Hi All, I have a conservation project under way with the Chummy at present, dealing with a bit of corrosion between the wings and body. The car did not have wing beading/piping fitted, rather a black mastic if some kind, which looked suspiciously like bitumen gutter sealant to me! My question is should a 1928 tourer have beading between the wings, running boards and body?

And while I am on the subject of corrosion, any thoughts regarding powdery aluminium? The image below shows the back lip of the car, where steel tacks have been used under the aluminium finishing strip to fix the hood to the body. Not a good idea!

   

Thanks, John

I noticed that my back brakes were getting progressively more feeble and this is what I found:

On one side the linings had fallen completely to pieces and on the other side they were completely soaked in axle oil which had the positive effect of reducing the level of disintegration, but didn't do much for the braking.

Last year I relined the brakes and removed the hubs, filed off the high spots and replaced them with loctite flange seaer but no paper gaskets. Since then I have done Wiscombe twice, Prescott and about 500 road miles.

I see that there has been some discussion about keeping the oil/grease out of the brakes. The oil appears to be getting through the flange and not through the felt seal.  I plan to fit sealed wheel bearings, reinstate the flange gaskets with a smear of hermatite or similar and drill some holes in the bottom of the axle tubes. What is the  view of this approach?

Regarding the brake linings, these were the soft grey type and they appear to have split across the rivet heads. Possibly I clamped the rivets up too tight when I was fitting them and damaged the linings? I have another set which are made of a brown fibre with metal reinforcement and I suspect they may be a bit tougher? Has anyone come across this problem before? Is it worth getting bonded linings?

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Due to acquisition of a Nippy, I am reluctantly selling my RM saloon. First registered July 1931. Comprehensive rebuild completed 18 months ago. New Paint, re-trimmed in Moquete, correct front/rear wings/scripted wheels/Rist horn. New head lining and fabric roof covering. Rebuilt engine, new piston rings/ valves, crank bearings all good.updraught Zenith carb'. Re-chromed radiator shell and door fittings. Brakes relined with 1 1/4 inch shoes, all cables/cams/bushes good and correctly adjusted. Rebuilt dynamo and starter, correct distributor. The list goes on and on. Super to drive, for years I have run my RL Saloon with a late Ruby Cyl' head and side draught carb'. This RM runs just as well with original head and carb!  Lots of photo's and road test video available, I am not computer "savvy" enough to post the here.
If you are looking for a car that is fully sorted, contact me.
£8,000.00

Just joined your friendly little forum, so thank you for having me!

I have yet to get an Austin 7.  I have just finished rebuilding from the ground up a Land Rover series 1 and am looking to part with it sometime soon and relive my earliest motoring days with an Austin 7

My first car, back in 1962, was a one owner Pearl (JD5245) which cost me 45 pounds and suffered all sorts of abuse for 18 months until my lack of care and attention led  to its demise and the acquisition of yet another 7 and then several more!  I was known as the motoring cuckoo because of all the 7s I had in other peoples garages!  Last 7 was an Ulster (1154ME) which I sold for 70 pounds to finance our honeymoon!

Not sure what I am going to get when the funds arrive for my new purchase.  I do know it will be pre Ruby which I hope won't upset too many Ruby owners here, but I might go pre1931 but having said that, longer wheelbase might be nice.

I haven't done my profile yet, so, I live in Maldon Essex and will soon be 74, and have been tinkering and rebuilding cars for ages and the thought of an Austin 7 and the simplicity and lightness of everything is a big appeal.  I shall get an already restored car because I am about to lose my rented workshop but will have facilities to do servicing and upkeep.

Looks like I am probably boring you so I shall leave it there for now (and supper is ready!)!

Cheers

Ant

We've had an enquiry about replacement woodwork for an ARQ Mark 1 Ruby, with a body by Egan of Geelong.  Are any Australian members familiar with these and if so, how much do they have in common with the UK model?

I'm particularly interested in the "Patent Latticed Roof Frame", now missing, but referred to on a patent plate on the car.

Thanks!

Hi,

I'm slowly getting the bits together so I can add a starter to my Ulster replica and now have, I think, everything but the floor mounted starter button.

I suspect I will have to make up something similar to an original using the button from an early classic mini but I haven't actually seen an original Austin 7 starter button apart from a photo of one in a car.

Does anyone have a photo of the actual switch itself or any other illustrations / suggestions which may help?

Many thanks,
John.

I'm putting together another propshaft and decided to pump grease into the splines to see how much it reduced the minimal wear that was evident. Surprisingly the grease came out through a hole beside the UJ. I slid the splines apart to investigate and found that - except for the first 1/4" - they were completely dry..

Is the hole supposed to be plugged?

Peter.

   

Hello All

Having now removed my rear hub assembly from my '37 Ruby axle I find the felt seals a little worse for wear so would like to replace them.
Is there a modern lip seal used instead nowadays and if so would I be correct in thinking that you discard the large flat washer that sits behind the felt seal as well.
Also, is it better to use something like "Wellseal" as an alternative to the paper gasket between the 2 hub halves please?
As always, any input very gratefully received thank you.

Graham.

MTo inform you all that “Friend”  Jim Proffit aka Bluto passed away after an heart attack on Good Friday last. Jim was a lifelong car man (google him it’s very interesting) I became friends with him online and telephone when I purchased the Rosengart van, Jim Had the only other to survive. Jim could’ve tell a good story a F.C. would’ve sometimes be on the phone for hours. He said that living in Poland he was starvedof English. Sadly missed.

Just found this on utube

https://youtu.be/PPk0SZYfCLo

Can anyone explain what the “Atom was”, it looks as if it may be the marine version.

Roger