‘THE ENGINE WAS EXTREMELY TIRED’
Fuzz on restoring an Austin Seven for a former owner… who hadn’t seen it since the 1960s
‘Finally, after so very many years of making Car SOS, the powers that be – and Tim Shaw – were persuaded to take on an Austin Seven.
‘ This initial reticent attitude is common when it comes down to considering owning or driving one of these diminutive “cars of the people” because many folk just haven’t experienced the magic of these machines. They are amazing, albeit in a slightly bananas fashion; tiny, surprisingly agile in modern town traffic and about one size larger than your coat.
‘It took Tim getting his way with a Lotus Esprit to even the balance and allow me to shimmy one of Herbert Austin’s finest through the workshop door.
‘Nominee, Christopher, had restored the car itself more than 50 years ago and had sold it when still a very young man, in the 1960s. This meant that, of all the Car SOS nominees, he had absolutely no idea that the car he had waved farewell to, midway through the last century, would be on its way back to fine fettle and into his own garage again.
‘ The Seven had been part of a private museum collection for most of the intervening years but had found its way into the hands of a well-known pre-war Talbot restorer and racer, as a pit car.
‘Christopher’s children traced the car and its then-owner was willing to sell it back to the family if the Car SOS would be willing to take the car on. One son had to sell his much-loved MGB in order to achieve this – a worthy sacrifice!
‘Museum exhibit status does not necessarily equate to a car being at its finest. The engine was extremely tired, with scored bores and pathetic compression. Its separate front and rear brake systems also showed a reluctance to stop and the ravages of time had put paid to most of its suspension bushes, lubricant seals and gaskets.
‘ The high-tension ignition system desperately needed an overhaul and the steering components also required plenty of attention, with worn kingpins and ball joints. The steering arm attached to the offside front stub axle was replaced as a matter of safety; these are prone to stress cracks and seemingly sound examples have been known to fail suddenly, with sometimes fatal consequences.
‘Bodily, the aluminium scuttle had corroded where it met steel and many other areas also required work in order to get the tub to a state where it could be painted from its maroon colour back to Christopher’s chosen dandelion yellow.
‘Restoring these little cars involves numerous tasks not usually encountered when tackling newer cars. Things such as the reaming of bushes to the correct size to take pins and pivots. As such, we had to acquire a few old-school tools as well as dusting off our Whitworth sizes spanners and sockets.
‘ The car’s reveal was a convoluted exercise, but you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to find out why…’