

Lovely period advert.  Be kind to chickens - given that that the car has rod-operated brakes some irony here maybe - perhaps try it out sometime with a daring local chicken. Are the brakes 'big calibre'? It is a 'fast car'.

Everything about Lanchesters is charming...even the adverts.

[somewhatfoolish]

4 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

"Driving about in a radiogram" does really sum this car up. Is their any provision for a radio in them? The 'posher' marques had HMV valve sets as an option - Rover P4's particularly.

Need to commission @PhilA to transmogrify a valve set for listening to the Home Service and the Light Programme. 

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Yes wiping the car over with WD40 or something may be the way forward to keep the weathered look. Stripped and repainted the car wd loose so much character...likewise repairing the interior.

Ford Consul announced in 1950 at about £750  was a world away...and a Zodiac was about £850. The Lanchester must have appealed to the 'traditionalist' who liked the 'Pre-War looks  - but it was expensive and to an extent you can see where the money went in terms of quality of materials and workmanship. But so impractical in parts - why make the boot so small for example - maybe people sent on their luggage by train.

Super car though. Congrats on getting it. Wonder where its been all these years. I really like the scruffy look compared to something 'restored'.

Warmed over pre-war sidevalve porridge with a vulgar zoot suit of a body wrapped around it, or dignified british coachbuilding with overhead valves and exotic transmission? I'm picturing the average buyer as someone who favoured a pipe and a trilby and probably wore a shirt and tie to eat sunday dinner.

[vulgalour]

I might have gone online recently and attempted to acquire suitable attire for this vehicle.

I don't have plans to fit a radio.  However, I'm tempted by some sort of frankensteined little portable radio that looks old but has modern internals for battery longevity.  It would also be sensible to install a discrete power outlet on the car somewhere, I hope to drive this thing far enough that I'll actually need a sat nav.

[Vantman]

Sat Nav!!!   I thought Christine sent you a road map?

[Kringle]

16 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

It would also be sensible to install a discrete power outlet on the car somewhere, I hope to drive this thing far enough that I'll actually need a sat nav.

Maybe use navigation on your phone with a solar charger to keep it topped up?

[vulgalour]

Given my phone is an 11 year old item running on a sim card from 1998ish, you may be unsurprised to learn it is not connected to the world wide web.  It's also PAYG.  I really hate using the phone, I reckon I've used it more in this last week sorting out the Lanchester than I have all year.

[beko1987]

Wow that interior has scrubbed up well! Some nice feed on that leather and job done! 

Agreed with stealth in a 12v socket or even 2 USB sockets somewhere, on a car like that you want battery in your phone! 

Maybe stealth some sort of little Bluetooth amp and speakers like I think @danthecapriman did? Can stream classic fm from your phone then as you pootle along! 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Shurely Radio 3, not Classic FM...?

[PhilA]

Problem with a lot of vintage portables is they take batteries that aren't available any more (stuff like 90V ones) to power the tubes. Car radios could afford to be a bit more power hungry so, like mine running on a high voltage pseudo-AC sucks down a whopping 45 Watts.

Best bet would probably be to get a mid sixties radio, RCA or Roberts or similar, just on the verge of transistorized kit and enjoy that on the parcel shelf when it's needed to play The Archers or have the cricket on next to the biscuits and Thermos.

[Kowalski]

On 8/4/2020 at 12:03 PM, sgtberbatov said:

This is just crying out for a Rover K-Series engine in it. 

Sod it. Go for a Rover KV6 instead.

No no no no, ROVER V8!!!!

Make it the car it should've been!!!!

Nah,plop an XUD in it. Nice and simple. Anyone can fix that

[Kowalski]

Seriously though, what a great find. Other than the rot and tyres, oh and I suppose fluids, nothing needs changing. Lovely.

[nigel bickle]

C O H Baines are rubber extrusion suppliers. Still in biz last time I checked. Damn good, too!

[ETCHY]

Vice Grip Garage did a feature on preserving patina on paint.

It does involved linseed oil though so dunno if that is harmful to anything?

Anyway I hope it may be of some use, if not it's still an interesting watch  -

 

[phil_lihp]

This is brilliant stuff, keep the updates coming.

[BeEP]

If it wasn't for the fact it's in the boot of a Lanchester, I'd swear that engine mount was for a Landcrab!

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, nigel bickle said:

C O H Baines are rubber extrusion suppliers. Still in biz last time I checked. Damn good, too!

@vulgalour you could phone them up and see if they have any record of it. Or if they have any drawings/moulds for other Lanchester bits... 

[vulgalour]

@BeEP someone on another forum recognised it as such and put some money in the Lanchester pot for it, so it's off to be used by someone.  Quite what it was doing in this car is a mystery, there was no sign of hydragas or even BL anything at the farm we bought the car from.

 

@beko1987 I might do that, especially since @nigel bickle confirmed they're still going.  I'd be amazed if they had any record of this particular car.

[davocano]

15 hours ago, vulgalour said:

 

There's a tenuous motoring connection here; KT13 0QU is now the UK office of Japan Tobacco International and it's directly adjacent to Brooklands Museum.

[Twiggy]

Brilliant post ! Takes me back 60-odd years to when my father had a Conquest Century, the car I passed my test on in 1963... a lovely car to drive and the transmission  was so easy to use.  Just so that you are aware, the oil levels in both the fluid flywheel and the gearbox need to be checked regularly, as the seals were never faultless. IIRC, they both took SAE 30 oil and could be topped up from inside the car.  I`m assuming that the Lanchester will be very similar. If the vehicle doesn`t move when you finally get it running and put it in gear, it`s likely that either or both  oil levels are very low/non existent. It`s also worth keeping an eye on the oil level in the rear axle. Good luck with it, and please keep us up to date ! 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

2 minutes ago, Twiggy said:

...., the oil levels in both the fluid flywheel and the gearbox need to be checked regularly, as the seals were never faultless. ...

Once a day, then.