simondema

Congratulations on the purchase! It will be a long arduous road ahead, but a great feeling when completed. Make sure you do it once and do it right. The Champ has a habit of punishing those who take a short cut when restoring it, and doing it right from the start will ensure you will reduce the hassles at a later stage. Probably wise for you to contact the Champ Registry and become a member of the ACOC. Lots of knowledge and help, and together with this website, you will be in good hands. Ask lots of questions!! Simon 16BE24 Sydney, Australia

Hi all Last week I managed to get the Champ to finally start and run. After a lot of fiddling around, I managed to get a rig set up using an outboard engine fuel tank, attaching its hose directly to the fuel pump. Worked like a dream. When it came time to start the engine, we checked the leads, the spark plugs and the gap in the contact breaker. All good. I essentially re-assembled the distributor the same way I took it off the vehicle when I bought it. Below is a photo of the distributor after I bought the car Looking at photos of the other distributors, the cables are not the same. However, when I started up the vehicle last week, she was running perfectly well in this same configuration. On the EMER manual it says that firing order is 1 3 4 2. If I use the TDC marks on the flywheel, the rotor points down at the circled no. 2 on the distributor cap, not no.1. Unfortunately, I had my carburettor serviced, and they made a dog's breakfast of it. I installed it on the Champ this week, and after that, it won't start again. Hence why I started troubleshooting and ended up moving the distributor around, which I should never have done! Nonetheless, I have bought 2 sets of NOS spark plug cables, and the wires are no way long enough to put them in the spaces as shown in the above picture. How do I get the rotor to line up to no. 1 (which is the circled number at about 11 o'clock on the cap)? At TDC, the rotor points down at the circled no. 2 (which is at 8 o'clock on the distributor cap). Could the flywheel be so out, or is the rotor assembly wrong, or..... Please, help! Simon

Hi John thanks for the great reply, and you are certainly not telling me how to suck eggs. Any bits of information is very much appreciated. Yes I have all the cables and wires connected on the engine, so I just need to get all the connection sorted outside the engine. I think the easiest will be to get the auto electrician who works closely with my mechanic to devise a test bed setup we can connect to the engine. I also have someone who has a switchboard setup that can be connected up and start the engine that way. Again, many thanks for all your help. Simon

Hi John Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have all the cables, however the engine has no wiring loom attached. I assume that once the 2x12V batteries are connected, then the cables will be attached to the starter motor, but that's where I come to a stop. Hopefully someone can help. Thanks Simon

Hi all My B40 engine has been placed temporarily in the Champ and before I take it out an re-paint it, I want to test it and fix any issues. Can someone please tell me what wiring and setup I need to achieve this, please? Thanks Simon

I all I need to replace the small round Ferrobestos bush on my Champ's steering column. It says on Champ World you need to drill a hole in the bush so the small pin can go through it to keep in place. As it's asbestos, I assume there will be some provisos. Can anyone offer some sage advice as to how I go about doing this? Thanks Simon

I have been working lately on re-building the front and rear axles on the Champ. While that was happening, I took the body to a guy here i Sydney, Andy's Restoration in Kurnell, who cut out all the rust and manufactured new sills and other parts which the rust had attacked. He also tidied up the welded parts on the body and took out little dings and knocks. Took him about 3 weeks to do, but attached are the results> Simon

Thanks, MTM I have already looked at them and deciding which I will go for. Simon

Hi all Can anyone properly identify with a photo what the correct inspection light is on the Austin Champ, please? There are a couple on Ebay UK, however the electrical wiring doesn't look like Champ wiring. Any help would be appreciated before I start bidding and possibly end up buying a lemon!! Simon

Not an overly busy day yesterday, apart from the long travelling times between home and where the Champ body was stored. I decided that the repairs to the sills and the bodywork are beyond me, so I will be taking it to a local restorer (Andy's Restoration Services) here in Sydney. It seems Andy has worked on Champs before and on the phone he was very much aware of the Champ's Achilles heels i.e the lower parts of the body. I hired a car trailer which when compared to the tub of the Champ seemed enormous, however I was not prepared to get into an argument with the local highway patrol officers had they pulled me over with the body hanging over a small trailer. So off I went and managed (struggled) to get the body down from the rafters in the shed and eventually onto the trailer Today I will be attaching the front axle to the chassis and start re-building the rear axle. I will also start attaching all the necessary "bits" to the chassis.

Yesterday was another huge day at my mechanic's garage, having decided to wash and set aside the rear axle parts, waiting for oil seals and bearings to arrive and be replaced. I wanted to get the tracta housing bells as smooth as possible and void of rust, as it will prolong the life of the large (hard to find and horrendously expensive) hub oil seal. I used an extremely fine Wet n Dry sandpaper and sanded it under the parts washer which uses a warm solution of this Eco Friendly product which washes away all traces of grease, dirt, grime etc. Oh yes, and it feels great on your hands, too! I spent about 15 minutes on each bowl, ensuring there were no nicks or roughness on the surface. Here is a photo of 2 bowls finished and one still to be done as a comparison. After having polished the bowls, I proceeded to remove all parts which were not necessary on the rear diff casing, and I sent it off to the diff specialists for them to check out. They will clean, dismantle, check the CW&P, and re-assemble the rear diff case, ready for me to bolt on all the other bits, knowing all the settings are accurate. After all this was done, I turned my attention to the front axle, as I knew I had to replace the rubber tracta joint boots. I decided not to completely dismantle the front axle, as I felt it was not as critical as the rear axle. The boots however were another issue. All of them were split, and when I replaced the first one on the right side, it had a huge amount of grease, sand and dirt stuck on the bell housing. I took advantage of having the wishbone arms off to clean and replace some of the small oil seals on the arms The shims were also checked and replaced. I heeded the advice of others and placed tape around the boots prior to assembly, so the clips would not bite into the rubber. Unfortunately I only had yellow tape! Although it was a bit of a struggle, and it took 2 of us to do it, we eventually managed to get the splines lined up correctly for the whole assembly to be put back in place, without having to dismantle the axle any further. Today I will do the left side of the axle, and then hopefully I will be able to bolt the front axle to the chassis. I also sent the wheels and tyres away for them to remove the old ones, dismantle the rims and clean them, prime and then decide on the correct tread for the Champ which not only will give me authenticity, but will also be safe enough for me to drive the vehicle around Sydney. If anyone has any suggestions regarding what type of tyres, I would appreciate it. I had to place the tyres against the chassis, so the Champ would feel less "naked" To finish off the day, I managed to make a gasket for the oil pressure switch and re-assembled it

Today, after returning from a trip overseas ( for work), I went straight to one of the local bearings and seal shop here in Sydney, close to my place. I have been trying to find the correct bearings to replace the ones in the hubs in both front and rear axles. Although I had all the correct measurements for the tapered roller bearings, the guy behind the counter was more interested in the numbers on the bearings themselves. Therefore, I had to physically go over to garage where I keep all my parts and remove both the roller bearing and cone. Interesting what I found: The bearing closest to the wheel was a SKF 2K 359S, Made in England. The cup instead is SKF K-354A but made in Holland. The other bearing, the one closest to the diff, in other words the inner one is SKF 2K-359S, Made in Holland. The cup is K-354 (without the A) and also made in Holland. I have now got the guy from SKF to search his database and see whether they are available in Australia, or whether I will have to sell my house, and part of my family to buy them from overseas!

Thanks Wally, for the information. So where can you find when the vehicle was actually made if it seems there are few records left of the production run? Simon

Hi Keith Well...if 17BE53 shows a D.I.S of 31/12/1952 and 17BE96 shows a D.I.S of 7/1/1953, I would say yours could be early January 1953. However I am sure someone will come back with a more accurate answer. Simon

The last few days have seen a mad scramble to get all the parts painted and finished and then moved closer to home, before the shed I have everything stored in gets torn down. The rainy days we have had here in Sydney have not helped with the paint, however now all major components have been painted and set aside. I have moved the engine and front axle to my mechanics workshop, where he will be carrying out any repairs and tuning of the engine once all parts are re-assembled. I ended up buying a oil filter kit from Russell Altmann in Melbourne, and it fits like a dream I was at first concerned the unit would not fit inside the bowl, as I wanted to retain it as original as possible. However everything fits in really nicely, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Another huge couple of days over the weekend, trying to get all the parts painted, including the torsion bars which needed to be de-greased and the prop shafts as well. All were coated in years of grease, oil and the usual Aussie dust and mud. After washing them in a very Eco friendly orange degreasing solution, I proceeded to rinse them and then dried them with compressed air. A quick coating of etch primer, followed by one coat of primer and then 2 coats of DBG. I chose to use a Red Oxide paint used on boats as I figured it would be a harder paint for the underside of the chassis. Well...time will tell. I then proceeded to paint all the small parts, from spare wheel support to rifle clips, and everything in between The parts are hanging off the body which I hung off the roof of the shed to give me more space. Parts were everywhere! I have now pretty much finished all the painting, except for the inside of the fuel tank support and the body. I have transferred the motor and the front axle to my mechanic's garage where he has cleared a space i the workshop where I can work on re-assembling the engine and changing the oil seals on the front axle.

Hi John Thanks for your message. I do have some, however I wouldn't mind getting another 8. Can you please give me a price including postage to Oz? Tried sending you a PM, however your Inbox apparently is too full!! Thanks Simon

Not too much to report today, except my girlfriend and I went up today to Windsor to pick up the engine and axle. I had hired a trailer from one of our local hardware stores, and then drove about 50 minutes to the storage area. The body I had worked on yesterday was in the way, so we ended up having to hoist the body up to the roof to make way for the engine hoist to be moved around. We both managed to get the engine inside the trailer, secured it with plenty of straps, then did the same with the axle. Back on the weekend to finish the body, finish the painting and transport both chassis and body closer to home.

Yes, you are right, Wally. I read too fast and didn't see the BF.:red: Simon

Hi all Well, a lot has happened over the last few months since my last post. The place I had been storing my Champ at, and been painting it, I have had to move out of, as the guy is selling the property. Therefore it has been a mad scramble to try and get the various parts blasted, primed and then moved closer to Sydney where I live. The first priority was to get the chassis and body blasted and painted. Next was going to be the engine and the front axle. All the other smaller parts I have been taking to a sand blaster to do. He then primes them, so they are ready to be painted. So the NOS chassis I bought in Melbourne was the first to get the royal flush. Once primed, I made the decision, after much thought, to spray not only the underside of the chassis with a Sika Underbody Sealer, but the whole chassis. I read a lot about the product, and although it talks about the fact it remains flexible, after giving it about 4 coats of paint, it would harden considerably. I remember that while blasting the chassis, a lot of the underbody sealer on that one was impossible to remove, even with the sand blaster. I know the Army used a bitumen-like substance, however the modern product would come close to the original product. I did make the mistake, though of spraying the firewall and the gearbox case, which were attached to the chassis. They ended up, after lots of sanding, with a slight hammered look. I didn't particularly mid it, however I will replace the gearbox case with another one I have painted normally. The Sika sealer, before applying it, I placed in a container of boiling water for a few minutes and then shook the hell out of it. This allows the mixture at the bottom of the container to be mixed thoroughly and prevent any spattering from occurring. After applying the sealer all over, I allowed it to dry and then sanded any rough spots. After having finished painting the chassis, the material is rock hard. I made this decision as I wanted to prevent any rust forming on the chassis, as I certainly didn't want to go through this process again and again. So after the sealer, I sprayed 2 coats of grey primer, and then 4 coats of DBG high gloss 2 pak paint. I was going to use the red oxide paint, however I thought it was overkill, as the sealer would have stuck to the metal like the proverbial! I then turned my attention to the body tub. from the outside, the body looked in quite good condition, except for the usual bumps and dings. The lower sills, where they attach to the chassis, are badly rusted and I will need to have them cut out and replaced. The outer body appeared to be in good condition, until I started peeling back the various layers of "bog" which had been applied to the body. Amazing what a wire brush on a grinder reveals! Obviously the lower sills had rotted and had been replaced with a very nice fillet weld all across the lower side. And the driver side as well. The filler bog had done a very good job of masking the weld, however I have removed it and replaced it with newer filler. I wonder whether the Army would have done that, or maybe the previous owners? Anyway, I primed the body tub In the next few days I will fill in all the little dings and bumps. Yesterday was a 16 hour marathon working on the vehicle. Tomorrow I am going to pick up the engine and the front axle and take them to my mechanic for a once over. Stay tuned.....

Hi Keith Looking on the Champ Register, a vehicle 04BE76, which is only 3 after yours, was 24/09/52. What I am perplexed, though, is the fact it haw FFW on the plate. From my limited knowledge, the Champ number you have is supposedly a Cargo vehicle, as the FFW vehicles don't start until Austin Champ WN1 CT/GS FV1801 A FFW Chassis Numbers 8277 - 11707 British Army Contract Number 6/VEH/5531 I stand to be corrected, though. Simon

Hi I have managed to get the seals replicated here in Sydney, and I have bought the pattern, so I can get them made whenever I need them. Simon

Thanks, David. Just sent Chris a PM Simon

Thanks David And how do I contact Chris.....???

Hi all Wondering if anyone knows where I can buy/source these oil seals for the front and rear axles on a Champ. I have contacted the usual suspects, however I have drawn a blank. Thanks Simon