Project Austin street gasser.

[DanStokes]

One of the happy parts of volunteering at Bonneville was when I got to shake hands with Isky. After all those years of soaking his hands in solvents and cutting oils it feels like shaking hands with someone wearing a baseball glove. I can go to my grave knowing I met and shook hands with one of the first generation of hot rodders.

Dan

[1946Austin]

When he asked to sit in my Austin he opened the driver's side door and immediately turned to me and smiled. He said, "I think I better try the passenger side, it looks roomier."
Getting in past the steering wheel is a chore if you're very round, or not too flexible. He climbed in the passenger side and told me it reminded him of the old gassers from the 60's, which I took as a big compliment, since that's what I was trying to emulate.
I came prepared with the gold pen to ask him to autograph the dash, but he was very hesitant at first. He didn't want to write on my dash until I said I'd be honored to have him do so.

[1946Austin]

Well that went sorta OK.
We had a break in the rain today, so figured I could roll the Austin out and finish installing the new bucket seats. I was able to reuse the front mounting holes, but the rear was too far back by 5" so had to drill more holes to attach the back mounts. That should have been a clue to me!
So got the new holes drilled, and put some bolts in the old holes to close them up. Bolted the seats down, and checked travel. Couldn't get much tighter, but they just fit! Went to try my 4 point harness and realized I'd forgotten to bolt the lap belts to the rear mounting points!! So unbolt the rear and add the lap belts, and bolt it back up. Finished!
Climbed inside and the passenger side was short. I adjusted the belts out, and got enough adjustment. That 5" further back on the seat mount made the belts 10" shorter over all. So tried the driver's side and not enough adjustment! Crap! I found one half had enough, but the other didn't. So grabbed my box of old harnesses and no receiver sides left in it! But I did find a lap belt extender, which connects inline to lengthen the belts. Instead of going inline, I put it on the floor bracket, and then put my existing belt on it. So less pieces, and it's hidden behind the seat. Plenty of adjustment, and they finally fit.
Of course with dry sunny 50 degree weather I had to take it for a short drive too! The seats are really nice having height adjustment front and rear, plus angle adjustment for the backrests. They're a major improvement!

[1946Austin]

Proving our hotrods truly never are ever done!
A couple weeks ago on the way to the weekly drags I hit a big bump in the Austin that felt extremely harsh! After a couple days I got some time to check things out and discovered my front springs have settled over the last 12 years. So my front shocks had about 2" of travel and appears they bottomed out hitting that bump hard.
So last weekend I fabricated new front shock mounts that are identical to what I had, except being about 4" long so I could extend the top mounting point a couple inches above the frame to give me about 4.5" of travel, and still not top out on rebound. I got out this morning and moved the Austin from the house garage to the back shop where my welder is, and began removing the shocks. That's when I discovered the passenger side wasn't going to be as simple as cutting the old mount off to rework it. The fuel line was right above the existing mount, so I had to remove the fuel pressure regulator, and put it aside. Then cut the shock mount off and ground the frame smooth and welded the new mount on. Covered the engine with my welding blanket, and put shop rags over other things I wanted to protect. Did the same on the driver's side, but no fuel line. Instead the alternator is just above the mount, so it made it tough to get the angle grinder in the tight quarters to cut the old mount off. But I finally got it, and welded the new mount on the frame.
Once it all cooled off, I cleaned the bare metal, and shot black paint on all the bare parts. Then drilled new holes to mount the regulator, and mounted it up. Fortunately I had a short piece of flexible line between the frame and the engine, so I was able to just bend the line off the pressure regulator, and add a few more inches of flex line to replace the shorter line and it was done.
Hopefully 4.5" will be plenty of travel, and not bottom out. I didn't want to make the ride stiffer, or raise the stance with an extra spring as I like how it sits. So time will tell when I take the same route tomorrow to the drags, and see how it handles the same bump now.

[SuperBuickGuy]

is Benz springs still around? have them rearched....

[1946Austin]

is Benz springs still around? have them rearched....

Benz and Oregon Spring are both still around, and I've used both. I prefer Oregon Spring myself.
But I removed a couple leafs years ago to soften the ride, and get the frontend a little less nose high, so I don't want to rearc the springs and end up back where it was before. Easier to raise the shock mounting point, and let the suspension do it's job, and looks better at this height I think.
Rockers are basically dead level front/rear, but the body lines, and tires already make it look nose high, so I didn't want it up higher.