Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

The camera does lie -not nearly as tidy underneath as it looks here. I've treated the bare metal chassis with rust killer, then just slapped on a heavy coat of black goop, (more like treacle than paint). Eventually, (not in the foreseeable future), the whole truck will come apart again for proper paint & the chassis will be shotblasted & sprayed in black enamel.

[Manky Monkey]

Loony's emptying his workshop this week & ferrying everything to the new place a few miles up the road. He & his Dad seem to have it all in hand & there doesn't appear to be much I can do to help. So I'm just carrying on with the Pop till it gets moved to my lock-up garage over the weekend.
Finished the dashboard this afternoon. Doesn't look too bad for an aerosol job. A small ridge in the paint where I masked up the speedo, but I'll seek Loon's advice on that. Hopefully it'll rub out with some fine wet n dry & polish back up but I don't know what grade I need. The repair I made to the cracked Bakelite might last forever or might open up again as soon as I try & fit it tomorrow. If so, it's just going to have to stay like it for now.

[the coppersmith]

from here, that looks very good.

[Olds]

The repair I made to the cracked Bakelite might last forever or might open up again as soon as I try & fit it tomorrow. If so, it's just going to have to stay like it for now.

Bakelite doesn't like being stressed so it might be worthwhile checking that it's not put under any strain when doing up the mounting screws. Shimming might be required.

[Manky Monkey]

Got to hook up various wires & cables behind it as I put it in. The chances of re-fitting it without at least scratching it are pretty slim.

[stinkey]

And I'm sure you can fit a tow hook now? It's past the test 

[Olds]

And I'm sure you can fit a tow hook now? It's past the test 

Technically no.
Unless the mounting frame is E marked, made specifically for the make / model, the towing hitch is the standard 50 mm ball type and it all meets certain height and clearance criteria, then it's not allowed.

In fitting this small towing eye, (which can be argued as being a recovery point) no one can ever be tempted to try to hitch something heavy like a caravan on the back.

[kapri]

The MVM is entered on the MAC at the time of passing. This means it is accessible to DVSA / Police online should they ask to question it.

As towbars have to now be type approved by the vehicle manufacturer there is nothing available where an individual can have one tested . Hence it can only be approved at time of BIVA testing where 'you' present the vehicle as the manufacturer . I did mention this all to Andy before we presented it.

[stinkey]

I'd fit a tow bar and wouldn't lose any bloody sleep ..jeez ?

[kapri]

I'm only the messenger !!  A pedantic MOT tester could fail it as well IF he knew what he was looking at

[Manky Monkey]

I'm sure a lot of people would fit one without a second thought mate, but as Mr Kapri has often said, we can only tell you the rules -what you choose to do with that information is up to you. I've got the kind of luck that would see me being nicked for it the first time I tried it &, apart from taking both my bike & my truck to shows to display as a pair, I don't have any need to tow anything.
Nice to see you at Loon's workshop today Kev, even if you did leave as soon as I arrived  
After an awful lot of struggling & a bit of swearing, I got the dashboard re-fitted this afternoon. Trying to feed the choke cable through the bulkhead, plug the multi pin connectors together, then screw the speedo cable on, while holding the freshly painted dash clear of anything that would scratch it was testing to say the least.
I have a problem though. There's an enormous amount of wiring behind it, for such a simple vehicle & it's been done by several people. Unfortunately I'm the only one who doesn't have a clue what any of it does. There was a black wire with a ring terminal on, which I vaguely remember Mr Olds & I decided was an Earth, so I've bolted it to an Earth point. Then a black wire with a Spade terminal on, which I think we concluded was a spare Live feed, so I've tucked it out of the way. So what's the 2 red wires, running into the same ring terminal? I have no idea at all. Can't see anything they're likely to connect to. The ring would suggest another Earth, but why are the wires red? Unless it was the only colour available at the time or refers to previous wiring? I can still reach them at the moment & obviously don't want to fit the panels under the dash until I know what they are. Any recollection Mr Olds?
Apart from that, it went in with no apparent damage. Need to fit some rubber edging to the black vinyl under-dash panels, but otherwise reasonably tidy.
I've put the old Morris Minor steering wheel back on temporarily while the other one's at the powder coaters.

[Olds]

You do realise that was done in August 2014. I can't remember what I did yesterday, let alone two years ago. I do remember that none of it was tested as there was no battery (or cables or alternator or....) Somewhere you should have a diagram of the modified wiring.
Connect a battery with a fuse in line to check nothing bad happens.

[Manky Monkey]

I've got a very similar total loss memory Dave, & getting noticeably worse.
I'll hunt for your wiring diagram.

[stinkey]

I'm only the messenger !!  A pedantic MOT tester could fail it as well IF he knew what he was looking at

I'm not blaming the messenger Kev..it's the rebel in me ..I bloody hate being told " you can't do this or that ?"  And when I read how us (old boys ) have now become so staid and boring and scared to put in the wrong size screw because some muppet said it doesn't comply with the rules..it makes my blood boil..I'm all for building safe vehicles ,and yes if we build it to spec we can drive it legally etc..but it now seems one has to build something with a sense of false individualism ?  I.E...you design/make a part to circumvent their RULES,which is gratifying but so pristine and smooth it looks factory made ?  Which to me is boring ? I'm not having a personal dig at anybody because we all know the time and effort we all have to put into our beloved projects..and I'm so cranky in the mornings I shouldn't write stuff on here because it comes out wrong..OOPS sorry guys..il get my coat !

[kapri]

For me it's more the financial implications that keep me in line. Unfortunately ( or maybe fortunately) having once been married to the manager of a DVLA LO I've had to work within the rules for many many years, ESPECIALLY after we parted ways!!