1969 Austin 2-Dr. Sedan

1275 cc

Auto

Up for sale is my 1969 Austin America. This has got to be one of the most original Americas around. It comes with the original sales order dated March 25, 1970. It also has the tin ID plate issued at delivery for warranty service, owners manual, passport to service(warranty booklet), sales brochure, dealer postcard, dealer plastic folder, salesman's business card and a folder of original service receipts, service paperwork, recall and additional warranty contract. It was purchased by Howard Zion of Minneapolis, MN from Southtown Motor Sports of Richfield, MN. Mr. Zion bought it for his wife Doris to do her errands with. She used it very sparingly. The couple moved to Overland Park, KS in the late 70's where the car was kept in a basement garage until it was sold to me last fall. The story was relayed to me that the car was not driven after 1985 due to the liquid suspension failure, common problem for these cars. This would explain the low mileage of 26,000. The original pale primrose(light yellow) paint still looked good except for a small scrape on the left lower rear quarter panel. I had that repaired at a local shop and it came out very nice. The original paint has somes nicks & dings but really shows well-definately too nice to consider total repaint. The interior is also all original and in mint condition with near perfect seats, headliner & carpet. This car had no radio when bought in 1970 and still does not. It has a speaker grill on the center of the dash that I installed because the original grill built into the dash was disintigrating. A speaker could be added there if new owner chooses to install a radio. As for the mechanics: I installed new fill valves(shrader valves) and pumped up the hydrolastic suspension. The gas tank was removed and boiled out, completely sealed, re-painted and re-installed with new fuel guage sending unit. The carburetor was rebuilt and new filter and fuel hose installed. Air filter was replaced. Smog pump filter replaced. Both fan belts and upper & lower radiator hoses & thermostat replaced. Spark plugs, cap, rotor, points, condensor replaced. Still has it's original Lucas green plug wires. At this point, car was running great, but could not drive it because it had no brakes. So, I noticed a oil leak and determined it needed a new oil sending unit-installed that. Then I flushed the coolant several times and changed the engine/transmission oil & filter. Then noticed it needed all (3) motor mounts and lower engine stabilizer bushings-replaced them. Now the brakes. I rebuilt the master cylinder & calipers. I installed new wheel cylinders, pads & retainers, all (5) brake hoses. Brake system was then bled repeatedly with new Castrol GT LMA brake fluid. Car now has excellent brakes. Now ready for 1st test drive! Engine runs like new-smooth & quiet. Transmision shifts great with no slippage or strange noises. At this point I notice all 4 tires are flat spotted from sitting. New tires we're in order. I had Kumho 155-80 radials mounted, balanced & installed. Car now drives smoothly! Next I noticed a noise coming from the passenger floorboard area-not bad but annoying. This turned out to be another common problem to these cars. The steering rack bushing on the passenger side disintigrates-hence the annoying rattle. I replaced the bushing with a new upgraded steel/nylon one from Seven Enterprises. While the rack was out I replaced the outer tie rod ends and the rubber gaiters. I then refilled with new grease re-installed the rack. As of this day, the car runs and drives great! This car still has it's original exhaust system. I did replace the (4) rubber spool mounts that hold the exhaust pipes to the body. I now think this car is really ready to drive and enjoy. There really should be only normal maitenance from this point. I have driven it 600 miles since all of this work and I've changed the engine/transmission oil(they share the same sump)& filter 3 times. I wanted to insure that the oil was clean as this is of utmost importance on these cars. As these cars go, I can honestly say there could not be too many out there better than this one. I worked in the service department at the local British Leyland dealership here in Louisville in the early 70's (Koster-Swope) and this is the 4th Austin America I have had. These cars we're very problematic even when new, but most problems we're always brought on by young, heavy footed aggressive drivers. With care & attention to maintenance, these cars will last & last. I have both sets of original keys that go with car, workshop manual & factory parts manual and extra new air & oil filter also. I also forgot to mention that all keyed locks work as new. Also the graph style speedo works as new. All guages & idiot lights work as new. All lighting works correctly also, including back-up lamp. The chrome is very good-the front bumper has some very light peppering of the chrome, not bad at all. This car starts easily with no strange noises and no smoke from the exhaust. It will leave a quarter sized spot of oil on the ground after sitting for a week or so. That appears to be coming from the driveshaft seals where they come out of the trans/diff. This is a very minimal leak that in my estimation does not warrant fixing unless it would get worse-although it is a fairly simple repair. Thanks for looking/bidding!