v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Thought I had better do a small update, wont bore you with the reasons for lack of progress, but I'm back on it, Of all the things on an A35, the thing I don't like is the instruments, something just irks me about it, its not an easy dash to fit extra clocks so they do not look like a car crash in Halfords  so, A little while ago and a peruse around the great evilbay, I bought a dashboard from a early healey sprite, its took a bit of chopping and grinding, then a bit more grinding, its still not finished, but its about right for me, I'm debating if I should go with the original but quirky twist switches or fit more normal toggle switches, Ill fill the indicator hole on top of the dash and get rid of the hump where the original speedo was,  |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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Looks good that.
Id keep the twist switches, keep a bit of the original inconvenient charm.
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logicaluk
Posted a lot
Every days a school day round here
Posts: 1,373
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Like the new dash alot, are the switches easly available if they fail, are you going to be adding any extras that will need more switches and where would you put them. But saying that id try my best to keep them.
Nice work.
Dan
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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May 19, 2017 15:30:25 GMT
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About time I popped a few more pics up, not been idle, but life seems to be getting in the way of progress, The tire clearance has been a real PITA on the back, BUT I think I have beaten it now, turns out the chassis rails/spring mounts/body are slightly offset by about 3-4mm, not a lot but when you are only have 3mm each side, the discrepancy becomes a problem, time to fit a panhard bar and grind a touch more off the arches,   not quite a traditional panhard bar with a rose joint at each end, I have a urathane bush at one end and a shock absorber pin type bush mounted on a bolt with a lock nut either side, by adjusting the lock nuts either way, its dead easy to set the axle, and finer adjustment than a LH/RH threaded adjuster.  And..... a box of bends turned up,  not my most favourite job, but I cant , afford to get a manifold built, I have bought a couple of used manifolds hoping they would fit or be adaptable, nah, its not going to happen, SO with a big breath and in we go,  Day1  Day2,   there are a couple of bits that need addressing to get them how I want gut overall I'm quite pleased, the Pipes are too big for the engine, but once the car is running and driving there is a good possibility that the MR2 supercharger kit thats lurking in the wings may find its self bolted to the engine Even the alternator fits, not where I want it, but with the pipes having to come forward, there is no lower position for it to fit  |
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Last Edit: May 19, 2017 15:32:43 GMT by v8ian
Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Jun 27, 2017 19:19:18 GMT
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Ill leave this here, it needs a bit more work as the steering arm fouls the wheel and the wheel fouls the wishbone on full lock at max suspension travel,  |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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Jun 27, 2017 19:51:03 GMT
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Loving this!
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Sept 3, 2017 14:10:01 GMT
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After a LONG day at Beauleiu I came home without very much directly for the van, Mostly, I was looking for a repair panel for the offside front wing, Had a chat with the Owners club, they said not a chance, chatted with 2 other specialist panel repair makers, not a chance, and the only other place I found make them @ £150 , but none in stock, Somehow I managed to come home with a shabby Morris Minor wing with a good headlight area for the princely sum of £10 only problem, its a Left Hand wing    The Austin wing is pretty crusty up to the dotted line,  But the Morris wing is really solid,  and the profile between the Austin and the morris is remarkably close  let the grinding and welding begin |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276 
Club RR Member Number: 32
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A quick build......... samta22
@samta22
Club Retro Rides Member 32
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Sept 4, 2017 12:04:44 GMT
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Glad you had a semi-successful day... mine not to much and boy was it hard in that damn weather!
Did spot a couple of A35 wings about, the best of which was £350 for a solid N/S wing - rather strong I thought!
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Sept 4, 2017 12:51:56 GMT
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Glad you had a semi-successful day... mine not to much and boy was it hard in that damn weather! Did spot a couple of A35 wings about, the best of which was £350 for a solid N/S wing - rather strong I thought! Shame the weather closed in for sunday, I got burnt on saturday £350!!!!!!!!!! kin hell, you can buy a whole car for that, I never saw that, just as well really, he might of been accused of taking the pi55, was this on the Sunday field, Like you said I had a sorta semi successful day, with a few bargains, As I get older I don't seem to tolerate the people who try to rip you off for mediocre stuff at autojumbles, and Beauleiu seems to have them in abundance, Ill still go back looking for the bargains |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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OVY871
Part of things
Owner of Austin A35 Saloon
Posts: 322
Club RR Member Number: 66
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A quick build......... OVY871
@ovy871
Club Retro Rides Member 66
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Sept 4, 2017 19:47:07 GMT
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Just to warn there are subtle differences between van and saloon wings, they both fit on each other though. It is possible to get new fibreglass wings (I believe to the saloon pattern) and steel front wings are going to be produced soon by a well known panel supplier for our cars.
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Sept 4, 2017 20:02:20 GMT
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Just to warn there are subtle differences between van and saloon wings, they both fit on each other though. It is possible to get new fibreglass wings (I believe to the saloon pattern) and steel front wings are going to be produced soon by a well known panel supplier for our cars. I am aware there are differences, both my wings are van, I was talking to the OC at beauleiu on saturday, and the fella who is supposedly making the new wings was there talking, probably not available till late next year by all accounts. |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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OVY871
Part of things
Owner of Austin A35 Saloon
Posts: 322
Club RR Member Number: 66
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A quick build......... OVY871
@ovy871
Club Retro Rides Member 66
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Sept 5, 2017 19:01:23 GMT
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Ah fair enough, thought they might be ready a bit sooner than that. I will continue watching with interest |
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Not much been done for a while, I seem to have caught every bug thats going around this winter, hopefully the one I have had for the last 3 weeks has finally gone, and I have an impending knee replacement, so, yesterday I got around to putting together my rollover Jig, then clearing space to use it, where does all the clutter come from?  ?? although the shell is really good and been restored to a cracking standard, the whole underside has never been painted since all the panels and floors have been replaced, I noticed the other day that there were a couple of bits that may have only been tacked in position, and once on the jig in decent light my fears have been justified, a couple of important suspension pickup points have not been finished, well not to my standards, let the weldathon begin.......  |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,420
Club RR Member Number: 52
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A quick build......... qwerty
@qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member 52
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Excellent work. Keep up the progress.
Hope the knee replacement goes well!
Tom
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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Great to see an update on this "quick build" great work.
Good luck with the knee.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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OK I have been having a good look at the bottom of the van and finding a few things that I think are in need of attention, not necessarily because they need welding, but due to the quality of majority of the work, I cant always find how the welding has been done, some has obviously been done on a bench where access to the replaced substructures is better, then fitted to the car, hence I cant obviously see whats been done, some welding I believe was also done by his apprentice, which leaves something to be desired, but, although is not pretty, is secure,, it will get dressed back and capped, so, I have made the decision to stitch the bottom of the car together, it wont take long, as access is good, I started this morning, and after about an hour I have got a great deal of the passenger floor and suspension mounts welded, I feel like I'm on a roll, other side later, if the Swimbo allows   |
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Last Edit: Jan 7, 2018 12:25:13 GMT by v8ian
Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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A bit of advice on the knee replacement. After the op, follow the physiotherapist's advice to the letter. My mother-in-law didn't, and now she's paying the price mobility-wise.
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1953 Minor (Long term project)
PT Cruiser
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I concur.
I broke ankle (10 bolts) Femur(compound...yuck) Knee (6 hr rebuild op) Hip (4 bolts) and astabulum (ass bone) in an accident.
And I did my physio, did as the tissue nurse said etc etc and despite all, I can still walk and manage a stairs.
Nice to see this pop up. A very different wee hotrod.
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Apr 22, 2018 15:46:11 GMT
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Since I have got over my enforced rest, and go back to work tomorrow I have managed to get a good few days on the van, redoing bits that I have been unhappy with, and making inroads into getting it driveable  , it seems every step forward means a alteration of something else, but things are moving in the right direction, Wire brush, Hydrate 80. Paint, and then underseal has been the order of the day for a while, the handbrake has been a bit of a so n so as I seem to have lost the linkages to operate the shoes, now sorted, took a while trying to find pictures of what was needed, Brake line and flexi is run on the axle as is the rear to front hard line too, mocked up the exhaust in 2" pipe, which no matter how I package it, it will not go over the axle, so its now underslung and hope its not a problem, I do need to get the front of the frame rails, stripped and covered with hydrate 80, not much to do there and I have run out of hydrate 80 anyway, not many pictures for a mountain of work,  The pedal box has been a nightmare of epic proportions, I was dead chuffed when last year I picked up a kit car Bias pedal box, Because the bulkhead on the van is stepped, its not easy to get anything bolted it, First problem was the master cylinders had bottle reservoirs than when mounted I would have to chop off the parcel tray to fill the brakes, so remote fill cylinders were purchased, now I had to sculpt the shape of the bias box to fit the odd shaped bulkhead, then once bolted up the pads on the pedals were almost horizontal, cut off and reshape and bend the pedals so they are better spaced to each other, the throttle cable if fitted as was was, would appear thru the bulkhead right in line of the front wheel, so the throttle assy has had the bejesus chopped out of it and now sort of works, but I will need to be inventive with the cable....and, just to make for another problem, I have just noticed the master cylinders are longer than the originals and are in the way of the steering column so a drop is now needed for that, Ho Hum   |
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Last Edit: Apr 22, 2018 15:48:22 GMT by v8ian
Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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not my most favourite job, but I cant , afford to get a manifold built, I have bought a couple of used manifolds hoping they would fit or be adaptable, nah, its not going to happen, SO with a big breath and in we go,
?? although the shell is really good and been restored to a cracking standard, the whole underside has never been painted since all the panels and floors have been replaced, I noticed the other day that there were a couple of bits that may have only been tacked in position, and once on the jig in decent light my fears have been justified, a couple of important suspension pickup points have not been finished, well not to my standards, let the weldathon begin.......
