Austin A30 Seven

Post pictures and stories about your cars both present and past. Also post up "blogs" on your restoration projects - the more pictures the better! Note: blog-type threads often get few replies, but are often read by many members, and provide interest and motivation to other enthusiasts so don't be disappointed if you don't get many replies.
Message
Author
User avatar
arceye
Posts: 1904
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Cleveleys, Lancashire

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#91 Post by arceye » Fri May 20, 2016 8:22 am

Cheers Junkyarddog :D

Terry, isn't Richs Transit multi coloured ;)

User avatar
TerryG
Posts: 6754
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:54 pm
Location: East Midlands

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#92 Post by TerryG » Fri May 20, 2016 9:47 pm

Different shades of white and rust ;)
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#93 Post by rich. » Sat May 21, 2016 7:23 am

TerryG wrote:Different shades of white and rust ;)
cheeky monkey!! i will have you know my transit is a delightful shade of cambridge council yellow... and rust, rather a lot of it :oops:

Image

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#94 Post by JPB » Sat May 21, 2016 10:13 am

:shock: Rich, that's gorgeous. I'm guessing that the damp course needs some attention though. :P
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#95 Post by rich. » Sat May 21, 2016 11:45 am

that pic was taken the day after i bought it.. the screen was covered in snow/slush.. now she sleeps in a barn, well most of the time :D

vulgalour
Posts: 674
Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#96 Post by vulgalour » Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:07 am

Sterling work on the little Austin and great to see it out in the wild. It looks really right, even with the missing bits. I'm so happy you didn't paint the wheels silver!

User avatar
arceye
Posts: 1904
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Cleveleys, Lancashire

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#97 Post by arceye » Sun Aug 21, 2016 10:37 am

Cheers Vulgalour, I have to admit to not having driven her more than a hundred miles since then, in fact I didn't drive her at all until a couple of weeks ago.

This wasn't through lack of will however, rather shortly after the last update I repaired the roof valleys and changed a couple of slates on the house, then decided to run up my ladders and bitumen the tin roof on the side shed that was once the original entrance to the house, then, only seven foot up, and after years working on train station roofs, railway viaducts etc without taking any harm I somehow got the ladder to skate away leaving me on the ground with various torn / stretched ligaments /muscles in my left shoulder and arm. This resulted in an inabilty to use the Austins long gear lever, and so she had to sit idle. I'm still in pain as I type this, but I did go for a 15 mile drive last night so things are looking up :)

On the upside while this was going on, the gearbox and original low geared A30 diff were pretty noisy, so I managed to find a reasonable Morris minor diff with the same ratio as an A35 for 50 quid from a pal, and a gearbox on Ebay for 55 quid, though that was located in Chester, having relatives in Lancs meant I could pick that up on a visit in the wifes' modern so that worked out ok.

Not being able to get down and under the car myself (still struggling with that) I "persuaded" my lad to change them for me. So now she has a good gearbox and a pretty decent diff, cruising speed is now quite a bearable 55 or so rather than its previous 45 which wasn't even that pleasant due to the noisy box.

Talking of noise, I've also been collecting soundproofing out of a couple of moderns that have fallen through our hands on their way to the great breakers in the sky and have now fitted some behind the dash, under the rear seat and up the seat back and over the gearbox area of the transmission tunnel, that in itself has made the little Austin quite a pleasant place to be, I have more so will slowly fit that as and when the arm permits.

Anyways, no piccies I'm afraid, but she is moving along, and once I'm fully happy with her those missing bits can be found and I will improve her further :D

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#98 Post by JPB » Sun Aug 21, 2016 11:37 am

FFS be careful around ladders! I'm relieved to read that your mishap resulted in relatively minor damage but please, don't do too much stuff that could cause serious injury.. Leave that to your offspring because young folk have rubber bones and soft tissue that heals in minutes. ;)

Amazing progress has been achieved on the A30, many folk would take several years to get a car this far in so short a time so well done and keep the updates rolling in. I was conceived in a grey A35 van so there'll always be a soft spot in my head for these cute, well proportioned wee cars. Too much information? Sorry, I'll be moving along now..
:D
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

vulgalour
Posts: 674
Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#99 Post by vulgalour » Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:04 pm

You can in a A35 van (just about, if you watch where the gearstick is and mind the steering wheel and careful where you're putting that foot!)

User avatar
arceye
Posts: 1904
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Cleveleys, Lancashire

Re: Austin A30 Seven

#100 Post by arceye » Fri Aug 26, 2016 9:47 am

:D Cheers John, very sound advice I think.

As far as making small humans in A30's I think such antics would probably result in more damage than falling off a set of ladders these days. :lol:

More soundproofing gleaned from old moderns has now gone in, covering most of the floor pan, heel boards, under the shelf below the rear window. Having gone for a little spin last night it really has transformed the car, it still buzzes and whines away but in a very nice muted way that isn't at all unpleasant. Road tests while the car was current mentioned they were a noisy vehicle, I suspect it is now much quieter than one from the factory would have been, I could even hear a little wind noise when I got her up around sixty yesterday which would have been drowned out by the clatter previously.

Anyway, all good there, however I fitted a small fuel filter just before the pump when I got her on the road, and she has clogged up 2 so far, so I'm hoping to empty and clean the inside of the petrol tank in the next week, hopefully just a minor teething issue that doesn't result in a perforated tank.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests