What do I have in my garage?

[Tony Press]

"I bought an Austin seven special from an auction last year."

I will bite my tongue- a salutary lesson to all buyers.

Possibly might have helped if you asked here before buying.

I would think you will pay more than the price to restore .

[A G Wood]

FYI gentlemen the protocols for NZTA  issued VIN numbers:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/vehicl...ation/vin/
If my experience is anything to go by, you will struggle to get any useful previous owner info from NZTA.
I paid for a request where, in the reply, everything was redacted except the locality each owner had lived in.

[flywheel1935]

looks like no locknut on the front brake yoke, ???? scary !!!!

[Bela]

@Tony Press

As mentioned we had good experience with rmsotheby's and we have been in the mood only one day before the auction starts. I don't agree that the restoring cost will be more than the price. Don't forget that the car was running on roads in UK and NZ before. It has shortcomings, but it is not a made-up corpse.

@A G Wood
thanks for that information. Are you able to decode some of the digits 4-9 = 0T0P07 ? It is not possible to get infos online from NZTA if you are a non resident of NZ. I'll try a letter.

@ flywheel1935
You have a trained look on things - but the lock nut is in the "U".

[Reckless Rat]

The cylinder head, Bala is from a 37 Ruby. The original head would have been the low compression version with a single bolt for the top water branch and 18mm spark plugs. The later head is the higher compression version which was and is an accepted power increase modification along with the SU carburettor. The original equipment was a Zenith 26VA. Only internal investigation can confirm whether the crankshaft has been replaced. You'll be able to tell once you remove the sump. If the car is running reasonably well it shouldn 't be difficult to bring things to an acceptable level of efficiency sufficient to satisfy the TuF. Good luck with the project.

[Bela]

....The later head is the higher compression version which was and is an accepted power increase modification along with the SU carburettor.....

If you say "an accepted power increase modification" - does it mean it was supported by Austin and documented in a WSM? What amount of power can I expect?

[Steve Jones]

No, none of the modifications were formally supported by Austin. Because the later Austin head was of an improved design and had a higher compression ratio they were fitted to many Sevens by their owners as time went on, particularly post-war. However, the head does have its downsides when fitted to an engine that has some bore wear. Like many Specials, your car is an amalgam of various Austin 7 parts from various Austin 7 models fitted with a 'one-off' body that was designed in someone's mind. The specification of the mechanics has also been decided by whoever built the car. None of that amalgam is to to an original or standard Austin works specification. I'm not too familiar with the rules for registering a car in Germany but from conversations with German old car friends, I do believe that to register such a 'Special' can be quite difficult as the rules are geared towards originality. I hope I'm wrong and that you are able to register the car for road use in Germany but I do have doubts that it might be possible.

Steve

[Reckless Rat]

It's a factory made but later Austin Seven head and fits staight on to an earlier block with minimal modification (two longer studs are needed to locate the later top water branch). A low compression head engine develops 10.5bhp whereas the later head ups the power to around 13bhp. Not a lot but in percentage terms it's a worthwhile modification and it does make a difference. The word "performance" in Austin Seven terms is of course, relative.

The nearest thing to a workshop manual is the " red book" by Doug Woodrow entitled " The Austin Seven Manual" which covers all models.

Plus, what Steve said.

[Bela]

I have ordered that book and guess it will come soon.

[Ian Williams]

Re NZTA VIN Code working backwards; the last 6 digits will be your chassis number, the two digits preceding that will denote the year for example 09 would mean 2009, the two digits preceding this will be vehicle type code in this case 07, the next two 0P is the model code, the next two 0T is the Make code, and the first three will be 7A8 which denotes that NZTA made this VIN number up rather than it being a factory issued VIN number.
I have a special where the fist part of the VIN reads the same as yours 7A80T0P07********