AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ONION

Written By Alex Tarry

An Austin A35 with a Kick

Many moons ago, another place in another time, I had the absolute privilege of kicking off Project Racing Onion; developing an Austin A35 to evoke the owner’s first car, but be a genuine, real world daily driver.

 Our friend and client sourced a car with good bodywork - it’s rot that killed many a British car from this period, and a wise call to invest in the mechanical modifications rather than huge amounts of bodywork that soak up time and costs. The asthmatic 30-odd horsepower 948cc engine soon made way for something a whole lot more interesting, and the project began with an engine rebuild…

 

An A+ inline 1275cc unit was sourced and soon breathed upon - it became the last short engine built by my erstwhile friend and mentor Bob Vince, chief designer and ultimately director at Holbay Racing Engines. We miss you, Bob…

I finished the engine off with an MG Metro camshaft, a pair of 1 1/4” SU carburettors (smaller than I could have used, to promote gas speed and torque for what is ultimately a road car) a light flywheel and a modified cylinder head with smooth ports and increased compression ratio. The exhaust is a modified branch system with bespoke rear section and stainless steel back box - sourced as ‘one half’ of a Triumph TR6 stainless twin box system with bespoke mounting brackets.

The next step was the installation of the gearbox - a five speed, Ford Type 9 gearbox with a bespoke clutch release mechanism. The clutch went through a very testing development phase - the off-the-shelf conversion kits couldn’t handle the increase in torque. In the end, I machined the flywheel face flat and re-drilled to take a Ford KA friction and pressure plate and a bespoke hydraulic, concentric cylinder, grafting in a master cylinder to work with the original pedal box assembly. I then fabricated a bespoke gearbox tunnel and mounting bracket. Phew!

The wheels were banded original steels, powder coated in the original colour, and front brakes uprated to MG Midget spec - and largely, it hit the road in this form, a very capable road car.

In the intervening years, it’s been a pleasure to develop the car and tailor to the specific needs of our client, and the current specification includes:

  • Bespoke fabricated panhard bar

  • MG Midget rear brakes and bespoke handbrake linkage

  • Competition dampers

  • 1500 Midget front springs

  • Anti-roll bar delete rear

  • Anti-roll bar fitment to the front

  • Electric fuel pump

  • Uprated half shafts with 3.5:1 final drive (sensible cruising at 70mph)

  • Lucas Square 8 driving lights

  • Classic Mini seats

  • Oil cooler

  • Electric fan

  • Aluminium radiator

  • Taper roller wheel bearings

The final modification just completed was stiffening the rear springs to allow the car to carry load on an epic road trip planned in a couple of weeks to Greece - crossing continents, mountains and highways on the way down to a sunnier climate than we are used to over here.

The result is absolutely joyful, and a car that really does have it all - the torque to pull the high gearing, fun, sharp and fairly practical too, a very credible daily driver.

It’s been a delightful journey to this point, a real pleasure working with such an engaging customer and a very special little car.

We wish Andrew all the very best, on what is sure to be an epic journey.

Alex Tarry
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