simondema

Hi Thanks for all the great comments. Yes, I was very lucky finding this chassis. I received an email which was sent out to a large number of people her in Australia notifying this chassis was for sale, and within 5 minutes of receiving it I emailed the guy back and bought it sight unseen. He sent me photos of it and that was good enough for me. Although located in Melbourne, he had kept it stored for close to 30 years and had completely fish oiled it. Not too sure of the actual history of this chassis, although I believe it was one of 4 or 5 which were brought our from the UK and were purchased by Barry Salkilld here in Sydney. I don't know where the other 3 or 4 ended up, but I know where this one ended up! I found it interesting that the interior of the battery compartments are white. I have been told that is the original colour as painted in the factory. Is that correct? My chassis although in very good condition has some rust on the floor wells (as per all Champs) so I will soda blast it, prime it and maybe sell it. Simon

Hi all I have been absent for a few months however personal issues have taken up a lot of my time. I hope now that things have settled down I will be ale to return to working on the Champ. I managed to get a good friend of mine to travel down to Melbourne and pick up the Champ chassis about 2 weeks ago, as I was away on a trip. The chassis arrived back in Windsor with no dramas and is now ready to be soda blasted, primed and painted. It doesn't even have any dumb iron number on it and no plate either. Simon

Ok, I get the message guys! I will make it a road trip! :D Simon

Hi all This is probably best suited to the Aussie con fraternity on this forum. I need to pick up a brand new Austin Champ chassis from Melbourne and I am in Sydney. I have enquired with a few car carrier companies and most need the vehicle to be driven so they can load it up on the car carrier. Another option is to fly down to Melourne and hire a one way trailer and car. Otherwise only other option is to drive with my own car and trailer from Sydney to Melbourne and back. Hmmmm Any suggestions anyone? Thanks Simon

Yes indeed welcome to the wonderful world of Champs! Lots of wonderful times ahead for you....:undecided: Simon

Thanks John, appreciate that. Simon

Yes, at first I also thought it was a black engine but then the distinctive Sky Blue colour appears through all the dirt and grime. The fuel tank seems to be remarkably well preserved, even its underside. Apart from a little surface rust on the bottom left, which we managed to remove with blasting, it didn't appear to have anything else wrong with it. The fuel tank guard, after soda blasting, was given a thorough anti-rust treatment then primed, just to be sure. I guess time will make liars of all of us! Simon

The company in QLD who could supply me the cabling, could do Unipren but of a much thicker gauge. Therefore I have decided to place an order with a UK company called K C Lacey who will send out 100 mts of TC12 black cable. I preferred to keep the electrical cabling as close to original as possible, and although not yellow, it has the same specs as the Unipren 12 in yellow. They are just waiting for my Abn number to post out the cabling. At 108 pounds sterling delivered I thought that was quite a good price. Yesterday I turned my attention to the engine, as I intend to get that soda blasted. It is currently attached to an engine hoist, and in a couple of weeks time I will be using a small forklift to carry the engine to the soda blasting shed, and lifting it high enough to be able to soda blast around and underneath it. I decided to start removing parts off the engine so the job of cleaning and soda blasting will be easier. For those of you who have done this type of restoration before I may sound amateurish, but I was amazed at how important it is to recognize that dismantling this type of engine requires patience and a meticulous approach. Every assembled part has been done whereby you can't remove one part before you remove the part in front of it. I know that doesn't make much sense, but when you are confronted with a maze of pipes and hoses, you learn quickly which ones you need to remove first! Needless to say I have taken loads of photos so the re-assembly will hopefully be less painful. The engine was running perfectly when I bought it, although I think I will probably have issues with the water pump and water temp sensor. When I dismantled the thermostat housing this is what I encountered: Totally corroded, but luckily I have sourced another thermostat housing (thanks Jack) so will be replacing that one! Also inside I was confronted with this: I assume that is antifreeze which has solidified over the years, either through the thermostat not working or the water pump not working. No idea. I guess I can check whether the thermostat works by placing in boiling water and see whether it moves or not. After that minor setback I proceeded to remove some more parts from the engine, yet noting down where everything went for afterwards! I removed the fan, which turned out to be quite an easy task, and soda blasted it I then proceeded to get most of the large parts blasted, including the fuel tank And after And all the other parts, blasted and primed in good old grey etch primer I am very happy with the results of the soda blasting. It really cleans the metal and brings it back to how it was. The only issue is underneath the wheel arches there seems to be a very thick coating of black material, which I assume is some sort of "stone guard" paint. This is quite hard to remove with the blaster, so we had to increase the size of the grit we are using and it appears to do the job. I will probably be repainting the same material under the chassis and the wheel arches to give them added protection. Something interesting I noticed as well. On the front wheel arches, after we finished blasting, we noticed a patch of "bog filler" on the anterior side of each fender. It was very difficult to remove with the blaster, so I had to remove it with a screwdriver. I noticed under the bog there were 3 screw holes, placed in a circular pattern. From the photos I have seen of other Champs, I would guess that at one stage this Champ had 2 aerials mounted on the front fenders. From what I have discovered my Champ was just a normal Cargo Champ and not a radio Champ. Did Cargo Champs also had aerials mounted like this? Here is a photo of the fender showing the white patch: More photos soon Simon

Thanks for the replies. I hadn't thought about a RR tool, as it feels very lightweight. i have attached a couple more photos Thanks Simon

Amongst all the boxes, hoses and clips which were part of my Champ purchase the other day on EBay, I came across this tool, which I don't believe is a Champ tool: Along the length of it it has the following written on it: TOOL NO B 306 681. GR ET USED ON A 305 043 Any clues?

Today was another day spent cleaning and preparing various parts for the soda blasting. There is an inordinate amount of grease and dirt on items such as wheel arches, fuel tank, and various other panels. We managed to soda blast various body parts, such as the panel that attaches to the firewall, the gearbox cover and the rear torsion bar adjuster plate. I also managed to clean and soda blast the air cleaner. It was in remarkably good condition, and once dismantled it was quite easy to clean. I removed the cork gaskets, saved them and cleaned them. Hopefully I can re-use them, as they seem to be in good condition. The area around the rim of the air filter on which the gaskets lay was full of a brown material, which I assume was a kind of gasket adhesive, as it proved impervious to any type of solvent. I finally resorted to a mild paint stripper, which did the work. Whilst taking photos of the engine which will help me re-assemble it once stripped and cleaned, I noticed a number of tiny plaques attached to the main body of the engine case and a number stamped between the engine case and the clutch, which I had never seen before I have no idea what this number refers to. I would assume it does not refer to the body number as it does not match the body number (1624) of my vehicle. Does it refer to the engine case? It doesn't even match my engine number (3079). And what is the FV number below it? And then I found this number. I rotated the photo upside down to make it easier to read, as the number was stamped the other way round on the casing: Anyway, here are some photos of the items we blasted and then primed. Those photos will be uploaded tomorrow: And the front grille As an aside, what colour was the grille? I have removed it and will replace the 2 pieces of felt on each side. I thought to paint it green, but that seems too obvious. Black? More photos tomorrow, as I hope to finish soda blasting all the metal bits and prime them. Simon

Brilliant! Thanks Jack, I will go back and look over the manual. I have so many tiny boxes, grease paper-wrapped items and other loose items it's hard to know where to start from. I have a lot of work in front of me. The steering wheel had many cracks in it and had rusted rods poking through the plastic (Bakelite?). I have treated the rusted parts with anti-rust and then used a art epoxy putty I use to restore shark jaws (that's another hobby) which hardens like concrete and can be painted over. It's amazing. Regards Simon

Hi all I was fortunate enough to purchase yesterday a veritable treasure trove of Champ parts ranging from petrol filters to the tiniest grommets and everything in between. They are still all packed in their original greased paper and in their original tiny boxes, carefully stapled and still retaining their 1950's smell. I have been trying to work out how to check the parts number on my Champ illustrated spare parts lists (WO CODE 13577 A.C.A F.V.M.E 0094) as it appears what is written on the boxes does not match the catalogue. As an example on one of the boxes it states: FV 15653 2F.5153 BRACKET & BUSH P P QTY 1 What the hell does all that mean, and how does it apply to the catalogue, if indeed it does??? Thanks Simon Champ 1624

Thanks Simon. I have contacted a company in QLD who deals with aeronautical cabling and they are looking into a substitute for Unipren. I already have a contact in the UK who can send me out 100mts of the TC12 at around £108 delivered to Australia. I believe the cabling from the distribution box and instrument panel is still in very good condition, so at this stage I don't think it needs replacing. However I will look at it closer and make sure. Simon

I know it's been a while but what with a lengthy and costly divorce, and shorter trips for work, I have been unable to do any work on the Champ. Now that all that is over, I am starting again. After stripping the vehicle, I removed both the front and rear axles, and the engine. I wanted to ensure that the chassis and body are prepared really well and that no rust can creep in again after a few years. As mentioned before, I will be soda blasting the whole vehicle, together with all parts. The medium that is used for the body, chassis and parts is slightly coarser than bicarbonate of soda, yet not as gritty as sand. Having a few issues uploading photos, so will sort that out and try again. I also turned my attention to the wiring and discovered the original wiring was 12amp yellow coloured flexible cable made by Unipren. It seems such cable is glass braid applied directly over the flexible tinned copper with an additional covering of a plastic sheath. Or so I have been told! it appears Unipren is no longer made but its replacement is called TC12, which comes in black. Can anyone confirm this is the case? Simon

Having a few days off between trips, I tackled the onerous task, together with my son, of removing the front and rear axle, and the engine. The aim is to finish all this by tomorrow, or Wednesday at the latest. I am waiting on an engine hoist from a neighbour, so in the meantime, I tackled the axles. Both front an rear had the usual amount of dirt, caked on mud and assorted foliage. I started with the rear axle, removing the large rusted bolts attaching the case to the chassis. Once the bolts were removed, the vehicle was propped up on car stands and the wheels removed. The torsion bars are next and all the rest of items fixing the chassis to the axles. Simon

HI all Been a while from my last posting, but work has been hectic. Managed to remove the body from the chassis, and discovered there seems to be a bit more work than what I thought: As usual, the rust appears to be around the sills, as water and moisture seem to always collect around that area. I will soda blast all the bodywork and chassis, and then have a better idea of what repairs are needed. From what I have read, the gauge of the sills and floor is quite thin, so I might increase the thickness of the new welded metal, just to be safe. Lots of rust to cut out, although most of it appears to be surface rust. The wheel arches seem to be in fairly good condition: I then proceeded to start dismantling all the parts attached to the body, such as the horn, bonnet brackets, and any other piece that was either screwed or bolted down: These parts are being de-greased, then I spray them with a paint stripper. Once I remove all the excess paint, I rub the rest off with coarse steel wool to remove as much paint and primer I can. Then I rinse under water, dry it, then spray a de-greaser such as acetone, let it dry then I use a primer/lacquer in black to paint them. So far I have only sprayed in black the horn, the fording caps, the frame from the instrument panel and various parts which are meant to be black according to the paint scheme. I was in two minds as to use a primer, however this automotive paint I am using is an etch primer/enamel paint all in one. I am giving the parts between 3 and 5 coats, rubbing with very fine sandpaper between sprays. I also removed the instrument panel and the ignition panel: A nightmare of cables and wires, mostly added on at a later stage. The instrument panel proved a bit trickier, but thankfully I had the Champ World issue with all instructions! At least all the wiring is labelled tabs are labelled Will post photos of the painted items Cheers Simon

Jack, thanks for your reply. I will check out the old wiring, and look at buying the same wiring as yours. I was particularly impressed at how your instrument and ignition panels turned out. Did you use different cabling for them? Is the wiring throughout the Champ all the same thickness? Thanks Simon

Hi all Haven't posted in a while, but I have been busy at work. I have removed all the wiring from the Champ, and laid it out, only to reveal a mish mash of wires and added-on bits that seem not to have any purpose, except to confuse me further! I have dis-assembled the ignition/starter box and the instrument panel, cleaned them up and re- sprayed them gloss black. Now the task will be to replace the old frayed wiring in the panels, together with the Lucon connectors. Does anyone know whether the wire needs to be a particular diameter, or whether there is a standard thickness for wiring used for a 24volt system? Thanks Simon

Yes, thanks for that. I have already seen evidence of extra wiring having been added by the previous owner.i am hoping to salvage as much as possible the Lucon connectors and their black rubber "sockets" which are located in various areas of the chassis and body. i guess there is no particular product which would re- condition the rubber? Cheers simon

Hi Jack thats exactly the photo I was thinking of. Glad to hear the Lucon connectors can be salvaged. Most of the wiring has been painted over and some has been replaced. Anyway it sounds it can be done. Thank you Simon

Thanks for that. Yes, although I have not downloaded one of their catalogues, I can imagine the price to be such. I noticed you seemed to have re-wired the instrument panel in one of your posts, as all the cable seemed a brand new blue colour. Where did you buy the cabling? The UK or Altmann in Victoria? Behind this panel lies a jungle of painted and un-labelled cables: I also noticed on Ebay UK that the Lucon rubber connectors appear to dismantle in 2 pieces. Is that true? Simon

Thanks for that. What about the wiring? Does it come in a loom i.e rear brake lights, trailer coupling etc, or are the cables/wires sold separately? Cheers Simon

Hi As I am in the process of untangling the electrical mess on my Champ 1624, where can I buy the wiring with the attached Lucon connectors? Although the original wiring is still in the vehicle whoever had it before made a hatchet job of the connectors, as they are no longer waterproof. Any information would be helpful. Simon Sydney, Australia

Finally after waiting for nearly a year, my Austin Champ has been brought closer to home. I took delivery of her about 3 weeks ago, and she was transported about 260km from Muswellbrook, NSW to her "restoration shed" in Windsor, NSW only about 60km from where I live in Sydney. [ATTACH=CONFIG]68930[/ATTACH] The shed where I have stored her is massive and Paul, from SodaTec has generously allowed me to make use of it and all the tools and various gadgets he has. Easier having her there, as I am getting the whole vehicle, including the engine soda blasted by him. I positioned her in one corner of the shed, and took stock of all the equipment she came with [ATTACH=CONFIG]68931[/ATTACH] I really need a plan to tackle this project, as I want to do it properly and make sure I don't need to go back to do something I did not do right the first time. Once the whole vehicle is soda blasted, I will get a better idea of what repairs need to be done, and be able to see better what I have to work with, as the Aussie mud and dust has certainly taken hold of many of the components on the underside. We soda blasted very roughly one of the parts, and it came up like this: Although I thought I was able to leave most of the components on the chassis, on reflection I think it might be better to strip the car down totally, make sure it's properly cleaned up, primed and painted. The problem is, how do I make sure that everything goes back in its right place?? Simon