I've always wanted to build a hot rod. But not your stereotypical '32 Ford. Something a little more unique, a little cheaper. A little more me. I like British cars, I like engine swaps. Maybe some semi-radical body work. So why not? We'll keep the budget super low in case it fails.
So I bought this back in 2021. Its an Austin A40 Somerset that has been sitting a long, long time. Maybe up to 60 years off the road. Likely any mechanical bits are toast which is fine as I'd like to modernize it a bit. The car had been for sale online for quite a long time. I'd been watching it but it was a good drive away and a little bit too much money. But out of the blue they lowered their price (moving, I found out later). So I bought it based off a handful of Kijiji photos.
It was a five or so hour drive to go collect it. Have you heard of Dog Pound, Alberta? Me neither but that is where we are going. Fun name though. We used my son's at the time high mileage Chevy pickup and a borrowed trailer (thanks Rod!) to collect it.
We got a bit lost and turned around thanks to Google Maps guessing when it does not know rural addresses. I really wish it would say "I don't know" rather than silently substituting something "close". We ended up about 40kms too far west before the owner got us sorted.
It has a 1.2L four cylinder (pre-B-series) engine with a four speed manual on the column. It received rear hydraulic brakes and a 2hp boost over the A40 Devon.
I think the original colour might have been the light green but the red showing through is primer. Amazingly good primer. A really solid shell so must have spend some time inside.
The seller let us know that the frame was no longer bolted to the body! He had planned to swap it onto a Suzuki Sidekick frame. The larger front suspension had stopped him before getting too far. The not attached to itself problem for loading problem was solved by his front end loader. I did not have one at the other end but that was a few hour from now problem.
