1961 Austin Se7en

[AustinSe7en]

Hello All!
So this is my little project. 1961 Austin Se7en that I have had for around 30 years!
Been abandoned in the garage for about 28 of those! I guess you could call it a genuine “barn find”
But it’s finally time to drag it out and get it back on the road........now where did I put all the bits???

[AustinSe7en]

Cleared all the toilet rolls and junk out of it, stuck some air in the tyres and it’s first glimpse of sunshine for decades!

[AustinSe7en]

Managed to get it recovered into work just before lockdown.
Had it running within 20 mins and the engine is sweet as a nut!
So time to whip it apart......

[AustinSe7en]

Back to a bare shell, on the spit-roast and time for a blast underneath

[kevs 1961 mk1]

following with gr8 interest as im doing a 61 this winter, yours looks very solid though

[AustinSe7en]

I have to say that it really is good under here!
Certainly looks like it’s never had any panels replaced in its time!
Minor welding to be done, but It’s a good 'un!!
I will try and post a few updates as and when I get the chance.
Blasting all the mechanical bits before I replace all the bushes & bearings.
The engine and box are being soda blasted to get rid of that hideous burgundy paint!

[kevs 1961 mk1]

shell looks mint , I agree the burgundy has to go ,you painting it mowog green

[g111mds]

That shell looks to be in great condition.

[AustinSe7en]

I think the engine will have to go green.
But a bit boring, green engine in a green car!
The ally bits have come up soooo nice that I am very tempted to only paint the engine, but not sure yet.

The shell really is that good! I’ve never seen one that’s not been got at before, and there really is very little rust!
No new panels needed. I’m well chuffed!!

[roger mcnab]

hi look at all the fun that you are missing out on but what a great little project green engine in green car well maybe black engine bay to be different
who knows what will go unless one tries different ways
cheers roger mcnab

[CaliforniaMk1]

That looks to be in great condition. How many miles does it have? The one-piece floor/sills look very solid.

Are your hinge supports looking good? That's a bad spot on my 1960 and seems like the original single-skin is a hard repair panel to find.

I'll be following along looking for tips and hints

Mike.

[AustinSe7en]

Well, it would appear I told a bit of a porky there!
Hinge reinforcements were not so great. Off side not much left,
near side nowhere near as bad. Found an old panel I’ve had on the shelf for an age, and bought one new one for the other side.
Put most of the panel into the off side, but the near side really only warranted replacing the actual reinforcements.
Before....

[AustinSe7en]

Drivers side.
The wings and A panels are all original, so we worked from the inside. Tricky but at least externally it stays original.
As you can see, behind the panel it’s mint!!!

[AustinSe7en]

Passenger side much simpler.

[AustinSe7en]

As I said, main body panels still all original. So not wanting to disturb the factory spot welds. We have carried out a repair to the off side front wing where it had got a bit thin on metal!

[Gary Schulz]

It is nice to see "spot" repairs instead of wholesale panel replacement. I should have done things this way on my car. I replaced the front wings when only patching would have done the job. Looks very nice...

[AustinSe7en]

Not wanting to bore you all to tears, so this rear sill corner was really as bad as it got!
All cut out and a few repair sections fabricated.
Looking a bit better now.
There were only a couple of other areas that needed sorting, but nowhere near as bad as this bit, so I’ll not bored you with and on those photos!

[AustinSe7en]

Having got that far, and waiting for my heritage battery box to arrive (ok maybe one more new panel!) the underside was given a coat of rust stabiliser/converter.
There were areas of minor pitting here and there, so it’s just something extra to keep it at bay.

[AustinSe7en]

Once that’s been on overnight it’s time for a coat of rust inhibiting Epoxy primer.

[AustinSe7en]

Bit of filler work here and there and then seam sealer applied before painting.