Wasn't someone looking for one of these 1950's Austin Convertibles?

[auburnseeker]

I saw this on Craigslist and remember a member was looking for an Autin convertible.  I could have sworn they wanted the Atlantic and I'm not sure how much this varies but the buy in is cheap enough.  Unfortunately looks like some of the mechanical parts were throwqn away as someone was going to modify it,  but fortunately as with most projects it never got very far along. 

 

Cheap enough at $1200. 

 

https://westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/d/otis-austin-a40-convertable/6947600048.html

[1912Staver]

A 40 Sport's are actually quite desirable cars. Not only was the seller dumb enough to get rid of a bunch of quite hard to replace parts he is dumb enough to admit it in print.  Now anyone brave enough to take this one on needs to find a equally hard to find  parts car as well. Easier said than done. A 90 Atlantics are a much larger / upscale car. If anything even rarer and from what I have seen quite pricy. A 40 Sport's aren't cheap either, just not Atlantic level. A pretty decent unrestored A40 Sports sold for just over $10,000 on BAT in 2016. 

 

Greg in Canada

Edited August 2, 2019 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I was thinking he wasn't too bright either.  Its not like those parts take up a ton of space and now he has pretty much screwed himself,  where he could have probably recouped a good chunk of his investment,  he has to just short of give it away because of his lack of foresight. The good part is he didn't get to the hacking and cutting part and realized it was probably out of hus league.  It all sounds great on paper until you actually realize in many cases,  the project is above your ability. 

It would be a good donor body if someone had one that was pretty screwed up. 

[jeff_a]

Series I and II Nash Metropolitans used Austin A-40 engines, if that's any help.

[1912Staver]

These A 40's have quite an early generation BMC engine. And a as far as I know unique twin SU carb set up. Many have been swapped to either a late MG Midget A series 1275, or a larger B series, usually from a MGB. And often a 5 speed from a Toyota or Nissan.  A properly done conversion does not seem to hurt value too much. The original engine ; even with dual carbs, is still quite marginal from a torque and HP point of view. 

Dead stock ones are possibly the most valuable, but not very comfortably drivable in modern traffic

Edited August 2, 2019 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

The M 10 is a nice engine, however the lay down configuration can complicate swaps. And most of the dirt cheap ones are going to be injected. Definitely doable , but a much more involved swap than a BMC family , carbureted engine. The engines themselves are cheap as you say. Any needed spare parts on the other hand are quite steep in my experience.

Alfa is a gem of an engine, the gearboxes not so much. Parts prices are way up there. I have owned a couple of the 2000 GTV Alfetta's. Lovely cars to drive, wallet bursting as they age. And I regularly worked on them in my younger years as a mostly British but a smattering of all the import sports cars mechanic's life. So needless to say I do all of my own work. Spica included.

 As I said before a BMC A series or B series is the most practical. The chassis on a A40, Sports or otherwise is a bit primitive. No need for ; or ability to handle,  much more power. Just enough poke so Mazda 3's aren't crawling up your bumper all day long.

 

Greg in Canada 

[JACK M]

No hood or trunk lid?

Hardly worth the time.