My British Heritage Certificate arrived from the British Motor Museum today. I had gotten an email previously which included all of the original specs, but it's nice to have the original, with all the goodies in a nice leather folder. This confirms that the car was originally Old English White with a Cherry Red interior. It was built on 15 October 1958 and sold to through a dealer in Toronto. Original equipment: Heater, Laminated windscreen, MPH speedometer, US-spec headlamps, Rev counter (tachometer), Windscreen washers, Tonneau cover, Front bumper, Red and white flashers
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So here's my dilemma. I have an original engine and car with just under 40,000 original miles on it. All my life, it's been my brother's "little red car". Only the original colour was Old English White, with a red interior. Oh, and I hate red interiors in general. Question to those who may know... how much does going back to original paint and interior spec matter to the value of a numbers-matching car with a Heritage Certificate? If it's a huge difference in value, I'll keep it all stock. But I'd like to know before I start priming/painting the engine bay and underside, and CERTAINLY before I start ordering seat and interior trim. My options:
Engine and drive train will stay pretty much stock, though I may do a muffler or some internals, but only if everything still looks stock. Also considering a spin on oil filter conversion. Thoughts on whether or not that is worth it? Sorry.... VERY long post on my car's history. I apologize for the keyboard diarrhea. Short version... my car has its original engine and driveline. For more excruciating detail, read on... OK, so my brother came home for (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and I got to quiz him about some stuff on the car... First, the blue engine. Actually, no. First the history, which (after a while) leads to the blue engine. The (minor) fire and how he got the car When my brother was 14 (in 1969), my parents were driving home, and happened upon a lady with her Austin on the side of the road. There had been a fire in the engine bay, but it was now out. The car was not running, and my folks took her into town. (We live in a rural area) On the way, she was determined that the car would never run again, as it had been on fire. My brother offered up $100 for the car, and said he'd take his chances. She took it and sold him the car. My folks drove him back out (after a visit to the bank), and he took a look. One of the rubber fuel lines at the carburettor had torn, and dripped fuel on the exhaust, which of course ignited. As soon as she saw the smoke, she cut the ignition, which, in turn, shut down the mechanical fuel pump and stopped the flow of gasoline. What little fuel was in the engine bay burned off quickly. The fire was so mild, and extinguished so quickly, that it did not even melt the other rubber line. Nor did it damage the air filters, melt the decals/id plates on the engine valve cover, or even blister the paint. The main remnant was a torn fuel line and a black soot mark on the inside of the hood (see picture.. its still there). Oh, and the sheet metal warped slightly. I'll shrink that back no problem. My folks drove my brother to my uncle's farm, he got a piece of fuel line off of a combine, installed it back on the car, and drove it home with my parents following him in their car. That piece of hose from the combine is still on the engine. The 14-year-old's thought on colour change When my brother got the car, it was already red (which I now am virtually positive is not the original colour -- pretty sure it was Old English White). The interior was likewise red. He didn't like the red-on-red look, so he changed the seats to white (as you can see in earlier pics on this page). He also wanted to paint the car blue. He started, again as seen in earlier pics. The cover on the gear shifter has been painted blue, as had the vinyl on the dash and over the interior rear fenders. The plan was to make the entire car blue, with a white interior. But, since he was a kid, and he had just spent pretty much all of his money to buy the car, this was not going to be a professional job. The pole incident (we're getting to the blue engine, I swear!) My brother was playing around with the car in the back lanes, (and doing slalom between neighbours' "borrowed" garbage cans, I imagine), when his brakes failed. Apparently large puddles can mess with the braking power on these cars. He said he had a choice between hitting the house and hitting the pole in our back yard that was used for hanging laundry. He chose to hit the pole. The pole was set in the ground in concrete. The Austin was not. Subsequent damage to the hood was... substantial. A neighbour agreed to fix the hood in his back yard in his spare time. Budgetary concerns of a broke 14 year old came into play, and the colour change was forestalled, and the repairs were primed red. (This is why the hood is a different shade from the rest of the car) I'm guessing that the budget also had a lot to do with the quality of the repair, as replacement parts were not an option. In fairness, the top of the hood was pounded pretty straight, but the lower apron saw some work hardening and creasing in the metal. I will try to fix it myself, but I think I might just be purchasing a new part or two after my ego is crushed by the stubborn metal. (Pics of the apron and inner support included with this post) The BLUE ENGINE (see, I told you we'd get there) When the hood was being repaired, the engine was also pulled so that they could check the front frame members for straightness. While he could not afford to change the colour on the body (requiring an entire paint job), my brother could not refuse when the mechanic asked if the engine could do with a lick of paint while it was out. My brother said "blue, please" and showed up with a can of Ford engine blue. If you look at the pictures, you can see green paint beneath the blue where the pressure washer has peeled it back. This verifies the story. This engine was originally green, and my brother attests that it is, in fact, the original engine in the car. (As my brother put it... no replacement engine would leak that much oil!) I asked him about the missing number plate, and he remembers pulling it off for the blue paint job, thinking he would replace it afterwards, but it bent and broke when he was prying it off with a screwdriver. The rest of the story Some extra details I also learned or confirmed...
Knowing now that I have an original car with original engine and driveline, I am left with a dilemma. But this post is already long enough... I will deal with the dilemma in my next post. Thanks for reading! If you made it all the way through, I applaud you! (**NOTE -- photos on this blog post are duplicates of some that were posted earlier. I just included them here to demonstrate what I was talking about.) OK, so I fired up the compressor and blew some of the dust and dirt off of the old girl. There were some bits hidden in the debris, which I sorted. It's nice to be able to touch the car and not be completely filthy now. This also gave me a good chance to look at the body, and assess what needs to be done. As you can see in the photos, there is some rust to deal with. The driver's side floorpan is completely disintegrated in the footwell, and the passenger side is pretty thin, as well. But the floors under the seats are solid. Hitting them with a hammer yields a nice, solid THUNK, so they are good. Inner sills are good. Outers... well, it's an old car, so what can you expect. Peering into the depths of the trunk (boot) shows good, solid metal, and no major damage, though it is obvious that the car was hit in the passenger rear corner at some point. There is significant damage to the hood, mainly the apron beneath the grille. Will dig into this. May need to replace, but I might be able to repair it. The rear deck behind the seats was cut. This was done before my brother bought the car. General consensus is that it was done to improve access to the storage area. However, as useful as that might be, whomever did the cut also severed the support beam that goes across behind the seats. On a unibody car, removing structure like that is not acceptable, and I will be replacing that area one way or another. The wiring harness has invaded the stomachs of several rodents at some point, judging by the look of it. New wiring was always in the plan anyway, but this seals the deal. The purple carpet will go. Now. Oh, wait, look at the photos... it's already gone! Miracle of miracles! The carpet was held in place with linoleum glue. (My brother was 14 when he did this, so let's cut him some slack. But not too much... DAMN that stuff is hard to remove!) All in all, this was a successful day, and I feel good about the project. Which is fortunate, because there is a LONG way to go before I can afford to get demoralized! Ok, so you know the story from the first page, but here it is in a bit more depth. This is a 1959 Mk 1 Sprite frogeye (bugeye) with either just under 40,000 original miles. Original engine. Not original colour (currently: red, original: old english white), not original interior (original: red, currently... not much remaining, but what is there is white) My brother (who is 13 and a half years older than me) got the car when he was 14, in 1969. He changed the seats to white, and started a colour change to blue (badly... he was 14!) including spray painting the dash and rear fender interior vinyl with blue engine paint. The car has been stored in a garage since the early mid 70s. He thinks 1973 or 74. Here are some pictures of where it was stored: He got the car when it had a small fuel fire (one of the rubber lines to one of the carburettors ruptured, and leaked fuel on the exhaust manifold). The woman who owned the car saw the smoke and shut the engine off, which killed the fuel flow and extinguished the fire. Damage was extremely minor... the fire did NOT melt the other rubber lines, nor did it bubble or damage the paint on the bonnet or the engine. There is a black smoke stain on inside of hood. It is still there. That's it. My parents gave the lady who owned the car a ride into town, and the woman thought car would never run again because it had been on fire. My brother offered her $100 for it, and she took it. After my folks dropped her off, they took my brother back to the car. He fixed the fuel line, and drove it home. He also drove it into a pole once. As the pole was secured into the ground with concrete, and the Austin was not, there was damage to the hood. It's been "fixed". But not really. The car went into storage in the mid-70s, as I said. He's been meaning to restore it for years, but... life. I just bought it from him and began stripping it down. FYI, I'm a trained bodyman, and I worked at a custom/restoration shop, so the metalwork doesn't bother me. I'm sure to have many questions about the Marque, and also about the technical aspects of the car. I have an Austin Healey parts book, and a Workshop manual. But there are always niggly little things. Here are some pics after I got her into my garage. |
AuthorMy name is Ash. Archives
September 2021
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