My Austin 1800 Mk1 Ute
As a new member to the club (joining 16 August 2021) I have been encouraged to write an article regarding my interest in Austin’s and my Austin 1800 Mk1 Ute.
My first experience with an Austin 1800 was going to UK Motors Brisbane in 1972 with my Father to pick up our near new Austin 1800 Mk2 sedan, Maroon in colour. This car took us on many great holidays including a trip to Sydney in 1974 and a memorial trip home in January 1974 avoiding flooding and getting home to Oxley continually drying out the distributer to keep going. The next day we were living on an Island.
After buying my first 1800 Ute, a MkII in Townsville (2001), I was hooked unfortunately it did need a lot of work, but I did get an RWC and brought it to Mackay with me in 2003. I then started looking for a better example to restore which lead me to Bundaberg in 2006. This was advertised as a restored example 1800 Mk 1 Ute in the Landcrab Magazine, but it still needed a lot of work. Back to Mackay and with the MkII sold the rebuild began by getting the Mk1 roadworthy and registered.
Once registered I drove the ute around and gathered parts which included a MkII sedan for $50 and a MkII ute from a paddock in Cappella (CQ).
In 2012 I removed the engine, gearbox, diff, front end and sandblasted the engine bay. Minor rust was cut out and the engine bay was painted in Two Pak. I sent the engine etc to British Sporting Cars in Melbourne who rebuilt the engine & gearbox. The head was ported & polished Lynx manifold fitted with dual SU’s fitted, Head machined .030 to give a 9.8:1 compression ratio, electronic ignition, electric fuel pump, extractors and 2” stainless steel exhaust.
Engine now back in and the front end rebuilt I cleaned up the interior and fitted additional gauges to the dash. After 18 months back on the road and several car shows later clutch troubles took the Ute back off the road and the Engine etc back to Melbourne. While the clutch was replaced, I had the diff ratio changed from 4.1 to 3.7.
Now back on the road since 2021 the Ute is going great and looking forward too many more drives.
Next project – Austin 1800 MkII ute saved from a farmers Paddock at Comet (CQ).
