The story so far - September 2009

Our Austin 10 arrives in Woodford Halse. 13th September 2009

Following a drive up the M1 from Woodford Halse to Nottingham, with a vehicle transporter in tow, we get a first look at our Austin 10. A true barn find, she's rusty, has a seized engine and looks to have been last taxed in 1979....

Crikey, what have we bought?

14th September 2009 Ness and Alex inspect the Austin 10's interior.

So, time to start working out just what we have bought. On the face of it, excepting where the running boards used to be, it seems quite a solid little motor. The chassis and floors show little rust damage at this stage, though we're trying not to get too excited, obviously.

The bottom of the doors and the areas surrounding the wings are another story; there'll be lots of opportunity for me to improve my MIG welding skills once we get around to the body tub.

18th September 2009

Oh dear, a missing radiator cap and evidence of a boil up. We have had a long Friday working on the Austin, managing to get the front nearside wing and inner panel off to give better access to the engine. Where the wing met the front of the body tub is a bit of a disappointment, with almost a full hundredweight of cataloy filler crammed in where steel used to be. This will definitely require a fair amount of TLC.

The plugs were removed from the engine and light oil was poured down the bores to try release the pistons. We'll keep doing this over the course of the week, to see if we can get the pistons to release their grasp on the cylinders.

There is evidence of a boil up at some point in the past. Hmmm, that could be a slight worry.

19th September 2009
Tidying up after removing the wings from our Austin 10.
Another attack on the front of the Cambridge, with the removal of the offside front wing and inner panel. Cripes! If I thought that the nearside had a lot of cataloy, I hadn't figured on what I would see when the offside wing came off.

Unlike the bolts on the first wing, which were all happy to unscrew in the normal manner, all bar one of the offside fixings sheared with very little force.

The dynamo and top water hose have also now been removed to allow better access to the top of the engine.

Penetrating oil and heat has been applied to all the nuts holding the head down; we will repeat this on a regular basis so that when we want to release these we won't end up shearing the studs.

We are finding that patience is a virtue with these things.

20th September 2009

A two hour drive across country from Northamptonshire to Hertfordshire to grab four replacement doors was successfully despatched today. A bargain by anyone's standard, bought on eBay at £15.00 for the lot!

Although there are no door linings or hinges, the skins will replace our rusted out doors very nicely.

22nd September 2009

Sat here this evening, I'm already planning what we'll need to do next to our Austin (Betsy)this coming weekend.

Obviously, the next step will be to remove the radiator cowl, radiator and headlamps, which will allow full access to the engine. If we can get that done this Saturday, the next thing to do will be to strip the body tub down as far as we can to lighten it up for its impending separation from the chassis.

We are aiming to have the body and chassis apart by the end of the first week in October.

Meanwhile, we continue to try swoop down on replacement parts for the car as they come up for sale on eBay. We are also joining the Austin 10 Drivers Club to gain access to their knowledge base and parts supply lines.

Two particular items of the bodywork that are worrying us are the missing running boards. We have no idea where we are going to find these or, failing that, where we'll get new ones made. Ideas any one?

Austin 10 without all front end tinware. 26th September 2009

A good day all round! I have managed to remove the radiator cowl, radiator and wiring from the front end of the car. Next on the to do list is remove the bumper at the rear, before moving on to strip the body down ready for removal.

Once I had the front end clear enough to look at the engine more closely, I noticed that the outflow pipe that returns the coolant to the radiator has rotted quite badly. However, I am not even slightly downhearted at that as the engine has freed up and I have been able to turn it over by hand. Hurrah!

27th September 2009

Dang! The replacement doors that I bought the other week are for the Lichfield, not the Cambridge. In my rush to grab a bargain, I bought the wrong thing. Now I am torn; should I cannibalise the door skins to make new bottoms for our doors or should I sell them to someone who needs them for an earlier car. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.