New Member in Margate

Hi my names Steve.

I've started the restoration of a 1938 Austin 12 New Ascot to fulfill an ambition of mine. I've had many classics in my time - MGB Roadster, 2 x Triumph 2000 Mk2, 2 x Rover P6 v8, 2 x Morris Minor, A40 Farina to name but a few. All of these have been runners and put to regular use but I have always wanted to do a full restoration on a pre-war car. Now I have a garage, driveway and workshop I can start to do this but will need to learn new skills on the way. Look forward to meeting some of you at meetings and shows and hopefully picking up some tips on restoration skills. Anyone got any parts for a 1938 Austin??????

Welcome to the site!

Looks like one hell of a project, you got any more pictures to share I know there will be lots of us VERY interested to see them.

See you at a meet soon!

~Lee

Hi Lee

Hopefully it's not as bad as it looks in the pic. The chassis and body seem really sound with only a few localised repairs being evident so far. I've stripped it out and am about ready to separate the body and chassis. Just three stubborn doors to get off first. Appears to be mostly complete with onlly a few missing bits to date. Most of the chrome will need replaying and I am sure there will be plenty of opportunity to learn to weld!!! I have loads of pics already and will upload a few choice ones when I get a bit more time. Looking forward to coming to a meeting soon.

Steve

Hi Steve!

Your car looks great, a bit of a project you have there. I had a 37 Austin 10 as my first car, it was rotten as hell, but sold it as spares about 6 years ago, but I think these cars are great!

Does it have the opening front screen? Whats your first step restoring it?

Tom

Hi Tom

Thanks for getting in touch. You seem to have a good collection of classics. I'm a fan of 'ordinary' cars rather than exotica so yours appeal to me. Good to here you had an Austin 10. My 12 is basically a bigger version of the 10 Cambridge but I didn't know that when I bought it. It really does seem quite sound and the rot doesn't seem to have affected the usual areas. My first move is to get the body off the chassis and deal with the chassis and running gear first. I will be putting some pics on the forum when I get a bit more time over the next few days. There's plenty to do though and I shall be going to the beaulieu auto jumble in may to see what I can find. Hope to meet up with you and some of the others at the next meeting.

Regards

Steve

lol yes my cars list seems to change about on a weekly basis at the moment, I seem to buy one and the rest seem to appear. I am 21 and I think if I live to 100 I will just about have enough time to finish the many projects!

My 10 rotted all around the sunshine roof and the rear chassis rotted through right at the back after the rear wheels. I think tackling the chassis is a good move so you can work your way up so to speak. Beaulieu is a great place for parts, I should be going up for a day, the september Beaulieu is the one to go to though!

Tom

I usually go to the sept one and haven't been to the spring one before. Going to both this year though. my car does have the opening screen, and the area around the sunroof looks pretty sound. The two front drainage tubes need a bit of fettling but otherwise not too bad. The back of the chassis looks ok at the moment although there is a strange cut out section in the boot floor which may have been to let in a new chunk of chassis. Guess I'll find out when the body is off.
It's good to see someone of your age interested in cars from my era. My son is your age and his reaction to my Austin was 'wow! Slam it to the floor and chuck a v8 in!' I told him that wouldn't be happening! I think I've seen your escort around town. It looks good. Perhaps a Capri to go with it.......?

You will find there are quite a few youngsters in the club! More than the norm anyways, we have a vast range of ages of members with interests in all sorts of different things.

Look forward to chatting at a meet soon!

~Lee

That's good to hear. I'm looking forward meeting people and seeing their cars. I've seen some of your members cars at shows and there is a great mix. I was at the Darling Buds show last summer.

We had a terrific stand at Darling Buds last year and this year we are back and bigger!

~Lee

Hi

I've started a new topic on Members Cars and Projects so that anyone interested can follow the restoration as I progress. Hopefully, when I've finished decorating the hall (Boo!) things might move on a bit quicker!! I've now managed to work out how to get pics on the forum too so there are plenty to upload as I am photographing everything before I remove it.

Please feel free to make any suggestions or comments. Always interested to hear other views.

Steve

Austindox wrote:

Please feel free to make any suggestions or comments. Always interested to hear other views.

Steve

You Fooool, such a statement on here leaving yourself wide open



Seriously though welcome to the club

I hope to be down for a couple of meets soon, weather permitting.

Be nice to see another PROPER car.

Roger

Hii Roger

Fair point but you never know, some advice can be good advice

It's going to be a while before you see my car at a meet though. A bit of work to be done first.

Nice to hear from you.

Steve

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum!

A pre war car is going to have difficult to find parts, such as body panels etc. The very best thing you could do is enrol on a restoration course such as the excellent vehicle body restoration course is Oakwood park Maidstone. There you will learn all the skills needed to make pre- war wings etc and repair the panels you have to a very high standard.

Hi

Thanks for your post.

You are right about parts being more scarce. Hopefully I won't need body panels as the ones I have are in pretty good nick really. I will need to weld some patches in here and there of course as it is 74 years old, but generally things aren't too bad. I have some colleagues at work who can teach me to weld but I will bear the courses at maidstone in mind. I like the challenge of finding parts and I'm in no rush to finish this. I will look to restore or repair what I can and only replace when necessary.

Hope to meet you soon

Regards

Steve