Restoring 'Olwyn' Colwyn by Richard Elliott
I had always harboured a liking for the Austin 10 and particular the Colwyn Cabriolet version. This was really because we had one as the family car back in the early 1950’s. Not that we had it that long but it was the first car I remember – I was only about 5 years old at the time. Father was in the RAF and was stationed at Chivenor in North Devon at the time. We frequently travelled to and from Plymouth in it and also went on family holidays to North Cornwall. I remember we used to sit in the back and get wet when it rained as the water used to come in the roof and on one occasion the gear lever came off in Dad’s hand and we had to make the journey in second gear. That car was dark green – MJ 5831. I don’t suppose it still exists – anybody seen it?
So, when I saw one advertised in Auto Trader in early 2002 the vendor had a sure sale – as long as it had four wheels and an engine. I duly went along to see it wearing my rose tinted spectacles and made the usual enquiries, like do the wheels go round and was the engine a runner – real in depth stuff. Actually, it was missing quite a few important parts but I was assured that they were all to hand at his yard in Mid Devon. So, subject to these parts being truly available, a deal was struck and the car delivered on a trailer to Buckfastleigh where it was allocated space in a lock up where it is to be gradually restored.
The next move was to get the missing bits. A trip to Mid Devon ensued where an interesting hour or so was spent finding the various parts amongst a collection of motoring detritus and mud. The main parts required were both headlights, both sidelights, both bumpers and the rear seats. The car had been stored for a while in the open and up to its axles in the mud. Eventually all these were located plus sundry other bits such as a spare wheel, a window winder mechanism, one side air vent scuttle still in its original maroon paint – the rest of the car having been resprayed black. Fortunately, the vendor had lots of paperwork including the last buff log book, last MOT, last tax disc (1961) and last insurance certificate. So, although the car has never been issued with a new V5 it should to be possible to recover the old registration number with the help of either the Austin Ten Drivers Club or Devon Vintage Car Club. The car was registered AOY 357 in May 1935, so I live in hope.
The story of the car since 1961 is somewhat vague but it appears it was kept out the back of a wine bar in London for many years and somehow then found itself in Cornwall where a garage was given the job of carrying out a rebuild. It would seem quite a lot of time and effort was expended on this but then for some reason the job was abandoned. Then the garage itself went bankrupt and the car was bought as part of a job lot by the dealer from whom I subsequently purchased it. He recovered as much as he could from the garage site and set about putting the car together for resale. As I have progressed the restoration I have found that many items were only just fixed on loosely with the odd nut and bolt. And ‘odd’ nut and bolt just about sums it up as no two nuts and bolts seem to be alike! The trickiest jobs I have had to do so far are to tackle a complete rewire, rebuild the doors which were lacking all trim, glass and the passenger door window winder, and make up the two running boards. It is clear that the body had received lots of attention although to see the picture of it sitting in the mud at the dealers yard you would be hard put to believe that!
Anyway, in early January the time came to press the magic button. But not before some time and effort in trying to locate ‘top dead centre’ to set the ignition. Various books suggested various methods. The Austin 10 manual made it sound easy – just look at the flywheel and the marks are there. But to see that you need to be a contortion and I’m not! In practice the best way was to remove all the plugs but number 1 and then turn the engine to feel when it went into a compression stroke. Then set the distributor by guesswork. After a little persuasion it fired up. Initial impression is that the dealers story that the engine had been overhauled might even be true as it runs very sweetly. A little further adjustment by physically moving the distributor before tightening it up should have it set correctly. Now the current job is refitting the body panels having had them resprayed into original black and maroon. That was a bit of fun – pushing the car the wrong way up a one way street to get it to the car body shop and then back down again a week or two later after the job had been done. It’s a bit of a sweat making sure the beautifully restored panels don’t get scratched but I’m managing! But I have to keep wife, Jill, out of the spare bedroom in case she finds the door being rebuilt on the double bed. With the panels back on I can start to get the wiring to the lights in place. Then it’s off to Ivybridge to have a new hood made and fitted and visit the local garage for an MOT!
Update 2012
Well, the above was written some 10 years ago. The car duly made it back on the road in 2004. Since then it has been running beautifully and made many appearances at shows and at the South Devon Railway. It’s also performed important duties for the weddings of both my offspring, being driven by my Son to take his new bride to the reception and by myself to take my daughter to the Church. Happy times!
So, when I saw one advertised in Auto Trader in early 2002 the vendor had a sure sale – as long as it had four wheels and an engine. I duly went along to see it wearing my rose tinted spectacles and made the usual enquiries, like do the wheels go round and was the engine a runner – real in depth stuff. Actually, it was missing quite a few important parts but I was assured that they were all to hand at his yard in Mid Devon. So, subject to these parts being truly available, a deal was struck and the car delivered on a trailer to Buckfastleigh where it was allocated space in a lock up where it is to be gradually restored.
The next move was to get the missing bits. A trip to Mid Devon ensued where an interesting hour or so was spent finding the various parts amongst a collection of motoring detritus and mud. The main parts required were both headlights, both sidelights, both bumpers and the rear seats. The car had been stored for a while in the open and up to its axles in the mud. Eventually all these were located plus sundry other bits such as a spare wheel, a window winder mechanism, one side air vent scuttle still in its original maroon paint – the rest of the car having been resprayed black. Fortunately, the vendor had lots of paperwork including the last buff log book, last MOT, last tax disc (1961) and last insurance certificate. So, although the car has never been issued with a new V5 it should to be possible to recover the old registration number with the help of either the Austin Ten Drivers Club or Devon Vintage Car Club. The car was registered AOY 357 in May 1935, so I live in hope.
The story of the car since 1961 is somewhat vague but it appears it was kept out the back of a wine bar in London for many years and somehow then found itself in Cornwall where a garage was given the job of carrying out a rebuild. It would seem quite a lot of time and effort was expended on this but then for some reason the job was abandoned. Then the garage itself went bankrupt and the car was bought as part of a job lot by the dealer from whom I subsequently purchased it. He recovered as much as he could from the garage site and set about putting the car together for resale. As I have progressed the restoration I have found that many items were only just fixed on loosely with the odd nut and bolt. And ‘odd’ nut and bolt just about sums it up as no two nuts and bolts seem to be alike! The trickiest jobs I have had to do so far are to tackle a complete rewire, rebuild the doors which were lacking all trim, glass and the passenger door window winder, and make up the two running boards. It is clear that the body had received lots of attention although to see the picture of it sitting in the mud at the dealers yard you would be hard put to believe that!
Anyway, in early January the time came to press the magic button. But not before some time and effort in trying to locate ‘top dead centre’ to set the ignition. Various books suggested various methods. The Austin 10 manual made it sound easy – just look at the flywheel and the marks are there. But to see that you need to be a contortion and I’m not! In practice the best way was to remove all the plugs but number 1 and then turn the engine to feel when it went into a compression stroke. Then set the distributor by guesswork. After a little persuasion it fired up. Initial impression is that the dealers story that the engine had been overhauled might even be true as it runs very sweetly. A little further adjustment by physically moving the distributor before tightening it up should have it set correctly. Now the current job is refitting the body panels having had them resprayed into original black and maroon. That was a bit of fun – pushing the car the wrong way up a one way street to get it to the car body shop and then back down again a week or two later after the job had been done. It’s a bit of a sweat making sure the beautifully restored panels don’t get scratched but I’m managing! But I have to keep wife, Jill, out of the spare bedroom in case she finds the door being rebuilt on the double bed. With the panels back on I can start to get the wiring to the lights in place. Then it’s off to Ivybridge to have a new hood made and fitted and visit the local garage for an MOT!
Update 2012
Well, the above was written some 10 years ago. The car duly made it back on the road in 2004. Since then it has been running beautifully and made many appearances at shows and at the South Devon Railway. It’s also performed important duties for the weddings of both my offspring, being driven by my Son to take his new bride to the reception and by myself to take my daughter to the Church. Happy times!
Update May 2019 by Chris Elliott
Since the article and the update were written the car has moved from Richard’s (my Dad) care to mine. He was slimming down his collection and I asked if he might give it to me rather than it leave the family, since it had good memories and is a lovely car for a sunny day. Fortunately Dad’s work on the car has stood the test of time well, and while the interior is not exactly perfectly original, it is an honest car and I don’t worry about my children and their grubby footprints when they are playing in it! It regularly does the school run in the summer, as well as some longer runs and some local shows. I successfully took 5 people up Widecombe hill at the weekend, and didn’t even need 1st gear, and more importantly managed to descend safely too!
I have not had to do a great deal of work on the car, save from iron out some strange behaviour with valves. At some point it appears something foreign went through the fuel system and resulted in a coating of sticky black gunge on the valve stems which meant that when the engine was turned over fast the valves were effectively staying open because they were moving a bit slowly, but if you tried to check the positions of the valves at given points, they seemed correct, and once it eventually started on one or two cylinders and warmed up it would work correctly. Needless to say, it was obvious once the head was off, and once I had learnt the joy of getting the collets back on the valve stems without firing them across the garage floor, the car behaved much better and starts reliably. So 15 years after Dad got it back on the road, it continues to do sterling service.
Since the article and the update were written the car has moved from Richard’s (my Dad) care to mine. He was slimming down his collection and I asked if he might give it to me rather than it leave the family, since it had good memories and is a lovely car for a sunny day. Fortunately Dad’s work on the car has stood the test of time well, and while the interior is not exactly perfectly original, it is an honest car and I don’t worry about my children and their grubby footprints when they are playing in it! It regularly does the school run in the summer, as well as some longer runs and some local shows. I successfully took 5 people up Widecombe hill at the weekend, and didn’t even need 1st gear, and more importantly managed to descend safely too!
I have not had to do a great deal of work on the car, save from iron out some strange behaviour with valves. At some point it appears something foreign went through the fuel system and resulted in a coating of sticky black gunge on the valve stems which meant that when the engine was turned over fast the valves were effectively staying open because they were moving a bit slowly, but if you tried to check the positions of the valves at given points, they seemed correct, and once it eventually started on one or two cylinders and warmed up it would work correctly. Needless to say, it was obvious once the head was off, and once I had learnt the joy of getting the collets back on the valve stems without firing them across the garage floor, the car behaved much better and starts reliably. So 15 years after Dad got it back on the road, it continues to do sterling service.
