Introduction from a New Owner!

[Leisureking]

There was an official importer in Portugal with offices in Porto and Lisbon. The name was J J Goncalves.

The ACP (the Portuguese equivalent of the RAC) has a fairly extensive archive so I am going to see what I can find there.

I suspect very little!

[Leisureking]

The last few weeks have been quite busy as I have been able to spend more time here, and so I have continued to strip the front of the car and investigate the electrics and other mechanical components.

So, far I have concluded the electrics are beyond repair and clearly a fire hazard!

The gearbox is out, and has either emulsified or no oil inside.

There is a serious problem with the chassis where the steering box mounts. I gather this is a common fault. Brace sections have been found and ordered thanks to David!

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I have not yet plucked up the courage to attack the damage to the chassis, so instead I turned my attention to stripping the engine.

It hasn't really cheered me up though!

[Reckless Rat]

I bet you're glad you didn't try to start it! Any metallic bits in there?

[Leisureking]

Haha! Yes, absolutely. There was never going to be a youtube style "will it start" type of ending to this!

So far, no obvious metallic bits. I am dissolving the crud in some clean oil and will then pass it through a filter to see how bad it is. The saga continues...

[Howard Wright]

Hi

Just a very wild thought…. If your heritage certificate states that the original car was khaki. Would that imply any military connection?  I’m not sure if the Portuguese military have any records?

Your chassis damage looks much worse than mine (which was just a crack). However the steel Austin used is very weldable.

Good luck

Cheers

Howard

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I like the body styling of your car - someone spent a lot of time on that.

Everything you show is fixable.

[Mike Costigan]

Hi

Just a very wild thought…. If your heritage certificate states that the original car was khaki. Would that imply any military connection?  I’m not sure if the Portuguese military have any records?

Your chassis damage looks much worse than mine (which was just a crack). However the steel Austin used is very weldable.

Good luck

Cheers

Howard

I think April 1930 is too early for there to be a military connection. The British army was at the forefront of mechanisation, and the earliest Austin Seven with military was the Mulliner scout car which was first trialled in late 1928; the British army was still evaluating the concept in 1930.

[Leisureking]

This is a good point. I think it more likely that it was destined for one of the Portuguese colonies in Africa, where Khaki would no doubt have been a sensible choice of colour! The heritage certificate also designates a black trim colour, but the hood colour is not recorded.

I have managed to find a record of it with the Portuguese equivalent of DVLA, so I am hopeful of finding at least some basic registration details from them.

Until then, all I can do is continue with the striping and cleaning routine!

The flywheel and crank are stamped with the engine number, but the pistons appear to be +50 oversized.

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P.S. The horrible scraping marks were not made by me! they were revealed by dissolving the carbon with paraffin and carb cleaner.

[Tony Griffiths]

Yes, you are absolutely correct. It is April 1930 according to the heritage certificate. For some reason I keep thinking it is ‘31!

That means it's based on the AE. However, the body and wings are different and, unless it's a modified body from something else, it must have cost a small fortune to build. Interesting that the top part of the screen seems to be original to an AE.

[John Cornforth]

Hi

I thought for a moment that the script on the piston crown said Ford, but on closer inspection it says Front. I have never seen such a "handwritten" style used before.