Our Chummy has been much used and abused and is starting to suffer with some rust and aluminium oxidisation. After a wonderful weekend away in Aberfeldy my father drove the car back to Glasgow and at 3pm I started to strip it down to go off to be repaired tomorrow - at the start of play:








...a little bit later...







I stopped for tea and then just after 8pm is looked like this:





I am ready for a bath!

Love the pictures R, my wife admires you all for your hardiness on the trip. In fact she has 'highjacked' this post:
Hello! I think the pictures of your toy being pulled apart in the garden are hilarious! I wonder who joined whom. Did you start dismantling your toy first and the children joined in or was it the other way round? LOL Love it! Diana

Location: Auckland NZ

Part and parcel of family life at the McDunfords Diana!

They were actually very helpful collecting all the nuts an dots I dropped on the lawn - removing the wings after 30 years was not pleasant :(

Look forward to seeing the progress!

Location: Saltdean, Brighton

Ruairidh,

Great effort before and after tea - I am exhausted just looking at the series of pictures - well done. Interesting to see a four blade magneto motor fan.

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Australia.

Hi R,

Love picture six,

The car in bits, looks like the kids have thrown there toys all over the garden.

Tony

Location: Leics

Tony P - yes it works very well when five up and towing :)

Tony B - They have!!

Great pics R, I don't think I want to strip smoky down yet.

Some of the rot and dodgy repairs that were hidden:





















Inner rear wheel carrier brace...






New repair work under way:













































Seriously impressed with the work done - proper job!

Very impressive, you don't hang about do you! Well done

Location: Saltdean, Brighton

To be clear Gary - I am not doing the repairs. Bodywork is not my strong point, to say the least :)

Andrew Goodfellow is the man behind the work, see here:http://s1107.photobucket.com/user/AndrewGoodfellow/library/Creative%20Metalwork/Austin%207%20Box%20Saloon?sort=3&page=1

I'm very impressed with the efforts of Ruairidh and Andrew and will not complain about the state of my RN's body.
Please keep the before and after pictures coming, they provide inspiration as well as being instructional.

Location: Near M1 Motorway, Jtn 28

Fabulous.
Its interesting seeing his other photos; and quite how little ash there is round the back end of a Chummy's bodywork.

Body repairs done :)



Car now back home and after some fitting etc. it should be at the painters next week.

I think we 7,rs are well catered for with Andrew Goodfellow doing body sections and Martin Prior doing woodwork.

Location: Dorchester

I totally agree and would add many more to that list of gratitude Nigel.

Nice work and fast - I like it.

Location: the centre of the Universe

It's amazing what you can do with a few spanners, couple of hammers and a grinder.

In general terms that is very true Leon and the results of the layman can be quite impressive for sure. Andrew is however a very clever and skilled craftsman and I would not want to get the two mixed up.

I'm sure most people could learn how to bash aluminium, and some would even make a reasonable job.

We're I see Andrew as a true craftsman is how quickly he picked it all up, and to a high standard. ( ducks to water).

That's why I got him to do the repaires to the chummy as soon as he got going. Also doing the steel/ alloy work on the C cab van.

Those who attended Wollaston last year, would have seen how good his work is.

And R, well done with the chummy so far. Looking good.

Tony

Location: Leics

Location: Herefordshire, with an E not a T

That's very quick R, and looking great , one of my cars has been with the panel beater for 10 years now.

Thanks Bryan, we are getting there - quite a lot of fitting is happening today so that it can go to the painter next week.

What do people use at the joint shown below?



The car had rubber between the two surface when I bought it but this trapped moisture and resulted in the damage below:




I was hoping to be able to fit the wings without the need for piping as originally done but may end up using it if I cannot get the fit a bit better.

Ruairidh, the wings were not cut off at the bottom like that. The originals have the bottom of the wing turned up inside for 1 ½” so the edge is pointing upwards, the running board fits tight up against the inside overlapping the bent up piece by 1”. The remaining ½” is bent down over the edge of the running board thus making a water tight joint. This only happens on the width of the wing, it is cut before the radius and wing outer flange.
The original was bolted up with three ½”(or maybe 3/8”long)x ¼” coach bolts, two in the front face and one in the side. Square holes were in the wing to take the square of the coach bolts to stop them from turning. Hope this is clear, my car has the original rear wings and that is how it was on mine at least. Great job you are doing Ian Moorcraft

Location: In a rubber lined room near Bristol UK

Thank you Ian that is very helpful and makes perfect sense - I shall have a think about what to do with the missing flange although I expect it may be too late at this point as I am on a tight time schedule.

I have the new coach bolts for the joint now fitted and everything has pulled neatly in.

A friend has suggested seam sealer - anyone have any experience of this please?

Bolt it all up with half a tube of tigerseal.

Ruairidh,

The guard on the 28 Chummy and early 29 saloon both have a sharper corner on the flange at the end of the guard to almost match the running board upturn flange.
There is one fixing in the flange and two in the flat face attaching the guard to the running board upturn (rivets in the Chummy, 3/16" round head screws in the Saloon - I don't think either are original).
As suggested some sealant between should keep water out.

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Australia.

Thank you Tony - I have re-shaped this now to replicate the sharper angle also the rear of the sill so it follows the angle of running board, I have also fitted two coach bolts on the forward edge and one on the side where I understand they should be.

I seam sealant has been recommended and ordered - paint shop next week:)

Can anyone tell me what trim should be fitted to this area please? What I have is very fancy and not my cup of tea, I am sure something simpler was used originally.

Rexine covered plywood down the door pillar and along the timber under the door. The vertical ply overlaps the front of the door pillar by about 1".Ply held in place with panel pins as is the door lining. The vertical panel extends to the alloy capping in front of the dashboard. There is a rexine door check between the door hinges which is fixed UNDER the ply both ends As far as I am aware there is no upholstery on the inside of the scuttle,which is painted black. I think the inside of the engine/ cockpit is black as is the floor pan. Was the floor pan painted/stove enamelled before body assembly at Longbridge I wonder?

Thank you Simon, very helpful.

I decided to bite the bullet and remove the entire body today so that I can tidy up the chassis and also the painter can get right under and around it all.

Way to go, lucky car

Location: the centre of the Universe

Now there's posh- spring gaiters on a chummy
And a nice set of proper aftermarket helper springs!
I have not noticed before- the rear cross-member body mounting brackets are riveted on at a slight angle!

Simon said 'As far as I am aware there is no upholstery on the inside of the scuttle, which is painted black. I think the inside of the engine/ cockpit is black as is the floor pan.'

My Chummy has been re trimmed and the inside of the scuttle covered with a panel which doesn't really give enough foot-room on the drivers side for the accelerator pedal, even though it looks alright.
The Saloon which is very original has no covering on the scuttle and the panelling and floor pan area is painted black.

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Australia.

Yes, the gaiters would most certainly have cost more than the springs they are intended to protect!

The helper springs were fitted when two of us became five of us plus a trailer :)

Thanks Ruairidh.

All quite a revelation. Seldom see this sort of detail published. Both a deterrent and inspiration! Had it not been for the bubbled guard, many would be surprised that such a presentable car could have so much hidden deterioration. Hope it doesn’t deter too many prospective Seven owners! No wonder so many bodies are replicas. Interesting that it can in large part be so speedily remedied. Following another recent series of posts, I cant help imagining what a bog artist might have done with it all. And the resultant repair challenge. Apart from a few unbacked splits, all could have been buried in bog, and in the case of many cars, was.
Not many get to close grips with the earlier cars so of considerable interest.

Those somewhat crude but very convenient cable adjusters are not allowed here. Those who set the Rules think that insidious wear on modern handbrakes systems can be masked by them. Often very convenient on Sevens when levers etc are altered as stock cables often not quite the ideal length, and the adjustment available by turning the cable is tedious and limited.

The pattern of rear tyre was made here by Dunlop for many years. Tyres were marked 3.50-400 but were certainly not the former and more like 450. Sapped top speed, both real and apparent on the speedo. I see this pattern in many UK photos. Hopefully a range of dies are/were available and you are not all stuck with tyres obver 4 inch section.

Bob Culver

Location: Auckland

Ruairidh asked:
"Can anyone tell me what trim should be fitted to this area please? What I have is very fancy and not my cup of tea, I am sure something simpler was used originally."

I've just noticed that Wyatt has pictures of this area of a '1928 Tourer'. Plate 26 opposite page 65.

Location: Melrose, Scottish Borders

Thanks Jim,

that's a very useful reference, it also shows the little steel channel on the driver's side that the wiring runs inside of.

Shiny bits have started to arrive :)

It's a lovely time

Location: the centre of the Universe

I helped Father put the last few rivets into the floor repairs of his 27 chummy body yesterday. Unlike some people, his has taken about a year to repair the floor!

Location: Devon

R - a further bit may be of help to you and others. Of all the dozens of aluminium scuttles I've repaired or replaced, I've never seen even one with any trim (apart from the pillar). Also, as said the insides were painted black, but note they were always just one thin coat of flat black. Re the metal covering strip along under the driver's door for the taillight wiring (which latter continued through 1/2" holes in the front and rear seat base verticals), it was Z-shaped with the top flat flange attached to the timber strip. From memory it was about 12" long, but I'll give you a call with the correct figures. I have to also say that I've never seen the inside folded-back strip of the rear wing's lower portion then folded back again over the end of the running board, remembering we're lucky to get that area to repair long before your European ones get so badly rusted, so perhaps ours more original metal to look at? I would have thought that idea would give greater access to the grot, rather than the three flat surfaces bolted together. We've never had the need to put glue, rubber, piping etc between the surfaces, just lucky I guess. Good Luck, Cheers, Bill in Oz

Bill,

thank for this and your phone message - much appreciated.

Thank you for your second phone message as well Bill.

All black parts are now back and looking really good - body to follow very soon but I am out now out of free time so progress will take an intermission.

Part 3, the assembly, to follow :)

A few spare hours this afternoon allowed some reassembly and titivation!

So what's all this Hardy Spicers and racing cylinder head nonsense then Ruairidh?

I thought you were a stickler for authenticity!

It's looking great though, in fact it might look a bit too posh, if you are not careful...

Location: Near Bicester.

I see the Chummy has the same front damper mod as my RP... certainly helps eliminate some of the wanderlust.

Oooh! Smashin' that's coming along really well...tartan red?

Location: Near Bicester.