Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
Forum rules
By using this site, you agree to our rules. Please see: Terms of Use
Post Reply
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Hello from Guatemala.
I was inspired by reading many of your restoration stories, mostly David Miles' pickup to start my own restoration thread.

My father bought the pickup for me back in 1995 when I was 13 years old and began by restoring the body and chassis.

At the time I wasn't much interested in those things so shortly afterwards the project stopped, then college came and went, I spent some time working in Mexico and finally in 2011 moved back to Guatemala and slowly began to take interest in the forgotten Moggy.

The car as it was bought in 1995:
[frame]Image[/frame]
[frame]Image[/frame]
[frame]Image[/frame]

Body and chassis restoration:
(that's 14 year old me)
[frame]Image[/frame]
[frame]Image[/frame]
[frame]Image[/frame]

And in the last months I've been working on the car I've done the brakes, windows, starter, alternator, radiator and today the car looks like this:
[frame]Image[/frame]
[frame]Image[/frame]
Sorry for the cellphone pics, I'll take better ones with the camera the next time.
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

I'm missing the dust cover band and the cap for the starter motor (this one is from another car).
[frame]Image[/frame]
Any help on where to find these spares would be very appreciated, otherwise I'll have to try and get them fabricated.
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Didn't have much time today and the mechanic didn't arrive to tell me if the engine will need a full rebuild or just new bearings so I decided to tackle the steering wheel and indicator stalk cowl.

My last experience with the indicator stalk was not a good one. The original stalk was complete except for the green cap for the light and it apparently had pieces of a bulb still stuck in the socket but by trying to remove them I ended up destroying the whole socket.

Made an order to David Manners for a new stalk, along with a new clutch and some other bits but it's on backorder so it probably won't get here for a couple of weeks.

After cleaning the steering wheel I decided that the best way to remove the multiple scratches it had would be to buff it with the wheel but it immediately started melting since it's apparently a VERY soft plastic. I ended up having to sand it by hand with 400, then 1000, then 1500 and finally 2000 grit paper and then using plastic polish but it still has some scratches and isn't shiny so if anyone knows a better way to fix them I'd love to hear suggestions. I do have another steering wheel I didn't melt that's a bit shinier but it also has more scratches so whichever would be easier.

Finally I tackled the cowl, it was dirty and had a very big crack but it was complete. I've glued the crack with CA glue and JB Weld.[frame]Image[/frame][frame]Image[/frame]
That's the inside of the cowl.

It's still dull and I'd like it nice and shiny, so I'll take any suggestions. I'm also not sure if that repair I've made will hold since I'm guessing it's a part that gets accidentally hit on a regular basis so ideas on how to reinforce it more would also be welcome.
Gabriel
ASL642
Minor Maniac
Posts: 5200
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 3:14 pm
Location: Worcestershire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by ASL642 »


Lou Rocke
MMOC 43512
Neil MG
Minor Legend
Posts: 1116
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:05 am
Location: Cumbria
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by Neil MG »

You can paint the steering wheel rim. I painted the rim on my 1965 Jaguar, which like your wheel had scratches in the plastic, about seven years ago and it still looks like new. I just used aerosol (rattle can) gloss black enamel over an aerosol primer. Flushed with success I repaired a badly cracked MGA steering wheel, with body filler (bondo) and aerosol paint, three or four years ago. It still looks good but a couple of the cracks look like they are about to break through the paint. If I had used JB Weld epoxy I am convinced that it would still look like new. The secret is to take your time and pay attention to the small details like masking, degreasing, preparing the surface and building the paint layers up slowly flatting down in between every few coats. The same method can be used on the cowl.
1956 Morris Minor Series II
1959 MGA 1600 Roadster
1966 Jaguar Mk2 3.8 MOD
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Thank you both for your tips. That cowl on ebay does look nice and shiny and the price is not too bad, still, I got the news from the mechanic today about the engine and I'm afraid it will need more than what I was expecting so for the time being my old cowl will have to do.

I was a bit reluctant to paint the steering wheel since I don't want the paint to melt in my hands but if you've had a good experience then I might give it a try. Although it's beginning to look a bit better after just polishing so I was thinking of maybe filling the scratches with black enamel paint and then just polish a bit more to see what results I get, I might do JB Weld for the deeper scratches if you think it would work well.

Here's how the wheel looks right now:
[frame]Image[/frame]
It's a bit dull still but I'll try a bit more polishing or painting if I get tired. (no I didn't turn the motor on, but it was easier to have it there than having to hold it)

And the dreaded big scratch:
[frame]Image[/frame]

And here's the bit I burned while buffing with the wheel:
[frame]Image[/frame]

So, the mechanic finally came by today to take a look at the engine, I was hoping it wouldn't need much work since the car supposedly had only 35,000km (around 22,000 miles I think) but while the crankshaft looks quite good:
[frame]Image[/frame]

The main bearings are worn:
[frame]Image[/frame]

Head looks good, albeit a bit rusty in the water passages. It's the original one though, meant for leaded fuel but right now I'd rather not spend on a new one so hopefully lead substitute will do.
[frame]Image[/frame]

And the rings are worn:
[frame]Image[/frame]

So that's new main bearings, con-rod bearings, thrust bearings (they're OK, but might as well now), lock tabs and rings. And oil pump, so the mileage wasn't probably what I thought or the previous owner used sand instead of oil. Monday I'll know if the camshaft bearings will also need replacing and wether or not the crank will need to be cut so I'm crossing my fingers.

Parts here take about to weeks to arrive so I'll have time to experiment with the steering wheel, cowl and several other small details.
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Finally get to post again, there was a bad short circuit on the light post that feeds my house so I had no light for all of yesterday and today's morning. The surge took out my TV and my wireless router so I'm using the cell phone's Internet but it is VEERY slow.

Pictured: Typical Guatemalan electrical connections... As they say, "such is life in the tropics".
[frame]Image[/frame]

Did a bit more polishing to the steering wheel and I'm happy with the results so far. (That actually means I got tired of sanding and polishing to get the scratches out and decided to let it sit for a while)

Then I got to sandblasting the wheels and I swear once you start doing that those little tiny wheels become enormous.

This was the result after almost THREE HOURS of sandblasting...

Front is pretty much done, but could use another go:
[frame]Image[/frame]

The rear pretty much unchanged and I haven't even got to the middle part which is the one I most need to be nice and smooth if I'm hoping the tire to actually hold some air.
[frame]Image[/frame]

Granted that's the spare, the four wheels that came with the car are in better shape and are still wearing what I believe are the original crossplies.
[frame]Image[/frame]

Firestone
[frame]Image[/frame]

Deluxe Champion, they sure don't name tires like they used to.
[frame]Image[/frame]

Finally got back to the indicator stalk cowl; my dad found this concoction among all his old stuff:
[frame]Image[/frame]

And it worked great, it isn't a paint but more like a tint similar to what you'd use on leather so it really penetrated well into the bakelite.

Then to give it some shine melt equal parts beeswax and carnauba:
[frame]Image[/frame]

And apply!
[frame]Image[/frame]

I'll let it dry overnight and buff it with a soft cloth tomorrow and hopefully it will be nice and shiny like a telephone. I'll try and remember to take the camera instead of just the phone in order to get better pictures.

Now for some quick questions in case someone can help.

I had two steering columns, one from an old van and the original one from my pickup. The one for the van had a bushing and sleeve right under the circular contact for the horn (pictures on next post hopefully) but the one from the pickup did not and as far as I can tell it appears to have never been dismantled. Any ideas? Did the guys at the factory forget to fit them? I'd imagine the wheel would shake like crazy but I'm out of ideas.

Also, when I close the driver's door sometimes it locks itself with the indoor locking mechanism. This hasn't been a problem yet since the car is in the shop and the quarterlight is open but it could get very annoying if it happened on the street. It appears the inside lever moves a bit forward when the door is closed, locking the door. The car doesn't have the door cards on yet and I'm hoping that little bit of extra friction helps but I'd like to know if someone has had the same problem and how to fix it.
Gabriel
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Don't mind the question about the bushing, I just checked ESM's website (and my Graphoref for additional confirmation) and there's no bushing between the steering column and the tube that holds it to the dashboard, it's just a piece of felt (STR310).

That makes much more sense since mine didn't appear to have been ever dismantled and the donor van for the other one was in a much sorrier state.

Still need help with the door though, let me know what you think is going on.
Gabriel
davidmiles
Minor Legend
Posts: 2731
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 4:54 pm
Location: Sussex
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by davidmiles »

hi GBond, what's your real name? we can't keep calling you gbond, nice project, she'll be quite a head turner in your neck of the woods, or are there any other Moggies out there in central America. Looking forward to seeing this little gem progress, good luck and keep the posts coming.
regards Dave
smile, you never know, you might be winning.[IMG]http://i67.tinypic.com/2ro3j37.jpg[/IMG]
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Hi David, my name is Gabriel, forgot to mention that.

I know of a few other Moggies around here, one is a Traveller that belongs to an avid collector and restorer my dad knows (he's got more tan 50 cars I think), other is a van I saw on the newspaper that runs at the dragstrip, powered probably by a japanese engine but I haven't had the chance to see it in person.

There's also this pretty convertible that used to belong to a good friend of my dad's:
(that's them, with my dad's Triumph)[frame]Image[/frame]

And my dad has another convertible but that's just a future project for the time being.

Don't know of any other Moggies but there are still some surviving Minis, MGs and Triumphs around.
Gabriel
George Smathers
Minor Fan
Posts: 126
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:18 am
Location: Spokane, WA USA
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by George Smathers »

I'm enjoying following this.

George
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Thanks George, I'm enjoying doing this thread too.

The engine rebuilders finally came to get the Moggie's engine. I forgot to take a picture so some of you might not believe me but the guy took it in a little box in the back of a 125cc motorcycle; sure hope he had no problems on the way.

In the meantime, all I've got to do are little details here and there that'll save me time once the "serious" work of assembling and fitting the engine is done.

Today I continued with the steering column, first stripping the paint it had on which was several layers thick and probably applied with a brush.[frame]Image[/frame]
That's the before picture of the two steering columns I had, notice the bushing I mentioned earlier on the left column.

If you've got a faster way to remove paint, tell me about it. It took me quite some time to get it all off since it was very well stuck to the metal.[frame]Image[/frame]

Then came sandblasting all the screws and fitting hardware.[frame]Image[/frame]

And finally some zinc plating.[frame]Image[/frame]

I can't wait to get my pickup going but while I'm still waiting for an order I made with David Manners to arrive and for the engine rebuilders to tell me what sizes of bearings I'm going to need I might as well take care of the little details.

I've also been procrastinating a bit on the gearbox and the wheels, for the latter there's still quite a lot of sandblasting to do and while I was hoping to find someone with a bigger machine to go quicker it hasn't happened yet.

And on the gearbox I've got no experience whatsoever so I don't even know what to check. Hopefully it's just a matter of changing the gaskets and putting some decent oil in but I better do that with the help of a mechanic.
Gabriel
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Tomorrow is saturday so I'll finally get the chance to start early with the car. It has been raining every single afternoon here so progress, especially with paint, has been slow.

Still haven't heard from the engine rebuilders to order the new bearings, oil pump and timing chain, If someone knows which of the suppliers has the best quality of these ítems I'd love to hear your recommendation. For the moment I'm thinking ESM since their overseas shipping rates aren't TOO expensive and I got great service from them the last time.

I started this before starting this thread but finally after the last coat of paint my radiator is ready![frame]Image[/frame](sorry again for the cellphone pictures, I always forget to take the camera)

And here's the spare bracket I have for the steering column.[frame]Image[/frame]
I'm painting the other one tomorrow but just today noticed the metal plate on this one and the textured piece of tube (no idea how else to describe it) and I'm wondering if both of these were original. The plate seems like a good idea since it distributes the load better but I thought the hole in the lower part of the bracket was there to pass the cables for the horn and indicators and now seeing this I'm starting to have some doubts.[frame]Image[/frame]Now I'm more confused, on the Graphoref the plate is definitely there but I don't know what parts 67 and 68 are since neither of the cars had them. Also in the pickup there was a piece of plastic between the support bracket and the metal tube the steering column goes through so any insight on how this is supposed to go is appreciated.

Finally, since it was raining and I'm planning on doing some painting tomorrow morning here's what I did with the door card clips. I didn't want to use plastic ones and haven't found the original type available so I sandblasted them, zinc plated them and finally today got all of the damaged ones together:[frame]Image[/frame]
And to fix them mixed up some JB Weld, applied it with a small spatula and then gave it a nice round shape by dipping my finger in soapy water and shaping like putty. I would have never thought of this technique but thankfully my dad has restored several cars and bikes and learned many tricks. He's actually more OCD than I am most of the time.[frame]Image[/frame]

They're getting paint tomorrow morning if it's not raining, so check next post for the results!
Gabriel
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

This was in the front page of the sunday newspaper, a Guatemalan speed walker won the Grand Prize in Dublín, and check out what was in the picture:
http://www.prensalibre.com/tododeportes ... 05420.html

Finally got to do some painting on saturday, here's the original door cards before painting.[frame]Image[/frame]They were pretty bent because of the humidity but I managed to straighten them out by spraying them with water and placing them between two flat tables with some weights on the top.

Some paint.[frame]Image[/frame]
Bit of paint for the buttons.[frame]Image[/frame]Those didn't come out as I expected since the paint was matte, I sprayed some clear on them today and I'll see tomorrow how they look; maybe I'll try nail polish or a shinier paint if they're still dull.

The door cards all nice and brown.[frame]Image[/frame]
Me with the car.[frame]Image[/frame]
This was today (monday), trying on the grill. Engine is still in the machine shop but hopefully I'll get some news tomorrow.[frame]Image[/frame]
Gabriel
les
Minor Maniac
Posts: 9243
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2002 12:00 am
Location: kent
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by les »

Nice work-- nice looking dog!

GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Thanks les, Rosita sends her best wishes as well!

The door cards came out great but not so the buttons so I had to sand them and paint them again with a different paint.[frame]Image[/frame]
And I finally got news from the machine shop, not bad, but not extremely good either.

Apparently I need:
  • Main bearings .010
    Rod bearings .010
    Piston rings (shop said to get .010 even though the cylinders don't need reboring but ESM only has either standard or .020)
    Lock tab washer set
    Gasket set
    Camshaft bearings (not bad but good to change them since the engine is already open?)
    Timing chain (is it really worth it to go to dúplex?)
    Oil pump locking washer
    Crankshaft thrust washers (again not in bad shape but the engine is already open)
    Oil pump (anyone know how to tell if it's good or not or should I just change it to make sure?)
    Valve guides
Is there anything I'm missing for the engine rebuild?
Is any of the suppliers better for the parts described above?

Let me know, I'll take a look at the carburettor tomorrow to see if it needs anything done to get all parts in a single shipment.

Also, gearbox, I think it's OK and I'm planning to just change the gaskets but if there's something else I should be looking at please let me know.

Have a nice weekend!
Gabriel
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

Well, I finally became an official MMOC member; the £31 fee translated to $46! Ouch! Anyways it feels good to give back to the club and that now means I'll be able to see what's available in the club spares.

So far the parts I haven't been able to find anywhere are:
  • The dust band and dust cap for the starter
    The spare tyre bracket for my pickup
    The tool kit and correct Jack for the pickup
The door card buttons finally came out great; of course I forgot to take a picture but I'll have one for my next post.

Since the engine is already disassembled and awaiting spare parts I gave my attention today to the sump. Apparently the previous owners were very fond of driving off road; this was the best I could do after several hours of hitting it with several hammers and assorted pieces of steel.[frame]Image[/frame]It is very far from the near concours condition I plan for the rest of the car but it is the best that I could do and it seems wasteful to get a new one when for all practical purposes this one works perfectly (and with the state of the roads around here a new one would soon reach this condition).

At least it's going to have a nice new coat of paint on.[frame]Image[/frame]Sandblasting took hours but I'm getting the hang of it, I'll return to the wheels soon since I got a very nice price for powdercoating them together with another car's wheels but I need to have them ready in time.
Gabriel
jaekl
Minor Addict
Posts: 658
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:40 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by jaekl »

Does the sump still have the indentation that is the dipstick stop? It doesn't show in the picture. You may have to add a stop to the top side of the dipstick directly. I just remembered you don't have a 948 engine. Perhaps the 1098 doesn't have that "clunk" when the dipstick hits the sump and does use a stop on the dipstick itself.
GBond
Minor Fan
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 6:13 am
Location: Guatemala
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by GBond »

I think I might have mistaken it for damage and "fixed" it with the hammer.

Found a picture of the sump here: http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... 0&start=30
Is this what you mean?[frame]Image[/frame]I've still got more hammering to do before the paint then, although as far as I can tell the dipstick does have a stop at the top with a rubber seal as well.
Gabriel
jaekl
Minor Addict
Posts: 658
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:40 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
MMOC Member: No

Re: Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

Post by jaekl »

Yes, that's it, but you don't need it with the newer style dipstick. Of course, you now increased the oil volume and you'll use extra quart every 117 oil changes.
Post Reply