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RESTORATION PROGRESS

 

Sunday 14th May 2006 I have updated the site today. Too wet outdoors to do much. Snowing a bit tonight. Have bought another Austin (for parts) on Trademe today....

Thursday 18th May 2006 I started stripping the Devon we bought up from Lismore, Ashburton yesterday. I am not sure what condition the engine is in yet. It is seized, and although we tried towing the car with our Land-Rover, we could not budge it. So, I removed the engine this evening. Don't know what the problem is yet, but will let you know when I find out. Could be a broken timing chain.

See the "plate" in the photo at left... it shows that the engine was reconditioned at some stage. As there is no date we can't tell when.

More photos here

Wednesday 19th July 2006 I haven't had time lately to update this site much but I will try and put you into the picture with what has happened so far. First of all, I recently bought another Devon (my 11th A40 Devon) of which details can be found here: Click here for details on Waipara Devon

I removed the body from the chassis and the engine from the chassis after that. Everything is in really good order as you can see in the photos. She is an English assembled vehicle which is a bit different for us here in New Zealand. The best thing about this car is that the serial numbers on the motor and the chassis match the little plate on the rear of the sun visor, quite a rare thing too.

At this stage I do not really know what I am going to do... whether to restore both or just do one, and if so which one???? I am just taking one day at a time. Both are too good to dispose of lightly, but I doubt I can finish both. We shall have to think hard on that score. My first car is safe and sound in the shed whilst I work on this new one in the meantime. :)

My long term plan (and my plans change more often than the weather!) is to restore the new Devon we got from Waipara, keeping it original except for a few minor things. I'd have to use a floor change box instead of column change. And I'd also change the GS3 dash to the earlier/older GS2 type dash.

Friday 8th September 2006 Such a lot has happened lately. I don't quite know where to start. However, I will try and explain. Do you see the "Waipara Devon" in the photo above? Well, that has caused a lot of pain and heart ache. In some ways I wish it had never come along, yet in others I am quite glad. You see, it's so good! There is very little rust in it anywhere.

Now, the short of the long story is that since I last updated this site I have stripped down the "Waipara Devon" to a "bare bones" condition. See some photos here. I really must get some time to upload some more up-to-date photos. Anyway, to get to the present, I have removed the body from the chassis, removed a bit of rust from the sills, repainted underneath and undersealed the whole lot inside and out. We painted the chassis to an "original" green colour using the some of the original paint on it to match the new paint with. I then lowered the body onto the chassis and have been storing it in the shed until I can get time to continue.

My next job is to install the engine and gearbox, although I really have to choose the final colour of the car. Golly! I am so unsure of the colour! I might paint it multi-colours so as to make everyone happy!!!! Haha! Really though I would prefer a pleasant shade of either blue or green. Before I lower in the engine I want to paint the firewall or bulkhead. It's all good fun!

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

Wednesday 20th December 2006 I have been so busy of late, nothing has been done of the Devon whatsoever! Work has been keeping me tied up in other places. In my free moments I've been sorting through my spares for parts for other folk throughout the world. It seems everyone has an Austin and needs parts... what super fun! Haha!

I have just added the photos of the latest car I bought to here. Please click here for details: SPREYDON DEVON

Tuesday 16th January 2007 What a lot has been happening! I have lately bought more cars for parts etc. They can be seen here: (PHOTOS) I have Devon parts all over the place now. They are coming out of my ears!!!! Sure, I'm crazy! I admit it. Hehe! The Ute body and chassis (PHOTOS) is to go to a friend, whilst the other car (PHOTOS) is parts only as it's so horribly rotten.

Monday 16th April 2007 After our trip away I am safely home again and ready to start restoration work in earnest. Before I went away for my trip I got the body back onto the chassis... that is after the engine and gearbox was put into place. There is still much to do, but the first item on my list is to SOMEHOW locate a B Series manifold that accepts a Zenith Carburetor. The reason why I want this is because I want to make it look like the original Devon engine. I DON'T want to have to use the SU carburetor thats standard to the 1622cc engine! The Devon is getting close to the painting stage, but I want to get the engine bay sorted before we do that. I also have to get some bolts to fasten down the body to the chassis when I'm in town next. It's still loose!!!!

Monday 13th August 2007 It's a long time since I last did an update. I should probably wipe off a lot of the older stuff and make it shorter... maybe I will when I get some spare time. Since my last update, I have dragged home quite a few more Austins. Mainly because I need the parts for my Devon. I'm going to use the suspension parts from an  A50/A60 Cambridge for my Devon. Yes, the parts fit perfectly! I have fitted springs from an A60 Halfton into my car. They are almost the same - only one leaf less that the Devon.

Monday 1st October 2007 I have certainly got a lot of news. First of all, you will see on my "list of cars" page that I have recently been messing around with later model Austins. As I mentioned in the last update (see above) I have converted my Devon to use Cambridge suspension. This is very simply done... once you know how! :-) The front hubs and backing plates bolt straight on! I am using the steering arms from the Cambridge as well - this is to be able to have a wider choice of wheel rims. Even 13 inch! However I will probably use 15 inch anyway. What with all the parts people seem to want from all parts of the world and having a busy time at work, I haven't really had a lot of time to work on my car. But I have still managed to complete the conversion of my suspension. Over all I am very pleased with the way it has gone.

The next job on the list is to bolt the body to the chassis. Then we will paint the body. Hurrah!


!
The near completed front suspension

Sunday, 13 January, 2008 Not a great deal to say sorry, other than that I have updated the website to show the 27th Austin vehicle we have bought home. This latest one is a really rusty old A60 Ute... see here for photos... which I wanted for spare parts. It seems to me that when a person is doing a restoration of a motor vehicle you can never have enough spares. And having friends who also need parts makes the search even more interesting anmd fun.


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