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Austin Champ |
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Hello, and welcome to the Russianmilitary Austin Champ upgrade Blog. Yes, I know its not Russian but our team have undertaken the most difficult restorations over the years. Restoring a british vehicle is light relief.
Military vehicle restoration is something of a speciality of ours and this is the another project we have chosen to document via our website restoration blog. Its often very helpful for customers overseas to view exactly what is going on with their restoration on a daily basis. Nobody, else in this trade is able to offer this kind of service.
This section will take the form of a variety of a photos, informative short films (and of course our own ramblings) all designed to document the journey and processes that the Austin Champ and our highly skilled restoration technicians have been through.
Restoring to exact original standards is alot more difficult than you think.
The accompanying photos give you a sense of the condition when it first arrived at our workshops. The previous owner had restored the Champ a few years ago and this had been undertaken to a high standard. Our remit was to quite simple, make it show winner... |
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Wednesday 30th of June 2010 15:00 |
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Finally the and probably the most satisfying is the hand painting the final markings. All of course painted the old way. |
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 Click Here for Movie
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Wednesday 30th of June 2010 15:00 |
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Some more restoring, we have restored the dash surround, repainted and replace lettering. |
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Click Here for Movie
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Thursday 24th of June 2010 10:00 |
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The yellow identification disc has been fitted, with the aid of an in-house fabricated bracket... |
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Thursday 24th of June 2010 9:00 |
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The First Aid box bracket and fixings have been painted.
The searchlight has been painted. |
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Thursday 17th of June 2010 11:00 |
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Jerry can has been painted. A new windshield rubber seal is currently being fitted... |
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Thursday 17th of June 2010 10:00 |
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And now both whip aerials. |
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Thursday 17th of June 2010 10:00 |
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Rear aerial mounts have been fitted... |
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Thursday 17th of June 2010 10:00 |
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Dashboard switchplate is being reconditioned and a new steering wheel is to be fitted... |
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Thursday 17th of June 2010 10:00 |
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The front panels and bumper have been fitted, along with a new exhaust tail pipe. |
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Thursday 17th of June 2010 10:00 |
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Various parts have been deliverede for the Austin Champ and we are now ready to continue our work.
The radiator has been painted and re-fitted. New hoses have been attached. |
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Friday 11th of June 2010 11:00 |
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Here is a film of where we are with the Champ at present. |
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Click Here for Movie
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 13:00 |
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The pick axe and shovel have been reconditioned. |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 13:00 |
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The front seats have been fitted. |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 13:00 |
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The rear seats, spare wheel and rear foot boards have been fitted... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 13:00 |
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All plumbing, electrical connections, belts, etc are being fitted to the engine... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 13:00 |
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The brass hood clips have now been fitted to the body... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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The wheels have been painted. |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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The engine is being refitted to the engine bay... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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Ahhh...the colour coat... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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Refitting parts to the newly painted engine... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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The Champ's engine has now been prepared and repainted the correct colour... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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Photos of the primed interior... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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The vehicle has now been sprayed with primer, here are photos of the exterior... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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The Champ's body is being rubbed down and prepared for fresh primer... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 11:00 |
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Wheel Hub inspection, strip, clean and rebuild... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 12:00 |
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Close-up photos of the engine now it has been removed from the vehicle... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 11:00 |
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Removing the engine... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 11:00 |
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Further removal of components from the dash and driver/passenger compartments ready for engine removal... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 11:00 |
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Removing body panels and parts in readiness for engine removal... |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 11:00 |
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The Austin Champ was the civilian version of a British Army vehicle made by Austin Motor Company. The army version was officially known as "Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4x4, cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1", however the civilian name "Champ" was universally, (but unofficially) applied to the vehicle.
The Champ had an outstanding off-road performance, but it was too expensive and complex. As a result the Austin contract was prematurely terminated. |
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Thursday 10th of June 2010 11:00 |
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To coin a well known phrase 'And now for something completely different!'
We have recently purchased an Austin Champ on behalf of a collector across the pond.
The vehicle has already undergone a restoration process by the previous owner, but it is not to the required standard. So yes, you guessed it, we are going to strip the vehicle down and prepare the body and the engine for repainting.
What follows is a series of photos and comments as we document the work carried out on the Austin Champ Jeep... |
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