Austin A40

[creosote]

A couple of snaps of my 1949 Austin A40 Devon under construction. Has LJ Torana front end, HZ ventilated discs, Nissan 2.0 DET with auto, Nissan dash, Volvo disc rear end. Body is channeled 4" (10cms), Guards widened 4" front and 5" (12.7 cms) rear. The car was originally a 4 door, is 2. Full tilt front, electric windows, central locking, new glass all round.
Still a ways to go but getting close.
On completion the car will weigh about 960kgs and will run on a 92.5" (235cm)wheelbase. Colour is to be Ford Toxic and will have Light Green ghost flames and a grey interior with highlights.
There are lots of smaller cosmetic changes but they'd take too long to list.31611

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[Grunt]

awesome project mate....
whats the eta on completion?


keep the updates coming and welcome to the forums.

[ALLMTR]

Very nice

Welcome

[Guido]

That's quite the project!!

[out_in_front]

I like it - very cool project.

May I ask why the tiny intercooler? (or is it not going to be a big power engine - just a decent upgrade)

[creosote]

For Gruntrose - the car should be completed early next year. It's been going for 3 years so far. Then we build the matching teardrop trailer, say, 3 months. Then it's off to the show and shine circuit to see what people think of it. A longer term project is the 1960 - 62 J series Austin ramp truck, matching of course, with , perhaps a Lexus quad cam V8 auto on gas, channeled chopped with power steering etc etc. The car to sit on the truck which will tow the van.

For out-in-front - At this stage no need for big performance as the car will probably do high 11's or 12's given it weighs next to nothing and is very short. The intercooler is the standard one out of the 180SX front clip and given its current location should perform well enough. Also, there's the money factor. I would rather get the car roadworthy then play around with gadgets like injectors cams intercoolers etc.....but you never can tell.

[saa]

Great project. Looks like plenty of work has been put into.

Intercooler looks tiny, but if it's the standard one it'll get you moving fine.

[ashxmax]

Looks very interesting, top effort. Reminds me of the Beardmore Morris.....

http://www.beardmorebros.co.uk/

[DrNick]

Different, nice!

S

[creosote]

A few shots of the body mods at the tail of the car - frenched indicators, recessed number plate section and original stoplights. Also one of where the rear door used to be showing the increase in length of the rear windows. The glass will be slightly curved and fixed with the front windows electrically operated using the gear out of a Mazda 929.

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[Lobster]

Very very cool. I like it alot...

[GT R31]

Long shot... don't know if the OP is still around, but if so, any updates?

[Shitbreak]

Very cool project. Will be following this with interest. Slightly larger intercoolers that flow well dont have to be that expensive btw(something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-Pulsar-GTiR-Top-Mount-Intercooler_W0QQitemZ110261143353QQihZ001QQcategor yZ130654QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem))!

:)

[pisana]

For $150 you could get an ebay 600x300 cooler.

That baby cooler would be restricting power big time.

[creosote]

Op?

[GT R31]

Original poster, aka you :D

[creosote]

Ahhhhhhhh Original Poster! Sometimes we old blokes are a bit behind in the lingo.
The car is currently at the painters. Chassis complete, just needs cat and muffler. Off to the upholsterer and glazier in about a month then rego. It will have been over 5 years in the making and cost around $40,000.
Then it'll be time to start on the matching teardrop trailer........

[creosote]

The std one will be fine as the motor generates about 200hp (originally 40) and also there is very little room for a bigger intercooler. The car is very narrow under the bonnet so I'm a bit restricted there. Anyway it will dust off a lot of other cars around at the moment....not that I recommend that sort of behaviour chortle chortle.

[Fondles]

anychance of a few more piccies of this lil' beastie.

[towie]

Welcome...

Heres a mates' Ute for inspiration... ;)

http://www.towie.com/gallery/albums/Show-Drag-RaceCars/Mal.jpg

[creosote]

Nice ute! More pictures when the colour is applied - I'm afraid you'll have be patient... I know I have to be!!!

[sr_rolla]

hey towie, is that the ex goodalls gasser ute? used to be all blue?

[captain_z3r0]

hi creosote,

nice car.

i am supervising a group of work for the dole guys who are building something similar. the idea is to teach them some basic fabrication and automotive/mechanical/panel skills, so hopefully they can get jobs as TAs or similar. we are fitting a commodore v6 and auto to an a40 devon.

i was very pleased to find your car so i could show them what we are aiming at. it looks very good, and your pics show them the importance of detail.

looking forward to more pics.

[creosote]

Thanks for your interest.
You might be able to get away with the V6 Commodore motor in QLD, but here in NSW no go. Too many cc's for the chassis says the engineer. The fact that the SR20DET makes more neddies than the C seems to be lost on the RTA and it's minions, but I'm not complaining. Cheaper to run, as long as I behave myself, and super quick.
Good luck with your project. Mine is still at the painters waiting for some reasonable weather. Should be finished (paint) in about a fortnight. More photos then.

[towie]

hey towie, is that the ex goodalls gasser ute? used to be all blue?

No... Goodalls still has his...

This is the old Hoodlum from the 80's... Same owner Mal Gower, Craig Gowers Old Man...

[Mr Ed]

Awesome project, cant wait to see it with a lick of paint! :)


i am supervising a group of work for the dole guys who are building something similar. the idea is to teach them some basic fabrication and automotive/mechanical/panel skills, so hopefully they can get jobs as TAs or similar. we are fitting a commodore v6 and auto to an a40 devon.

i was very pleased to find your car so i could show them what we are aiming at. it looks very good, and your pics show them the importance of detail.
Thats a pretty sweet deal for those dole guys, I hope they appreciate it. Most apprentices wouldnt get much more than dole wages and they likely wouldnt be starting work on something so cool.

Pics of this one?

[captain_z3r0]

Thats a pretty sweet deal for those dole guys, I hope they appreciate it. Most apprentices wouldnt get much more than dole wages and they likely wouldnt be starting work on something so cool.

Pics of this one?

I have to be careful what I publish, being a WFD project there are all sorts of restrictions.

Plus I don't want to hijack creosote's thread.

I will start a new one when I am clear what I can publish.

[creosote]

Well it's going on for nearly 5 years but progress continues. Almost ready to go to the trimmers, then glazier, then rego, then fun. A few recent snaps to keep you up to date.

Also can anyone tell the ohms at which the fuel sender unit operates? I am using the original 200SX dash and do not want to put in extra gauges. We were unable to us the original 200SX tank or its sender due to space restrictions.

Thanks in advance.

[Fondles]

Thanks for the update, its looking damn fine, bet you can't wait to get it on the road !!

[bigmuz]

Holy shit that is absolutely awesome!

All except for the intercooler but I guess you've got your reasons!

Did you paint it?

[creosote]

The intercooler is standard. As mentioned earlier I am somewhat restricted for space in the old Austin and given that the car will weigh under a metric ton it will be plenty big enough.

The paint was laid on by 1970's, and ever since legend, hot rod painter Rick Pacey. I used to drool over his work when I was in my teens. Little did I know that some 35 years later he would paint a car for me. A new piece of custom/hot rod painting history has been created.