Three years ago my brother, son and I went to the Motor Show. There in the foyer were the usual classic cars - great eye candy. One car that caught my eye was a Holden bodied 1938 Oldsmobile. Although somewhat larger than I would have liked, the idea of a pre-war car kind of stuck. In December 2012, while at the Chookshed, this 1937 Wolseley 14/56 turned up on a trailer. A friend in the club, John, brought it in from an acquaintance and said "while it's on the trailer, we may as well take it to your place" I had not considered this car, but as I looked carefully at it, I realised how unbelievable it's condition was.
A look at some of the mechanical components prior to getting the car home.
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The car on arrival home - we take a quick look around before committing it to the garage for the Winter.
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Testing on the Series III engine has begun - still additional tests to get underway, but an encouraging start.
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Series III running engine test.
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The first actual restoration part... In this chapter, we assess the frame damage and take action.
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In this chapter, we fit the body to the new chassis. It will need to come off again, but we needed to check fitment, shut lines etc.
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Some further restoration work, including the instrument cluster. Unfortunately though, I needed to sell the car, so this final chapter means that the restoration on this beautiful old classic has come to an end - at least at this address...
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21/10/13: With the front end removed, it can clearly be seen where attention is needed. There looks to be a stress fracture above the left hand rear spring mount. Thankfully it' just runs along the top and not down the inside. Given that this car was last registered in August 1983, it's quite possible that this "bolted plate" repair was carried out years beforehand, perhaps even decades. I am going to remove this and fabricate a proper fitting reinforcement plate out of 5mm mild steel sheet. This will be laser cut and seam welded in place. I will also fabricate two right angle pieces for the firewall legs that are cracked though as well. Surprisingly, they are not secured at the bottom, when pushed in line, the cracks close up well, so alignment looks to be okay...
Illustrated below is some of the bling that came with the car. All chrome was wrapped in newspaper dated early 1984. I polished it further then put it all back in storage ready for the fun part of re-assembly.
10/4/14: Well, I gave up on the old chassis... after removing the plate, the whole front arm of the chassis flopped around because the crack extends a lot further than I first thought. It is easily repairable, but means having it set up on a frame table and making sure all dimensions are accurate before welding. The best solution I could come up with, was to locate another frame which I obtained through the Wolseley Car Club. This frame had no breaks, but had some rusted sections that I repaired with some help from a good friend, Michael. I'm about to remove the body from the existing frame and trial fit it to the new one... fingers crossed that it fits correctly and all the doors open and close...
10/6/14: Removed all of the doors... dead easy, knocked the pins upward and off they came.
15/6/14: Preparation for body removal... removed all LH fasteners; original slotted screws, some with square nuts. Removed front floors - mid floor section fitted between body and chassis, bummer! Removed rear side armrests and fittings, plus rear wooden floor section in boot. The fun is just beginning!
15/6/14: Preparation for body removal... removed all LH fasteners; original slotted screws, some with square nuts. Removed front floors - mid floor section fitted between body and chassis, bummer! Removed rear side armrests and fittings, plus rear wooden floor section in boot. The fun is just beginning!
6/12/14: One of the worst aspects of restoring cars, is when ones' circumstances change. I am quite often critical of those who reduce an operating car to pieces and sell them on as "unfinished projects." Although many of these project cars are easily re-commissioned at various levels of quality, the action of selling them in pieces, leaves the door wide open to people who obtain them cheaply, then sell them off piece by piece online at over inflated prices. These characters call themselves enthusiasts, but they're merely interested in profiteering. This has mainly been relevant to Holden and Ford cars in my experience and is a shame, because so many classics are lost indefinitely this way.
In truth though, this 1937 Wolseley left this address in a far better state than when it arrived, so with that in mind, I'm happy about it. Despite there being a considerable amount of work remaining on this car to complete it, the majority of difficult tasks are behind us. The chassis, front and rear axles, fuel tank and body preparation are virtually complete, just leaving the fun aspects. I have been forced to sell this car on account of declining storage room and an abundance of work yet to be completed on other cars, one of which is my son's Austin located elsewhere on this site. This pre-war Wolseley has found it's new home with Peter Reid, a club member renowned for his exquisitely presented classic automobiles. Peter will no doubt take this car to the next few levels, building on the solid foundation the car now has. With his permission, I would love to be able to showcase the product it is soon to become.
Cheers Peter
In truth though, this 1937 Wolseley left this address in a far better state than when it arrived, so with that in mind, I'm happy about it. Despite there being a considerable amount of work remaining on this car to complete it, the majority of difficult tasks are behind us. The chassis, front and rear axles, fuel tank and body preparation are virtually complete, just leaving the fun aspects. I have been forced to sell this car on account of declining storage room and an abundance of work yet to be completed on other cars, one of which is my son's Austin located elsewhere on this site. This pre-war Wolseley has found it's new home with Peter Reid, a club member renowned for his exquisitely presented classic automobiles. Peter will no doubt take this car to the next few levels, building on the solid foundation the car now has. With his permission, I would love to be able to showcase the product it is soon to become.
Cheers Peter