1954 Austin Somerset MX5 swap

[v8jim]

I thought I’d do some investigation today so I removed the original rubber front floor mat to find manky soggy sound deadening which is never a good sign but I know this has been indoors since 1979 so was hopeful most of the floor would still be there











After a quick scrape and a hoover I was pleasantly surprised to find solid floors with just surface rust and actually some original paint but the rear was even more shocking










It’s almost like new I really cannot believe how solid this old thing is

[westbay]

They don't make 'em like they used too ...

[horrido]

Damn! That's going to save so much aggravation.

[vulgalour]

Well that's just saved you a whole world of time and grief. The interior looks very salvagable and some leather conditioner on everything leather and leather looking, applied copiously and regularly, should bring back the spring and prevent them from degrading. You'll be able to use the leather conditioner on the vinyl looking bits since it'll be leathercloth. I'm not sure if the seat facings will be leather or leathercloth on these, it's probably leathercloth on the back and sides of the seats. Water getting in is probably the windscreen seal, that's one of the things I was warned about when looking for one. A cover will keep the weather out well enough until you can get a new seal. Poofing a bit of talcum powder around the interior will show up water ingress paths pretty quickly and help you trace it.

Looking forward to your adventures with this one and seeing what Lady V8Jim does to put her mark on it.

[v8jim]

Vulgalour - yes the seats are saveable, the leather is mostly intact but sadly there are a few holes. We’ve been doing some research into proper leather restoration techniques and that’s going to be a winter project we can do in the house. The sides and bases are leather cloth but I didn’t realise you can use conditioner on them, I will definitely be giving that a try.

[vulgalour]

I only know because we gave it a go on the Lanchester. You don't get the same dramatic result as on leather but it certainly makes them a lot less brittle and crackly. It was the only way we could have got the old fabric to fit the new door cards without it all breaking up. Also, if you're dismantling the door cards to redo them, you can iron the leathercloth once moisturised to take some of the creases out, just make sure you use a teatowel between the cloth and the iron and set the iron low so you don't risk burning the surface. Take it slow too, and it's surprisingly compliant.

[v8jim]

Sept 13, 2021 17:46:02 GMT vulgalour said:

I only know because we gave it a go on the Lanchester. You don't get the same dramatic result as on leather but it certainly makes them a lot less brittle and crackly. It was the only way we could have got the old fabric to fit the new door cards without it all breaking up. Also, if you're dismantling the door cards to redo them, you can iron the leathercloth once moisturised to take some of the creases out, just make sure you use a teatowel between the cloth and the iron and set the iron low so you don't risk burning the surface. Take it slow too, and it's surprisingly compliant.

Top tips 👍🏻

[v8jim]

Well a whole year went past with no progress at all because of diy and building projects one of which was a workshop to put the car in



Oh and I bought a donor car



And got my engine crane out of dad’s garage ready to crack on and start pulling both cars apart

[horrido]

This ought to be good.

[brc76]

I don't know how I missed this earlier, but I'm following

[v8jim]

The front end all came apart without much drama, no real rust hiding anywhere just lots of rusty bolts that snapped off while taking the wings off but that was to be expected. Working by torchlight as I hadn’t fitted any lights yet was a bit of a pain

[qwerty]

What a fantastic project. With the MX5 running gear it'll be much nicer to drive long distance!

Tom

[oskar22211]

Wants a nice mgb engine box and axle

[CaptainSlog]

I was going to suggest something with a transaxle to solve the gearbox issues but I see you are going the MX5 route - good luck with it, I look forward to following the build.

[dazee]

Good to see yet another oldie being rescued and updated. Will be following with interest.

[daddyshortlegs]

I'm watching.

[v8jim]

This was a bit of a mission because I was supposed to start first thing in the morning but actually didn’t start till mid afternoon and had to get the engine out and the car moved so I could shut the garage.

The MX5 engine and box are quite a bit bigger but that is no surprise at all really

[v8jim]

Engine trial fit N0°1
It doesn’t fit but guess what….that’s absolutely no surprise at all 😂
Main issues are the exhaust so I’ll whip that off and the tunnel but I always knew that was going to be too small because the MX5 box is so much longer. I shall address both of these and give it another try.

[CaptainSlog]

Put the Austin engine in the MX5 and sell it on.

[horrido]

Oct 30, 2022 5:00:32 GMT CaptainSlog said:

Put the Austin engine in the MX5 and sell it on.

You've just invented the MGB. :-)