1964 Austin 1100

I would go for a set of Maxi or Allegro 13" steels banded to 5.5". If you stick a set of 165/65x13 tyres on it, your gearing should be pretty much unchanged.

go full on period....just chuck the little darlings in the back and let them get on with it , i survived , largely due the removal of window winder handle to curtail my harry houdini tendencies..though i doubt even he tried escaping from a moving car!!?

Hey guys hope you’ve all been keeping well. Sorry I’ve been away for long. Decided not to do any permanent mods to my car and to restore it instead.

The state it was in when I got it.

Here’s how Rustin is sitting as of now.

Drove it for about a year since starting this thread, had the exhaust fall off which made for an interesting racket and then the small oil leak that gradually got worse. Had enough of buying a 5 litre tin of oil every 2 months so have decided to pull the engine for a rebuild while going over all the mechanicals. I miss driving it and can't wait to get it back on the road!

I have completely stripped the engine and the block is currently at the machine shop for a 40 thou overbore. Found a 12G295 head which has been skimmed to accommodate for the dished pistons and twin HS2 carbs taken from an MG 1100 which I’ve restored. Almost ready to be installed.

Here's a couple of pictures of the things I've done so far:

It’s amazing how much difference a little badge makes.

Replaced the candle lights for these Lucas PL reproes with all weather H4 bulbs for that blue/yellow glow but more importantly, I can see at night!

Interior work then began. The seats were in pretty good nick and looked tidy after a good clean. Also gave the door cards a clean but forgot to take pics. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the rubber/vinyl carpet. It was mouldy, torn in some areas and gave off a hideous stench. Ripped them out for new black carpet, wasn't a huge fan of the grey anyway. Though, before installing them I wire-brushed the floor-pan to get rid of residual adhesive and surface rust (no holes which was a welcome surprise) then applied a layer of POR15. Also test fitted a Moto-Lita wheel but it sits a little too far for my liking, may look for a dished one. The original has been put back on for now.

Treated myself to a matching Bluetooth speaker as there's no stereo. I’m just glad my car came with the optional heater at least!

I ran it like that for about a year and was fed up of the oil leak which had gotten pretty bad. I pulled the the engine with the help of my brother and stripped engine. Didn't take many pictures here as I was covered in oil! The bores were badly scored so have sent it to get bored out. As there were no other issues (mechanically) with how it drove, I think I will only be replacing the clutch, duplex timing chain, oil pump and all the seals/gaskets. Is there any upgrades I should consider while I have everything apart? It's a wonder as to how the clutch was even functioning in this state.

Miscellaneous bits:

Lucas DR3A wiper motor and bracket restored.

Distributor cleaned, replaced the points for electronic ignition using the Accuspark kit and NOS Champion HT leads.

Lucas 9H horns cleaned up and painted





I picked up this Johnson's first aid kit which is from the same year as the car (1964).

And to end with something a little off topic. Here's some interior detail work I did to this Corgi Vanguard's Austin 1300 to match the interior of mine but without the grey as a small quarantine project.

Disassembled and interior removed. Some nice detail on this one. Let’s improve on that. Painted and hair building fibres (finer than your standard flocking powder) used to create a carpet effect by sprinkling on top wet paint. Seats were painted first and allowed to dry beforehand. Gently blew away the excess once everything was dry and cleaned seats/door cards with a damp cotton swab. Used Tamiya TS-71 to darken the seats slightly, add some texture and seal the fibres in place. Otherwise you end up getting fibres stuck to the glass from the inside due to static electricity which looks a mess. Difficult to get pictures of the interior with an iPhone but it looks a whole lot better than the all blue.

Cheers! It’s getting there, slowly.

Whilst you have the engine apart I would look at getting the bottom end balanced. May as well whilst it's in bits.

That model's interior is something else! Stupendous work.

Thanks guys.

Not sure if it would be worth balancing the crank as the 1098 doesn’t like to rev above 6000. I’m mainly going to drive it in the city, keeping the revs relatively low. I’ll ask my machine shop for a quote as I’m on a tight budget.

Model making is just one of my pastimes. Hated them at first but have grown to love it over the years.

I have to say, all the work I’ve carried out on this car so far has been a piece of cake. Removed the callipers today. Expecting the bolts to be seized but alas, they came off without a fight. Didn’t even have to bring out the plus gas.

Although, I just about sh*t myself when I came face to face with this.



Can you see it?



The O/S hose was rubbing against the subframe. I’m glad I stopped driving it when I did.

Yes, it was great fun. A lot of people seem to give way to me in this car. Which is a rare sight in London traffic.

I love the work on this, the interior is perfect, give a flavour of Cafe racer without looking like its trying, though it would look right at home parked outside the Ace Cafe. Nice work on the model too, very tidy. As said banded steels would look great on this, but if you fancied going up to 14s id recomend some Austin Ambassoder steels. They fit great on a Maxi which also usually has problems with offset. Here's some on my old Maxi




Ambassoders also had alloys, but steels are better.