Austin Sixteen 1946

 

We went to see a rather splendid looking Sixteen. Sadly this car was not as I'd hoped, with several issues that would need remedial tinkering. 

Hitching a ride on Boelevaer III

Last week I showed you this view of the old ship Boelevaer III built near Bremen in 1938 for the German River authorities. Now I was invited to enjoy a run up the river in this rather special vessel.

 On the river it is a very different view from the one I'm used to in the kajak.

 Soon we reached the famous Arnhem Bridge

This ship is even older. Built in 1928 it was later used by the DDR police for river patrol duties. The Rheinstrom was sent to Arnhem to be scrapped, but was rescued by the current owner and looks in fine condition now.

 This is the new Bridge viewed from the " Front Promenade deck"

 The Skipper's work area looks suitably impressive.

Of course this Engine Order Telegraph (E.O.T.) orders the 5.1 litre Mercedes Benz Diesel engine in suitable German commands.

The Boelevaer III back at her home berth.

Econoline

Once in a while you encounter a really nice "Early" van. We saw this pretty Ford Econoline in a local car park.

Jaguar MK2 V12 back seat driving

We hitch a ride in the back of Tony's Jaguar MK2 V12. You say there's no such thing as a Jaguar MK2 V12? Well here it is: a brave modification by a determined master mechanic. A beautiful machine!

Morris J2 Camper fix

Any excuse to play with an old car goes. So we were happy to help the owner of this Morris J2 van with some recommissioning work after some years of inactivity.

 The front brakes received new brake shoes and all the hydraulic fluids were changed for new.

 

 There was also a new exhaust gasket to be fitted to the head and numerous other small things. After filling the float bowl on the old Solex carburator and a change of battery the engine ran fine.

Meanwhile this Austin Ten Sherborne was picked up by a new owner so we had more room to work on the J2. After all this hard work the car was awarded a clean roadworthiness certificate and we could enjoy a short test run and celebrate our success. Here's a video of our test run:

French treasures

Driving around the French countryside you'll still find old cars in sheds, fields or back yards. We didn't really look for them, but we still managed to photograph several nice examples.

VeeDouble trouble

This barn dwelling bus was in trouble and needed some fixing. Yes, we got it running well again, but the distributor and air heating ducts stumped us for a while.

Marina Madness

 Not actually that mad. Quite a sensible little ship this vintage Sea Witch.

 Even the Little Suzi seemed to enjoy playing the slip yard tractor game

 Not too far in. Have to keep the electrics dry. Clever use of a towstrap to lower the trailer deep enough to float the ship.

 Like a .... in the water

 Deck hand at work

 Tidy little cabin.

 The master stringing the mast

All done.

Trashy trailer

 

Made some repairs to the tiny trailer. I have welded on a new rear bumper bar and fitted a new set of rear lights and cables. Maybe later I'll add a new headboard and tailgate. Or should I renew all the wood? Perhaps that is too flashy..

 

Lower bumper bar welded on. The trailer is turned upside down  for this job.

 

Welds tidied up  and coated in zincprimer.

Rear bar painted black and license plate support fitted.
 
New rear light fitted. 

Up in that loft: Parts and more parts

 

What a nice way to spend a day! Browsing an old loft full of old spare parts. We'd heard someone was cleaning out an old loft belonging to a former classic car workshop. Now we've seen a few sheds and lofts with parts, but we never expected a loft this size. This loft is full of new panels and we found a few rare panels for our cars, but there's plenty of interesting stuff left. Second hand and new old stock. there are a few cars too, like an Austin Ruby and a Dutch built Morris 1100. And automobilia, but that is not for sale as it will be used to decorate the new owner's new business: DN Restorations , a restoration shop for exotic Italian sports cars.  Meanwhile enjoy browsing the photos below.

Roadside American steel

 

Though we didn't photograph every old car or wreck we saw on our last trip to the USA, we still took a few  when we saw an interesting vehicle. Here's a selection.

This old Ford is probably on the way to a shiny future

Barnfind Wolseley

This Wolseley has been waiting unused in a shed for decades.

 

Some interesting modifiations with an oil cooler and Twin carb S-engine in a Mk1 1/2 body.

Wolseley new Ten headgasket set

Isn't this just beautiful? This set must have been packed in the fifties, when Wolseley and Morris Tens still needed regular de-carbonising. Now it's mostly our food that we want de-carbonised I suppose.