Austin A55 Cambridge

[angrydicky]

This lovely old photo came with the car. This was the owner’s mother, Mrs Alice Threadgold, and looking at the picture and how shiny the car looks I would say it was taken in 1962 not long after purchase. The seatbelts are clearly visible, to have four seatbelts in a car in those days was very unusual and were presumably fitted by the first owner.
I’d love to find out the location. I think that’s a London Transport bus stop in the background so possibly Epping/Chigwell way? I don’t know that area very well.
By some miracle, the fur coat she’s wearing in that picture has survived, it was hanging in a wardrobe in one of the bedrooms!

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And here’s the bill of sale. No idea why she bought a car so far away from where she lived. The story with the Rover was that she bought it while in Hastings on holiday, went past the dealership and saw the car outside, so maybe it was a similar situation with the Cambridge.

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[christine]

It's lovely ..Inside the boot will be a nos drivers seat ... and the Holts touch up aerosol

[angrydicky]

The starting handle was inside the car. The engine turned over on the handle, and felt like it had some compression. This was great news.
The key number on these old crocks is stamped on the front of the ignition barrel so I ordered a couple of keys from eBay.
When they arrived, I unlocked the boot, I was excited to see what was inside there that was making the back end so low. I was imagining it was full of old tools.
Imagine my disappointment when I got it open to reveal nothing more than a box of early 80s newspapers, a new fan belt and a pair of wiper blades! For some reason the rear springs are completely knackered even though the back seat looks unused and the inside of the boot is in great condition with the original boot mat and the hardboard covering the petrol tank intact.

[LynehamHerc]

Could a load of heavy stuff have been stored on the boot at one time to knacker the springs? I'm thinking if it was on cushions etc. it might not damage the bootlid.

[Hooli]

What a lovely old thing.

[angrydicky]

Stuck a battery on, just to see what was working.
To my utmost surprise, everything works apart from the front sidelights and the courtesy light switch on the passenger door.
All the indicators, headlights, horns, dash lights, fuel gauge, heater motor, everything. Even the numberplate light.
The engine cranks over on the starter, albeit slowly.
Tried cleaning the points, but still no spark.
The cooling system was a mess. The radiator had split near the bottom of the core and the thermostat housing had corroded through leaving part of it stuck in the top hose. It was also full of ancient, crystallised antifreeze.
The thermostat housing put up a fight, I tried heating it and loads of penetrating oil and only got it moving on one of the three studs. Eventually I took the angle grinder to it, cut it into three sections and wiggled them off the studs with molegrips.
Both master cylinders are seized solid.
The exhaust looks surprisingly good, it was obviously replaced not long before the car came off the road and the silencer still has its sticker.
The mechanical fuel pump is sticking, it’s full of petrol but the primer won’t return and I can’t get it to pump anything.
Cleaned the carb out, it wasn’t too manky in there but it looks like it’s done the usual Zenith thing where the body of the carb has warped so the float bowl doesn’t fit very well and will probably leak. At least the float didn’t have petrol in it.
I’ve got a shopping list of parts, hoses, thermostat housing, fuel pump repair kit, seal kits.
New points and condenser from the Distributor Doctor.
I can borrow a good radiator for testing purposes.

The engine itself is pretty caked up with carbon. Probably because it’s been a London car since it was three years old and used for a lot of short journeys on choke. I don’t know how well maintained it was but, although the oil is on the full mark it looks absolutely filthy so before we start it we’ll drop the sump and clean it all out properly.

Did a compression test.
108,108,70,120.
At least it was able to build up enough oil pressure to extinguish the light during the cranking for no.1 cylinder.
I suspect a valve not seating properly on no.3. It’s got enough compression to run anyway, but I may have to whip the head off and give it a good decoke.

On these cars, the engine and chassis numbers are the same, just with a different prefix. It’s the original engine so it’s a matching numbers car, not only that but the coil and the wiper motor are also the originals (datestamped 10/58 and 11/58 respectively. The only thing I can see under the bonnet which may have been changed (and even that I’m not sure about) is the control box which is a spade terminal one rather than a screw terminal.
However, I’m not sure when they started using them.

Paul, the seller wanted to get the numberplate off this to put on his modern car (for ‘sentimental’ reasons) but Tom talked him out of it, not least due to the practicalities of getting a number off a car that’s been untaxed for 36 years. He then decided, just before I paid that he wanted “his aunt’s” AA badge off the grill. I wasn’t too bothered by this as they’re ten a penny, I was more worried by him damaging the bonnet or grill by not knowing how to open and shut it correctly.
Fortunately, he left it alone.

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[mercrocker]

What a wonderful back story and what a poignant rescue - on the anniversary of it arriving at such a long-term home. Would be fantastic to dismantle the garage and re-erect at back at Angrydickyland as a motor house for the Austin (and that rather lovely front porch!)

Seriously, though I am so glad this has been rescued by someone with the passion, skills and tenacity of AD instead of being cast to the wolves of that Yorkshire circus and end up in the hands of a fool-hardy plate-raping meddler.

Fantastic save of a lovely and not unimportant piece of Austin, not to mention social history heritage......

[SiC]

What a story. I'm always amazed what seems stashed away in garages still. I'd have thought these aged cars would have all been cleared out now.

I've been watching a fair bit of Old Classic Car on YouTube and it's gained me a lot more appreciation of these cars. It's not that these everyday journeyman cars are great drivers but it's the history and back story behind them that makes them so interesting. Driving something that has survived that long is phenomenal. Everytime you get behind the wheel, you're transported back to another era and world that is quite literally a lifetime away now.

[SiC]

What is WSJ262? Not sure I've seen you talk about that one before.

Btw the reg thing is easier to say now with a MOT being a requirement for transfer according to the DVLA website. Doesn't stop an MOT by post, but at least it gives slightly more of a barrier.

[Eddie Honda]

Thank fuck for Tommy.