Yes, I know it needs a bit of work, but really, it looks worse than it is, the sills are not rusty, neither are underneath the doors. There is one hole of rust in front of the LH rear seat, & little bits here & there. The sunroof needs remaking, & the bootlid needs rebuilding.
& yes, the interior could use a little bit of stitching. I do have the front seats too, but the film fell apart, hehehe.
The engine does run sweet, but the clutch plate is stuck, so i cannot use it to go into gear. No brakes, as someone stole the RH wheel Cylinder pistons, so i need to find replacements. It had been sitting out in the open for a number of years, & someone helped themselves to all the goodies, the boot hinges, bumper bar brackets, badges, wheel cylinder guts, sunroof etc...
but i have got replacements for most of the items,from a '48 wreck which we went all the way to Adeliade for (madness some people say)
So our '48 which we have named "Blackie", will be restored at our leisure, when time & money permits, meanwhile it sits safely away from the weather & other souvenir hunters.
Below the grotty first pictures of the '48, are updated pictures.
I have comitted what other car buffs may think is taboo, by hand painting it with a paint brush & black metal anti-rust paint, but I am happy that this will protect it & make it look more appealing until I have lots of money in the future to do paint it properly.
Looks better than the first photos, you must admit?
The Grey one is our Beloved 1954 Hillman Minx Mark VII (or phase VII to the americans), which is fully registered, & is currently our second main car. It still runs it's original Side-Valve 1265cc 4 Cyl Engine, does only 50 MPH or so max, & cheeses off most of the traffic, but it is fast enough for us, & it's lovely motoring, at speeds like this you can actually see the scenery.
It is having engine problems with it though, so I am going to replace the engine soon, with an overhead valve from a MKVIIIA that i have recently bought, so then it should have no more problems, & more power too.
Before the engine played up, it was totally reliable, easy to drive & we can actually park in the supermarket car parks in this hehehe.
but soon, it will be back on the road, annoying the faster drivers, & because it's manual, my wife cannot drive it, so all the driving fun is mine, & yes, a baby booster seat CAN fit on the back seat, even if it blocks out half the rear window.
My Latest aquisition is a 1955 Hillman MkVIIa utility, & yes, it's got unique "Hillman" badging on it, not commer, so this makes it a rare car.
I got it from a farm in central victoria, it was destined for the scrap yard, so i rescued it, & it very reluctantly got onto the trailer, as it had a hard life on the farm, having one rear spring broken, & also the front suspension broken on the coil spring towers, & also the armstrong shock absorbers ruined, & all the rubber suspension bits all but gone.
But fortunately i have also aquired a 1955 Hillman Mk VIIIa sedan for spares, so hopefully soon i will have the hillman ute back on wheels,Then the body restoration can begin.
The Sheep standing next the ute, by the way, his name is "Wrinkles", one of our "lawn mowers".
