I drove down the California central valley Saturday to meet a previous owner
of the Austin I'm restoring. He had the top bows that hold the headliner,
so that alone made the trip worthwhile. He also has a 1954 Mercedes diesel
sedan that looks like a Nazi staff car. Available if anyone on the list is
interested in rare old Mercedes. (asking 5K)
In the course of conversation he told me of a fellow 'nearby' who had gotten
a grille for the Austin that he had rejected when he saw its poor condition.
He gave me the guy's address and I took off to check it out on my way home.
I find this place in the middle of farm country and, lo and behold, the guy
builds and races vintage Elva's and spridgets, and was building an MGA
twincam race car as we spoke. Apparently an old friend of Don Racine of
Mini Mania, he has a barn full of vintage English racers. He was still
pissed at the PO for sticking him with the grille which he still had in a
box on the floor. Turns out it was in pretty good condition and he was glad
to sell it to me on the spot. He also agreed to trade the 4.5 diff in the
Austin for a 3.9. He likes the 4.5 for racing and the 3.9 will be great to
get the Austin up to freeway speeds. Sweet!
Back to work on the front suspension tonight. Its all spridget parts so I'm
practically doing it with my eyes shut. This time I used the "we lazy"
jack-under-the-spring-pan technique to remove the front springs and un-do
the shock arm. WAAAYYY easier than the 'long bolt' method. With the right
scissor jack placed under the spring 'hat' it seemed reasonably safe and
saved much time.
Regards,
Glen Byrns
'59 bugeye
'59 Morris Traveller (Winifred)
'58 Austin A35 (Austin Powerless)
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