Project “will it go again..?” 1961 Austin Seven Deluxe Restoration

[gs.davies]

More progress. Took it to have tracking done, exhaust sealed up, and the rear tyres swapped over. Tracking was MILES out before I started. Considering the invasive surgery this car’s had, I’m pretty pleased with how square it seems to be. Maybe some small adjustment at the rear to get is absolutely perfect but the drive home was significantly better.

Unfortunately the weather turned while I was out and whilst having no door glass in isn’t ideal, having no wipers was certainly a terrible idea. It was a very light shower though and we got home safe.

Engine still not really that happy, balanced the carbs up again, set timing to 6 degree static as per MG1100 settings which is the closest I can think to this engine spec.

Seems to be rich on middle two cylinders and leaner if not almost right on one and four. I think I’ll try a different needle, before the rolling road session next week.

Got some more gremlins to fix; another oil leak, this appears to be coming from a tappet cover and or the open vent breather so might change that out for a canister type. Rear wheel bearings are really not happy - they’re one of the bits that I cleaned up, packed with grease and decided to run again. They’ve not seen the road since late 1995 so they’re due a change

Fitted up the heater and solved some electrical problems with lights yesterday, the old ‘custom’ trim now has a lovely patina about it and I think I’ll keep it. It’s part of the cars history now. Black speedo, jury’s out; I have a cream one but it needs a repair, and the other cream one I have needs restoration. Again, this black one is part of the history so I might just stay.

Wipers were fitted and despite having a new motor, they really didn’t want to work. It seems that the replacement MiniSpares arms and blades are too strong for the motor, though eventually as the grease worked it’s way up the rack, things improved. Obviously much better on a wet screen. Also, they stick up off the spindle so far and add so much bulk that the bonnet doesn’t want to open. I’ve found the old ones and will try those instead. These are now for sale.

This morning I’ve been looking at glass - passenger door, front of drivers door, both rear quarters and rear screen are all original to the car. I could do with some reminding on how to fit the door glasses though. The lower runner strip seems to be a gnats too long to happily slide into place. I can’t remember how I fitted one last time; it was the middle of a cold February by the side of the road following a break in..

So I’ve embarked instead on fitting the chrome strips… luck required.

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[timmy201]

I’ve only fitted the side windows once, but this is how I did it:
Install both windows onto the lower rail and hold them in place with the catches
Slide them both in towards the middle
Bring the whole assembly over to the door and get the top of the glass in the door seal, then slide the lower rail into place
Install all the various screws from the rail to the door

[gs.davies]

Chrome strips in. What a pig of a job! Now these are fitted the wrinkles on the inside have reduced but not gone away. Any thoughts?

I made a repair to the driver side opening rear window; it’s not ideal but it’ll do for now. As per the other side it won’t shut properly because the seal is too thick. I’ve got seals from somerford and phoenix.. any recommendations for a seal that fits? Or any tips on how to get the fitting better?

I started on the side glasses, really not a fan of the upper channel rubbers. These are much softer than the originals which were more like the lower ones, with a solid metal core.

Couldn’t find the right drill bit to drill the holes and it looked like rain starting so I packed up for the day.

Here’s some pics, really pleased with how it’s looking now.

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[gs.davies]

More progress..

Both sets of sliding glass or now in, and a bit of procrastination over several cups of coffee revealed that the glass is original to the car with the exception of the windscreen and the drivers side rear sliding glass which got broken one night many years ago when some low life tried to nick the radio. All glass is third or fourth quarter 61, with that drivers glass dating to first quarter 62. Windscreen looks like 70's/80's to me.

Also done are those little plastic blocks and the channel drains. Just the remaining bits of trim and brightwork to go back in now.

As far as running goes.. It got a bit grumpy and ahead of the rolling road tomorrow (!) I took apart the carbs again and had a good look at the bits inside. Whilst both needles were GZ, one was longer than the other, in fact, longer than all the other needles I've got lying around. Springs different lengths too, and on really close inspection, the pistons were just catching at the beginning of their lift through the suction chamber. Loads of cleaning later, and a decision to swap the pistons over, things now move a lot smoother.

I'm picking up a new pair of M needles and new blue springs today and so will reset carbs once more. After reassembly though, the car runs a lot happier, even though the idle is currently quite high.

Ignition wise, I had another look at the distributor. I had a big pile of them and between us, John and I worked out which one had the best chance of going again and it was stripped, cleaned and reassembled. Oddly, it seemed to have two very hefty springs in it, despite being coded as an 850 distributor. I checked the other 850 distrubutors I had and decided to change over the springs. It's now a lot livelier in pick up, with a maximum mechanical advance of 16 degrees. I've timed it at 5 degrees static and if the bits are what I THINK they are, this is now more or less a standard 850 distributor, albeit with aged springs and one degree less mechanical advance. Anyway, it's rolling road time tomorrow where hopefully all this will get sorted out.

Still got a pretty messy rear of engine to deal with, will try fitting a breather hose terminated with a breather filter to see if that helps. Failing that, I may need to have the tappet chest cover off and try fitting a canister type cover.

Other jobs completed - I restored the previous pair of headlamp pigtails and modified them to accept the captive pilot light bulb. The wires now reach the joint with the main loom and are made of wire that looks like it'll last more than ten minutes. Brake light switch got stuck on, so that's been changed. Need to bleed brakes out again. Adjust clutch throwout (pedal is a bit low) and try to clean up the extremely tatty interior as best I can. One rear wheel bearing was changed, now the other side has started complaining. I should have known better than to have tried a bearing that's sat idle for over 25 years.

Provided the rolling road goes well and no other mechanicals happen, I'm going to make an attempt at Blyton. Only a 320 mile trip. What could possibly go wrong

[wantafaster1]

This is excellent, keep at it

[Peter Laidler]

Anyone else reading this who is about to embark on removing or replacing the sliding windows. Don't forget to clear out the drain tubes. Obvious, I know. But what ain't so obvious if when you are replacing the windows, absolutely flood the window channels with Supertrol 001 before you sit the runners on them. I dodn't bother with the self tappers but just used some long 4BA brass screws right through to the underside of the actual channel part. Then used brass nuts and washers to pull the runners down. Worked a treat

As a matter of interest, if you use a bit of welding wire, you can feel the drain holes in the black felt-like runners that allow the water to drain down, into the drainage channel below. These holes are a GOOD way of squirting supertrol into the drainage channel too.

Did mine last winter. The brass nuts and bolts worked a treat and invisible unless you look from underneath of course

[gs.davies]

Anyone else reading this who is about to embark on removing or replacing the sliding windows. Don't forget to clear out the drain tubes. Obvious, I know. But what ain't so obvious if when you are replacing the windows, absolutely flood the window channels with Supertrol 001 before you sit the runners on them. I dodn't bother with the self tappers but just used some long 4BA brass screws right through to the underside of the actual channel part. Then used brass nuts and washers to pull the runners down. Worked a treat

As a matter of interest, if you use a bit of welding wire, you can feel the drain holes in the black felt-like runners that allow the water to drain down, into the drainage channel below. These holes are a GOOD way of squirting supertrol into the drainage channel too.

Did mine last winter. The brass nuts and bolts worked a treat and invisible unless you look from underneath of course

This is all a genius idea. I’ve done this job once before. At the side of the road, in the pouring rain after a break in. Yesterday was nearly as miserable as that, so the idea of re-engineering this is well worth considering.

I’ve got a LONG snag list on this car to deal with later and pulling the sliders again is on that list.

[Peter Laidler]

I did send this up as to Mark/forum a technical paper with a few photos but it got lost somewhere along the line. But it's certainly worked well for me.

[gs.davies]

Well… 55HP and just shy of 60 foot pound on the rollers.

Still got a slightly unhappy idle and I’m looking at the carbs themselves. Any thoughts anyone?

[timmy201]

It could be loads of things, I’d start by checking the ignition side:
Plugs all look the same colour after idling
Plug gaps and heat range is correct
Plug lead resistance from cap terminal to plug contact is within spec
Dwell/points gap is correct and even across all 4 cylinders
Ignition coil is the right ohm rating
Pulling off one plug lead at a time while idling and checking the rpm drops to check all are firing
Idle timing is consistent and within spec

Once I’m happy the spark plugs are all giving a decent spark I’d move onto the fueling side

[gs.davies]

Well, what an incredible weekend. After taking some tentative steps locally, LFF ventured out for it's first proper runs at the weekend.

Thursday, parcels arrived from Somerford and MiniSpares with what I hoped would be the final deliveries of parts. MiniSpares order missing the needles and springs, Somerford's delivered the right length wiper arms and blades, but for left hand park. Their fault, not mine. MiniSpares on the other hand, was my fault. Whilst I added the needles and springs to the shopping basket, I completed the purchase from a different device, and the needles and springs hadn't copied over.. It turns out we have a carburettor guru in a neighbouring village who was able to source a set for me on Friday.

Friday, needles and springs collected and a whole bunch of other jobs needed doing. Brakes bled again, handbrake cables fixed, wheel bearing at the rear changed and then I ran out of time..

Saturday, 06:00; following a mainly sleepless night owing to youngest Davies (11) having a 'sleepover' with his mates, I groggily went into the garage to wake the car up and get it out and about for a trip to Revivals at Thriplow. The objective here was really to check that fuel and ignition were 'safe'. Home to Thriplow is quite a journey and I still had to swap the choke cable and do the needles and springs and check valve clearances. The choke cable turned out to be an absolute red herring; I'd been struggling to get the longer solid cored cable I'd put on the old non-locking C knob to return the chokes to the default position and so I'd thought the flexible locking one was required. Much cursing and I'd managed to swap them over, only to find that the MiniSpares pattern Choke>Twist Lock cable was easily overpowered by the jet return springs. And then it slipped through the trunnion, leaving me with a mile of choke cable hanging out dangling in front of the heater.. Oh well.

I set off into what was a beautiful bright and sunny, yet misty morning, across the heart of the lovely Mid-Essex countryside and I met John at an Electric Charging forecourt outside Braintree where he'd follow me armed with all sorts of spares in the event of a failure-to-proceed. We headed North West from Braintree along the old A120, up to Dunmow, through Thaxted with LFF generally behaving itself. The scenery was amazing and I'd forgot what a joy driving these old things in such conditions can be.

Eventually we arrived at the Rolling Road and after some checks on carb balance and initial timing, LFF was strapped down to the rollers. Several runs were made and whilst some note of idle timing being erratic was made, the operators didn't alert me to anything more sinister than a failed vac unit. With the dizzy timed in and a couple of tweaks of the mixture, the engine made a very healthy 55BHP at 5215 RPM and 59 lb/ft of torque at 4290 RPM, the torque appearing over a wide area in a nice flat line. Max speed attained on the rollers was 97mph at 5590 RPM whilst the max torque appears at 75mph. These numbers are pretty much exactly what I was hoping for, and I've geared the car for being able to keep up on Motorways.

So, we then set off from Thriplow and decided to head for Potters Bar to pick up a vac unit. LFF certainly felt a LOT livelier on the road and when it found a fast A road, indecent road speeds were very easily attained. Vac unit got and another can of oil it was time to head for home. Simplest route from there being the M25, which used to be this car's nemesis when it was an 850. I once drove it all the way to Leicester trying to avoid motorways.

Later on, the idle speed was still an issue. It was really high and it really didn't want to know anything about being brought down, even so, we managed to knock a few RPM off it but idle was a hit and miss affair. With an evening engagement on stage, I got the car home and put it away, no time to mess with vac units.

Sunday 06:00; it's Blyton day. Oil checked (min to max - again), choke cable dangling out the switch panel it fired up and I headed off once again to meet John and his support Passat near Braintree. Another lovely morning and we decided to take the plunge and take the A120/M11/A14/A1 route up to Blyton. 55/60 mph on the inside lane, only really going past that to get round packs of lorries. Without incident we called in at Peterborough services for coffee. Oil checked and topped up, most of it splattering down the 850's open breather pointing at the diff casing, with some dribbling from the valve cover gasket that really needs changing. The rest tending to be used in very small amounts on overrun, suggesting that the exhaust guide seals aren't right. Second leg of the journey saw us arrive at Blyton without any mechanical incidents and we parked up alongside the beautifully presented Tartan Red Esses of Tim and Michael.

After lunch, we headed onto the track, which I must admit was a something of a landmark, despite the car's shabby and incomplete appearance, the fact that this once derelict, scrapyard-bound but much loved car had made it this far was quite a moving experience for me. I then thought I'd take advantage of the tuner that was there....

Plug gaps all inconsistent. Fixed. Still a crap idle. Bucket loads of timing scatter at idle. Coil out of spec (it was the original 1961 item), Lucas Sports Coil fitted. Small improvement. Mixture leaned out a bit, idle brought down lower, timing reset to 11 degrees at 1000RPM (still no vac) and a discussion about what could be causing the scatter and so I need to start with a 'proper' set of leads. Money dropped into charity bucket, the car was parked up again ready for the run home.

The run home was interesting. LFF now has an insatiable appetite to accelerate and loves being on power. It absolute detests being on part throttle at anything less that 60 mph, and so the drive home was MUCH more spirited. Tank refilled at Gainsborough, having consumed a mere 4.1 gallons since being brimmed at Braintree, a trip of 166 miles point to point. Felt pretty decent at almost bang on 40 mpg. More oil put into sump ready to lubricate the rear of the engine.. Then it rained and without a dizzy shield, or a grille, I expected the worst. Yep. The windscreen seal leaks, nothing more, nothing less. It kept going. I had sealed the leads into the side entry cap and elsewhere with silicone grease. I took the A1 at around 65mph, pretty much all the way back, stopping only once at Peterborough for another oil top up. I also noticed that the brakes woke up, presumably as the front discs and pads bedded in. There's still a bit of air present and I think I'll do a complete flush through prior to Italy, but I can confirm, the 7inch Cooper brakes are more than adequate for road use and the way I drive.

Soon darkness was falling and it was time to find out what the £20 pair of show special Halogen lights were like. Roughly aligned on the petrol station forecourt, they weren't bad. And it was getting colder, and there's still a number of draughts to locate and sort out. BUT, on that last leg, rushing along the M11, tickling the throttle open to raise the pace from 60 to 80 to get round the lorries on those uphill stretches without any effort at all, looking across at that dimly lit, incorrect-for-year central speedometer, the comforting 'warmth' from the fug-stirrer heater I could have been 19 years old again when I first owned LFF. That car was genuinely like a time machine at that moment in time. The sounds, the smells, the familiar but awful driving position was so evocative and I realised that all those cold nights in the garage, all those pig-awful jobs that leave you exasperated and entirely without an adequate vulgar expression were entirely worth it.

By the time I got home after 350 miles on the Sunday, the slower speed running was terrible, even to point of misfiring, so I've got to embark on working out just what the heck is wrong with the ignition. I'll start with leads, but on inspection it looks like the advance mechanism gets stuck, so I think it was just running at full advance at any engine speed. Therefore, and given the three weeks until (hopefully) I load it onto a ferry at Dover bound for IMM in Florence, I'm looking for the best, quickest, and cost effective fix to this new problem, hence my ask for an Aldon Yellow as a hopefully quick fix.

In this weekend the car covered 530 miles and did it well. In fact, I'd say I'm in worse shape!

Without this forum, being inspired by other writings of similar journeys from scrap to splendour, speaking to certain members here about their experiences, getting valuable and qualified advice, sourcing awkward parts, modifying bits and pieces to fit, help and an arse-kicking from my oldest and best friend John, I doubt I'd have managed to get this car in one piece let alone completing such a long journey so early on, so a big heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped. This forum, despite the fact it's less busy than it used to be is still the number one source of information and inspiration. Long may it continue.

And speaking of things to be continued, so is this story... Hopefully I can start to show pics of a shiny car, dripping in wax and a rolling restoration to get it to a higher overall standard. And of course, share experiences of attempting a 2000+ mile trans-European trip.

Anyway, enough rambling, I really should get into the garage and sort them sparks out, get them in line... Here's some pics

Rolling Road...

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Setting off for Blyton

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Keeping good company (or lowering the tone?)

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Parade Lap, leading a 1071S

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Back home safe and sound, and looking for more stickers to collect

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[wantafaster1]

Well done

[Joel Welsh 4769VU]

Very nice!!

[Old English White]

Thank for such a great story! I have greatly enjoyed reading this Good luck with further chapters.

[gs.davies]

Today's progress;

Out of washing up liquid, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to see how it runs after putting an old 850 distrubutor in, so I fired it up and spluttered off to Aldi in it. On the way back I had my first failure to proceed caused by a poorly set points gap. It's been a LONG time since I fiddled with my points by the side of the road! Still not a happy bunny it just won't return to a sensible idle. The advance unit wasn't returning to it's default position and the spindle was extremely sloppy, so there's no chance of a decent idle with it.

I spoke with AC Dodd on the phone about it and we agreed that I'd fit one of his recurved rebuilt distributors as it's available now, so that's now on it's way to me. It's a later type (45D4) but I need to get some reliability and some smooth running under my belt before the 23rd when I head to IMM.

As for the previous distributor I set about finding out why it wouldn't advance or return. There's some wear in the bob weights and the lubrication was a bit on the thin side so I took it to bits again, brushed some grease onto the cam pegs, bob weights, and the surfaces these all run on. I checked that the movement of the weights will move the cam round to it's stop at 16 degrees, and they did. I then had another look at the springs. The primary was so knackered it was never going to return the bob weight back to zero, and in the pile of spares I found another similar looking spring and put that in. I replaced the secondary, reassembled the whole thing, added the new vac unit, replaced the baseplate and set the points up. I put it back in the engine and set static to 8 degrees. On starting, the engine sprang into life and settled into a steady, if splashy kind of idle. Satisfied that there wasn't now a dizzy issue (or at least not a terrible one!) I started to bring the idle down until it ticked over slowly. Lift pin test and the tailpipe sound suggested it was way too lean and so I richened it up quite a bit until the lift pins wouldn't stall any longer.

On the road it's now much better, smoother, happier at part throttle, but flat as a pancake.

I'm hoping the new ACD dizzy (and yes I've relented and gone electronic) will restore the urgency I'd seen at the weekend. I am presuming there's just not enough advance in this dizzy. Now I've sorted it so it will at least ignite some fuel, it can be relegated to a spare in case of an electronic failure.

Next up, a change of plug lead to a modern type to see if there's any further improvement.

Onwards.

[Polarsilver]

Check that your new HT Leads are suitable for the incoming electronic stuff;

[gs.davies]

Check that your new HT Leads are suitable for the incoming electronic stuff;

It's more like the outgoing leads are NOT suitable for electronic

[gs.davies]

The AC Dodd dizzy arrived, along with another coil (1.5ohm) and that was duly fitted and timed in to eight degrees static.

I now have a sensible and reliable idle which will just make the ignition light flicker. I also retuned the carbs and leaned them off quite a bit. I think the M needles are too rich on part throttle, even with good idle mixture, the car stinks on part throttle and cruising around 45/60 mph.

I spoke with AC Dodd about this and he’s suggested a weaker needle. Looking at the SU charts and the closest engine spec (MG1100) I think I’ll give D6 and Red spring a try.

It does run nicely though. Bags of torque available and it’ll happily climb the hill into our high street which about an eight percent gradient and a 20mph limit very happily in third and accelerate if asked.

Other task completed was to swap out the 850’s open breather with the canister type of the tappet chest. I’ve routed a long hose into the wheel arch for now to vent the crankcase fumes away and over fifty miles or so, the car no longer spits gallons of oil out though it does appear that there is a residual oil leak still in play though it could just be the last of the river that was coming out of the tappet breather dribbling downwards.

Longer term I think I’ll look for a PCV manifold and associated valves to route these fumes back into the engine. Yes, it’s off the original brief by quite a way but the wife complains bitterly that I stink of oil all the time

I also decided to get new carpets and will be fitting up the budget Minispares kit and felts in the next few days. Already with just the felt down the cabin is becoming more civilised.

Later this week my local garage will have another go at sealing the exhaust and fitting a lower engine steady - a torquey 1098 is just too much for the single steady car from an 850 and that’s not helping the exhaust one bit.

Total miles now around 800 or so. Time for an oil change too and time to start making the cabin a nicer place to be. There’s 2000 miles starting in under three weeks…!

[rolesyboy]

Funnily enough I was sat by the river having a beer in the Sunny Sailor this afternoon and saw you making your ascent from the bottom of Market Hill.
That's a steep hill too lol

[gs.davies]

Funnily enough I was sat by the river having a beer in the Sunny Sailor this afternoon and saw you making your ascent from the bottom of Market Hill.
That's a steep hill too lol

I was planning on calling in for a pint and toasting the new owners. Time got the better of me though.