Austin A35, resurrection!

[Jboy]

Greetings,

Have recently acquired an Austin A35, model 1959. It has been off the road for about five years and has been standing in front of the previous owners house. The car was imported in 1960 and remained with the original owner till he passed away five years ago, the car rusted tremendously in the mean time, the floors disappeared, big holes on the doors and under the fenders and the gas tank all but evaporated. Found the engine in the trunk, but thankfully it was all there to be rebuilt completely.

Inside was an even bigger mess, The seats had all rotten away and the upholstery was all but rags and pieces. However, the good thing was that all original accessories were still intact, including the instrument panel, the monograms, knobs and the original steering wheel.

Have a tough and long task on my hands! Have already sourced some parts from UK. Lets see how it goes. Any advice and help is more then welcome.

Cheers

[hamza_xeg]

Good luck with the project,it will require alot of hardwork and $$$$

p.s: Keep us updated with the thread

[Jboy]

Yes seems like it, luckily enough after market parts are available in Uk and even in pakistan as this very rare car is cousin of the very recognizable Morris, infact it shares the same engine, so hopefully the motor rebuild wont be that much of a hassle. Body parts would be a problem, have already ordered the broken passenger side glass and some other parts like rubbers and seals. Will pick them up from there next month. Hopefully with time and patience it can look a little like this:

and this is the colour I have in mind

[Jboy]

Its off to the body shop today, will remove the gear box and shafts today before sending it. the design being a "monocoque" doesn't help a lot, its prone to rusting and its much more difficult to work on under the carriage. With a regular design,its always easy to lift the body and do the mechanics and under body fabrications if any. Will post pictures later.

[-Sammy-]

this car is a oldie yet a goldie
the very best luck to you for its restoration!

[usmanulamin]

gud luck for the completion

[Pir_01]

Best of luck brother. da car body is still in better condition keeping in view of da year of manufacture.further more every gadget is in ur hand , then u need efforts but not too much.dont be dis-heart and discourge. its a gem u find. keep it up and keep us update. cheers

[reezvaan]

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[a4awais]

Very tough job ahead. Wish you all the best with the project.

[Jboy]

Monocoques are a pain in the *** when it comes to working the underside of the chassis/body. I would highly suggest you to build a Rotisserie. It makes restoration life a hell easier than you would ever imagine.

All the best with the resto.

I was actually thinking of making one, but the time and headache in getting one fabricated would be on a different level. I did a MUTT once and it had the same problem but we managed it somehow.

So decided to take off the maximum number of panels and all the doors and flip it over for the undercarriage resto. Hopefully the mechanicals are not that bad so wont need much details there, but im planning to change the brakes, hoses and pipes, ball joints and the entire suspension. Thanks for the thumbs up! will be updating regularly. So Eid is near and no one wants to work now...

The Mutt

[Jboy]

Very tough job ahead. Wish you all the best with the project.

Yes! indeed it is...but whats the fun of getting it easy! Thanks

[Jboy]

Best of luck brother. da car body is still in better condition keeping in view of da year of manufacture.further more every gadget is in ur hand , then u need efforts but not too much.dont be dis-heart and discourge. its a gem u find. keep it up and keep us update. cheers

Thank you for the kind words! Yes, i got lucky with the parts and accessories. The body is well not crashed, but severely rusted due to it being a "nishani" and standing in front of the house of the deceased owner for five years. If i would've gotten to it then, believe me this car would not have needed any resto, just a coat of wax.

[Jboy]

Gear box and drive train removed. Will be posting pictures soon

[syncview]

Best of luck with the restoration sir..

[sawan345]

Sir nice job done this model is very rare..I wanted to knew is that the same Classic that was for sale on Pakwheels a week back?
There is a same car standing outside a garage for more than a year you might know ?
I think they are not going to do anything on it try to ask they might got the part's with them which will be helpful for you.I hope uptil the VCCCP drive coming from Karachi to Peshawar in November this car will be ready to join them ???
Please update pictures step by step would love to see.

[Jboy]

Best of luck with the restoration sir..

Thanks Sync!

[Jboy]

Sir nice job done this model is very rare..I wanted to knew is that the same Classic that was for sale on Pakwheels a week back?
There is a same car standing outside a garage for more than a year you might know ?
I think they are not going to do anything on it try to ask they might got the part's with them which will be helpful for you.I hope uptil the VCCCP drive coming from Karachi to Peshawar in November this car will be ready to join them ???
Please update pictures step by step would love to see.

Yes Mate, this was the same car. My luck the owner was here in Lahore,hence got cracking at the deal without wasting a minute. the car was in Pindi with denter who had already done his bit of "denting".
What garage is this? I have no idea of another car like this. there is one in pristine condition with a fellow Pakwheeler, Wasif.
I hope it can be ready by then, but i doubt it though as I am planning to go into a lot of detail.
Will keep the blog updated for sure! Thanks for your encouragement.

[Jboy]

So managed to take out the transmission today. Its not in a very good shape, but still workable. The plan is to send it the machine shop along with the motor and to have them stripped and start from scratch. Will send the casing for cleaning.

[Jboy]

I was lucky to have most of the accessories intact. Notice the quality of the chrome, that even after standing out in the open for five years, it hasn't faded or cracked. Also these have not been cleaned, they were photographed as they were taken of.

[Jboy]