Big 7 jigsaw for pre-war newbie

[larrylamb11]

Please allow me to introduce myself 

I have just become the custodian of this little beauty.....
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As a serial old car nut and petrolhead this has brought me a great deal of excitement!   This forlorn Austin Big 7 is my first foray into pre-war motoring and i am chuffed to bits to have this little thing to play with over the summer. As with all the best vehicle acquisitions, it found me (opportunity favours the prepared mind and all that...) and I hadn't been specifically looking for an Austin 7...... consequently I know NOTHING about them. I am very green behind the ears on these and would welcome all help offered by those with more knowledge.....


Firstly, is a Big 7 owner welcome on these hallowed pages or is there a more appropriate forum for a waif like me?

Second, where can I get bits and buy parts for this little beauty?

Third, how much carry-over is there from the Austin 7 to the Big 7? are there many shared parts?


A little background on my car...... apparently it was a running, driving car when it was taken off the road (aren't they all!) about 7 years ago to have the engine mounts renewed and the clutch changed..... The engine was taken out, partially taken apart and ..... the project stalled. There followed some periods of woeful storage and the body travelling around without the mechanicals, until ultimately it was all reunited and I stepped in.
I now need to recommission the mechanicals, establish what is missing, put it all back together and get it back on the road, whereupon I can slowly restore the interior / exterior. 

Part of putting it back together will be doing all the jobs that are worth doing while the engine is out..... so what jobs would they be? flywheel oil seal? gearbox input shaft seal? anything else? Answers on a postcard please.

To corroborate the story of why the car came off the road a bunch of new parts came with it including new engine mounts, a new clutch driven plate and this box of goodies..... but what are all these bits? and where do they go?
I am guessing the black seal is the gearbox input shaft seal... but the felt seal? and the bunch of springs must be valve springs, right? but why 12 and are they possible to change with the cylinder head on? The bag of black rubber 'tubes' and plastic washers is a mystery..... as are the long eared springs..... I have no part numbers, workshop manual (if there is one!) or guides to go on......

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My first major job is to tidy up this:-

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So that I can put this back together and back in:-

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[Nigel was in Brittany]

There is A Big Seven register and also an active Big 7 Facebook page. Trevor Studwick on there has 2 Big 7,s

[Jeff Taylor]

Re the Big Seven Register and cherished supplier of parts specifically for Big 7's, suggest you contact:

Robin Taylor of the 'Austin Big 7 Register' and 'Big 7 Spares':-

Email: robin.e.taylor@talktalk.net

Tel: 01332 700629

Link to the 'Austin Big Seven' Facebook page - it's a closed group, so you'll need to join:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1534369470108586/

["Slack Alice" Simon]

http://a7ca.org/austin-seven/archives/literature/

Download the parts list and handbook, its a good start.

Keep asking questions on the forum.

Join one of the clubs and talk to other owners.

Where are you?

Simon

[JonE]

the rubber hose sections look like suspension bush overhaul items. Yours on front of car looks still intact but four would replace those in the two alloy links, one out either side of the spider washer in the centre of the axle...

[larrylamb11]

Aha! Replacement suspension bushes - yes, that looks likely. Another job for the list

I am based in the South East (Reading area) not on Facebook though, so will have to think creatively about access tot he group. Thanks for the details for Big 7 Register - I will contact them.

Is this here fine forum principally for pre-Big7 era cars? Rubys and the like? Am I in the wrong place here?

[daveg]

I would think the 12 springs are clutch springs which would tie in with the story that the car was going to have the clutch repaired.

[Ian Williams]

Larry, you will find that most users of this forum are owners of Seven's rather than Big Seven's, however that should not exclude you, there may be less experience in some specific areas however the Big Seven shares and awful lot of design features with the earlier cars.

[Tony Press]

Larry, you will find that most users of this forum are owners of Seven's rather than Big Seven's, however that should not exclude you, there may be less experience in some specific areas however the Big Seven shares and awful lot of design features with the earlier cars.

But not the engine which is entirely different.

[Ian Williams]

Yes agreed Tony, but that is a specific area isn't it, as far as I am aware the big seven engine has far less quirks then the seven engine, it is a more modern design so should be quite manageable for anyone with a bit of experience building engines. The gearbox is internally identical to a later seven except that it has a bell housing and more modern 1st motion shaft shaft which engages with a clutch someone with experience of post war classics would recognise, the rolling chassis has lots of small design differences but is essentially a slightly upscaled seven, with rod brakes.