1958 Austin A35 - the family heirloom...
Discussion
Hi all. (Long post warning)
This build has been a long long time on the cards and will, like my other threads, be a long time in the making.
I hope it doesn't take 6 years like my last build! The benefit of this one is that parts are readily available, relatively inexpensive and there's lots of support and mods available "off the shelf". Rather than having to design and make everything up as I go along.
Let's start off with the background on the little A.
All aboard the time machine for a step back to the 1930s to a young chap called Billy Owen (my wife's maternal grandfather), serving his apprenticeship at the old Austin motor works in Longbridge, before it merged with Morris, Triumph etc to form British Motor Holdings, that later became part of British Leyland.
When the war effort got more severe he joined the Royal Engineers and was one of many who took part in the D-Day landings working on mobile bridges, vehicles, trucks and personnel carriers etc. He was one of the very lucky ones that somehow managed to survive.
After the war he set up a garage in Leek in Staffordshire, mainly working on BMH/BLMC cars of the era (i don't have any photos unfortunately). During his life he had several A30s and A35s. Two that remained were a 1958 black 2 door A35, and a 1957 Palm green 2 door A35.
Here's a picture of Billy with his Palm green A35 (802 RRF) in the mId 90s. Billy died in the early naughties, with his wife, Eileen, surviving until 2015. The car still exists somewhere. It's on the club register and it's presently taxed but the owner is unknown.
The black one (3537E) was given/sold to my MIL in her early 20s and is affectionately known as Bessie. It has remained with her ever since. It has been up/down to brighton a lot and was used extensively for many years. It still has its original Staffordshire number plate, which is worth a fair bit more than the car, but it's staying with it. It has been off the road for about 18 years now. It has been in the family for around 50years, 46 with my MiL. I think throughout it's life Billy did a fair bit on the car. It's had different (standard) gearboxes, engines, axles etc through the 70s and 80s.
There was a bit more of a push on the little A approximately 8yrs ago when my wife announced she wanted the car at our wedding. My FiL did a great job and indeed it did make it to the village hall about 250yards up the road under its own power but ultimately there was just too much to do to get it properly back on the road.
Here are some pics from our wedding of the A35 in 2016.
Fast forward to this weekend just gone. I hired a trailer to take my other project for its MSVA (which it passed) and extended the trailer hire over the weekend.
I drove up to the North Wales border and we hoisted the A35 onto the trailer and dragged it to its new home, inside in the dry for the first time in it's life. It's quite funny. Out in the wild it looks tiny. It's less than 1.4m wide and less than 3.5m long. Looks very big in the garage though!
That concludes the history. In the next lengthy episode I'll go over plans, what we've got and start to document a partial tear down.
This build has been a long long time on the cards and will, like my other threads, be a long time in the making.
I hope it doesn't take 6 years like my last build! The benefit of this one is that parts are readily available, relatively inexpensive and there's lots of support and mods available "off the shelf". Rather than having to design and make everything up as I go along.
Let's start off with the background on the little A.
All aboard the time machine for a step back to the 1930s to a young chap called Billy Owen (my wife's maternal grandfather), serving his apprenticeship at the old Austin motor works in Longbridge, before it merged with Morris, Triumph etc to form British Motor Holdings, that later became part of British Leyland.
When the war effort got more severe he joined the Royal Engineers and was one of many who took part in the D-Day landings working on mobile bridges, vehicles, trucks and personnel carriers etc. He was one of the very lucky ones that somehow managed to survive.
After the war he set up a garage in Leek in Staffordshire, mainly working on BMH/BLMC cars of the era (i don't have any photos unfortunately). During his life he had several A30s and A35s. Two that remained were a 1958 black 2 door A35, and a 1957 Palm green 2 door A35.
Here's a picture of Billy with his Palm green A35 (802 RRF) in the mId 90s. Billy died in the early naughties, with his wife, Eileen, surviving until 2015. The car still exists somewhere. It's on the club register and it's presently taxed but the owner is unknown.
The black one (3537E) was given/sold to my MIL in her early 20s and is affectionately known as Bessie. It has remained with her ever since. It has been up/down to brighton a lot and was used extensively for many years. It still has its original Staffordshire number plate, which is worth a fair bit more than the car, but it's staying with it. It has been off the road for about 18 years now. It has been in the family for around 50years, 46 with my MiL. I think throughout it's life Billy did a fair bit on the car. It's had different (standard) gearboxes, engines, axles etc through the 70s and 80s.
There was a bit more of a push on the little A approximately 8yrs ago when my wife announced she wanted the car at our wedding. My FiL did a great job and indeed it did make it to the village hall about 250yards up the road under its own power but ultimately there was just too much to do to get it properly back on the road.
Here are some pics from our wedding of the A35 in 2016.
Fast forward to this weekend just gone. I hired a trailer to take my other project for its MSVA (which it passed) and extended the trailer hire over the weekend.
I drove up to the North Wales border and we hoisted the A35 onto the trailer and dragged it to its new home, inside in the dry for the first time in it's life. It's quite funny. Out in the wild it looks tiny. It's less than 1.4m wide and less than 3.5m long. Looks very big in the garage though!
That concludes the history. In the next lengthy episode I'll go over plans, what we've got and start to document a partial tear down.
The merger of Austin/Morris gave us BMC, British Motor Corporation. Also included MG/Riley/Wolsely/Vanden Plas. When Jaguar/Daimler joined the party BMH was formed, if I remember correctly. This was early 1970's, Triumph and their assorted brands were the next bunch! And at some point Leyland were incorporated......and Rover.....I blame the Labour government....
Best wishes for the restoration, as with most of BMC's products of the era, rust traps were part of the design! Guess you will need new floor sections and inner cills, deep joy!
Best wishes for the restoration, as with most of BMC's products of the era, rust traps were part of the design! Guess you will need new floor sections and inner cills, deep joy!
Of course BMC gave us 'badge engineering', Farina A55/Cambridge/16 60/4 72 and was the MG called Magnette?
Similar story with the ADO16 range.
Morris Minor and A35 shared engine/'box, but the Morris had rack and pinion steering, the A35 the odd rear brake system!
A35 had the very advanced, for it's time, column mounted light switch, but let down by the indicator switch mounted on the 'screen rail!
've rambled enough, but will follow your progress with interest.
Similar story with the ADO16 range.
Morris Minor and A35 shared engine/'box, but the Morris had rack and pinion steering, the A35 the odd rear brake system!
A35 had the very advanced, for it's time, column mounted light switch, but let down by the indicator switch mounted on the 'screen rail!
've rambled enough, but will follow your progress with interest.
Ambleton said:
You're quite right.
Austin+morris+MG+Riley+Wolseley = BMC came first
BMC + Jaguar = BMH
BMH + Leyland busses & trucks + Standard + Triumph + Rover = British Leyland
Lots of names there and only Jaguar and MG remain! And only because the Chinese bought the MG name!
Leyland is still thriving under Indian ownership.Austin+morris+MG+Riley+Wolseley = BMC came first
BMC + Jaguar = BMH
BMH + Leyland busses & trucks + Standard + Triumph + Rover = British Leyland
Lots of names there and only Jaguar and MG remain! And only because the Chinese bought the MG name!
Lovely little Austin!
Right... So.... What have we got?
This would be a 1958 A35 2door saloon. Fitted with smiths cabin heater (I don't know if this is an aftermarket or OE but I don't think they all came with heaters as standard). It's not a deluxe, the deluxe had a chrome grille.
Engine is a standard (but not original) 948cc A series fed via a Zenith carb. Positive earth electrics, dynamo.
Front hydraulic drum brakes and rear rod actuated brakes. Yes, that's right, rods....
Lever arm dampers throughout.
It was originally pulled off the road about 18yrs ago because of a rad leak and poorly engine.
The rad was replaced with a ropey looking spare that was in the back of the shed and the head was removed and had hardened valve seats fitted. At the same time the seats and door cards were retrimmed in burgundy red vinyl and they look very smart. The headlining has been replaced. Brakes were worked on but never really got to work.
In the meantime it appears the petrol tank has corroded and filled with gunk and she won't start - this is the least of my concerns right now...
This car will not be a garage or show queen. The aim for the car is to get it back on the road to have fun in and enjoy. The plan is that this will actually be my wife's and so I want to give it more power, better brakes, steering and suspension so it's a bit more usable and less "old". If she doesn't feel safe in it she simply won't drive it, so it has to keep up with modern traffic.
A35s aren't worth a lot of money and the plan is never to sell it anyway. If this was for sale right now it would only be worth about two grand (not including the plate). If it was immaculate it might be worth £7k.
Over the past couple of years I've been collecting parts for this project. These are listed below:
- Ital 1275 A+ engine on a single SU (this needs a rebuild)
- Midget Ribbed gearbox (this needs a rebuild)
Midget rear axle with hardened half shafts and hydraulic rear drum brakes. These internals/brakes will need rebuilding into a spare A35 axle my in-laws have in the shed.
- Sprite anti-roll bar and bracketry
- Midget front suspension/hubs/hydraulic disc brakes. These will need rebuilding/refurb prior to fitting
- Austin A40mkii steering box. These have stronger larger internals and also have a rolling pin that doesn't wear.
- 3.7 rear diff from a sprite (I believe)
I think so far I've spent about £1300 on parts.
In addition to the car and a few parts, I've acquired a fair amount of paperwork, original workshop manuals, handbooks and paperwork.
Before I get to all of that though we have to address the elephant in the room... It's a 65year old BMC car that's been kept outside it's whole life. There's rust.
...and filler.
Front valance is literally made of cornflakes, filler and paint. The front lower panels are very rusty and thin. Front LH outer wing is good but the inner wings look trashed. RH front outer wing is in a pretty bad way. Sills need doing, rear arches need doing, rear panel needs checking. Suspect the bottoms of the doors need some welding too. The floor actually looks ok. I had a poke around with a screwdriver and punched a few new holes....
There's plenty to be cracking on with. Whilst there is a lot of corrosion going on, I've seen a lot worse. My friends have driven around in much worse MX5s! :Hehe:
I have a tame welder and fabricator buddy who's going to come over and have a look over it once I've taken the wings off. Naturally everything is rusted solid so it's a bit of a painful task but we'll get there.
This would be a 1958 A35 2door saloon. Fitted with smiths cabin heater (I don't know if this is an aftermarket or OE but I don't think they all came with heaters as standard). It's not a deluxe, the deluxe had a chrome grille.
Engine is a standard (but not original) 948cc A series fed via a Zenith carb. Positive earth electrics, dynamo.
Front hydraulic drum brakes and rear rod actuated brakes. Yes, that's right, rods....
Lever arm dampers throughout.
It was originally pulled off the road about 18yrs ago because of a rad leak and poorly engine.
The rad was replaced with a ropey looking spare that was in the back of the shed and the head was removed and had hardened valve seats fitted. At the same time the seats and door cards were retrimmed in burgundy red vinyl and they look very smart. The headlining has been replaced. Brakes were worked on but never really got to work.
In the meantime it appears the petrol tank has corroded and filled with gunk and she won't start - this is the least of my concerns right now...
This car will not be a garage or show queen. The aim for the car is to get it back on the road to have fun in and enjoy. The plan is that this will actually be my wife's and so I want to give it more power, better brakes, steering and suspension so it's a bit more usable and less "old". If she doesn't feel safe in it she simply won't drive it, so it has to keep up with modern traffic.
A35s aren't worth a lot of money and the plan is never to sell it anyway. If this was for sale right now it would only be worth about two grand (not including the plate). If it was immaculate it might be worth £7k.
Over the past couple of years I've been collecting parts for this project. These are listed below:
- Ital 1275 A+ engine on a single SU (this needs a rebuild)
- Midget Ribbed gearbox (this needs a rebuild)
Midget rear axle with hardened half shafts and hydraulic rear drum brakes. These internals/brakes will need rebuilding into a spare A35 axle my in-laws have in the shed.
- Sprite anti-roll bar and bracketry
- Midget front suspension/hubs/hydraulic disc brakes. These will need rebuilding/refurb prior to fitting
- Austin A40mkii steering box. These have stronger larger internals and also have a rolling pin that doesn't wear.
- 3.7 rear diff from a sprite (I believe)
I think so far I've spent about £1300 on parts.
In addition to the car and a few parts, I've acquired a fair amount of paperwork, original workshop manuals, handbooks and paperwork.
Before I get to all of that though we have to address the elephant in the room... It's a 65year old BMC car that's been kept outside it's whole life. There's rust.
...and filler.
Front valance is literally made of cornflakes, filler and paint. The front lower panels are very rusty and thin. Front LH outer wing is good but the inner wings look trashed. RH front outer wing is in a pretty bad way. Sills need doing, rear arches need doing, rear panel needs checking. Suspect the bottoms of the doors need some welding too. The floor actually looks ok. I had a poke around with a screwdriver and punched a few new holes....
There's plenty to be cracking on with. Whilst there is a lot of corrosion going on, I've seen a lot worse. My friends have driven around in much worse MX5s! :Hehe:
I have a tame welder and fabricator buddy who's going to come over and have a look over it once I've taken the wings off. Naturally everything is rusted solid so it's a bit of a painful task but we'll get there.
Edited by Ambleton on Tuesday 15th August 22:28
antipodes40 said:
Brilliant. My very first car was a four door A30. Had huge fun in it, despite its diminutive size. The somewhat weak big end gave me my first taste of stripping down and rebuilding engines. Fond memories.
Ah yes, I think the A+ resolved many of the issues of the earlier engines and we substantially stronger.It's a very cute little car and I'm looking forward to getting it back in fighting health
jeremyc said:
Because rece car ... 
It's pretty well understood that to make these cars handle well you lower them, make the front very stiff, add a front ARB, and the rear very soft, removing the rear ARB. Problem with making the rear very soft on a road car is you then can't really take rear passengers or load up for a camping trip. There are lowering blocks available which keep the standard stiffness but lower the back end, so I'll probably end up doing that.
My intention is to fit a telescopic front telescopic damper conversion from FrontLine Developments. This also changes the camber angle of the trunnion.
Edited by Ambleton on Wednesday 16th August 07:02
After such a long layup period how is this car known to DVLA?
Will you need an MoT to regain/retain the reg. number?
May be prudent to retain the current front suspension until road legal to avoid the risk of facing IVA with all that entails.
Off course back in the 1970's we used to pop rivet alloy sheet over the rust holes and slap a thick coat of underseal over them!
Will you need an MoT to regain/retain the reg. number?
May be prudent to retain the current front suspension until road legal to avoid the risk of facing IVA with all that entails.
Off course back in the 1970's we used to pop rivet alloy sheet over the rust holes and slap a thick coat of underseal over them!
Cool to see Chris Harris is going to be sharing one at the Goodwood Revival - hoping he strings a video together with some onboards for his social media channels... Not quite sure Franchitti understands Austins were made in Longbridge though, talk about cultural misappropriation "Archie of Scotland" ffs go get a Hillman ya sock 
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff