"it's not quite Andy somehow"
You're right Bobbi -I'm far too well brought up to use such language in polite company.
We took the Pop along to the Basingstoke Festival of Transport yesterday, where it sat at the front of our pitch -not because I wanted to show it off, but simply cos it has the website logo on the doors. Many thanks to Ash for the use of his vehicle transporter.
Seemed to go down well with the general public, though I'm not sure I like it being constantly referred to as a ratrod! It's not ratty, it's not finished yet! It
will have shiney paint -eventually.
Once the show ended & we were packing things away, we had a chance to try it around the field a few times with Loony at the wheel. He reported the steering felt a little heavy, but then it was on grass in a bumpy field. Also the front wheels didn't self centre as they should when you let go of the steering wheel. The weakest link in the steering set-up is the steering box itself, which turns the roundy round motion of the steering wheel into the side to side action of the steering arm. It's a modified Pop box which has a cast aluminium housing & we've already accidentally broken one. Ideally we'd fit a more heavy duty one from something like a Landrover, but changing it now would be a major headache. Maybe something to consider once it's registered, if only for our own peace of mind.
Only other problem was a lack of oomph at the bottom end. A 3 1/2 litre V8 should have plenty of grunt, but Loony thought it felt a bit gutless -he keeps trying to spin the rear wheels but no luck yet. Could be because our truck weighs twice as much as the original Pop, although Rover used the same engine in Range Rovers & stuff, which ain't lightweight. Might be the large diameter wheels we're using messing up the gearing. Or maybe just because we're still running on open headers, so there's no exhaust back pressure.
Considering we've thrown together parts from half a dozen different manufacturers that were never designed to go together, I'm amazed it runs at all. The engine seems to be settling down quite nicely, so hopefully it's just a matter of fine tuning things now.
I'm on holiday this week, but money's a bit tight so next week I'll order the tube for the rest of the exhaust & get that fitted under the pick-up bed. Still waiting for the blanking caps for the headers to be machined too. With that done, we can set the tick-over properly.
We had a word with Ian of Wyliez Customs, one of our local rod shops, while we were at the show & hopefully might be taking the Pop to their place soon to cut & fold the sheet steel for the floor & bed sides.
The only other job is to swap the rear coil springs for heavier ones as the 160 pound ones we've got are bottoming out -just a matter of buying them & swapping them over on the gas filled shocks. When I bought them from Valley Gas Speed Shop, Jimmy & Ellie said they'd give us a free upgrade if they proved too weak, but that was several years ago & I'm not sure I've even got the receipt, so I expect I'll have to buy new.
I know it still looks ratty, but that's really all the mechanical stuff done -it's down to bodywork & glass now.
