Greetings! New owner from India

[Tony Griffiths]

Well spotted, Mike. The car certainly does have a Wilmot Breedon bumper. It must have been offered as a third-party accessory; one wonders, do any cars in the UK survive with one?

[Tony Griffiths]

Hello friends!

What should be the correct headlamp model for my 1931 AG tourer? 

Regards,

Prithvi

Hello Prithvi,

The correct headlamps are the Lucas type R47 as used on Austin 7s from 1928 until 1931 when, in September of that year, Lucas-Graves double-filament bulbs and a different glass were fitted. Although they are very hard to find, perfect R47 replicas can be obtained from: http://austinrepro.com/headlamps/ The bulb holders are not soldered in, but clamped -  so very easy to change for whatever bubs you choose to use. They are made in small batches and might not be available from stock - but can be ordered. The R47 was used on other cars as well, for example, MGs, but not all have the mounting bolt fitted at the same angle as those on a Seven - so one has to be careful if you do, by some miracle, find a pair.
The rims overlap the shell and, to remove them, they are pushed inwards against spring pressure and rotated anti-clockwise. While the basic pressed shell remained unchanged, there were two different types of reflector, each needing the shell with the correct fitting. One type of reflector has a very deep rim, the other is very shallow. This is the "deep-rim" reflector type fitted to my 1930 AF.

[prithvitagore]

Thank you Tony!

Both for the Wilmot Breeden ad & the comprehensive info on the headlamps. This helps.

Regards,

Prithvi

[prithvitagore]

Can someone please help me as a guide for making an Ulster replica on my 1931 AG tourer?

It's been a dream of mine, to build an Ulster replica.

Are the Ulster's lower cars and do they have 19 inch wheels too? 

I suppose bonnet & scuttle length are the same but why did the Ulster have a scuttle mounted flatter petrol tank?

[Nick Salmon]

You may of course do as you wish with your car but I think it would a tragedy if you destroy yours to build an Ulster facsimile.

[stuartu]

I second Nick's observations.
On a purely practical note, you have begun to realise the pitfalls in your proposition. Why indeed should the petrol tank be both flatter and longer than that of your tourer? Because the Ulster bodywork is completely different in every respect from your original Tourer.

The factory body drawings are here: https://archive.a7ca.org/collections/tec...-drawings/

I will also observe (as an Ulster owner) that although many Touring and Ulster parts are sort of interchangeable in fact very few of them are identical.

Forgive me if I am brutally blunt but it seems ill advised to me to convert a complete historic entity, which you have, into a pastiche. There are excellent Ulster copies which I admire but you are going to find it an uphill struggle to achieve that. Sorry!

Of course, you may have an authentic car to hand to copy, in which case it will be a little bit easier. Even so, Nick's remarks still apply.

Kind regards,

Stuart

[Chris KC]

Building a replica sports car is a nice project if you have a lot of spare parts to build from, but I think few of us here would break up an original car to do so - most would much prefer to have an original Austin even if it isn't in great shape. The one you have there is easily repairable and will be a delightful vehicle when completed. Also perhaps better suited for driving in India I suggest. If you are determined to have an Ulster replica my advice would be to trade the car you have and collect up the parts to build something from scratch. You can either acquire a bare chassis from a car whose body does not survive, or collect up parts individually. Either way don't under-estimate the amount of work or the expense involved. The suspension has to be lowered, you will need a new aluminium body, and many other parts to be modified or fabricated.

[Howard Wright]

Hi

If you do take this course of action you will certainly lose the sympathy (and possible assistance) of many on this forum.  If you are despite for an Ulster replica there are many for sale on ‘Car and Clasics’.  Please don’t break up an original car!

Howard

[Reckless Rat]

I am speechless. (well actually I'm not but I daren't post what I'm thinking)

[Duncan Grimmond]

I tend to agree though I have built special bodies, on “ rolling chassis, no bodywork “ cases. A viable restoration project could be sold as a collector’s item and should provide enough funds for a special body project. However, this may be difficult on the other side of the world with a smaller market and fewer easily available bits.
Please think long and hard about what you hope to achieve from your remarkably fortunate find.