Welcome to the Austin Seven Friends web site and forum

As announced earlier, this forum with it's respective web address will go offline within the next days!
Please follow the link to our new forum

http://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/forum

and make sure, you readjust your link button to the new address!

Welcome Austin seven Friends
This Forum is Locked
Author
Comment
Building a Special

Building a Special

Introduction
Let me introduce myself. I am Bruce Young, 66 and live a couple of hours drive north of Auckland, New Zealand.
I am building an Austin Seven special starting out with a couple of tonnes of parts including a rolling chassis project that had stalled ten years back.
I really hankered for a Bugatti or Bentley but settled more realistically on an Austin Seven special. But then I dropped that idea when the “Shed” magazine ran an informative article around Ian Williams, his Austin Seven projects, and Joss Campbell, a friend and body builder, who was a big help. I thought “well that was interesting but A7 parts will be hard to find now”.

Body Building Classes
In building my own Austin Seven special I was attracted to the small size.
Things just seemed to fall into place with this car building.
The discovery of a cache of A7 parts for sale including a rolling chassis, then the invitation to join the Body Building classes have really got me started.
The classes were started by Ian Williams and Joss Campbell as part of the Auckland North Branch of The Vintage Austin Register of New Zealand which I joined.
The regular fortnightly classes are a stimulus to get something achieved before the next trip to Auckland.
Attendee numbers are around half a dozen and all are members of VAR Auckland North. We are hosted by Fagan & Hannay, a sheet metalwork company based in New Lynn, Auckland, NZ and owned by Don Hanlon. Don is also a class attendee with his own project.
Through the VAR Club but especially the classes, I have met a whole new group of great people, helpful and friendly with advice. Who knows what I would have done with out this help.
Ian says he would happily see more join the classes. I travel about a six hour round trip to these sessions and I attend about half the time. I often do little hands on work but go home and try out practice bits at home and return next time with questions and some times take down parts for advice.
The class as a group are building a replica Ulster body, short wheel base, steel floor, and fire wall, the rest in Aluminium.

IMG_1443cr
Ian’s Nippy and John’s special outside the Fagan & Hannay premises, where the Body Building Classes are held.

IMG_0513cr
The first class gathers.

IMG_0517cr
Joss Campbell and Ian Williams discussing the source of the three sets of Ulster body lines all drawn on the ply sheet and within half an inch of each other.

IMG_1415cr
Joss demonstrating.


Parts recovery
I was attracted enough by a Trade Me add to go and look at a vintage restoration project. It was a good one and mostly all complete but I realised I really wanted an Austin Seven so I followed up a story of a son in-law of a friend getting some parts. Seemed he didn’t want all of them and the seller wanted to only sell all of it, and access was difficult. The upshot is I looked and I purchased a good load of parts to start my project.
They were in shed on a great site overlooking the sea. The drive was over grown with kikuyu grass (very slippery) and steep up to the main drive. We chained the two 4WDs together and got my lot to the top then backed his down to the shed and loaded it too.
IMG_0101cr
The cache of parts and two chassis.

IMG_0107

IMG_0118cr
Puddles were large but had firm bottoms.

IMG_0120cr

IMG_0139cr
Unloading the project which had been sitting for years.

IMG_0166cr
This second chassis (with some loose bits added) is now the one I am building on. It is a LWB and numbered. Built about Nov.1932.
The chassis on the rolling car is unnumbered, un-riveted, welded and boxed in.

Some A7 experience
Panda 02
My parents had an Austin Seven and I did some long trips in it with them as a baby but I have no memory of it. It was a 1928 car that my father rebuilt as a “sports” about 1947. He called it “Panda”.
My father was a coach builder and progressed into panel beating during the 1950’s. We lived with and played in panel beating workshops. He once said he would help me if I was to get an Austin Seven but he has passed away now that I am actually doing it.

IMG_0784c
I began this project without having ridden in an A7 since, until Neil Beken gave me a ride and a gear crashing drive in his 1929 AD. Neil’s father bought it in1939 and gave it a total rebuild at one point. In 1956 it was laid up with a broken crankshaft. Since Neil inherited his Seven he has replaced the crank shaft but keeps the rest original, boasting that it hasn’t been washed since 1956!

IMG_0788cr

IMG_2788cr
My second ride was with Glenn Reid in his 1932 PD. The fastest ride I probably have ever had in a Seven.


The build so far...
IMG_0894cr
Roughing out a body shape.

IMG_0711cr
Another gray haired baby boomer. I used to feel I should be doing more to “Save the World” but now thanks to Trump I no longer feel it makes any difference. I am enjoying working in thinner materials and learning heaps.
I have built two steel yacht hulls and I am a steel sculptor these days.
The boat building gave me the workshop and sculpture has provided many tools.

IMG_1398

IMG_1453r
I made up a bonnet hinge and bent the panels afterwards.

IMG_1454r
A buck for the back end.

IMG_1825r
Old plastic political banners for side patterns. This allowed me to try getting in and out and allayed my worries on that score. It has a Ruby steering box with a Big Seven steering column and the flatter steering wheel. At this point it is still sitting on ply floor panels from the old chassis.

IMG_1824r

IMG_1871cr
One of the first steel floor panels.

IMG_1908r
Sorting the tunnel.

IMG_1926cr
Playing with louvers, speed bump and bit of leather strapping. All fun planning.
The speed bump was just a shaping exercise but may get used. Joss gave me more advice in hammer finishing, mostly perseverance at this stage.
I had always been interested in the making of louvers. With guidance and encouragement from one of the club members I made a punch. It fits into a hydraulic press.

IMG_2836cr
Wired edges. Not as neat as Joss’s work but will have to do.

IMG_2872r
A few Clecos are handy as the fire wall is fitted. My fire wall is the three upper sections as one piece.

IMG_2913r
After fitting the firewall it was time to try a chassis refit and fit the rear buck to the floor pan. And then I find I had a mistake! I could weld bits in but chose to remake the two floor panels again.

IMG_2935r
Second set of floor panels didn’t take so long now I have more experience.
Some one said “you can’t learn less!”
I am now back to where I was but with the rear width correct.
Now refit the tunnel then sort out the buck and connect it to the scuttle timber work.

IMG_2897r
The scuttle will be aluminium along with the rear of the car. The steel bonnet may be replaced later with aluminium. Working aluminium is going to be a new experience for me.

IMG_2921cr
Trying some tractor lights. Will do until I find any better.

Hope you found something of interest,
Bruce Young. 2017

Location: New Zealand, Whangarei

Re: Building a Special

Hi Bruce,

Wow- as usual I am exhausted just thinking about your efforts - well done.

Cheers, Tony.

Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Re: Building a Special

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".

Re: Building a Special

Bravo Bruce!

Fascinating reading, I look forward to posts on progress.

Re: Building a Special

Great stuff Bruce.look forward to seeing the finished project.
Stephen

Re: Building a Special

Wonderful. Great to see how it all comes together

Location: Findon West Sussex

Re: Building a Special

Good stuff Bruce! With Ian and Joss kicking up so much interest in special building in NZ lately I think I better get going on my own one again!

Simon

Location: Wellington

Re: Building a Special

Simon Jansen
Good stuff Bruce! With Ian and Joss kicking up so much interest in special building in NZ lately I think I better get going on my own one again!

Simon



Location: NZ

Re: Building a Special

Nice work Bruce! Looking sharp good to see some pictures. IL see you tomorrow so we can catch up then.

Location: New Zealand

Re: Building a Special

Very tidy and nicely executed work.
It has given me an idea, would any builders in Yorkshire be interested in a similar sheet metalwork course?
I run a small sheet metalwork business and am moving to a new workshop near Boroughbridge. I will post a new thread to continue this

Location: Ripon

Re: Building a Special

I would be interested, Duncan!