AUSTIN A35 1957 MODEL

A couple of shots of my Midget, it's a late 1979, one of the last few hundred cars Built at Abingdon..

Well got the car home, been using it for the last two weeks, evert hinges works as it should, I will be using it for the rest of the summer then it will go in the garden to start the restoration,


The engine runs well and starts easy


The milage is quite low as it's 60 years old.


As I'm working on it outside I need a good plan for the order of work, I have a she'd with two good benches

Will post mor pics if these upload

That looks in good order. The A series at that capacity is very sweet and Revs very happily and lasts well. Good luck with your resto...

Andrew

Low mileage - ah, but is that the second or the third time round? [badass]

I recall reading somewhere that if the car is stubborn to start, after standing for several days, but once going it restarts easily - check that the fuel filter bowl drain plug is really tight. They can weep a little bit, and over a few days can drain the bowl, so the pump has to re-fill it before the mix will fire!

thanks eric, that's exactly what happens to mine,
Andrew could you tell me where you got your cylinder head done? And the cost, I have the new valves so only need the seats and guides doing, thanks for looking boz

Just a few more pics.
when I get a work plan will post in a better order, I'm only the 4th owner, and the man before me had it 5 years, I'm fairly sure the milage is correct, as I'm going to be stripping and rebuilding the engine I'm not so concerned, it's what's under the re sprayed bodywork that I'm concerned about.
Glad there is plenty of interest in my project, all advice is welcome.
And if anyone has a good idea where to start please post, I can then see what you all think, thanks for looking, boz

You say, and I quote Boz Glad there is plenty of interest in my project, all advice is welcome.

The reason there is a lot of interest is that you have hit on something that if it could be bottled would net a fortune. Its called nostalgia mate, and is priceless . Also you are talking to a bunch of blokes that 1 can remember the A30, and 2 mess about with engines as a hobby. This thread couldnt fail Boz, please keep it going, as I for one love it .

Garry

Hi,

I really can't remember, it was 15 years ago. I know the local garage to me in Borrowash (near Derby) will do the work, as I went to school with one of the blokes that works there and he still does the MOT on the Midget. I suspect it was less than £100 to do the work plus the cost of the guides and seats. I contemplated doing the work on the Bridgeport at work, but bottled it!

What I did do on the old Bridgeport was re-bush the spindle bushes on the SU carbs. I think yours as the old Zenith downdraught carbs though, less efficient but a simpler design...

That picture of the sills looks a bit suspicious.
My guess it has had new sills welded on the outside of the old ones. Never an ideal (or long life) solution.

I agree q the sills both sides are the same, looks like they have been put over the old ones, there are other panels that don't look quite right, the shut lines along the bottom of doors is also questionable.
I will post some pics soon,I do expect to have plenty of welding to do, but until I take it off the road I am just enjoying driving it around,its nice to see the reaction of quite a lot of the older generation giving me a second look as I pass them.
Thanks for looking, boz

I see it's positive earth with dynamo. It depends how original you want to keep her but you may want to change over to an alternator with negative earth. (you'll have to reverse the coil connections as well)
Get yourself a large supply of zip lock bags in various sizes. When removing components, a tail light for instance, put all the parts into one bag with a piece of paper or card telling you what it is. Mark the outside of the bag as well but when you get back to it the outer marking is normally unreadable. What ever you do, do not put all the tail lights (for example) in one bag!
It's usually a good idea not to tackle more than one job at a time although if you're going to respray it's easier to do a bare body.
Remember only 1% of amateur restoration projects get completed, usually because the restorer attempted too much in one go.

Great idea, I'm hoping to keep him (malcolm) wifes named him, original.
I will only be doing one job at a time, but as I have to keep the car outside choosing what to do first will be the first priority.I can take smaller parts into my shed to repair/restore.
Thanks for looking

I would add to Klippy's excellent advice above Boz, by saying take lots of pictures. I'm sure that's what you're doing already, but I had to ad it just in case! It pretty much an essential tool when putting things back together again.

I'll also add to Garry's comment by saying that this really brings back old and good memories of my first car, an A35, and my second, A Morris 1000! Thanks for setting up the thread and posting on it!

Best of luck with the project.

When I did the Midget which took me 2 years, I slowly took it apart, and worked on it as I went along, So for example I took the lights out, restored them, labelled everything, got new screws etc wrapped them up and boxed them. The boxes then went somewhere dry in the house - the loft and the bottom of wardrobes was the favourite. This was done for every single item until I was just left with the shell. On rebuilding things went very swiftly as I effectively had a complete and ready to fit kit of parts. My hands didn't really get dirty! Out of the two years putting it all back together was two months...

Andrew