What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Tom Bickerdike]

        Having resorected my restoration of my ARQ Ruby, the running gear was actually finished a good eight years ago! and the car sat waiting for me to start again and finish it I replaced the rotten and broken sections of timber framing.

[Ilmoro]

Nice work Tom...watching with interest and an admirable retention of the original timbers.

[Tom Bickerdike]

Thanks having now pretty much stripped the car if is nice to see if moving forward! By the way the templates I prommiced are sitting in an envelope just waiting to be posted.

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

Spent most of the morning stripping years of **** of the rear axle tubes I’ve just acquired.  The rubberised under seal has been a pain to remove.  Here is one clean and one yet to be done.

Also retrieved from the said axle two half shafts.....Just a light lap and a new key?

Cheers

Howard

[Steve Jones]

Sympathise with you having turned this

   

into this

   

but then this

   

a couple of years ago. 

Steve

[austin]

That stuff is horrid. I found white spirit can help to soften it. Wirebrush is not the answer...

[JonE]

went down to beach to continue running in and attending to snagging list and take a photo in the sun. Found I was missing a wheel nut and replaced that; tightened up others. Noticed both oil pipe unions were now leaking, and still haven't found manifold leak - now wondering whether it might just be from valve chest, now that engine running hotter with a thermostat on? Then charging stopped (third brush solder had broken AFTER overhauling it all and not noticing that was dodgy...) Car cut out on way back and wouldn't restart, so pushed it 500m home with lots of people talking to me as I went! Best was... "Is that a Bentley?" (!) When I went back out to solve the non-start, of course it started first time. So tightened cable to starter....
Glad I'm still essentially driving in circles though, otherwise that could have been far more onerous!     

[Ivor Hawkins]

The woody looks so pretty from that angle Jon, just brilliant!

[JonE]

Funnily enough, was just looking at the pic thinking that I must add a vertical ash piece between the two horizontal struts under the door, so it continues down the visual line from the front of the door. First time I've noticed but now it's glaring at me...

[Bob Culver]

Hi Howard
I have a collection of similarly failed axles but dunno the background. Whether it is the usual mode of failure or whether these failures survive because the cars were still "'mobile "', I dunno. Some have suggested original Seven axles were case hardened but the Regent ones seem very hard throughout.
In the sixties a young chap I had encountered had a Seven. Away from home he had axle trouble and called into my fathers home for tools. He had great difficulty balancing the key while he replaced the hub. My father was something of a perfectionist and had never seen or imagined anything like it!