Recommission of The Rev.....

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David Swain
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Recommission of The Rev.....

Post by David Swain »

A question for all, what would you suggest needs doing as a minimum, to safely put an A35 back on the road for an initial 50 mile journey, if that Austin has been laid up in a dry garage for the last thirty years, engine was initially run periodically, but last started more than ten years ago. All thoughts and ideas welcomed. :wave:
Last edited by David Swain on Wed Jun 04, 2014 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recommission

Post by Dinky »

brakes working, clutch free, all grease nipples greased, new fluids and working indicators and brake lights would be my minimum
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Re: Recommission

Post by earthhist »

David Swain wrote:A question for all, what would you suggest needs doing as a minimum, to safely put an A35 back on the road for an initial 50 mile journey, if that Austin has been laid up in a dry garage for the last thirty years, engine was initially run periodically, but last started more than ten years ago. All thoughts and ideas welcomed. :wave:
Don't even try - 50 miles is a long way to push. The risk is that you start out ok, but breaki down within a few miles when things get hot or leaks etc develop enough to become apparent.

Almost every operational and safety related feature of the vehicle could give you problems, some very serious. It is most unlikely the brakes will work, though they might do so partially - for a time. The steering swivel pins might be seized. The tyres will be unsafe, as the rubber will have "set", and the fabric may have rotted. Problems with fuel pump and carburation are probable. The Ignition system may not work. Various bearings might seize, or seals (e.g. water pump) fail. Electrical wiring may havre deteriorated to the point that it shortcircuits.
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Re: Recommission

Post by David Swain »

Thank You for the comments and recommendations Bryan and Richard.
I agree with what you have listed Bryan, but feel there may be more.
Richard you list many potential problems, surely most of which can be overcome with some spare parts and a bit of elbow grease? I am interested to know what these potential hazards might include, and what (How much time) would be needed to overcome them.
earthhist wrote:Almost every operational and safety related feature of the vehicle could give you problems, some very serious. It is most unlikely the brakes will work, though they might do so partially - for a time. The steering swivel pins might be seized. The tyres will be unsafe, as the rubber will have "set", and the fabric may have rotted. Problems with fuel pump and carburation are probable. The Ignition system may not work. Various bearings might seize, or seals (e.g. water pump) fail. Electrical wiring may havre deteriorated to the point that it shortcircuits.
Brakes can be overhauled? steering swivel pins checked and greased? wheels can be replaced with good whilst brakes are being done? Fuel pump and Carburettor can be cleaned, or a quicker easier option could be to replace them with known to be working ones? What things would be likely to fail on the ignition side once the engine is running? Whilst on engine, I had thought to take off rocker cover and remove the plugs to check the condition of valves and bores, and to also drop the sump for a sludge clean, new oil filter and oil. Radiator drained and back flushed, then refilled with fresh water and anti-freeze.
If the engine is then run for a while to warm up any leaks would then become apparent, and could be dealt with? The wiring in my experience with Austins seems to be very good, even after all this time, both my Van and Saloon still have their original wiring and it seems to be working fine on them.
I am finding your comments very helpful and thought provoking and would love to hear more from you and others. :thumbs:
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Re: Recommission

Post by Neil Evans »

I would want the cylinder head off to ensure there is no surface rust in the bores. Even a small amount will destroy the pistons and rings in short order.

The brakes will have serious issues unless it has been cocooned in a dehumidified cell as the fluid will have absorbed moisture from the atmosphere.

I look at all tyres over five years old with doubt and ten years old is pushing your luck. Thirty years old is madness. The same can be said of the rubber brake and coolant hoses.
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Re: Recommission

Post by Big Daddy »

Neil Evans wrote:I look at all tyres over five years old with doubt and ten years old is pushing your luck. Thirty years old is madness. The same can be said of the rubber brake and coolant hoses.
:iagree: OE rubber and plastic components are usually signed off for 10 years durability. Aircraft are mandated to replace all rubber components after just 5 years life, even torsional dampers. How long inferior aftermarket rubber parts last is anyone's guess... :whistle:
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Re: Recommission

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Neil Evans wrote:I would want the cylinder head off to ensure there is no surface rust in the bores. Even a small amount will destroy the pistons and rings in short order.
I was hoping that I would be able to tell the condition of the bores, from the condition of the rocker assembly, and by looking through the spark plug apertures. But I can see that head off would remove any uncertainty. So a gasket set will be needed.
Neil Evans wrote:The brakes will have serious issues unless it has been cocooned in a dehumidified cell as the fluid will have absorbed moisture from the atmosphere.
So brake cylinders re-sealing or swapping with refurbed ones, new flexible brake hoses and new brake fluid would be enough here?
Neil Evans wrote:I look at all tyres over five years old with doubt and ten years old is pushing your luck. Thirty years old is madness. The same can be said of the rubber brake and coolant hoses.
As said in the previous post I can swap the wheels with good ones when they come off to do the brakes. The radiator hoses can also be easily swapped out when the radiator comes off for back flushing and new anti freeze. The heater could be bypassed with a short length of new hose?
Big Daddy wrote:OE rubber and plastic components are usually signed off for 10 years durability. Aircraft are mandated to replace all rubber components after just 5 years life, even torsional dampers. How long inferior aftermarket rubber parts last is anyone's guess...
So what other rubber parts should be looked at. Remembering this is a fifty mile trip, before more involved work can be carried out?

Thank You for your input. :thumbs:
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Re: Recommission

Post by earthhist »

David Swain wrote:Thank You for the comments and recommendations Bryan and Richard.
I agree with what you have listed Bryan, but feel there may be more.
Richard you list many potential problems, surely most of which can be overcome with some spare parts and a bit of elbow grease? I am interested to know what these potential hazards might include, and what (How much time) would be needed to overcome them.
earthhist wrote:Almost every operational and safety related feature of the vehicle could give you problems, some very serious. It is most unlikely the brakes will work, though they might do so partially - for a time. The steering swivel pins might be seized. The tyres will be unsafe, as the rubber will have "set", and the fabric may have rotted. Problems with fuel pump and carburation are probable. The Ignition system may not work. Various bearings might seize, or seals (e.g. water pump) fail. Electrical wiring may havre deteriorated to the point that it shortcircuits.
Brakes can be overhauled? steering swivel pins checked and greased? wheels can be replaced with good whilst brakes are being done? Fuel pump and Carburettor can be cleaned, or a quicker easier option could be to replace them with known to be working ones? What things would be likely to fail on the ignition side once the engine is running? Whilst on engine, I had thought to take off rocker cover and remove the plugs to check the condition of valves and bores, and to also drop the sump for a sludge clean, new oil filter and oil. Radiator drained and back flushed, then refilled with fresh water and anti-freeze.
If the engine is then run for a while to warm up any leaks would then become apparent, and could be dealt with? The wiring in my experience with Austins seems to be very good, even after all this time, both my Van and Saloon still have their original wiring and it seems to be working fine on them.
I am finding your comments very helpful and thought provoking and would love to hear more from you and others. :thumbs:
I was answering on the assumption that your reference to an "initial 50 mile journey" meant that you have just bought a car 50 miles from home and need to get it home, and intend to do so by driving it home, after doing the minimum to make that a safe experience. If that's the case, I am suggesting it is a high risk thing to do.

If you are putting any car back into commission then you don't sort out the most obvious potential problems and then drive 50 miles as its first outing. However thorough your check over and replacement that would still be silly. Instead you do very local test driving until you are convinced the car is reliable. That way you only have a mile or 2 to get the car back if trouble starts and a good chance of doing that without having to call for assistance, or if you do a neighbour can tow you a couple of miles.

My strategy would be to deal with the most likely or most critically damaging issues (engine bore corrosion ignition and carburation, brakes, steering, lighting, body corrosion, tyres first - in short the engine function plus all the things covered by the original 1960 MOT test). Then do trial runs. This will probably take you several days to do properly.

I agree with the other posters about the potential issues.

You ask about ignition. Points corrode with time and may not make effective contact, capacitors fail when used after long periods of lack of use, coils ditto.

Wiring can give problems if the rubber perishes and goes hard. When shaken (by vehicle use) it can then break up and short circuit.

The control box may also have oxidised contacts and the charge voltage may not be correct, or dynamo may not charge at all.

Time is a far more damaging thing to many aspects of a vehicle than additional mileage. I agree that problems with any *particular* item may not happen very often, but my experience of shorter lay ups is that when you start using a car again, it is likely to be much less than normally reliable, and should not be used for longer journeys until it has been run around on shorter ones long enough to reveal all the issues.
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Re: Recommission

Post by Big Daddy »

David Swain wrote:So what other rubber parts should be looked at. Remembering this is a fifty mile trip, before more involved work can be carried out?
Tyres on the recovery trailer... :thumbs:
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Re: Recommission

Post by David Swain »

Thank You again for your input Richard.
So if a trial run or two in the immediate area for shake down purposes were factored in, before the fifty mile run, to highlight any unforseen issues, this may be a feasible proposition?
earthhist wrote:You ask about ignition. Points corrode with time and may not make effective contact, capacitors fail when used after long periods of lack of use, coils ditto.
These can be cleaned, or replaced with known good units. I know that some recommend carrying these items at all times incase of failure. :thumbs:
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Re: Recommission

Post by David Swain »

Big Daddy wrote:Tyres on the recovery trailer...
:rol:
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Re: Recommission

Post by David Swain »

Do RH Insurance offer free get you home recovery? :whistle:
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Re: Recommission

Post by earthhist »

David Swain wrote:Thank You again for your input Richard.
So if a trial run or two in the immediate area for shake down purposes were factored in, before the fifty mile run, to highlight any unforseen issues, this may be a feasible proposition?
You are somewhat missing the point here, I think. The trial runs very locally would have to be quite long, as some problems (overheating, radiator issues, collapsing oil pressure and some fuel problems are obvious ones) show up only when the engine gets fully hot which can take about 15-20 miles without stopping. The point is that you do those runs within a mile or two of home so you can recover yourself if things go wrong.
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Re: Recommission

Post by earthhist »

David Swain wrote:Do RH Insurance offer free get you home recovery? :whistle:
I think it is included - certainly in the case of accident - but I am less sure about whether it includes more general breakdown recovery. Let us know when you have checked with RH and found out.
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Re: Recommission

Post by WAC_Paul »

It does include breakdown recovery. I have used it when the head gasket went (after the sprayers let the water run out over a winter)
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