1949 Austin Sixteen - Recommission

The end of the offside front outrigger was terminal again due part rust ingress / part bodging 



Held together with a piece of thick conveyor belting 



Rebuilt & suitably reinforced 



Running board trail fitted to repaired sill 



Previously retained to the bodged sill with self drilling roof sheet screws 



I drilled the sill & fitted revinut fastenings in place of the previous bodge 



The front terminus of the sill to the inner wing was then completed 



The sill repairs were then profiled with a couple of skims 



Then placed into a polyester high build primer 



The primer is black the white that you see in the image is a guide coat applied over the primer 



Flatted back the following morning



All ready for final colour 


 
Then left to cure - more later 

be good for another 73 years soon.

So the backstory - which is really very simple - when I was knee high to a grasshopper in the early (very early!) 70s Dad got the twin of this car, albeit a 48 - KNN 992 from memory. We did everything in it - pottered, went on full blown family camping holidays with a 5 man tent in a trunk on the open boot, the full 9 yards

I always had an eye out for one - ours was £200 & I think sold for £400 early 80s time - but people seemed to think they were worth a mint. Last enquired about a gorgeous green one but 'not for sale'!

Then this popped up on an Austin Counties FB page for a third of what people were asking, it was the 'true homage' colour scheme and the vendor seemed a lovely bloke, so I did the deal by phone (for a quarter, natch!

Then Chris had a trailer full of fresh air to drag south, & the rest is history! 🤓

Looking forward to meeting her 😀

Just needs a V8 popping under the bonnet as a homage to the prohibition booze runners. Great looking cars.

She won't know herself! As ever a million thanks Chris

Nearly, nearly done - hopefully the charging fault is now sorted - I need to slightly alter one of the exhaust brackets, rest of the electrics need a quick check for operation / lights etc - there is a little rewiring required on the rear number plate light - just the rear brake shoes (they called me today to say that were completed and were with a return courier) Engine oil is fresh from the previous ownership (hopefully its proper engine oil) - I will check the gearbox & rear axle oils tomorrow   

With the old regulator removed it became obvious that it had been messed with recently - look at the chewed up screwheads above the coils - once you start messing with these chances are that it wont work again 



I always salvage what I can off the scrap ones though - the brass screws & the original Lucas cover are no longer available 



Started the car this morning and the ignition / charge light went straight out - did a quick meter test and we are back in a charging position 



I need to sort some type of a battery clamp out - whatever was there before is now missing 



But also need to sort this lead out which lacks insulation and could readily earth against the bulkhead (car is positive earth - they all were in those days)



Traced the wire through to the rear of the instrument panel where it supplies power to the starter button 



Panel was half hanging out and someone had been there recently - the speedo cable was missing in its connection to the speedo head 



Removed the heater box shielding



Then located / recovered the end of the speedo cable and connected it back to the head - starter button rewired and the instrument panel could be refitted  



This could now be binned 



Replaced by this much safer option 



Battery bracket in the making 



Completed / painted & fitted - note the mounting plate for the battery master switch which is due into stock tomorrow - I would always recommend a master switch on anything of this age especially if its still running its original wiring harness but that aside its a good anti theft deterrent and can save no end of hassle with battery drain / flat battery etc - The battery box had a quick clean up prior to the battery being refitted - nothing special just a little adhesive on the sound deadening along with a quick squirt of stain black around the tatty areas 



More bodgery of the finest order - Its recently had the choke cable replaced - the dashboard end of the cable is glued insitu with some black sealant - just absolute laziness - the cable is also a solid wire and is jarring - I tried to reuse it 



But once I had cleaned it up the ferrules of the dashboard end just fell apart - the sleeve is alloy and the collar brass - I have no way of attaching them together - in the bin then 



My local motor factors yielded a new universal fit cable - wire type and much better to operate 



The choke was sticking on too so I added a return spring to ensure it returned when the cable was pushed back in 



A few minor jobs around the engine bay - spark plugs were loose - loose bolt on the starter motor - slack fan belt - all attended to 


 
Bare wires just twisted together - this is the supply to the starter solenoid - what could possibly go wrong ? - Again sorted / made safe 


 
I'm going to assume that the previous owner was in the building / roofing trade - there's no end of roof gutter bolts / cavity wall fixings / building adhesive being used on the car recently 



Even the bonnet is fastened to the hinges with gutter bolts - that are loose ! - What is safe & usable I'm not touching - its just a matter of getting the the car into a usable condition but I'm lost for words with the lack of skill level demonstrated on this one by the previous owner 



Engine side panel refitted on the offside 



I've replaced the cavity wall fixings with rivinuts on the front panels - now I think that I'm back down to a hand full of small jobs on it tomorrow - so hopefully it might just make daylight out of the workshop 

They all look like perfect temporary permanent bodges to me.

Nearside front side panel refitted which also included the bonnet stay & the workshop sweeping brush could be alleviated from its temporary bonnet propping duties 



Gutter bolts removed from the bonnet hinges and replaced with something a little more fit for purpose 



Exhaust mount altered from the strap that I fitted originally this was just folding back on itself and allowing the silencer to contact the chassis - now replaced with a fabricated steel strap and a heavy duty rubber bobbin which gives much better clearance between the chassis & silencer 



Gearbox & rear axle oils arrived - I couldn't locate any online information in relation to the oil specification or quantities via the owners club - Fortunately Castrol Classic Oils have a great online resource for this information - just type in the make / model / year and it comes up with the detail - Castrol were Austin OE manufacture recommended when the car was new too. Its pretty critical with older cars that correct lubrication oils are used especially in gearboxes & rear axles due to the amount of bronze bearings & gears that are fitted - Modern oils especially synthetics don't work well at all with bronze and can lead to very premature wear / failure with bronze components 



With the old oils drained (which given the colour & quantity hadn't been changed or checked for years) The box & axle were refilled - easy job on the gearbox as the access is from inside the car - not so easy on the rear axle though 



Battery isolator switch fitted 

 
 
Interior was relieved of many years of debris via the vacuum cleaner - quick inspection of the said interior reveals under seat stowage on both the front seats 



And a hidden underfloor compartment in the floor 



Ideal for hiding the duty free when returning from Europe 



Electrics then - after a few bulb holders were cleaned up / a few duff bulbs changes everything worked / came to life 



The car would have been on trafficators only - fitted to the B posts when the car was new - 99% of todays motorists don't what they are or understand them so its better not to rely on them for a clear turning signal in modern traffic - Its also evident that the traffictors ceased working many years ago too 



At some stage in the cars life someone has fitted these Morris Minor rear lamps - although non original they do good job of providing rear side / brake lights & indication signals - the front wings have been fitted with suitable Lucas type indicator lamps 



There's a separate stowage area for the spare wheel under the boot floor 



The stowage area is then covered by this panel which incorporates the rear number plate 



And should be fastened to these drop down hinges - but the panel arrived unhinged 



Its been recently messed around with and the number plate bodged back in with construction sealant 



The original 'D' shaped lamps would have provided for rear side & brake lamps but are now redundant due to the later fitted rear lamps to the wings - However at some stage they have been working and the wiring has earthed & burnt out 



Spare wheel flap / number plate panel when fitted - its secured by a budget lock on each side 



Some rewiring was still required though as the D lamps also provide for the illumination of the rear number plate - I just need to tidy the wiring up now I have these working 



Getting ever closer to completion - needs a wash off - just waiting for the rear brake shoes to turn up now - once they are fitted the car can be road tested prior to onward delivery