Austin Ten - Body Exterior

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Body - Exterior

The body - exterior - was not too bad, although there was little paint on the bonnet and there were signs of paint lifting on the wings and elsewhere. The steel underneath appears to be of very good quality - and despite being in an open shed for 25 years, only shows a small amount of surface rust. No welding or other repair has been necessary which demonstrates the quality of pre-war steel.

Oct 03	As found - 25 years in an open-sided shed on the edge of a wood in a remote valley. Access was via a ford and up a rutted track The underneath had a lot of surface rust, due to being driven through the ford, but there was no build-up of mud under the wings or chassis to cause serious corrosion.
Oct 03	The rubber mats on the running-boards are quite good after almost 70 years The bonnet top was resprayed many years ago; the remainder of the car is original and in much better condition, though by no means good !
Oct 03	Dual windscreen wipers are fitted - the passenger side could be original as it is s lot type no longer available. The drivers side is a standard hole-and-peg type that is held by a screw through a new hole drilled in the arm. The rear window appeared good but it was leaking behind the back seat and although the seat was OK the trim certainly wasn't ! (See Rear Window)

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Dec 03	The spare wheel compartment has been painted at some time to cover up rust ! The bootlid mat is in very good condition (see Boot and Petrol Filler for repairs to this area) Both bumpers are present and not bent - but little chrome any more so will be silver-painted
Dec 03	The sliding roof opened up surprisingly easily despite not moving for 25 years ! See Roof and Drainage for more Roof details
Dec 03	The back of the front Number-plate showed where the plate had come from: The original hand painted rear number plate was still underneath the moulded plate
Apr 04	The headlights and sidelights were given a quick rub-down with Autosol (rather like toothpaste) chrome cleaner and came up reasonably well after a quarter century of neglect.

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Mar 05	the external rear view mirror was firmly mounted by two self-tapping screws through the door frame and into the wood behind.
Apr 06 to Aug 06	the hood (bonnet) was rusty so undercoat and two coats of paint made it look all shiny. Unfortunately the weather then turned hot and the paint wrinkled in places where it was thickest.
Apr 06 to Aug 06	As the car is outside, any sun will dramatically increase the metal temperature. Finnegan's Garage Door Paint gives a superb finish but should not be used when the surface is above 25degreesC - impossible this summer ! The paint wrinkled after a day or so as the temperature was too high (should be 10 to 25degC) - I would say no more than 20degC
added Oct 07	The Finnegans name seems to have slowly disappeared since Hammerite took over - see this Hammerite page - but the paint is still very much available; I got mine from the local hardware store. There is a limited range of colours so as long as it is black . . . . You are lucky if you have a garage: I was very frustrated painting the bonnet - it either rained or the wind stirred up the dust or it was just too hot ! I ended up having four goes before I was remotely satisfied. Although dry in 16 hours, it hardens very slowly so don't try to put on a thick coat or it will wrinkle. Although it covers well, they advise two coats. I also found some difficulty on the vertical surfaces - as it can run if you try to apply too much. Having now stood out for over a year, the shine and finish of the Garage Door paint is much better than a very costly American resin finish paint (see below).

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Aug 06	The original grille was in good condition but looking rather rusty. a bit of Bronze-Beige paint off my BMW smartened up the grille and black Garage Door paint from Finnegans smartened up the cowl.
Aug 06	new 19mm wide bonnet tape at the front fitted OK but allowed the bonnet to drop below the height of the cowl.
Sep 06	the front bonnet tape was relocated onto the cowl, necessitating a new set of holes
Sep 06	and the rear tape fitted the groove snugly
Apr 07	a bright and sunny April (!) gave me the opportunity to paint many of the remaining rusty parts with POR-15 and topcoat which I got from Holden, though there are many other retailers.
	POR-15 hardens (it is a resin paint) rather than dries and in certain lights it appears to be slightly brown - but the finish is very hard !
	(but see added October 2007 section above)
May 07	As the engine bedded in, I was left with an annoying buzzing sound at certain engine speeds. It sounded as though it was coming from behind the dashboard or one of the toolbox lids but the buzz was eventually traced to the bonnet vibrating against the rear bonnet tape. Easily rectified by glueing a strip of 1mm thick rubber under each side of the bonnet. The original bonnet tape had a rubber insert to prevent this !
May 07	and the finished front end with silver painted bumper bar and the bonnet fitting snugly on the new tapes.

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