29-09-2021, 09:03 AM
Ah yes - the Austin 1100. My dad had one when in early '74 I was courting the girl who I married 43 years ago. That old car could tell some stories!
My dad let me loose adding electronic ignition - there was a project in PW in June '71 - when I was 15. Since he used the car every day to get to work, he must have had massive confidence that I could make it work fine over a weekend. I sprayed everything inside the diecast box with several coats of spray varnish (sort of a mimic of conformal coating). That worked perfectly until:
It eventually bit the dust in late '75 when the front suspension rusted through the floor pan on the passenger side. It is only when you see one of these restored (some people do this) you realise how tiny they are as compared to today's cars.
But our first car was a second hand Austin A35 some time in the mid 60's. That was a gutless wonder, even after my dad decoked it. If you got to a hill you had to rush it, because it could grind majestically to a halt as a result of its feeble power. One of the front indicator lights rusted out, so my dad, ever resourceful, made a new pod from a baked bean tin and isoponned it in. Filed to the right shape and sprayed the same colour as the car (grey) it looked absolutely perfect.
My dad let me loose adding electronic ignition - there was a project in PW in June '71 - when I was 15. Since he used the car every day to get to work, he must have had massive confidence that I could make it work fine over a weekend. I sprayed everything inside the diecast box with several coats of spray varnish (sort of a mimic of conformal coating). That worked perfectly until:
It eventually bit the dust in late '75 when the front suspension rusted through the floor pan on the passenger side. It is only when you see one of these restored (some people do this) you realise how tiny they are as compared to today's cars.
But our first car was a second hand Austin A35 some time in the mid 60's. That was a gutless wonder, even after my dad decoked it. If you got to a hill you had to rush it, because it could grind majestically to a halt as a result of its feeble power. One of the front indicator lights rusted out, so my dad, ever resourceful, made a new pod from a baked bean tin and isoponned it in. Filed to the right shape and sprayed the same colour as the car (grey) it looked absolutely perfect.
